Sup?

[Joe]

So, I forgot the forums existed for a few weeks and I come back and there are three new posts. THREE!

Then I post a thread much like this one, and then iago's server </life>'d and he rolled back the DB.

What's everyone's excuses for not posting!?

[deadly7]

I post! I just have no new ideas for topics. My life isn't all that interesting, tbh.

[Joe]

This discussion is now about my motorcycle and the funny faces I make when my girlfriend takes pictures of me.

https://picasaweb.google.com/102496116864390705370/NighthawkPhotoTag2011

[Falcon]

No one else posts, and I'm too busy with work/school at the moment. Oh and the forum was offline for like a week or something *cough* iago

[while1]

Yeah, WTF.... the site was up and then it was down the last day or two, as well as down for a week before that- all spouting the same SMF error message.

Anyways on topic, I've been riding my bike as well, definitely not as social a rider as Joe by getting involved in photo tag and what not, but I've definitely been riding it a lot to lvl up my riding skills.  

How big's your Nighthawk?  I'm sort of regretting getting a 250cc bike- while I know it was the safe/ cautious choice and was expecting to sell it in a year knowing that I bought it as a means of learning and getting comfortable riding... I'm definitely already itching to get a 600-750cc bike.

My biggest annoyance with my 250cc bike is how often I have to shift gears- the user manual's recommended speed schedule (MPH) for shifting up from 1st-6th gear goes something like 12, 19, 25, 31, 39 and shifting down from 6th-3rd gear is 28, 22, 16.  So while I'm definitely getting practice learning to properly shift and use the clutch, it gets annoying real fast.

[iago]

I know, I explained the problems in a different thread. In brief:

- They had to paint my building, which meant I had to take down the dish I use for Internet
- I put the server at the hackerspace, but people kept turning off breakers, unplugging the router and not plugging it back in, etc.
- I brought it home, and a couple days ago it ran out of harddrive space. I kept trying to fix the database, and it's fail again, till I realized I had no hdd left

So yeah, sorry. It should be in good shape now!

[Joe]

Yeah, WTF.... the site was up and then it was down the last day or two, as well as down for a week before that- all spouting the same SMF error message.

Anyways on topic, I've been riding my bike as well, definitely not as social a rider as Joe by getting involved in photo tag and what not, but I've definitely been riding it a lot to lvl up my riding skills. 

How big's your Nighthawk?  I'm sort of regretting getting a 250cc bike- while I know it was the safe/ cautious choice and was expecting to sell it in a year knowing that I bought it as a means of learning and getting comfortable riding... I'm definitely already itching to get a 600-750cc bike.

My biggest annoyance with my 250cc bike is how often I have to shift gears- the user manual's recommended speed schedule (MPH) for shifting up from 1st-6th gear goes something like 12, 19, 25, 31, 39 and shifting down from 6th-3rd gear is 28, 22, 16.  So while I'm definitely getting practice learning to properly shift and use the clutch, it gets annoying real fast.

CB550SC. It's been an adventure trying to learn on a 28 year old bike with the carbs out of sync. With kind of poor power and stuff, I just learned to shift when the bike needed it. Now that I synced the carbs I can accelerate as fast as, or faster than, I want. It's a real pain being at a stoplight behind a cage. A friend has a Suzuki Boulevard M109R in red with custom pipes and likes to rev his engine under bridges and make it sound like we're in a war zone.

Check out Nighthawk Forums. They're really helpful and welcoming to even non-Nighthawkers.

[dark_drake]

My wife won't let me get a motorcycle Not even to learn. Where's a good place for me to take her to show how safe they are?

[Joe]

My wife won't let me get a motorcycle Not even to learn. Where's a good place for me to take her to show how safe they are?

Not YouTube, and definitely not anywhere you might see someone riding a sport bike in shorts and flipflops, which is almost everywhere. It's amazing how stupid you realize people are once you start riding.

Motorcycles are as easy to ride as bicycles, plus a manual transmission in a car. Anyone can do it. The trick when you start out is that the faster you go, the less the bike wants to fall over.

Watch Craigslist and find someone selling their bike for $500 because their wife made them. Mine was $600 and runs (almost) fine. Forgiveness is easier than permission!

[while1]

Yeah, I see so many people riding with shorts and t-shirt... me, I ride with pants, mesh jacket, leather gloves, etc. all the necessary protective gear the motorcycle safety course I took recommended.  For me, if I'm going to lay it down or get hit/crash, I'd like to keep as much skin as I can.  Although I've been tempted to not wear my mesh jacket with the weather being in the 90s (excluding humidity) these past couple of weeks... then I realize how much I'd look like a bobble head if I didn't... since I'm not fat or have big guns.

Probably not as easy to ride as a bicycle, but if you can ride a bicycle you've got the balance part down... most people haven't gone at high enough speeds on a bicycle and had to do turning/ cornering or counter-steer, so on a motorcycle it's a bit different some skills... but you're right, most of the skills are pretty easy to pick up and come naturally.  As someone who had never really learned to drive a manual car before learning to ride a motorcycle, the most difficult thing for me was developing the muscle memory of squeezing the clutch before shifting.

[Hitmen]

Yeah, I see so many people riding with shorts and t-shirt... me, I ride with pants, mesh jacket, leather gloves, etc. all the necessary protective gear the motorcycle safety course I took recommended.

Yeah, I can't stress enough, wear the proper fucking gear if you are going to ride. Not just a helmet. My mom hangs out with a bunch of biker types and I can't tell you how many have died/ended up with serious disfigurements in the past ~10 years or so. Jeans WILL NOT protect you from losing all the skin on your legs.

[deadly7]

This is an interesting point because I was at a friend's house the other day. Some of his friends ride motorcycles. Them and I talked about how, really, it's PC to blame "drivers that aren't watching" for many biking accidents, but in actuality bikers are often driving recklessly and promoting such accidents. Weaving in and out of lanes, not slowing for red lights to turn, at times going alongside cars in lane; none of which are smart actions.

[while1]

Yeah, I see so many people riding with shorts and t-shirt... me, I ride with pants, mesh jacket, leather gloves, etc. all the necessary protective gear the motorcycle safety course I took recommended.

Yeah, I can't stress enough, wear the proper fucking gear if you are going to ride. Not just a helmet. My mom hangs out with a bunch of biker types and I can't tell you how many have died/ended up with serious disfigurements in the past ~10 years or so. Jeans WILL NOT protect you from losing all the skin on your legs.

I'm probably guilty in that sense, I just wear normal jeans while riding- of course it's better than wearing shorts.  Of course, there's a big market for specially made motorcycle gear (everything but my jeans are specifically made for riding), since you can buy jeans designed specifically for riders.  The fit, material, and quality is designed specifically to better withstand riding conditions... but you pay a premium of course.

This is an interesting point because I was at a friend's house the other day. Some of his friends ride motorcycles. Them and I talked about how, really, it's PC to blame "drivers that aren't watching" for many biking accidents, but in actuality bikers are often driving recklessly and promoting such accidents. Weaving in and out of lanes, not slowing for red lights to turn, at times going alongside cars in lane; none of which are smart actions.

Eh, I've seen instances of good and bad riders.  It seems that the ones on sports bikes tend to be the more reckless riders.

Since I'm still a newbie rider, I'm behaving how I did when I first started driving a car... I stay in the right lane as long and often as I can and try to change lanes as little as I can.

[nslay]

Clothing and gear aside ... You should be using the right vehicles. Vehicles with little to no protection are deadly (no surprise). Motorcycles can help you be dead faster.

As for helmets, while they do keep you from dying, they also help you become a vegetable. If you're not an organ donor on the road, you're a potential vegetable, quadriplegic, amputee, or coma victim on the road. The human body is frail compared to the physical forces involved in a crash

Of course, I'm trying to be humorous ... or am I?

[Joe]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running#Limits_of_speed
The human body wasn't designed to possibly exceed 27mph.

I like the definitions of squid at Urban Dictionary.

The one accident I came close to being in was entirely due to the fault of the other driver. I was behind an SUV who had moved over into a right turn lane to turn on to a side road, so I accelerated as he got out of my way. There was a van on that side road who's view of oncoming traffic was blocked by the SUV, and they turned left, blindly, right into my path. Luckily I slammed on my brakes (fishtail, woo!) as did they, and I lived to honk and flip them off.

Unfortunately, motorcycles are invisible to non-motorcyclists. I think while1 would agree with that. The amount of motorcyclists on the road increased by a factor of 20 the day I got my license.. or maybe I just never saw them before.