Motorcycles.

[giant_mtb]

I don't do rides like that, for that reason. Something about big groups makes people turn off their brain and do the stupidest stuff.

A couple of my dirt biking buddies are like that.  We'll have a group of five or so, which means they're doing wheelies on road sections and shit.  I don't mind because it's fun to watch, but I do, because it projects a bad image.

[Speed_Racer]

I test drove a BMW GS Trophy and a Tiger 800XCA during lunch today because why not - they are running a promo that a test ride gets you $50 in apparel credit.

The BMW was seriously underwhelming. It looks SO good, but it was a let down. The parallel twin was very smooth and quiet at around town speeds, but it gave me some weird vibrations in my nether-regions at freeway speeds. Uninspiring exhaust note, not enough oomph for me on a on-ramp acceleration pull. Overall...just meh.


The Tiger - I love the sound and pull of that 800 triple, but you have to wind it up to the higher end of the tach to get . It's very smooth on/off throttle around town, good seating position, wind blocking was good.

Triumph wins today's side-by-side comparo.

[CaminoRacer]

My old boss with the Ducatis has added yet another to his collection

[SVT_Power]

I pulled a Rag.

Classic user error, a little too hot into a decreasing radius, couldn't commit to leaning it over as far as I could have because I knew I was on gravel on the outside of the lane. Fortunately scrubbed off a lot of the speed before lowsiding onto my shoulder/back and hip. Honestly the biggest issue was the bike was wedged under the guard rail. But fortunately a bunch of car guys were driving by and they all stopped to help me get the bike out.

I broke a small part of the front fender, snapped the left peg, bent the shifter (fortunately I was still able to shift gears) and the handlebar, and all kinds of scratches of course. But bike fired right up and I rode it home.

http://imgur.com/a/SgFhp

[Speed_Racer]

Hurray for gear, and glad you and the bike are alright. Now you have an autumn project

[CaminoRacer]

Ouch. Glad you're okay.

[SVT_Power]

Hurray for gear, and glad you and the bike are alright. Now you have an autumn project

I'm hoping to bend the shifter back to functional shape, just ordered replacement pegs (in retrospect, I was really stupid not picking up the broken peg and bringing it back with me, little did I know all the individual components of a footpeg are sold separately ), and I'll be ordering another FZ1 bar in the morning from a dealer.

I'm aiming to have the bike back on the road by end of the week.

[12,000 RPM]

Glad you are OK. Now you are a real motorcyclist

Good news and bad news. Bad news is I might be selling the bike next year. Not cause of the baby Just haven't had much desire to ride on the street since I got the G. Probably rode like once every 2 weeks this summer, as opposed to 2-3 times a week last summer, and it's been a while since I've ridden period. Part of it was the headlight situation, but since I got that sorted I just haven't had the desire to ride.

Good news is I just signed up for a track day in 2 weeks. Some dude at my job is an instructor; we've been talking for years and I finally decided to do it. If I like that I may just take the bike off the street and build it for the track But for now at least I think I'm pretty much over street riding.

[CaminoRacer]

I've been glad to have my bike while my car's transmission was down. I need to go on a longer ride though, too many 7 min commute rides makes me a dull boy

[12,000 RPM]

It will suck to not have vehicle redundancy. Still pissed about the Rabbit getting totaled.

[Cookie Monster]

I took my friend out for his first street ride yesterday evening. We went to a pretty deserted place and just practiced turning, accelerating and stopping. I also led him around a tight traffic circle so many times we both got dizzy.

[Speed_Racer]

Glad you are OK. Now you are a real motorcyclist

Good news and bad news. Bad news is I might be selling the bike next year. Not cause of the baby Just haven't had much desire to ride on the street since I got the G. Probably rode like once every 2 weeks this summer, as opposed to 2-3 times a week last summer, and it's been a while since I've ridden period. Part of it was the headlight situation, but since I got that sorted I just haven't had the desire to ride.

Good news is I just signed up for a track day in 2 weeks. Some dude at my job is an instructor; we've been talking for years and I finally decided to do it. If I like that I may just take the bike off the street and build it for the track But for now at least I think I'm pretty much over street riding.

Sounds like fun! I did a track day earlier this summer and it was the most fun I"ve had on my bike since I bought it. Completely different than street riding

[Cookie Monster]

Moto track days are too much work.

[12,000 RPM]

It's more of a bucket list thing than something I see myself doing regularly. Especially in the context of the kart track 5 minutes from my house and Forza (which I just figured out how to shift with a clutch on, despite only having 2 pedals )

[MX793]

Moto track days are too much work.

Tons of prep, and you should really make arrangements to be able to trailer your bike.  Ride there, ride home sounds great, but a relatively minor crash could render or bike unrideable, not to mention a mechanical failure.

[Cookie Monster]

Tons of prep, and you should really make arrangements to be able to trailer your bike.  Ride there, ride home sounds great, but a relatively minor crash could render or bike unrideable, not to mention a mechanical failure.

Also, probably because I'm inexperienced in motorcycle track days, but it was far more physically draining than a car track day. I'm already beat after a car track day. I'd hate to have to try to ride 2-3 hours (minimum) home after a bike day. Probably would be pretty dangerous.

[CaminoRacer]

Also, probably because I'm inexperienced in motorcycle track days, but it was far more physically draining than a car track day. I'm already beat after a car track day. I'd hate to have to try to ride 2-3 hours (minimum) home after a bike day. Probably would be pretty dangerous.

Yeah, I can definitely see that. It'd be a very long day.

[12,000 RPM]

Gonna rent a U Haul

[SVT_Power]

Wrenched on the bike last night, rode back into work this morning 

[giant_mtb]

Gonna finally attempt dirtbike camping tonight. There's a music festival thing happening about a 25-30 mile ride from home, so I'm gonna go for it.  Don't need to bring food or firewood or anything since they'll have all that there, so all I need is my tent, sleeping bag, and clothing. Gonna put it all in my backpacking pack and strap 'er down to the rear fender. Hopefully.

[FoMoJo]

Gonna finally attempt dirtbike camping tonight. There's a music festival thing happening about a 25-30 mile ride from home, so I'm gonna go for it.  Don't need to bring food or firewood or anything since they'll have all that there, so all I need is my tent, sleeping bag, and clothing. Gonna put it all in my backpacking pack and strap 'er down to the rear fender. Hopefully.

So who's playing at the festival.

[giant_mtb]

So who's playing at the festival.

Local and semi-local bands. No big names.

[FoMoJo]

Local and semi-local bands. No big names.

Always enjoy local groups.  Most are pretty good.

[12,000 RPM]

That sounds like a fun trip. I wish I wasn't such a city boy bitch. Camping sounds awful to me, and I feel like it really shouldn't.

[MX793]

That sounds like a fun trip. I wish I wasn't such a city boy bitch. Camping sounds awful to me, and I feel like it really shouldn't.

Camping is awful.  If sleeping outside was so great, why do critters want to live in my house?

[giant_mtb]

That sounds like a fun trip. I wish I wasn't such a city boy bitch. Camping sounds awful to me, and I feel like it really shouldn't.

Like most things, give it a shot and you might just like it.  I just tried sleeping in a hammock while camping last weekend and was a big fan. Much better than being on the ground. I'll be bringing a small tent this time as I don't believe there will much of anywhere to hang the hammock, but it's enough of a non-burden I'll probably take it with just in case.

Biggest things to get used to, IMO, are phone-less-ness (a good thing, IMO, and one of the reasons I like camping so much) and not showering for a couple days. These both depend on where you camp, of course, but I like rustic, so that's what I seek out.  I take a box of moist wipes to stay fresh in areas that count.  I have one of those bag showers, but haven't tried it yet.

[giant_mtb]

Always enjoy local groups.  Most are pretty good.

Yeah, there are some damn good locals.  We don't get (m)any big names around here, so this is about as good/broad as it gets.

[shp4man]

Back in the day, desert survival camping was a good challenge. With a .22 rifle, some water, snake bite kit, a clear plastic sheet, you can get by pretty well.

[giant_mtb]

I slept with an air horn in case I woke up to any bears getting at my shit.  Only saw one over three days, and it was like 8 miles from camp.

[giant_mtb]

Here she is all loaded up.  Had to take the rear plastics off so I could do a solid 2-strap x-pattern, but she's solid.  A little cramped with my backpack on as well, but totally rideable over shorter distances (it's only 20 miles or less to my destination on trail).