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orthod0ks posted:I did a 250 mile camping trip with some friends last year, and it took us drat near 8 hours. That included a number of gas stops as a couple have old UJMs that get about 100 miles on a tank, and we weren't in a rush, but a 600 mile day sounds brutal. Maybe I just haven't grown large enough riding balls though. Making mileage is all about seat time. If you're not sitting on the bike for 2+ hours at a time, you're doing it wrong. No stopping besides gas stops if you can avoid it. With that in mind though, slower touring is much more fun and interesting and leaves you with better stories. Given the choice, I'd rather take the extra time over trying to make huge miles every day. Also, speeding doesn't help you make up significant amounts of time. Set it at 5 over and forget about it, additional gas stops and constantly scanning for the cops will wear you out and cause more time loss.
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May 17, 2011 20:47
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Slim Pickens posted:Another backfire in Ballard this Wednesday the 18th, anyone interested? What is this? I googled the website but it doesn't really make it clear what specifically is going on.
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May 17, 2011 20:47
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Z3n posted:Making mileage is all about seat time. If you're not sitting on the bike for 2+ hours at a time, you're doing it wrong. No stopping besides gas stops if you can avoid it. With that in mind though, slower touring is much more fun and interesting and leaves you with better stories. Given the choice, I'd rather take the extra time over trying to make huge miles every day. Yea, makes sense. It definitely was fun taking our time. We ran into a couple riding cross country (we were in New York, they had left from LA) on an F800GS that were really fun to talk to, and she was gorgeous (the girl was cute too - I want to say Hawaiian, but that's wrong). We also hit some of the best twisties I'd ever ridden around a reservoir (here).
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May 17, 2011 21:12
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Z3n posted:Making mileage is all about seat time. If you're not sitting on the bike for 2+ hours at a time, you're doing it wrong. No stopping besides gas stops if you can avoid it. With that in mind though, slower touring is much more fun and interesting and leaves you with better stories. Given the choice, I'd rather take the extra time over trying to make huge miles every day. When you say "set it" do you mean you'd recommend removing the spring on your throttle, or do you just mean mentally?
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May 17, 2011 21:15
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SlightlyMadman posted:When you say "set it" do you mean you'd recommend removing the spring on your throttle, or do you just mean mentally? Cruise control, if you have one. Lot of folks have a throttle lock that they use for long distance interstate mile burning. But yeah, mentally works, too.
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May 17, 2011 21:21
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Haha, holy poo poo I had no idea you could get cruise control on a motorcycle. I never bother with it in my car, because I find the interactivity keeps me alert, but I'm a little nervous about wrist strain after that many days holding a throttle open.
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May 17, 2011 21:42
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I have a cheap plastic clip-on throttle boss I use for interstate hauls. I can take my fingers off the throttle and wrest my palm on the boss, it does wonders for wrist strain.
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May 17, 2011 21:47
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SlightlyMadman posted:When you say "set it" do you mean you'd recommend removing the spring on your throttle, or do you just mean mentally? Oh, mentally. But I have used throttle locks before, my favorite was a Vista Cruise on the ZZR1200. Cheap, functional, and no stupid clip to mess with my throttle control. Depending on how strong your throttle return spring is, sometimes you can just rest your hand on top of the controls. Removing the spring on the throttle is a bad idea for a variety of reasons.
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May 17, 2011 21:54
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Z3n posted:Oh, mentally. But I have used throttle locks before, my favorite was a Vista Cruise on the ZZR1200. Cheap, functional, and no stupid clip to mess with my throttle control. This is the only thing like that I can find for the Bonneville: http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/4769/428/ My only concern is that it's not clear if you still have the ability to manually control the throttle when it's set? I'd have to encounter a situation where an emergency stop is required and be unable to disengage it in time. I think I'll try a throttle-boss style clip type first, since it seems to allow the most freedom of quick reaction.
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May 17, 2011 22:04
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It just makes your throttle sticky, you can easily roll it shut.
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May 17, 2011 22:10
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SlightlyMadman posted:This is the only thing like that I can find for the Bonneville: All of the throttle locks like that (including the vista cruise) work by increasing the friction at the throttle tube. So all you need to do is just roll the throttle shut a little harder. I've accidentally ridden around on friend's bikes with the throttle lock engaged, it made getting on the throttle smoothly hard until I figured out what was going on, but wasn't a big deal.
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May 17, 2011 22:11
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Ah cool, so it's sort of like a parking brake in that way, heh. I guess the real question is whether or not it's $100 worth of better than one of the $20 plastic clips?
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May 17, 2011 22:50
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SlightlyMadman posted:Ah cool, so it's sort of like a parking brake in that way, heh. I'd probably go with this: http://www.casporttouring.com/cst/motorcycle/Vista-Cruise/16022.html Or you could modify the cheaper one to work, which is what I did. It was a little fiddly, but not too bad.
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May 17, 2011 22:59
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SlightlyMadman posted:Ah cool, so it's sort of like a parking brake in that way, heh. My current bike came w/ a throttlemeister ($100), I prefer the vista cruise.
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May 18, 2011 00:50
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clutchpuck posted:What is this? I googled the website but it doesn't really make it clear what specifically is going on. I'm assuming you found this site. http://www.backfiremoto.com/ Basically just a gathering for people on vintage bikes and cafe racers that occurs almost monthly from may to august or so. A lot of other bikes show up, too. Even with the lovely weather, there were probably 30 cafes, choppers, mopeds and other bikes. The coolest I saw was a 4 cylinder 2-stroke. Had no idea what it was other than that, it was streetfightered and pretty much debadged. I'll probably bring my camera along this time, too.
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May 18, 2011 01:49
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Throttle lock type of mechanism that seems pretty simple. I'm interested, but to be honest I think I'd go with a throttle rocker.
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May 18, 2011 12:53
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Z3n posted:I did 730 miles on the DRZ in one day, and then another 620 the next day without any problems. I was pretty beat, but it went fine. That seems doable to me, if you're planning on just riding that day, and not sightseeing or anything else. For some reason I woke up at 4am this morning thinking about this trip. Instead of leaving Friday morning and doing 3/4 of the trip in one day and 1/4 the next I'll just leave after work Thursday, ride until I'm tired then finish it Friday. Won't be rolling into my brother's graduation party to surprise him but this will give me an extra day and should be a bit easier on me.
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May 18, 2011 13:27
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So my friend who usually drives his RV out is of course skipping it this year for the first time in like 15 years. Anyways, no hope of a tow back in that case. My other thought is there's a company called JCMotors that will ship a motorcycle across the country. I could always ride it to Reno and have them pick it up, then fly back home and have them deliver it. It feels awfully like cheating, but I'm having trouble finding a way to get enough time off work to handle 7+ days on the return trip, if that's really what I'd need to expect.
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May 18, 2011 15:19
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SpannerX posted:Throttle lock type of mechanism that seems pretty simple. I'm interested, but to be honest I think I'd go with a throttle rocker. I don't find throttle rockers help since you still can't take your hands off the bar. Not a big fan personally.
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May 18, 2011 18:59
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n8r posted:I don't find throttle rockers help since you still can't take your hands off the bar. Not a big fan personally. They help for cramp hands, which I get because I sometimes grip too tight.
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May 18, 2011 19:27
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Low content post, but I'm going to be taking an MSF course in the next couple months and I'm super excited to start riding. My only real experience with bikes was puttering around on this super old little 50 cc motor scooter/cycle on my grandpa's ranch when I was a little kid. Bikes look like a fun way to get around and living in the south bay area, there are lots of extra bonuses like riding in carpool lanes during rush hour and only paying 2.50 instead of 5 bucks to cross the san mateo bridge. I'm heavily leaning towards a ninja 250 as my first bike, although I am somewhat concerned about it moving my large frame (6'2" 220 lbs) on the aggressive freeways around here. I want to be someone who makes motorcycle riding a safe part of their lives, not a statistic.
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May 18, 2011 19:35
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Take the MSF then test-ride 250's and Ninja 500's. See which one fits you better.
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May 18, 2011 19:43
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I used to have a throttle rocker on my Ninja all the time which makes it completely comfortable (I get some wrist pain after awhile), but as a result my hand ends up stretched out over it and onto the front brake lever. Not only might it be making my throttle control lovely but I noticed I unconsciously squeeze the brake a few mm in the middle of turns when rolling on the throttle...not good.
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May 18, 2011 19:44
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All of you who have stripped Phillips bolts or screws on your motorcycle, listen up. Japanese motorcycles do not use American Phillips. The standard used on Japanese motorcycles is JIS Phillips which has a different profile. Purchase a JIS Phillips bit.   Forward this to 5 people or your motorcycle will turn into a goat. MotoMind fucked around with this message at 17:44 on May 19, 2011 |
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May 19, 2011 17:41
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MotoMind posted:Purchase a JIS Phillips bit. Well gently caress me.
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May 19, 2011 17:57
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As you'll often end up with a combo of JIS bolts and Phillips head bolts, you can differentiate between them by the little dot stamped on the JIS bolt. You can see it in their demo picture. This is also why people always complain about stuck carb screws. The screws aren't that bad but they're nearly always JIS.
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May 19, 2011 18:00
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Z3n posted:
Fixed that for ya.
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May 19, 2011 18:02
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JP Money posted:Fixed that for ya. Stop limpwristing it  Impact drive helps too.
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May 19, 2011 19:04
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Weathersman has been shady lately. Constant 50-90% chance of rain for the past 5 days, and it's been mostly beautiful weather. Was riding to work when this rainshitstorm caught me off guard 2 miles from work, and had to lanesplit like an rear end in a top hat through rush hour traffic to work cuz I was wearing all leathers. Then I begged my boss to park it outside the front door (the only covered area around here) so my poor bike wouldn't be soaking wet. Permission granted.  Just how bad is rain for leathers?
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May 19, 2011 22:19
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It's just water.
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May 19, 2011 22:44
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Use it as an excuse to clean and condition them, it'll be fine.
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May 19, 2011 22:52
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I don't hear the cows complaining.
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May 19, 2011 22:58
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After a rainy 500 mile I5 schlep, the good news was my buffalo hide jacket is pretty much form-fitting. The bad news: all of the glue in my boots dissolved.
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May 19, 2011 23:11
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Finally uploaded my pics from Backfire 24 here in Seattle. A lot of cool bikes came out that day.   I wish he would've rode it there, but when the only thing stopping you is a piece of felt on the rear wheel, I can't say I blame him.  One of two Indians I saw there, it was by far the nicest.     This dude knows how to park a DRZ   A Sunbeam? Never even heard of it, but it was an awesome oddball bike.    To compensate for their small stature, the moped chooses to gather in tight packs to fend off attacks from hungry motorcycles.     The best tires belonged to a Super Duke.  It was a pretty drat cool event, I'll definitely be at the next one if the weather's nice.
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May 19, 2011 23:11
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Oh man, the Indian with the suicide shift is sick as hell, I love old Indians. The wife just barely made it to Ride West last night, for a couple new beakster pieces, before the whole staff bailed for Backfire. I'm going to have to check this out next month when I am not busy. Looks like fun.
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May 19, 2011 23:16
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Awesome pictures. Too bad one wasn't going on when I was up there, would have loved to wander around and check out bikes. 
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May 19, 2011 23:22
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MotoMind posted:All of you who have stripped Phillips bolts or screws on your motorcycle, listen up. Who has phillips heads that pointy  or maybe I just have a mix of both so I never notice when I choose the appropriate size
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May 20, 2011 00:39
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I was screwing around with ideas for my bike in photoshop, thought I'd share.
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May 20, 2011 06:52
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Sunbeams were often used for sidecar rigs. You can sort of see the logic just looking at that S7. If I didn't have to pay for it, I'd love an S7 or an S8 for cruising around the West Country on sunny days and maybe taking down to the Goodwood Revival once a year. Not a sporty classic, but I imagine quite a soothing one.
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May 20, 2011 08:59
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| # ? May 18, 2024 10:19 |
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Top tip for getting rid of spilled fuel, residue and associated smells, even diesel out of fabrics and off surfaces: Use a strong-ish solution of Daz washing powder. I just cleaned out the bilges of my boat on recommendation from some of the sailing forums. ReelBigLizard fucked around with this message at 10:35 on May 20, 2011 |
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May 20, 2011 10:32
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