ReconRat

haha, I saw a little old lady driving one of those in my neighborhood. White even. Chirping tires when she moved out. Very cool.

yup, 5pm on WTTE FOX - channel 8 on insight for me

DiamoGirl's new bike: (the red 250cc Suzuki)

Kim's Bike at Hooters Hilliard last Friday: Details are for her to say. We hope she joins up, or rides with us again.

No, it's fate, stuff happens all the time. It wasn't a deliberate act, just stupid. Double stupid does deserve a response. If they had tried to drive off past me without letting me back on the road, I would have been pissed. That's deliberate, and I would take it personal. Although I should mention that I never like to pass or be in front of a drunk, crazy, or strange acting vehicle. There are some vehicles that you don't want to be in front of. Behind them is so much better.

Wait... I used both a four syllable word AND a five syllable word. You could at least try..

oh look, here they come back the other way... one more:

Oh yeah, it was a 4th of July parade. Here's your gratuitous and/or obligatory cheerleader pic:

I've got a lot of miles on bikes, and much of it was in city traffic, or at night, or in bar districts. Shit happens. Besides, I'm pretty sure "butt magnet" is a feminine term, and not for use on most guys. Certainly not this one.

After the OR parade, I had a car skid at me at a stop light. This is where I say you are supposed to leave enough room in front of you, at all times, to move out of the way of whatever happens. This I do almost all the time. When I looked behind me and saw they weren't slowing down, I slipped into the gutter on the right side and pulled up along side the SUV in front of me. I didn't panic, and I didn't even think about it. I just did it. The car locked brakes and slid into the spot I was sitting in. It didn't hit the SUV. I'm pretty sure it would have hit me. It looked like it. I've been hit from behind twice by cages, while on a motorcycle. (And once by another motorcycle.) I'm not likely to let it happen again.

I guess it was SirPsycho and the bikes he brought. So It's Sir Psycho's daughter on a TTR 90 and her friend on a mini Ducati.

Don't feel bad, they got me too. I showed up at the right time, and found out they had all rushed back early, they ate all the food, and then most of them split.

The pics are all better in high resolution. Not this 640x480 stuff. I owe Mandie a better picture, one where her eyes are open... argh And I wonder what that kid was saying to Carie... I used to be unreal with a 35mm Nikon with motor drive. It's so much faster to shoot. I wonder if I'll ever get used to digital, it's slow. But it's so much cheaper to shoot, can't go back now.

I got the bike and raced around the parade and got ahead of it for a second set of photos:

PhotoBucket slideshow: http://s388.photobucket.com/albums/oo323/ReconRat_album/Parade%2009/?albumview=slideshow PhotoBucket Album: http://s388.photobucket.com/albums/oo323/ReconRat_album/Parade%2009/ Best of:

Two of the best pics I took: edit: Best audience response overheard: "Here comes the motorcycle gang." edit: see the parade photo thread: http://www.ohio-riders.com/showthread.php?t=29963&highlight=parade

We looped 270 on the North side, all the way around. We saw nothing. A few drunks.

I'm going to read the article MrMako posted, but... If a motorcycle didn't need the clutch, they wouldn't have put one on there. Shifting without a clutch is best done at moments when there is no load on the transmission. I've dismantled and repaired enough motorcycle transmissions to know where the damage is done from shifting without a clutch. If it's not done right, (with or without the clutch used) and it clunks or jerks when shifting, then the transmission is subjected to irregular wear patterns. Granted that the more modern transmissions are designed much better, and can avoid some of this damage. But basically, if you shift without the clutch, eventually the way the motorcycle shifts will change from a botched shift. Usually it's felt as a difference right at the shift lever itself. Usually it will go away as more shifting is done smoothly. Any bad shift, with or without the clutch, can result in a "funky shifting feeling", that will wear off over time. If it doesn't, the damage is permanent. Crashing on the shift lever can cause internal damage also. Yes, I shift without the clutch, when I want to, without even thinking about it, if I need to. It is a skill worth learning. edit: But I primarily use the clutch in everyday riding. Note: clunking into first from neutral doesn't count as a clunk on a Honda.

Sorry, to hear that. I'm old enough to have lost many friends, many ways. None ever said anything before parting, whether they had the chance to or not. All you can do is put them in your heart, and tell yourself to listen closely to what they have to say. They could not have asked for anything more wonderful than that.

The work desktop, spread across two 24 inch monitors:

Fireworks downtown are at 10pm till 10:30pm. It's possible to roll right through the downtown freeways when the fireworks are going off. Sometimes a bit dicey, when people aren't supposed to stop or block the freeway, but I've done it before. It's a three to five lane road, shouldn't be too bad...