Motorcycles

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Holy triple post.

Good read: http://rideapart.com/2013/08/10-common-motorcycle-accidents-and-how-to-avoid-them/

TRINI said:

Good read: http://rideapart.com/2013/08/10-common-motorcycle-accidents-and-how-to-avoid-them/

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The "Biker gets rear-ended, lands on feet" youtube vid makes me squeamish just watching it; I'm pretty sure if that happened to me I'd be hard pressed to ever get back on a bike.

I am constantly scanning my side-views for that kinda crap, and sitting off to the side in lanes. Good grief. Scary. Wish we could lane split.

Cool The Kid said:

I dont get the Starbucks joke

But yea within a first month of me having my bike someone knocked it over

Within a year meter maids towed it

Only way to have a nice bike there is to garage it and trailer it to Monticello

I am in NC now

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Brooklyn to NC? Kind of an extreme change



Rumpelstiltskin said:

 Brooklyn to NC?  Kind of an extreme change

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I had my fill of NYC (29 yrs)

I was actually in the UES the last 3 years. Def want to visit every now and then but I was itching to leave. It was the right move.

..



epb said:

Here's the analogy I typically use: some people were taught to swim by simply throwing them in the pool and letting them work things out. There's a difference, though, between learning to swim and figuring out how not to drown, and there's a difference between figuring out how to get down the road without killing yourself and learning to ride properly. The biggest downside to starting on a sportbike is that most of the riders that survive become pretty much uneducatable - they "know what they're doing" and don't want to be bothered about poor technique or bad habits. They write off best practices as a difference of opinion.

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I think you mean uneducable or ineducable. Just because someone buys a bike other than a 750 doesn't mean that they automatically don't know anything about riding, don't want to learn anything about riding, etc. While there are many riders like this I don't believe it's the majority. Also, one can buy a fittingly sized bike and handle it / learn how to handle it quite well.

epb said:

Tons of crappy drivers make it from point A to point B without dying and figure they're good enough. Sure, they have a lot of close calls while they're texting or on the phone, but if it were really dangerous wouldn't they be dead by now? The same thing happens with motorcycles, but because of the greater mystique of danger, everyone that doesn't kill themselves figures "it worked out great." And worse, they tell their friends that.

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See above.

epb said:

The real issue, imo, is Americans want to do things, but they don't care if they do them well or responsibly. They want a bunch of guns, but why insist they learn how to shoot properly or store them safely? They want to drive, but why should they be expected to take care of their car or insure it - that only matters if they crash and they aren't going to, right? And sure, almost every other industrialized nation sees fit to require multiple testing and years of experience before unleashing someone on the roads on a liter bike, but those guys are all sissies - gimme!

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Now it's all Americans that don't know how to ride well? And all Americans like guns but can't shoot well? I assume that you don't live in America.

epb said:

I don't doubt you and others that started like that can ride a motorcycle. I sincerely doubt you're the best rider you could be, and I hate that so many people are content to muddle through in this and so many other areas of life.

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How much training have you had with your bike and how many miles a year do you ride? Just curious.



Tck13 said:

I think you mean uneducable or ineducable. Just because someone buys a bike other than a 750 doesn't mean that they automatically don't know anything about riding, don't want to learn anything about riding, etc. While there are many riders like this I don't believe it's the majority. Also, one can buy a fittingly sized bike and handle it / learn how to handle it quite well.

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Your responses indicate a radical, almost willfull misreading of the text. In short, I'm acknowledging that while it's possible for people to figure out how to ride a motorcycle with no training on a poorly-chosen bike, it's not the best way to learn. This is not a radical concept - it applies to pretty much all walks of life; playing guitar, computer programming, poetry, fighting, neurosurgery. In the end, the person pursuing any endeavor has to decide whether they want to do the best they can or just get by - really learn to play, or just learn the opening riff to "Smoke On The Water." I'm of the view that a new rider's main focus should be on learning to ride well, with strong grounding in the fundamentals of riding technique, safety practices, and bike maintenance. Then again, I'm also of the opinion people playing intruments should be able to read music and people writing novels should know sentence structure and the rules of grammar.

You don't agree? I've got great news - you don't have to! The hope is that when new riders go looking for viewpoints on a first bike, they see various ones from experienced riders and decide what will work for them. You're more than welcome to state your views on the topic, as I did, and let them stand. No need to clutter the thread with anecdotes about how cousin Billy-Bob learned on a Ducati 916 when he was 12 and went on to when the Isle of Man TT.

I think the advice from the blog in Trini's post is really good. In fact, I may need to spend some more time practicing with the front brake in a parking lot.



brokencycle said:

I think the advice from the blog in Trini's post is really good. In fact, I may need to spend some more time practicing with the front brake in a parking lot.

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My front break is so crappy that I could never possibly have that problem (I've tried).



otc said:

My front break is so crappy that I could never possibly have that problem (I've tried).

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I had a close call last night - I wound up having to move into the shoulder area because I started locking up.

brokencycle said:

I think the advice from the blog in Trini's post is really good. In fact, I may need to spend some more time practicing with the front brake in a parking lot.

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When I was 14 or 15, I envisioned myself racing and winning the Tour de France and so I set up a rigid training schedule. I lived in Eastern Queens back then and I would ride out to the velodrome in Kissena Park (this is back in the 80s) in Flushing and ride laps. I had read (and experienced) that the front brake performed 85-95% of the braking duties. I had a track bike ("fixie" for the hipsters or a "constant" for any West Indians) for back then with only a front brake so front brake use only (as well as modulation to avoid lock ups) was second nature. One of the first things I noticed when I started riding motorcycles was that most new riders would only use their rear brakes and were frightened to touch the front for fear of flipping over. I have never had that issue thanks to my childhood obsession.

otc said:

Is it worth it to upgrade my chain on the kz400?

Its a standard chain and its got a little bit of rust on some of the outside plates, but otherwise seems to be in good condition. Don't think it is too stretched or anything...it can't be the original chain that came with the bike (34 years and 28k miles wouldn't leave it looking like that).

The guy who mounted my tires suggested putting on an o-ring chain, but I can't really see why other than increased longevity and decreased maintenance. Replacing a still-good part for better longevity doesn't make sense (since it hasn't worn out yet). Since the bike sometimes gets rained on and sits outside, I probably want to keep it freshly lubed anyways because the outside will start to rust up even if the o-rings are keeping the insides nice and lubed.

Just not sure if there is any good reason to spend a hundred bucks on something that is working fine now.

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As long as it isn't stretched out and you keep it cleaned and lubed, rock on



Rumpelstiltskin said:

When I was 14 or 15, I envisioned myself racing and winning the Tour de France and so I set up a rigid training schedule.  I lived in Eastern Queens back then and I would ride out to the velodrome in Kissena Park (this is back in the 80s) in Flushing and ride laps.  I had read (and experienced) that the front brake performed 85-95% of the braking duties.  I had a track bike ("fixie" for the hipsters or a "constant" for any West Indians) for back then with only a front brake so front brake use only (as well as modulation to avoid lock ups) was second nature.  One of the first things I noticed when I started riding motorcycles was that most new riders would only use their rear brakes and were frightened to touch the front for fear of flipping over.  I have never had that issue thanks to my childhood obsession.

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I have no problem using it at all, but when I squeezed the brake my bike started sliding around. I was able to maintain control and avoid laying it down, flipping it, or hitting the stopped car in front of me, but I feel like I should have been able to do a better job.