|
Slavvy posted:It's this. The further you lean off toward the inside, the less weight you have over the rear tyre and the less leverage you have over the bars. Thanks for the explainer. By front/rear biased I assume you're talking about where the weight is? This was again something I learned when riding MTBs in incredibly lovely UK conditions, yeah if you're dropping off something you want your weight back so as to not flip over the bars but if your weight is too far back when the front hits the dirt it may wash out from underneath you because you unweighted it so much. It was a good learning experience but again with MTBs being so light you have a lot more influence over them compared to a motorbike. Toe Rag posted:Mr Roboto is a Japanese Auto Racer. I think they wear that bulky gear so you can’t tell who they are, for the gambling aspect. Thank you. I hadn't actually watched speedway for a long time since they shut down my local track and I remember them getting way more off the bike than this (slightly less local) session shows. It's still as crazy as I remember though! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwOWWZqo9xY
|
#
?
Jul 20, 2022 12:55
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 15:53 |
|
|
Olympic Mathlete posted:Thanks for the explainer. By front/rear biased I assume you're talking about where the weight is? This was again something I learned when riding MTBs in incredibly lovely UK conditions, yeah if you're dropping off something you want your weight back so as to not flip over the bars but if your weight is too far back when the front hits the dirt it may wash out from underneath you because you unweighted it so much. It was a good learning experience but again with MTBs being so light you have a lot more influence over them compared to a motorbike. Yes. I've found that with bicycles yes, physically moving your meat around makes a much bigger difference and you have to be a lot more vigorous in doing so, but on a motorbike you move the weight around mostly with the controls, and the weight transfer you get from using the throttle or brakes is absolutely vast because the bike weighs ~200kg. What I've found is that on a bicycle you are much less at the mercy of the bike's basic characteristics, you can just sort of force things into going your way by throwing your weight around and you don't really need much finesse because you can contain any slips so easily; there just isn't any momentum to the things so it feels like easy mode to me. With a motorbike you can't just improvise in the moment because there's so much mass and momentum in play, you absolutely have to plan everything and anticipate things before they happen.
|
|
#
?
Jul 20, 2022 20:33
|
|
|
when I bought my bike the tires looked fine to me, but I have since learned how to read tire codes and holy poo poo the front one is 10 years old. I'm getting them replaced as soon as possible, but the shops around here don't have the size I need in stock, so it's going to be like a week. is having a super old tire a "you can probably get away with riding on it just get it fixed asap" problem or more of a "you will certainly die if you so much as leave the driveway" problem? there are no visible cracks, it's holding air pressure, and there's plenty of tread somehow.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2022 20:33
|
|
|
Take it easy, avoid rain and you should be ok.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2022 21:43
|
|
|
sick. i have my endorsement test coming up so i was hoping to practice some this weekend
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2022 21:58
|
|
|
Currently on the kart track and it's definitely a good training ground. I fell at like 30 minutes in (so far) and it was a good crash, not even any pain or anything. I don't think anyone will go home without (at least) one lowside today. Riding behind the instructor for a few rounds, I definitely wanna do private coaching next, that seems a lot more valuable to my deficits. Where I gently caress up the most (I think) is line choice, which is clearly from my road riding I would say. One thing I am finding incredibly useful as I go around this track is very conciously trying to just guide the bike, never force it. Basically loosening your grip so you are barely even holding the handlebar. The other thing I have to do more is leaning forward and making my arms as wide as possible before the bends, I am often reaching the full extent of my inner arm. Despite already doing the whole forward lean in corners pretty actively, with these tight turns (and my riding style) it appears to be a big contributor to some jerkyness I experience.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2022 09:45
|
|
|
Serious question: do you understand counter steering? If you've been gripping tight and trying to steer the bars in the direction you want to go, you will just end up fighting the bike and yourself and it'll be jerky as gently caress. If you try to steer the bars in the opposite direction to where you want to go, the bike will turn easily and smoothly. The bars are not a steering device. They are a lean angle control device. You steer the bike by leaning, you control the amount of lean using the bars, you do this by twisting them towards the outside of the turn.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2022 09:56
|
|
|
Slavvy posted:Serious question: do you understand counter steering? If you've been gripping tight and trying to steer the bars in the direction you want to go, you will just end up fighting the bike and yourself and it'll be jerky as gently caress. If you try to steer the bars in the opposite direction to where you want to go, the bike will turn easily and smoothly. No that's not what I'm trying to say, obviously I don't steer the bike the wrong way. But holding on too tight just leads to your arms tensing up as well and the inputs get lovely instead of subtle and smooth. Just did fall #2 and it's embarassing, but I tried to chicken out and brake (should have just leaned more, would probably have worked. The ultra slippy conditions here don't exactly help with confidence though haha), didn't have enough room so I had some lean, some front brake and then a little ouchie. Probably gonna get slight bruising, but it already stopped hurting. Also helmets are amazing and great, did hit my head on the ground, but thanks to the helmet it doesn't matter at all. Glad I decided to bring my old helmet though. Guess I can send it to Schuberth for inspection now, it was only a slight knock, but it would have been enough to gimme a big fat bump.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2022 10:24
|
|
|
Man, just my luck. Got to crash #3 on my last round. One guy overtook me straight through my line, which thankfully I noticed in time or I would probably have sideswiped him. Oh well. Next round I lost traction in the extremely tight S curve I have been struggling with all day, and the guy behind me apparently had zero distance, crashed as well and his bike landed straight on my hip. Definitely should have worn pants with (better?) hip protection, it's where I took all hits all day. Really didn't need that bike hitting the other side of my hip though... Looks like it's just gonna be some more (slightly worse) bruising, but I got his details just in case. Really sucks that many of them apparently started getting reckless towards the end, the instructor told several people off afterwards.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2022 11:21
|
|
|
My newbie quest continues. I'm in the process of buying gear and have some helmet questions. I'm having problems determining proper fit. [Question] I get a small indentation on my forehead after about an hour wearing my current helmet at home. it starts to get a little uncomfortable at that point, but is miles better than any other helmet I've tried without going to a Too Large size that can rotate around my face. Will the discomfort get better after a break in period? Do I just have a weird noggin and should pay a lot more for my helmet? [Context] I've spent probably 3 to 5 hours at the local shop trying on every helmet and size I can. I've taken 3 helmets home, 2 sedicis and a shoei, the helmet I'm trying out now. The shop measured me at 59 1/2, which sticks me between a medium and a large, depending on brand. The Shoei fits the nicest out of anything I've tried this far, but it's just an rf 1400 I think, so according to the shop still an intermediate oval style. Also, I discovered that hair style definitely matters when sizing the helmet - French braids murder my head under one! A bummer, since they secure hair the most, but at least now I know why my uncle always had his in a longer, multiple hair tie pony tail.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2022 13:21
|
|
|
Jowj posted:My newbie quest continues. I'm in the process of buying gear and have some helmet questions. I'm having problems determining proper fit. Shoei helmets tend to be a tad longer front to back and narrower side to side than other helmets marketed as intermediate oval. If the shops have one, try on a GT-Air 2 and see if it feels any better. You could also try an Arai Signet-X, which is actually designed as a long oval helmet, for comparison. Sometimes that pressure on your forehead is caused by the helmet sitting too low on your head. Shoei has a custom fit program where they will add foam to the helmet liner to resolve issues like this, but it's not offered in the US. Not sure where you're located.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2022 15:51
|
|
|
I adjusted my rear shock today finally! It was much easier than I thought, didn’t even need to remove anything. I added one notch more preload and went out on my normal loop which has a both perfect pavement and lovely old pavement with a million expansion cracks. Bike felt less wallow-y especially in dips. My question is, if I keep adding edit: lol phone typos Russian Bear fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Jul 24, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2022 21:07
|
|
|
Russian Bear posted:I adjusted my rear shock today finally! It was much easier than I thought, didn’t even need to remove anything. I added one notch more preload and went out on my normal loop which has a both perfect pavement and lovely old pavement with a million expansion cracks. Bike felt less wallow-y especially in dips. It's preload you're adding. Compression is shorthand for compression damping which is a totally different thing. What you're doing is making the rear of the bike taller. This will make the steering steeper, so it will roll faster but also fold quicker when you aren't loading it right. It will make the bike more front heavy, so it will have more weight on the front and less on the rear, with a corresponding change in grip for each tyre. It will make the bike cut a tighter line for a given lean, but also let the rear step out earlier. It's a continuum where you're trading the front for the rear or vice versa. Think about what the bike would be like if you backed it all the way off, it's the direct opposite of that. You would definitely notice the difference if you cranked it all the way up, the sportiness or otherwise of the bike is irrelevant cause these are relative changes, you feel the difference on basically any bike. There is also an effect on ride comfort, that's not really something that's relevant to handling dynamics at all but it's something you notice and may care about.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2022 22:23
|
|
|
Did my first big boy ride Friday , 150miles or so took a bit over 3 hours Had to make 3 stops for a quick smoke break and a drink My rear end was pretty sore by the end I have to admit , even with the relatively comfortable seating my bike has It was good though got to stretch the gears out on some back roads passing traffic , saw lots of other bikers passing through small towns Only slightly scary part was the intense wind crossing through the open roads separating farmers fields, that and the sudden Gusts when passing by cow and pig trailers A harley rider was in front of me for a bit when we passed a big pig truck , and he was riding in a sleeveless shirt and shorts. Looked painful for him with all the dirt and dust flying Blue On Blue fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Jul 24, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 01:34
|
|
|
Slavvy posted:It's preload you're adding. Compression is shorthand for compression damping which is a totally different thing. What you're doing is making the rear of the bike taller. This will make the steering steeper, so it will roll faster but also fold quicker when you aren't loading it right. It will make the bike more front heavy, so it will have more weight on the front and less on the rear, with a corresponding change in grip for each tyre. It will make the bike cut a tighter line for a given lean, but also let the rear step out earlier. It's a continuum where you're trading the front for the rear or vice versa. Think about what the bike would be like if you backed it all the way off, it's the direct opposite of that. You would definitely notice the difference if you cranked it all the way up, the sportiness or otherwise of the bike is irrelevant cause these are relative changes, you feel the difference on basically any bike. Right preload, not sure why I wrote compression. I'm familiar with the term and implications from adjusting my mountain bike suspension. That all makes sense, also explains why when I started my ride with some parking lot drills, during emergency braking the rear tire ABS was kicking in sooner than expected as I was applying the rear brake like before. Had to adjust to getting even lighter on it as I came to a stop. I'm going to try to get out next day or two on the mountain and see how the front end feels there as compared to before.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 02:01
|
|
|
Blue On Blue posted:A harley rider was in front of me for a bit when we passed a big pig truck Had to read this several times to understand there was both a Harley AND a pig truck lol
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 02:59
|
|
|
Slavvy posted:Had to read this several times to understand there was both a Harley AND a pig truck lol Are they that looked down upon ? It looks like a comfy easy ride , like sitting back on a recliner
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 03:00
|
|
|
Lots of people look down on them for lots of reasons that are mostly stupid, but the owners and culture are also mostly incredibly stupid. They are good bikes but they come with baggage. I mostly said that because they're huge, slow and built by a company called HOG.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 03:21
|
|
|
Slavvy posted:They are good bikes but they come with baggage.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 03:29
|
|
|
Take my opinions with a grain of salt because I live at Harley ground zero, so things are a bit different for me, but the culture surrounding Harley is incredibly dumb, boomer fueled sons of anarchy cosplay for the most part and it’s incredibly frustrating.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 03:37
|
|
|
I adjusted my clutch today and it was really nice to learn a little something about how my bike works and not gently caress it up in the process. Probably spent an hour or so doing it all really gingerly while I double checked instructions over and over. It’ll probably take me 15 minutes if I have to do it again. And about half of that will be remembering what size wrenches I need. Jim Silly-Balls posted:Take my opinions with a grain of salt because I live at Harley ground zero, so things are a bit different for me, but the culture surrounding Harley is incredibly dumb, boomer fueled sons of anarchy cosplay for the most part and it’s incredibly frustrating. loving tell me about it. My Harley loving brother had his first grandchild yesterday and I asked him if he was ready to trade them all in for a trike. The best part about the joke was the “yeah yeah yeah” sigh that told me he’d heard the same joke a good half dozen times, at least. Geekboy fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Jul 24, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 03:41
|
|
|
Hehe, that's really good and I have to remember that one! There's a little of that Harley culture stuff here in  , but it is quite rare.Mostly people here just admire the bikes and the engineering, and enjoy riding them (like me).
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 09:14
|
|
|
Going on week 5 and just passed 1000 miles on my Z400, pretty happy so far with how far I've come from never having ridden a motorbike to now. I'm starting to get more comfortable in canyon roads - the first time was absolutely terrifying, and it didn't help that I was on a road notorious for sport bikers racing each other (CA 9 for those in NorCal). Getting crowded out by 3 guys in an R1 while trying to setup for a turn just seems like a fact of life here and my untrained brained wants to panic even more But I digress! I have a question on body positioning in general on canyon roads - I'm trying to nail down vision and counter steering and committing in general to the lean/turn. However, I don't really move my body that much - at most, I might just move my shoulder towards the mirrors and lean forward to crouch my body. For just regular street riding, do I need to be practicing other techniques? Are there recommended videos? I seem to be getting decent with the speed, with trail braking, and with lifting the bike out of the turn on exit but I don't really know what my body should be doing throughout everything as I've just been focusing on inputs
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 10:13
|
|
|
Keep your spine parallel with the bike and don't do anything. You are nowhere near being able to productively do anything with body positioning, it is basically the last 10-15% after you've already extracted everything you can with the controls. Seriously don't think about it, you've got enough on your plate, just grip the tank with your legs, keep your weight off the bars, hold the grips lightly and keep your upper body in line with the vertical axis of the bike using your core. When you run out of ground clearance, then you start thinking about body position.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 10:18
|
|
|
Slavvy posted:Keep your spine parallel with the bike and don't do anything. You are nowhere near being able to productively do anything with body positioning, it is basically the last 10-15% after you've already extracted everything you can with the controls. Seriously don't think about it, you've got enough on your plate, just grip the tank with your legs, keep your weight off the bars, hold the grips lightly and keep your upper body in line with the vertical axis of the bike using your core. To clarify - does this mean that if I'm leaning the bike left into a turn, my upper body should be upright at the same angle as the bike? Effectively, my body should be "neutral" relative to the bike that is leaned over?
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 10:29
|
|
|
dk2m posted:To clarify - does this mean that if I'm leaning the bike left into a turn, my upper body should be upright at the same angle as the bike? Effectively, my body should be "neutral" relative to the bike that is leaned over? That is correct yeah. The entire value of leaning off is to create more ground clearance so if your pegs aren't grinding, you can do more with the controls alone. It's much easier to know what the gently caress with the controls if you're able to be light and neutral on the bars and grip with your legs, it's much much harder and more complicated when you have to worry about hanging off etc. Leaning off with just your upper body has almost no value besides making you feel cool. Just keep your spine perfectly in line with the bike when viewed from the front or rear, like you would when you're upright.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 10:52
|
|
|
Track day was super amazing. Loads of coaches. NYST is really friggen amazing. You can follow people who know what they are doing and the coaches, copy their lines and body language. They teach you how to telegraph, be predictable, how to pass, lean, etc. There were unfortunately also a lot of people that didn't belong there, ie first time on a bike, didn't know how to put a helmet on. A lot of crashes, which was really sad - mostly people not following the coaches. I am like a way better rider after one day. SSH IT ZOMBIE fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Jul 24, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 13:02
|
|
|
Re: weird Harley culture, I’m in New Hampshire for the weekend and I’ve seen a half dozen or so bikes riding around with stuffed animals strapped to the pillion/sissy bar. Like, one of them had an almost human sized alien on it with a handful of other smaller stuffed animals strapped around it for good measure. Saw a couple like that and then a few other bikes that had a handful of medium sized stuffies (yes, I have children) strapped on them. I saw the first one and thought it was just one guy who decided that was how he wanted to customize his bike - people do all kinds of worse things to bikes in the name of being unique - but seeing a bunch of them makes me think this is a “thing”? Or did I just encounter the Cabbage Patch biker gang based in Deerfield, NH? The only similar thing I’ve ever seen is ratty 100,000 mile oldwings with kitsch glued and bolted all over them, and occasionally those will have a tattered stuffed animal somewhere among the bullet casings and barbed wire. These were on otherwise regular rear end modern Harleys. Just covered in stuffies. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 14:13
|
|
|
Is that the bike version of those weird-rear end car show dolls? Which are really weird and creepy by the way: https://www.ozy.com/good-sht/whats-with-creepy-time-out-dolls-at-classic-car-shows/88074/
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 16:29
|
|
|
That’s the first thing I thought of as well. God those are so creepy.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 16:40
|
|
|
I haven’t thought about it in years but a lady down the street from my grandma used to make and sell those crybaby dolls and her whole front porch would be covered with them during the summer. Creepy indeed. At least the car show guys are coordinating the car with the doll so that’s… something. This just looked like they grabbed the box of stuffed animals mom saved from when they were a kid and tied them all onto the sissy bar of their Harley.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 16:41
|
|
|
Imagine getting caught in the rain with a big stuffed animal tied to your bike. Gross
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 18:17
|
|
|
If I somehow started this trend in 2005, I apologize if it got out of hand. In my defense the pig generally prefers the car.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 19:01
|
|
|
Aha! Now we know who to blame.Jim Silly-Balls posted:Imagine getting caught in the rain with a big stuffed animal tied to your bike. Imagine someone who rides their Harley in a tank top and shorts taking it out of the garage if there’s a chance of rain.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 19:02
|
|
|
True. Didn’t think of that
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 19:28
|
|
|
Wasn’t there a stuffed toy getting passed around various people who were adventure biking around and the schtick was that you had to take a picture of this toy (had a name) in new locations. Maybe it was an advrider thing or some other community.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 19:47
|
|
|
Jim Silly-Balls posted:Imagine getting caught in the rain with a big stuffed animal tied to your bike.  Dying at the thought of soggy bears and burly sunburnt Harley dudes wringing them out under bridges.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 20:32
|
|
|
Jim Silly-Balls posted:Is that the bike version of those weird-rear end car show dolls? What the fuuuck
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2022 20:43
|
|
|
Her dad just told her he won't pay for college for a woman, why what makes you nostalgic?
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2022 01:16
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 15:53 |
|
|
was the toy thing associated with a toy run? i know Harley dudes around here do a toy drive a couple of times a year.
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2022 02:38
|
|
