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Ding 1000 miles last night, btw. Only one dan so far. Bike's running great; last fillup was 2.7 gallons over 135 miles, giving 50.1 mpg. Hell yes. Grocery getta. I love the Sena too and it's made riding really interesting. I can put some tunes on, flip on FM radio to hear the traffic reports, get Siri nav with one button press, or use the 3.5 line cable to listen to the cops on my scanner. Nice device.Jcam posted:got some friends to safely/conservatively ride with, etc etc. Careful with this. I'm still scared shitless of riding around other bikes. Of course, if they're buddies and everybody knows whats up, and they're good riders, they'll let you set the pace. If they don't, do. not. try. to. keep. up. Catch up with them at the next red light or stop and yell, but don't push yourself. Sagebrush posted:Bad advice. You need to learn to use the front brake and to use it smoothly, because as noted above, it's 70% of your braking force. It's perfectly possible to use the front brake alone to bleed off tiny bits of speed with a gentle touch -- it just takes some practice. But if you don't get in the habit of it now, sooner or later you'll end up in a situation where you need all of your brakes, you'll automatically go to the rear alone, lock it up when you aren't stopping quickly enough, and skid until you layer dan. FRONTBRAKEFUCKENRULES. There are two situations where I rear brake exclusively; 1: when i'm doing tight U's or other turns at slow speed (meaning i am leaning my body for balance, not the bike) and need to hit the curve right to get into the parking spot - rear brake and clutch feather here, and 2: when i'm sitting at a stoplight, in gear, and I am getting ready to take off. Hold position with rear, get revs up a bit, let out clutch as I let off rear brake. Most useful on uphills. All other times it's get the front brake going, get the back brake going, then increase using progressive braking. Front brakes aren't necessarily hyper-powerful binary switch gently caress-you stop levers, but you do need to learn how to modulate and bring it in easily. It makes the front suspension compress, which changes the handling of the bike, and could destabilize things a bit. Squeeze, don't grab!
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Aug 2, 2018 22:11
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Some real wisdom from sagebrush and slavvy here. Use your breaks right, folks.
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Aug 2, 2018 22:52
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pokie posted:Some real wisdom from sagebrush and slavvy here. Use your breaks right, folks. Brakes*
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Aug 2, 2018 22:53
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Digital_Jesus posted:Brakes* Breaks are important!
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Aug 2, 2018 22:58
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Jonny 290 posted:Careful with this. I'm still scared shitless of riding around other bikes. Of course, if they're buddies and everybody knows whats up, and they're good riders, they'll let you set the pace. If they don't, do. not. try. to. keep. up. Catch up with them at the next red light or stop and yell, but don't push yourself. I understand what you're saying for sure. My main pal I'll be ripping around with isn't a speed-demon or anything like that, and is mostly looking for a buddy to muckle around the city with. I'm not a super young peckerhead anymore so I don't have a lot to prove, I just want a more exciting means of transportation as an alternative to my car. I know I'll get a lot of flak and you'll all probably call me an idiot for even getting on this bike initially, but the bike I did my first 10-20 hours on was my father's Boulevard C109. Big dumb touring bike with lots of torque, but hey it at least helped quash any idea of me wanting a huge bike to start with.
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Aug 2, 2018 23:01
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Yeah, this is what happens when you are a noob and ride with a less than considerate buddy I am not saying it wasn't my fault this happened, but having a crime-doer buddy was a contributing factor to my stupidity.
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Aug 2, 2018 23:25
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Sagebrush posted:No dumb questions in here,
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Aug 3, 2018 00:22
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:"What brand of oil?" Doesn't matter, as long as it meets your manual's requirements (e.g. JASO-MA) and is the correct weight. Find the cheapest stuff at your local auto parts store that hits those marks. I hope this is helpful!
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Aug 3, 2018 00:48
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I prefer marlboro brand filters.
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Aug 3, 2018 01:06
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Horse Clocks posted:I should clarify, I do use the front brake, but was advised in the CBT to use the rear when letting off speed. Adding to what sagebrush and slavvy have already said, I think one of the big parts of learning to ride a bike well, and something I still work at, is the smooth application of both throttle and brake and understanding how the current state of traction interacts with your application of throttle/brake.
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Aug 3, 2018 01:32
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builds character posted:Adding to what sagebrush and slavvy have already said, I think one of the big parts of learning to ride a bike well, and something I still work at, is the smooth application of both throttle and brake and understanding how the current state of traction interacts with your application of throttle/brake. Also known as doing a wheelie. 
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Aug 3, 2018 02:20
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Supradog posted:That or use a real small amount of plumbers thread tape, you won't need much. This worked perfectly. So how long does it take until I stop giggling at the acronym CBT?
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Aug 3, 2018 07:23
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builds character posted:Adding to what sagebrush and slavvy have already said, I think one of the big parts of learning to ride a bike well, and something I still work at, is the smooth application of both throttle and brake and understanding how the current state of traction interacts with your application of throttle/brake. This. If you ever want to be worth a drat as a rider, you'll never stop trying to be smoother and use better lines. I've been trying to teach a buddy how to go fast on his er6 and the most difficult thing to put across, especially to a guy coming from fast cars, was that fast on a bike doesn't feel violent and scary, it feels smooth and relaxed. You don't flail at the controls and lurch around jabbing at the brakes with your coffee flying across the dashboard, you caress the brakes and finesse the throttle and keep a cool head. The most important thing IMO is to first learn to use the controls correctly, then learn how to follow correct lines. I wasted years on not getting better by failing to understand that lines are fundamental and not just optional things you can do for fun/on a track. Putting my mate on the back of a whale-sprung firestorm and showing him firsthand wtf to do got him out of the habit of stamping on the brakes and coming to a near stop in the middle of the corner, but lines vs lean angle is a tougher nut to crack. In the end it took the humbling experience of failing to keep up with a clapped out cb125 to drive home the fact that every bike is slow if you use the wrong lines, that there's no device or technique or youtube trick that can circumvent the laws governing bike dynamics and tyres.
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Aug 3, 2018 12:44
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I’ve been riding a CBR 250R for about a year now, and I’ve been thinking about getting a second bike. The CBR has been a fantastic around-town street bike/commuter with a friendly clutch and fantastic fuel economy, but I kind of want something a bit more drop safe that I can push my limits on and roll around some gravel on without worrying about rashing my fairings. As such, I’m considering an upgrade to...another 250, namely a WR250X. Two questions: 1) is it superfluous to have two 250s at the same time? I really like my CBR, but I’m intrigued by what I’ve read about supermotos on here. 2) If not, does this seem like a decent one? The Seat Concepts seat and upgraded tank capacity were things I’d been considering anyway. KBB estimates value for a 2010 WRX at $3800, so I was thinking of offering around $4000. Scuzzywuffit fucked around with this message at 02:22 on Aug 4, 2018 |
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Aug 3, 2018 16:31
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Scuzzywuffit posted:I’ve been riding a CBR 250R for about a year now, and I’ve been thinking about getting a second bike. The CBR has been a fantastic around-town street bike/commuter with a friendly clutch and fantastic fuel economy, but I kind of want something a bit more drop safe that I can push my limits on and roll around some gravel on without worrying about rushing my fairings. This WR looks great. I got mine for like 2 more grand, although it had somewhat better upgrades (but less tires). Check it out, if it looks clean and runs well, you'll be happy. Keep CBR while you get used to WR. If you find that CBR does nothing that WR does not, sell it.
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Aug 3, 2018 18:54
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from what i've been told, having a supermoto and a street biek with the same displacement are still WILDLY different experiences. Hell, i've got a ninja 500r and my next bike is probably going to be smaller displacement than that (yes, a supermoto or enduro of some sort).
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Aug 3, 2018 19:59
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Never think that getting another bike of a similar displacement is a downgrade, just because it might have similar power. Powerful bikes are fun, but they're usually heavier, and heavy bikes are not as responsive to rider input (and are also exponentially more of a drag to maneuver when NOT riding them). Since so much of the fun of operating a motorcycle is in maneuvering it through curves, it's worth taking into consideration. I started on a 250, then went to a 750, then another 250, then a 350, then a 125, and then another 250. (I still have the 125.)
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Aug 4, 2018 04:20
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In my neck of the woods it's pretty much impossible to use more than a hundred-odd horsepower, and often the poor ergos, racetrack geometry and super stiff damping mean mean fancy sport bikes are functionally slower than motards with gently caress all power. I've gone on a similar trajectory in that I got ever larger, more powerful bikes until I learned what the gently caress and switched to getting ever smaller lighter bikes.
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Aug 4, 2018 04:30
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I do a lot of side street riding using the big arteries to connect, and the increase in speed/fun/comfort when i learn the proper line for a particular intersection/situation makes SO much difference. i feel like a stupid retard poking through the difficult hard 90 deg off camber turns that I have to deal with in some spots, and i feel like a golden speed god when I nail the line on a good wide turn-laned intersection. I still want a 600 bike eventually (next year at least) just because I am fascinated by 4cyl's and the US didn't really get any of the 250cc 4's, but i'm getting so much quicker on the ninja that i really respect the 'learn the line' approach to going Fast.
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Aug 4, 2018 21:18
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I'd love to have a CB350 four or a CBR250RR someday.  Though of course the perfect complement to my Hawk GT would be a CB-1  I also want a Hornet 599, a GB500, a Super 90, a CT110, a Transalp...there are just so many good Hondas out there Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Aug 4, 2018 |
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Aug 4, 2018 21:34
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Jonny 290 posted:I do a lot of side street riding using the big arteries to connect, and the increase in speed/fun/comfort when i learn the proper line for a particular intersection/situation makes SO much difference. i feel like a stupid retard poking through the difficult hard 90 deg off camber turns that I have to deal with in some spots, and i feel like a golden speed god when I nail the line on a good wide turn-laned intersection. Do you have access to 400cc I4 bikes? They're a good compromise in that they ride and behave much like a 600 but have engines and damping that are useful on public roads. Gsxr750 also has all the good points of a 600 with none of the bad. What sort of tyres you running? Whatever you have is probably more than grippy enough but I've found tyre profile/carcass can make or break small bike handling. I know a few people with R3's who had minor epiphanies when they tossed the horrible factory tyres. Sagebrush posted:...there are just so many good Hondas out there I know  fwiw though a cbr/vfr400 is ten times better than a cbr250rr which tbh is a one trick pony and the trick gets old real fast.My Honda bikes I need to get a hold of before they go extinct: Vt250 Spada Another nc30 vfr400 Nc29 cbr400 X11 Xr650L Cb400 VTEC I don't even like Honda that much, Suzuki's DNA suits me much better, but they're just so bloody good in every way and have such a huge catalogue of desire. Suzuki by comparison make like three bikes I'd actually be willing to own and I already have one of them.
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Aug 4, 2018 22:39
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Slavvy posted:Do you have access to 400cc I4 bikes? Only older bikes. Just stuff like the Bandit 400. They're rarer than hen's teeth and are usually beat to crap when you do find one. We don't get anything like the CBF400.
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Aug 4, 2018 23:42
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update: braaaaap Bought the thing and took it around some curves. I think I’m going to like it a lot. It feels incredibly friendly and easy to ride. I imagine a lot of that is placebo from knowing that it’s a lot more durable than the CBR if I drop it, but it’s stupid easy to handle, and I think I’m going to learn a lot on it.
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Aug 5, 2018 00:19
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Slavvy posted:cbr250rr which tbh is a one trick pony and the trick gets old real fast. Yeah and the one trick is showing off to your mates after buying your learner bike with an aftermarket pipe and sounding like an obnoxious F1 car leaving the lights at 40 km/h. Those things used to be everywhere around Melbs, I'm guessing the Ninja 300s, CBR300s etc have gotten cheap enough to be desirable for your L plates now
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Aug 5, 2018 00:21
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Sagebrush posted:I'd love to have a CB350 four or a CBR250RR someday.
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Aug 5, 2018 02:43
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I'm in Indy this week for a convention and HOLY poo poo Everytime a guy rides by with just a backwards hat and sunglasses my mind breaks.
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Aug 5, 2018 03:02
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I had the same thing in Rhode Island, people with absolutely no gear who were Flintstoning it through intersections. I don't even mean that as some goon "all riders without gear are horrible" thing, I was genuinely amazed at how poor the basic low speed skills were of a lot of the riders. It was hot and humid, so I'm sure it felt nicer than wearing a full face.
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Aug 5, 2018 06:38
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alr posted:Yeah and the one trick is showing off to your mates after buying your learner bike with an aftermarket pipe and sounding like an obnoxious F1 car leaving the lights at 40 km/h. Those things used to be everywhere around Melbs, I'm guessing the Ninja 300s, CBR300s etc have gotten cheap enough to be desirable for your L plates now If that's anything like here it's cause they all lost compression at 45k because retards don't do maintenance. Plus cosmetics are getting super hard to find and all of them are crashed and LAMS has reduced the appeal somewhat.
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Aug 5, 2018 06:59
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I'm super proud that i can whip around a parking lot and do the 2 space U-turn as per the MSF. Sure i may kick a foot out to keep balance, but i'm pretty good at the low speed stuff. #milestone first 100 mile day (103.7) . I dunno how you Iron Butt crew do it, mad respect. my butt is sore. That being said it was all stop and go city poo poo in Denver. Found Grom Squad downtown and rode with them for a couple miles, got tested by a Model X, all sorts of fun today. The Sena pumping techno and dnb into my face probably doesn't help at all, but goddamn it's relaxing to get on the roads and Go with nice tunes and Siri in my head.
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Aug 5, 2018 08:07
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I was going to do a dry run commute today and also take on the A1 (a not-quite-motorway) for the first time in the process. But something with the clutch lever felt weird and a bit wobbly. on the first junction I hit, the gearbox got stuck in 1st or 2nd, but the indicator said neutral, causing me to lunch forward and stall. Then I proceeded to stall the gently caress out of it, struggled to get it into neutral, and just all round had a bad time, so I called it off and went home. So not sure if this is just bike clutches being bike clutches, me being spooked about firstural/neutnd, me being over confident, or somethings wrong with the gearbox. Horse Clocks fucked around with this message at 13:37 on Aug 5, 2018 |
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Aug 5, 2018 13:06
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I have trouble consistently finding nuetral too so I just keep the clutch in and the bike in first gear. On the way to work there is a gate I have to stop at and show creditionals. I stalled the motorcycle out twice in front of the guard because I was keeping my ID in my front left pocket. I switched to the right front pocket and keep my left hand on the clutch. It makes getting through the gate much easier and less stressful for me.
Hekk fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Aug 5, 2018 |
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Aug 5, 2018 15:29
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How "mental" is freeway riding, in terms of confidence and comfort? I've been riding for a couple years now, but I have never done much freeway commuting at all, largely due to the perception of being very unstable, exposed, and getting blown about while on the freeway at 70-75 mph. I got a bit bigger bike (300 ----> 500cc), and that didn't do anything besides make me feel better about merging. I put ear plugs in which helped quite a bit, but I still can't shake the feeling that the bike is starting to wobble or that I'm going to get blown into the next lane of traffic or something. Is this something that I just need to get lots of practice with and I'll begin to stop feeling that way? Or does it always feel so exposed and I just have to either get over it or stick to surface roads?
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Aug 5, 2018 15:31
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Horse Clocks posted:So not sure if this is just bike clutches being bike clutches, me being spooked about firstural/neutnd, me being over confident, or somethings wrong with the gearbox. Even on a fancy bmw, I can't always find neutral in 3 tries :v. It's just not always trivial. It's possibly that something is hosed with your bike, but try to get it in and out of gear a few times with a clear head first. IuniusBrutus posted:How "mental" is freeway riding, in terms of confidence and comfort? I've been riding for a couple years now, but I have never done much freeway commuting at all, largely due to the perception of being very unstable, exposed, and getting blown about while on the freeway at 70-75 mph. I got a bit bigger bike (300 ----> 500cc), and that didn't do anything besides make me feel better about merging. I put ear plugs in which helped quite a bit, but I still can't shake the feeling that the bike is starting to wobble or that I'm going to get blown into the next lane of traffic or something. The first few long highway commutes were nerve-wracking, but mostly because I was splitting in San Francisco traffic among trash trucks, buses and crazy tesla drivers. Once it loses novelty, highway riding is a fight against boredom more than anything else. It's true that occasionally you can encounter high winds and have to balance against the wind, which is disconcerting the first time, but you get used to it.
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Aug 5, 2018 15:51
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IuniusBrutus posted:How "mental" is freeway riding, in terms of confidence and comfort? I've been riding for a couple years now, but I have never done much freeway commuting at all, largely due to the perception of being very unstable, exposed, and getting blown about while on the freeway at 70-75 mph. I got a bit bigger bike (300 ----> 500cc), and that didn't do anything besides make me feel better about merging. I put ear plugs in which helped quite a bit, but I still can't shake the feeling that the bike is starting to wobble or that I'm going to get blown into the next lane of traffic or something. Highway riding is a little safer just due to the fact everyone should be going the same direction. There are less fears of people/kids/pets suddenly darting into the road, less left hand turners, side streets intersections and all the rest that comes with being on a surface street. You still have people attempting to merge into you, or run up on you from behind. Keep an eye on the traffic ahead and be mindful of your mirrors, don't stay next to a car for too long and try to keep away from tractor trailers as much as you can.
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Aug 5, 2018 16:19
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pokie posted:Even on a fancy bmw, I can't always find neutral in 3 tries :v. It's just not always trivial. It's possibly that something is hosed with your bike, but try to get it in and out of gear a few times with a clear head first. Yeah, I’m not sure how much of it was in my head and how much was an issue with the gearbox. I guess I’ll just run her around a bit more this week to see. Hoping it’s not the latter, was planning on doing a group ride next week.
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Aug 5, 2018 18:40
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I use a 125cc motorcycle on packed New York metropolitan highways at 60+ mph and I've never felt fear. Maybe I'm just oblivious. My thoughts are, that people don't want to damage their own cars, which is something that would happen if they hit you on purpose. (My intuition is that they couldn't give less of a poo poo about any motorcyclists, though. At least the ones without the "Watch for Motorcyclists!" bumper stickers). If someone's following you closely on a multilane highway, that person is probably not going to ram you on purpose. You can take advantage of such a person's impatience by gradually slowing down (letting off of the accelerator a little over a mile or so) to the point where he or she is enticed to just change lanes and go around. You just have to keep an eye out for when you're in cars' blind spots. The biggest danger I've seen on the highway is when you go to change lanes to a center lane, and someone in the lane far over is also coming into the center lane. You have to be aware of situations like that, checking multiple times, and also being aware of your own blind spots. On the same little 125cc motorcycle, I've never experienced being blown about by semis like some claim to have happen to them. There's a wall of air formed around a semi truck going 60 mph, plowing into the wind, and you can feel it, but you never lose control. If a little 230-pound bike won't lose control, then people on typical 300+ pound bikes have nothing to worry about. I'd be more worried about genuinely windy conditions, like headwinds and sidewinds, which small-displacement motors can't deal with very well. A sudden gust of high speed wind to the side can be unexpected, and cant your course over a foot or two. This can be more of an issue in the United States' midwest, where the highways carve through more expansive spaces (and at higher speed limits, too).
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Aug 5, 2018 20:49
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How big are you slide? Being tall I've found my torso acts like a sail on most 125's but the biggest factor seems to be how skinny the tyres are. Wrt clutching, gearboxes: Number of learner bikes I've been asked to 'fix' the gearbox on: well over twenty. Number of learner bikes with an actually broken gearbox: one, and that was a Brazilian xl230 with a clutch that hadn't moved since crossing the Pacific. Bike gearboxes are designed to work when you're moving, you literally can't just row through the gears standing still because the gears themselves aren't moving so the dogs don't always line up.
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Aug 5, 2018 23:30
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MSF BRC complete! That was a lot of fun and I'm looking for motorcycles now. After Saturday when I got home I was completely drained. I'm not sure I've ever been so exhausted in my life. Today I feel better but am still pretty tired, and my legs are a bit sore. I did it on a 250 cc Honda Nighthawk, with 5k on the odo and pretty obviously tired. Only way to get it in to neutral was to shut the bike off, refused otherwise. Out of our class of 11, all 11 passed the written test, 10 passed the riding testing (the guy that didn't wasn't going fast enough for several of the tests). I lost one point for forgetting to pull the clutch in stopping in a box because I was too focused on that, otherwise no issues. It was 92-94 both today and yesterday so really hot. Drank a gallon of water the first day, 2/3 the second day. I wore Sidi ST boots the entire time and they stayed comfortable even wearing them for 6 hours straight.
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Aug 6, 2018 02:44
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Slavvy posted:How big are you slide? Being tall I've found my torso acts like a sail on most 125's but the biggest factor seems to be how skinny the tyres are. I'm around 175-180 cm, 68kg. Maybe I'm so used to being blown around by the wind that I just don't even notice it. The Ninja 250 is my first faired bike after 15 years. I like that you can duck under the windshield and buffeting is greatly reduced, but that position isn't very comfy!
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Aug 6, 2018 03:25
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Slide Hammer posted:I'm around 175-180 cm, 68kg. I think I'm the same, I used to poo poo my pants in a slight breeze on the freeway, now that I can happily tip into corners WOT on a 125 with the wheels bucking and weaving everywhere, a bit of wind on the motorway is nothing. Or perhaps new riders tend to grip the bars and tense up lots when there's a big gust of wind and it just makes the bike's wandering worse? Most fairings are utterly pointless, agreed 
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Aug 6, 2018 07:31
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