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Tell me more about track days. How do you know if you're 'ready' for a track day. I wouldn't want to go out there and just be a rolling roadblock.
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Aug 8, 2009 21:51
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blugu64 posted:Tell me more about track days. How do you know if you're 'ready' for a track day. I wouldn't want to go out there and just be a rolling roadblock. If you can go around corners and not have a panic attack and grab the brakes and dump it, and feel good leaning off the bike a bit and sticking a knee out (but not necessarily dragging it) then you are probably fine with the beginner level. But make sure the track day allows for passing on the outside in corners in the beginner level, otherwise people will indeed get stuck behind you and become grouchy.
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Aug 9, 2009 00:09
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Add me to the Ninjette club. I just bought an 09 in Passion Red or Sunbeam Red or whatever they call it. I've only put about 30 miles on it so far, just kinda wandering around Seattle. It's incredibly easy to ride -- I'm not sure if that's developing confidence or overconfidence but whatever. Just now when I got it home and parked and switched off, it felt and sounded like there was a hair dryer running inside the engine for a minute or so, blowing hot air. Um... Is that normal? I've never had an air-cooled vehicle, do they sometimes do that even after they've been powered down?
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Aug 9, 2009 02:28
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deliverator posted:Just now when I got it home and parked and switched off, it felt and sounded like there was a hair dryer running inside the engine for a minute or so, blowing hot air. Um... Is that normal? I've never had an air-cooled vehicle, do they sometimes do that even after they've been powered down? Its water cooled, and that's normal. Its just the radiator fan running a little.
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Aug 9, 2009 02:30
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Sloppy posted:I've always heard/read that you can slide the rear around, but if the front washes out, you're on your rear end, is this not true? Also, I think he's talking about dirt, not asphalt. Basically that's the way I understood it, and Hough seems to support that though he doesn't make any mention of tire selection. The idea is that in a turn on the dirt, sliding the rear in a controlled fashion can help to steer the bike. Once you're on the street, it's nice to have something less knobby in the rear to help maintain traction at that end. Of course, if you're going to be dedicated riding in the dirt, knobbies at both ends will work better. And for sand like at the beach (Blugu), you definitely want knobs in the back, because street tires will have a hard time getting enough traction to keep the front floating rather than plowing. I could be wrong, if the danger of washing out a street tire on the front is minimal compared to the danger of oversliding a street rear. Blaster, you don't get a vector diagram because you didn't smile when you said please. [/derail]
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Aug 9, 2009 06:43
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French Canadian posted:Here's me being a cool kid. gently caress no passing rules in beginner groups. I got pissed at a 1098 who passed me in a corner (you weren't supposed to) and had to blow by him on the exit of the bowl at streets of willow. I am the best. Or something... You ride with style, Sir. My respect. (please teflon tape that knee) Phy posted:Blaster, you don't get a vector diagram because you didn't smile when you said please. 
Blaster of Justice fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Aug 9, 2009 |
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Aug 9, 2009 07:21
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Blaster of Justice posted:This is probably the worst advise ever provided and the most common misunderstanding. For all vehicles (cars, scooters, mopeds, bicycles, motorcycles and skateboards) friction between the asphalt and your rear tire(s) is way more important than the grip of your front (steering) tire(s). Please draw a vector force diagram to back up this stupid urban legend. I need a good laugh. Bikes get their stability from the front tire. The geometry of a bike (well any single track vehicle) depends on the front tire seeking to keep itself under the center of gravity on the bike. That hunting is what keeps the bike upright. It's not dependant on the wheels spinning, or anything else. If you lose traction with the front tire on a bike, you go down, because the bike can no longer apply forces to pick the bike up. End of story. Losing traction on the back wheel of a motorcycle is no big deal, as long as you regain traction gracefully the bike still tracks where you want it to. When you drive a vehicle that's statically stable, you want more traction out back (if you're got no skill...) because the lost traction failure mode is to go straight, instead of spinning out.
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Aug 9, 2009 11:12
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Nerobro posted:Bikes get their stability from the front tire. The geometry of a bike (well any single track vehicle) depends on the front tire seeking to keep itself under the center of gravity on the bike. That hunting is what keeps the bike upright. It's not dependant on the wheels spinning, or anything else. If you lose traction with the front tire on a bike, you go down, because the bike can no longer apply forces to pick the bike up. End of story. Losing traction on the back wheel of a motorcycle is no big deal, as long as you regain traction gracefully the bike still tracks where you want it to. When you drive a vehicle that's statically stable, you want more traction out back (if you're got no skill...) because the lost traction failure mode is to go straight, instead of spinning out. Friction between your front wheel and the road is no big deal. You can argument for hours, and I really don't want to pull the engineer card on you, but you'll lose.
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Aug 9, 2009 13:04
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Blaster of Justice posted:Friction between your front wheel and the road is no big deal. You can argument for hours, and I really don't want to pull the engineer card on you, but you'll lose. Try me. The mechanism that keeps a bike upright are the forces the front wheel imparts to the chassis. It's not just friction. This is why when you lock up the front tire, a bike falls down, and why when you lock up the back tire, you skid to a stop.
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Aug 9, 2009 14:35
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Nerobro posted:Try me. The mechanism that keeps a bike upright are the forces the front wheel imparts to the chassis. It's not just friction. This is why when you lock up the front tire, a bike falls down, and why when you lock up the back tire, you skid to a stop. I don't think you really understand automotive dynamics. Let's leave this as a statement vs. statement.
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Aug 9, 2009 15:09
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It's the trail force that's the important factor in keeping the bike upright, and this factor doesn't exist without friction coming from the front wheel. So it is a big deal. The gyroscopic forces are minimal, and bikes have been successfully ridden with them minimized (tiny wheels) or not present (same size wheel spinning opposite direction of the front wheel). http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19325892.700 http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19225812.400 http://www2.eng.cam.ac.uk/~hemh/gyrobike.htm
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Aug 9, 2009 17:30
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Blaster of Justice posted:You ride with style, Sir. My respect. I've got knee pucks on there, don't worry.
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Aug 9, 2009 19:24
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Blaster of Justice posted:I don't think you really understand automotive dynamics. Let's leave this as a statement vs. statement. I really think I do. You keep saying things that are monumentally stupid around here. It's really starting to bug me. You're right about half the time, and when you're right, you're really right, but you sit and defend yourself vehemently when you're wrong. You have the "I've been riding for 40 years and I can't be wrong" biker vibe.
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Aug 9, 2009 21:53
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You got your physics argument in my ninja 250 thread ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWMM7HPeTHQ Somehow its not as tasty. 
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Aug 9, 2009 23:39
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My ninja 250 is powered by sheer awesome. (and reeses, don't anger the goddess of tiny confections, you've been warned)
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Aug 10, 2009 00:26
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And here I am being suckered into using gas!
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Aug 10, 2009 00:31
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Blaster of Justice posted:Friction between your front wheel and the road is no big deal. You can argument for hours, and I really don't want to pull the engineer card on you, but you'll lose. Screw the engineer card, let's try it like this: Would you rather push the front or the rear? I'd put the DS tire on the front. It has nothing to do with physics and everything to do with prefering the bike to "oversteer" as opposed to pushing the front every time you corner. Having the rear end end all sideways isn't a big deal. Having the front tuck every time you try and corner? Very, very bad. The physics of it can be argued for days as I've never met a person who has been capable of understanding ALL of the forces that go into cornering in the real world. In an ideal world, with perfect traction and a bunch of other assumptions? Sure. Can you extrapolate from that to some stuff that can give you gains here and there? Sure. But you can't just say "Physics say THIS IS RIGHT", when it's obviously better to lose rear end traction then front end traction. I honestly can't imagine why anyone would say you'd be better off putting the tire with more traction on the rear. It's just stupid. Z3n fucked around with this message at 04:55 on Aug 10, 2009 |
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Aug 10, 2009 04:44
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Anyone else with the J get IRC tires stock? I'm wondering if you're feeling them get squirmy after a half hour or so at 60-70mph. I'm not sure if it is my newbie self feeling the back end wander slightly due to wind or the tire, but it doesn't feel "right". Is that just part of riding a bike, part of riding a tiny bike, or is it wind or lovely tires?
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Aug 10, 2009 04:49
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frozenphil posted:Anyone else with the J get IRC tires stock? I'm wondering if you're feeling them get squirmy after a half hour or so at 60-70mph. I'm not sure if it is my newbie self feeling the back end wander slightly due to wind or the tire, but it doesn't feel "right". Is that just part of riding a bike, part of riding a tiny bike, or is it wind or lovely tires? What pressures are you running?
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Aug 10, 2009 04:55
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Z3n posted:What pressures are you running? Stock, 28f/32r.
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Aug 10, 2009 05:01
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frozenphil posted:Stock, 28f/32r. It's probably just the wind and lovely tires. I'd not worry too much about it until you get them replaced, see if it sticks around then.
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Aug 10, 2009 05:03
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Also, what kind of roadway are you experiencing this on? I notice my bike tends to track in the grooves on the freeway a little bit. Its worse with the actual seams in the concrete. California's freeways are a special bunch, though.
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Aug 10, 2009 05:53
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Newly paved highways (65mph limit 4 lane roads) which is why I am concerned. If they hadn't just repaved this part of the road I'd chalk it up to ruts.
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Aug 10, 2009 14:23
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frozenphil posted:Anyone else with the J get IRC tires stock? I'm wondering if you're feeling them get squirmy after a half hour or so at 60-70mph. I'm not sure if it is my newbie self feeling the back end wander slightly due to wind or the tire, but it doesn't feel "right". Is that just part of riding a bike, part of riding a tiny bike, or is it wind or lovely tires? I notice this too, pretty much all the time - but riding on I-95 near the shoreline it always seems to be windy. I just figured it was the weight of the bike since they handle fine everywhere else. It kind of makes me wonder what a set of pirellis would do, since everyone seems to say the IRCs are terrible.
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Aug 10, 2009 18:12
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frozenphil posted:Which fender eliminator did you go with? Any problems with the install? Outside of a fender eliminator and a double bubble screen I don't really have any mods planned for mine. I got the Targa No Cut. Easy install, no problems - though the hole for the turn signal wires was incredibly snug. I didn't install the plate lamp, so there was literally no cutting / splicing.
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Aug 10, 2009 18:18
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What have ya'll been seeing for used values for a previous generation Ninjette? I'm getting ready to buy one as a first bike, and after lurking CL for a couple months, I'm in final negotiations to buy an '07 with a little under 4k miles for $2200. I feel like I'm getting a reasonable deal. The tires probably only have about 500 mi left on them, but everything else looks shipshape. The guy did throw some red flame stickers on there which are going to have to come off, but otherwise everything seemed clean during a test ride. Anybody else have some recent late-season transactions for points of reference? This is Central VA by the way.
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Aug 10, 2009 18:58
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StroMotion posted:I'm getting ready to buy one as a first bike, and after lurking CL for a couple months, I'm in final negotiations to buy an '07 with a little under 4k miles for $2200. I feel like I'm getting a reasonable deal. The tires probably only have about 500 mi left on them, but everything else looks shipshape. The guy did throw some red flame stickers on there which are going to have to come off, but otherwise everything seemed clean during a test ride. That's a little high, especially since it needs tires. The flames are stock.
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Aug 10, 2009 19:10
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blugu64 posted:The flames are stock. Oh my. Can I still get them off?
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Aug 10, 2009 19:47
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StroMotion posted:Oh my. Can I still get them off? http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/I_want_to_remove_the_decals_from_my_bike
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Aug 10, 2009 19:56
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Thanks. That site is awesome, I don't know why I didn't think to check there first. From what they've written it sounds like the back ones are no big deal but the tank stickers are more trouble to remove than they are ugly. Hopefully I'll be back in a couple of days with pictures of a new 250.
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Aug 10, 2009 20:13
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I'd really like a Ninja 250, but I feel all folded up like a pretzel on them (and I'm only 6')
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Aug 10, 2009 23:58
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My red flame decals add at least 2 hp. Plus we all know flames get the babes.
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Aug 11, 2009 01:12
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Personally, I think I'd like to remove the giant NINJA in funky scratchy script on the lower fairing. I just got to thinking today of actually painting that lower plastic a nice flat black.
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Aug 11, 2009 01:16
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I don't think I'd ever paint my bike but if I did, I'd use glow in the dark paint, or cover it in reflective tape.
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Aug 11, 2009 01:19
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blugu64 posted:I don't think I'd ever paint my bike but if I did, I'd use glow in the dark paint, or cover it in reflective tape. Maybe re-do the yellow in the same fluorescent paint as my helmet, and flat black on the bottom... rolling eyesore yessss...
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Aug 11, 2009 01:26
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blugu64 posted:I don't think I'd ever paint my bike but if I did, I'd use glow in the dark paint, or cover it in reflective tape. There's some really nice 3M tape that you can get that is black during daytime but is white reflective with light on it. Ok looking around it's called 3M Scotchlite 680, here's a link to a bicycle done with it. http://theredproject.com/brightbike/
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Aug 11, 2009 01:31
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blugu64 posted:I don't think I'd ever paint my bike but if I did, I'd use glow in the dark paint, or cover it in reflective tape. How about a nice white like Pikes Peak Pearl White (i.e. 350z white)?  
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Aug 11, 2009 01:34
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That looks pretty sharp, and that 3m tape is pricier then I thought.
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Aug 11, 2009 01:36
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I'm kinda digging the way the GSXR muffler looks and sounds and I bet you can pick them up pretty cheap from the loud pipes save lives squids. Ignore the riced out bike it is attached to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQz5o4o3CPk   It tucks nicely too. 
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Aug 11, 2009 01:45
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frozenphil posted:timg]https://wi.somethingawful.com/8d/8d8de0c21dec62f00c86f1300d62e8c403de8992.jpg[/timg] These are the only flames I've ever actually liked on a bike. Probably costs way more than it would be worth to put on though.
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Aug 11, 2009 02:46
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