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I've warmed up to rain riding slowly over the years and eventually got to the point where I would just throw a rain suit on and go to work. The first time I did it I could swear my back tire was hydroplaning constantly and was really uncomfortable with it, now it feels like my bike has more traction than my truck in the wet. It's just a matter of baby-steps, over the course of years. For the visor my winter/waterproof gloves have the little wiper on the thumb, but I usually just turn my head to both sides and the rain beads off even without any rain-x.
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Mar 7, 2012 11:59
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| # ? May 16, 2024 15:31 |
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RainX is good stuff! When your bike is your every day driver sometimes you have to ride in the rain. I'm from Georgia originally and the rain there is insane compared to where I'm at in Cali. I've got lots of experience with riding on wet roads, but everybody around me seems to become instantly retarded. I find rain makes other drivers far more dangerous to my health than the road. When it rains I have a few extra safety rules I follow. Double-triple following distance Tap brakes even when engine braking to show tail lights Lane split whenever possible I don't really ride any slower although I do use a lot finer throttle control. I also avoid hard leans if I can.
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Mar 7, 2012 17:09
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I also add: brake early and brake often with both brakes smooth on ALL the controls. Very smooth. Gives you time to recover when traction isn't what you expected it to be.
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Mar 7, 2012 18:17
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VendaGoat posted:Now, the ride to DC! Which I plan to take again! Google Maps route That looks like a beautiful ride. I usually head east from Pittsburgh because I'm coming from the northeast suburbs, then cut south through Somerset. The ride between Somerset and Cumberland Maryland is gorgeous. Beautiful rolling hills and nice sort of switchback along a ridgetop that winds between wind turbines.
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Mar 8, 2012 00:36
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ought ten posted:That looks like a beautiful ride. I usually head east from Pittsburgh because I'm coming from the northeast suburbs, then cut south through Somerset. The ride between Somerset and Cumberland Maryland is gorgeous. Beautiful rolling hills and nice sort of switchback along a ridgetop that winds between wind turbines. I know exactly where you're at. Because if you happen to find yourself in monroeville, you're stuck either going wide east or wide west to get south from there. I tell you what, when you're on your bike those windmills are IMMENSE. It's also one of the reasons why I love driving past Shippingsport and the cooling towers for the nuclear power plant. I love our area. Edit: ok maybe Sommerset county is a bit too far west for a detour south, but I hope you get my meaning. Also, I never realized just how far west I went on that ride.  VVVVV 
VendaGoat fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Mar 8, 2012 |
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Mar 8, 2012 02:50
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After riding on the track in the rain I realize it's not that big of a deal, but I still won't take the bike out if the forecast is wet because I don't feel like getting soaked and getting the sniffles
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Mar 8, 2012 02:58
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Rain is not a big deal to me anymore, not after my first couple months on a bike. If you live in Seattle and refuse to ride when it's wet, well, you aren't going to get much riding done. Black ice, however, is a big deal. That poo poo scared the living hell out of me this morning. The rest of the roads were dry and safe but the 99 bridge was like walking a greasy tightrope.
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Mar 8, 2012 04:26
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deliverator posted:Rain is not a big deal to me anymore, not after my first couple months on a bike. If you live in Seattle and refuse to ride when it's wet, well, you aren't going to get much riding done. I've rode through rain that had 18 wheelers pulled over on the side of the road, but holy poo poo does the thought of hitting ice scare me.
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Mar 8, 2012 05:07
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Last summer on my way to the ferry in Travemünde, on the autobahn from Hamburg, it poured down hard enough for the regular traffic to slow down to below 80 kmh, but I had a ferry to catch so I averaged between 160 and 180.  And then two weeks later, my front wheel washed out on the go cart track in the wet. Now I freeze up and go 30 below the speed limit as soon as I see wet tarmac...  gently caress you mind, gently caress you.
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Mar 8, 2012 07:39
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invision posted:I've rode through rain that had 18 wheelers pulled over on the side of the road, but holy poo poo does the thought of hitting ice scare me. Yep. I have zero problems about riding in cold, wet or nasty. However, I won't gently caress around with icy roads.
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Mar 8, 2012 17:09
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Hughmoris posted:Yep. I have zero problems about riding in cold, wet or nasty. However, I won't gently caress around with icy roads.
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Mar 8, 2012 17:41
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invision posted:I've rode through rain that had 18 wheelers pulled over on the side of the road, but holy poo poo does the thought of hitting ice scare me. Try a freak hailstorm in the middle of a desert 
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Mar 8, 2012 17:41
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Did you at least have a full-face helmet?
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Mar 9, 2012 03:45
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x-post by request from the "what did you do to your ride today? thread." First off:  I think I ran 12 kinda hot, made it through, but came out to the inside of keyhole. I remember hitting a peg feeler, thinking "foot up, knee down, lean harder" Then I remember running off the right side of the track before the turn in for 11, then thinking "oh poo poo, I'm in the dirt, stand it up!" then "Hah okay I got this I'm just going to go straight and run off the other side" since my front tire was at the curtain for keyhole. Next thing you know I'm doing the superman three feet off of the ground, remember smacking my head into the concrete with my teeth clinched wondering how many teeth I just broke, then all of a sudden I'm standing up looking for my battery and my seat. Problem is, I'm pretty sure I made most of that up while I was bouncing off the asphalt. In reality I have no drat idea what happened. Guess I just hit the battery ejection switch on accident and it blew me off of the bike Ultimately though, it really boils down to me getting overconfident. Didn't pay enough attention to my tire pressure either, which is inexcusable and some total rookie poo poo. I'm going to tape "CHECK TIRE PRESSURE" across the tank for next time, and figure out some way to keep myself in check. Also I'd like to think switch for picking up my bike after I looked at it and decided "gently caress it, it can stay there" then went searching for my GoPro. Now if anyone has some SV parts lying around, I'm in the market.  Do I get frequent flyer miles for posting in here so much? Damage: Tank Upper Fairing Windscreen Brake Fluid Reservoir Subframe bent to the left Grab bar smashed into the tial Tail cracked Mud and grass stuck between the wheels and tires invision fucked around with this message at 04:19 on Mar 19, 2012 |
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Mar 19, 2012 04:17
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The GoPro was... on right? -CHECK TIRE PRESSURE -TURN ON GOPRO Have you reviewed the footage?
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Mar 19, 2012 04:22
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You have a battery ejection button? O.O Hope its not too expensive to fix and you weren't hurt too bad.
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Mar 19, 2012 04:24
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Ziploc posted:The GoPro was... on right? Yeah it was still recording when we picked it up. Except theres no footage from about 10 seconds before the crash. e:I would like to say that I was hauling rear end right before though. e2:I don't really have a battery eject button. But the battery and the seat were like 20 feet away from the bike. It literally ripped the battery cables and the seat off trying to escape.
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Mar 19, 2012 04:25
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Pm me with your parts needed list. I have tons of spares and full plastics.
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Mar 19, 2012 05:03
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Glad you're ok, that's the important thing. Bike's fixable, not the end of the world. I don't have many G2 spares but I have a couple of odds and ends, post up with what you need when you start fixing it.
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Mar 19, 2012 07:08
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After posting in here and answer the questions I hoped to never see SALR light it up again. Glad you are ok man. Glad to see you're looking to rebuild it. Glad to see you are learning from it. You'll never forget to check your pressure again. Did you get away clean on injuries?
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Mar 19, 2012 07:13
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invision, how did your gear hold up?
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Mar 19, 2012 18:22
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This weekend had a couple of motorcycle fatalities in my area along with several more bad wrecks. One of the fatalities was a friend of mine from middle school. He was going pretty quickly through an area of our city that has become more pedestrian in the last couple years, hit a speed bump, lost control and emptied the contents of his skull. His passenger sustained similar injuries but she at least got a helicopter ride out of the deal before cooking it. Neither wearing helmets, I like to think he wouldn't have been instantly killed if he was wearing one.
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Mar 19, 2012 19:45
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EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:This weekend had a couple of motorcycle fatalities in my area along with several more bad wrecks. One of the fatalities was a friend of mine from middle school. He was going pretty quickly through an area of our city that has become more pedestrian in the last couple years, hit a speed bump, lost control and emptied the contents of his skull. His passenger sustained similar injuries but she at least got a helicopter ride out of the deal before cooking it. Neither wearing helmets, I like to think he wouldn't have been instantly killed if he was wearing one. Most likely they would have both walked away from it if they were wearing full gear. It's really awful to hear about people effectively committing suicide like that.
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Mar 19, 2012 20:04
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SlightlyMadman posted:Most likely they would have both walked away from it if they were wearing full gear. It's really awful to hear about people effectively committing suicide like that. Yeah, it's pretty striking evidence when you can tell who had the right gear on when the kid doing highway speeds who low-sides into the ditch walks away and these two, at probably 20 or 30 miles an hour, were both dead instantly.
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Mar 19, 2012 20:21
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Jeez, sorry to hear someone you knew dies for something as silly as no helmet.
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Mar 19, 2012 23:55
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Friend was test riding a Thruxton, I was behind him on his GS450, for some reason he dinged the rear brake with his foot accidentally while turning left after a red light and went down, not having ridden in a couple months I panicked and instead of running him over LAYER 'ER DOWN, on my foot, which ain't half bad but he has to pay like 1200€ in damage for the Thruxton and is probably not gonna buy it. I'm really lucky, I was thinking of test riding a Scrambler, crashing that woulda probably also cost me quite a bit. Another scratch on the Suzuki, no big deal, the thing cost half of what the damages (mainly Shift lever, clutch cover, left pipe) of the Thruxton were. Of course I wasn't wearing proper gear so my foot is sprained, but at least not broken, got it X-rayed. Looks lovely though. 
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Mar 24, 2012 20:23
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Wow! What kind of foot wear did you have on?
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Mar 24, 2012 21:19
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Had a small get off today on the DRZ while offroading. I was descending from about 3300' and I came up on a really tight hairpin, the road below was actually at 2400'. The turn drops almost 900' and there is actually a monstrous hill climb from the bottom road to the top. Anyways I was coming up to the hairpin and trying to slow down a bit and just caught a rut. I felt it kick me hard and I knew I couldn't save it so I tried to minimize the damage by locking up the brakes before it lost contact with the rubber. This worked better than I expected and I managed to get it down to 10-15 mph from 25-30 mph before I lost it. I dove off to avoid getting pinned and to make sure I hit my dominant side. I managed to get into crash position before I hit and I absorbed most of the impact between my bicep and the hard armor on my elbow/shoulder. I have a lot of experience with falling and this one went according to plan. I was up and had the bike switched off in less than 5 seconds after impact. I stood it up, jumped on it and rode down the hairpin until I could find somewhere to pull over. I've seen the guys in pre-runners run through these trails at 40-50 mph and I didn't want to be on the blind side of a hairpin if one of them came up. I got to the bottom pulled off and gave the bike a good check. No damage except my already cracked mirror was a little more cracked. I'm home now and there's no bruising but I'm sore and I think I tucked my wrist badly when I muscled up for the hit, it's fairly sore but I'm confident there's no permanent damage. My gear held up well, I was wearing street gear but it's well armored and has an 800+ denier count. My biggest issue was tearing off a small rivet cover on my boot. I REALLY need to get some MX boots, hopefully this little incident convinces my wife to let me spend the cash for them. I wasn't hurt so I kept riding for awhile. I went to the end of that trail and on my way back I took revenge on that bastard hill by doing the hillclimb, it was fairly intense. I started in 4th and ended in 1st WoT the whole way. I feel so out of practice but it was good to survive my first real offroad ride in about 6 years. Ride safe fellas (and fellettes?)!
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Mar 24, 2012 21:39
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Crayvex posted:Wow! What kind of foot wear did you have on? Winter shoes basically, think kinda like these 
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Mar 24, 2012 21:55
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niethan posted:You've got 26 bones and 33 joints in that left swollen and hairy thing. Not all structural injuries are immediately obvious when x-rayed. Is that thing totally black in the soft tissue at the sole? Are you able to stand on your toes on that disgusting thing if you're supported for balance?
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Mar 25, 2012 22:05
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Sir Cornelius posted:You've got 26 bones and 33 joints in that left swollen and hairy thing. It's not black and blue at the bottom of the foot. I can walk if I use the heel of my left foot. Still hurts though. Here are some new pics from yesterday, the day after the crash. http://imgur.com/a/bL32b I just tried standing only on the toes of my broken foot, with the other one in the air, and it hurt like a motherfucker, so thanks for that bro
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Mar 26, 2012 07:03
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niethan posted:It's not black and blue at the bottom of the foot. Broken feet really suck, make sure you keep it elevated. Heal quick and get back on the bike man.
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Mar 26, 2012 17:12
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It's already much better today, doc was right it's healing really fast. Also I got some bigass boots so this poo poo doesn't happen again
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Mar 26, 2012 19:35
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niethan posted:It's already much better today, doc was right it's healing really fast. Also I got some bigass boots so this poo poo doesn't happen again MX boots are where it's at. They are on top of my gear list atm.
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Mar 26, 2012 19:50
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niethan posted:Also I got some bigass boots so this poo poo doesn't happen again Something about your avatar tells me it'll happen again. Sinisalo MX boots are nice though.
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Mar 26, 2012 19:54
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Just noticed I cracked my top clamp on the DRZ, had to have happened when I put it down Sat. It's small but it goes all the way through. Time to upgrade! http://www.highwaydirtbikes.com/HDB_Shop/index.php?app=ccp0&ns=catshow&ref=handguards&sid=j50lgba3644qcnv6ka9mkqu55fi5ggdo
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Mar 26, 2012 21:10
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Sorry for the double post, a coworker of mine that rides just told me about this. http://www.ksby.com/news/los-osos-motorcycle-crash-victim-identified/#!prettyPhoto/0/ I knew this guy and I absolutely cannot figure out how he crashed. I ride this road every single day, this is right after the turn onto Turri from the 2 lane main road, Los Osos Valley Rd. There isn't a curve or anything, this guy was a pretty drat good rider too. This has hit close to home for me, Ride safe everyone.
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Mar 27, 2012 18:15
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Maybe he was run off the road by an invisible oblivious driver?
xd fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Mar 27, 2012 |
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Mar 27, 2012 19:02
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xd posted:Maybe he was run off the road by an invisible oblivious driver?
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Mar 27, 2012 19:18
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| # ? May 16, 2024 15:31 |
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cheesebot posted:There's always the possibility of a medical situation, at 59 years old a heart attack or something similar is a possibility. That's what I was thinking. The road is a monster, but not where he was at. It was one of 3 things: Mechanical failure, rider error or a medical condition. The only rider error I can think of would be breaking the wheel loose and loosing control. The video said the driver watched him just drift off the side before the guard rail.
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Mar 27, 2012 19:32
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