ReconRat

Last year I went from Columbus to Marysville on a cold morning (on the bike), and the roadway felt squishy/slippery traction all the way. Temps in the high 30s that day, but 65F and dry when I came back. Yeah, don't let early Springtime conditions sneak up and knock you down.

I'll do a five year tomorrow from work. I don't trust my laptop with money... Or... track Casper down to hand a check over, and buy him lunch... After all, it will be warm the rest of this week...

The British MCN weekly? It's $190/yr for subscription in the USA. http://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/store/displayitem.asp?sid=3467&id=42607&os=Y Not sure which one you want, there is also a Motorcycle Consumer News. http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/ One year, 12 issues, 22 bucks. https://w1.buysub.com/pubs/B6/MCN/MCN_PROMO1560_CONV1.jsp?cds_page_id=88062&cds_mag_code=MCN&id=1300232800812&lsid=10741846313045350&vid=2&cds_response_key_gift=IRGIFT

It's been asked how will this effect the motorcycle industry from Japan. Here's some basic preliminary answers in the news: http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/2/9482/Motorcycle-Article/Japanese-Motorcycle-Industry-Assess-Damage.aspx http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/2011/japan-big-four-motorcycles-earthquake-updates http://www.powersportsbusiness.com/output.cfm?ID=2731231 Summary: Most of the big four production facilities in Japan are shut down for most of a week to assess damage and what restrictions and losses will occur to their supply and distribution chains. More decisions to follow. Power and fuel are in short supply at the same time. US plants are not shutting down, but hours might be cut back to adjust. Long term effects on production are unclear at this time. Honda has 114 suppliers in the effected area and hasn't been able to contact 44 of them yet. Honda has an automotive parts factory and an R&D facility in the effected area. Suzuki appears to be in a condition similar to Honda. The motorcycle engine plant and one assembly plant are shut down. Yamaha is in the clear, with only some rolling blackouts at non-motorcycle related factories. Kawasaki hasn't issued any statements yet. Bridgestone reports no serious damage to it's five facilities. Which includes the Nasu tire plant in the effected area, that makes all the Bridgestone motorcycle tires in the world. Production will resume shortly, with possible delays or power shortages. No supply shortages are anticipated, since there is a three month supply stored in the USA.

French nuclear dudes are now calling it like it is: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/15/japan.nuclear/?hpt=T2France told all their citizens to immediately leave Tokyo on Monday.

Containment isn't an issue anyway, if they are all venting gases to the atmosphere. That's what should have been contained and filtered. To avoid explosions or further explosions, they've elected to vent radioactive gases to reduce pressures. As far as I know, all seven reactors at the two locations are venting gases to prevent worse conditions. Much the same as Three Mile Island, except it's pressure containment worked. The old spent fuel rods in separate cooling pools, at the two that exploded, are now exposed to the open air. This is one of the major sources of radiation in the air, since they still lack cooling and are also boiling and trying to melt.

I don't know. That's why I intend to find out. Nothing matters more for a motorcycle oil than the ability to maintain viscosity. And that's directly related to the design and speed of the gear clusters in the transmission that destroy the long chain polymer molecules. It will vary a bit from one type of engine/transmission to the next. Over 40+ years of changing oil, I've seen some brands and types of oil that didn't work out too well. And some that did. I never know till I try.

S Grade Rd, Mt Polomar, CA Here's a road I'd like to do. I've done mountain roads, but nothing like this one. This one is about two miles as the crow flies, but maybe 5 miles of road. And the elevation change is 2400 ft to 5400 ft. A grade change of 3000 feet! It's in the news today, because somebody crashed there. Riding alone. Bad idea. Somebody else crashed in the same spot a few hours later, and when walking back to the road, found the first rider. Imperial Beach Man Dies in Motorcycle Crash on Palomar Mountain

Spoke too soon. The large amounts of water used to cool things down have steamed off into hydrogen gas and caused more explosions and fires in four of the reactors that are in trouble. In one or more containment pools, cracks are letting the water leak out, they think, they aren't sure. It might be the pressure inside won't let the water in. Either way, fuel rods are getting exposed above the water again, and are melting down again. Which is leading to large amounts of radiation released into the local area. Danger zone now extended to 30 km. Tokyo is soon to be at risk. Earlier today the French told all their people to leave the Tokyo area. Part of that is the very large risk of an earthquake in Tokyo now. The other part is the French have a lot of nuclear reactors, and are a bit smarter about that. If you're wondering, we're about 5 to 7 days away as the wind blows. Most of the radiation will be washed into the ocean by rain. Not all of it. edit: And don't expect to buy a Toyota this year. The US production plants are scaling back and expect to stop production. edit: 405 aftershocks so far... More: It's not actually the reactor cores that are the most danger. It is the cooling pools for the spent fuel rods that have been removed previously. Those cooling pools are off to the side, and used to have a roof over the top of them, but that is gone now due to the explosions. These spent fuel rods will boil water if not cooled, and will gas off into the atmosphere more radiation than the core would if it melted down. Apparently a lot of attention has gone into cooling the spent fuel rods. In part, that has caused the problems in containing the reactor cores.

I'm no longer using mineral spirits or stoddard solvent on o-ring chains. It was ok back when chains had no o-rings. I'm back to using kerosene, or Simple Green, or DuPont degreaser spray can. WD40 is about 40-50% stoddard solvent.

All three troublesome reactors are under control. Temperatures are falling. All three are probably permanently ruined.

They don't pay taxes. Most of them. That's an income boost right there. Just sayin'... No particular reason I would know that...

Japanese nuclear crisis escalates By Jonathan Soble and Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1389e282-4de7-11e0-85e4-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1GaiacxUf

Over and above all is over confidence. which comes with the territory. Most riders are over confident. All of them, newbs and experienced both. This is not so much reading the road, it's reading your Self.

Either a wheelie gone bad, or the force of the air. Don't try suddenly sitting up straight at over 140mph without knowing what will happen. The force of the wind at 140 is around twice that of 120. Big surprise, it's a logarithmic increase, not linear.

The gyroscopic effect of the wheels and engine pretty much keep the bike upright and moving without a rider. About the same as riding with no hands. Even sometimes a bike sliding on it's side will right itself back up on it's wheels and take off. It helps if the engine is revved up to higher rpms, otherwise the throttle just idles down quickly. The falling off part just takes an error or two and inexperience.

Falling off a motorcycle on the freeway isn't all that hard to do. Seeing as I almost did it once, a long time ago. Lesson learned, I don't think I'll be falling off.

Newark man flown to hospital after crash No details yet. This happened on Ohio route 13, just south of Hopewell Drive. Something about a motorcycle, a van, a guardrail, and a med flight.

14. Riding the first time of the year in the Spring without checking tire pressures. Which is of course, the only time the tire pressure would be too low. Don't look at me, I checked and corrected mine as needed.

hahaha, they live to fight. It probably saw it's own reflection and attacked.

JRMMiii is a girl??? Welcome SV rider

heheh, severe repost, but the Motus is going on tour after Daytona. They have one or two built, and they will be touring dealerships around the 48 states to see what the reaction is. I am looking forward to seeing one in person. American made V-4 motorcycle. Sounds like a winner.

That's why I carry a hydration backpack and sleep while riding. Jussayin'.

High resolution satellite photos taken Saturday. You'll need Google Earth 3D loaded to see them. http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/news/world-middle-east-12307698/ext/_auto/-/http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=200910826786863242067.00049e4d08c67e68fe83e&ll=38.272689,140.756836&spn=22.232593,53.569336&t=h&z=5 Two reactors are currently believed to be in meltdown. The fuel rods are thought to be exposed and not cooling, but melting instead.