swingset

Dude you're trying way too hard to convince us of intangibles we can measure. I've OWNED big-bore KTM's both new and old, and I lived through waiting months and finally giving up for wear items, having a limited web-based availability. My last Katoom had a damaged triple-tree that was made of unobtanium. I found just one, anywhere, after calls & web searches, even my source at KTM's NA division, and that particular part got snapped up at 3x what it should have cost before I could get my credit card out. Parts availability literally grounded a KTM for me, and if I were on the road and my Strom's triple failed, that same part could be shipped from Oneida, Ayers, Bikebandit, numerous sources within days maybe sooner. That bike was 7 years old at the time, the same age my Strom is now, yet I can get everything for it quickly....from multiple sources. I can jump on Fleabay and get nearly anything take-off from a Strom, whole motors, you name it. Try to find shit for a 620RXC, good fucking luck. And if you do, it'll be expensive or beat to death. No, bikes are not similar, but what Casper and I are saying is that our view of KTM parts and their accessibility is tangible. It's a real phenomena that wasn't born of assumptions but ownership and web-searching. I happen to think very highly of KTM machines, I will never assault their quality or performance, just the things I have experience with that are not so good...and I'll do the same to Suzuki where they falter. Don't let the orange cool aid stain your shirt, I can be validated in choosing another bike, and my reasons are not imaginary nor personal to anyone (except the parts division at KTM, I guess).

If I could make a friendly suggestion, if it's a buddy with no twisty experience why not just take it with two of you...and you hold back and go easy on the throttle? I'm in the "new guys should not bust their nut in a group ride" camp. There's a whole lot of wrecks on this site that are testament to that. I'm not flaming or anything, just giving my .02. If he follows you at a more relaxed pace, he can learn how to get into the corners without feeling like he's holding you back, but still able to watch and learn an appropriate line. New riders tend not to want to be the slow, wobbly inexperienced guy even if you tell them not to worry about it and ride over their head especially when there's 5 guys ahead of them. As for Routes, SR79 out of Newark to 541, then over to Coshocton is a nice route for newer riders. Nothing insane, lots of turns and great scenery, good pavement.

I looked today when I passed, no skid marks or signs of it...if he got on the brakes there was no slide, apparently went across the road right into the ditch. There is a slight hill crest where the driveway was, and the driver may well have been stopped, but that's still 100% rider error - if you're going so fast or following so close as to let this happen, you've fucked up...and the same goes for blind hills, if you're getting into a blind road with too much engine to negate the 2 second rule, you're gambling. I was going slow through there but even in the cage I had fairly good forward vision I think a stopped car would have been visible with time to stop or miss it. I'm guessing the rider was either into it too fast or wasn't paying attention. Don't know any details of the kid driving either, could have just been really slow turning in, stopped, who knows. Anyway, sad for everyone involved. jporter, it's about 1 mile north of Granville in the 2500 section, black mailbox on the west side was the driveway.

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20100527/NEWS01/5270342/Woman-killed-in-Ohio-661-crash Sport bike, neither wearing lids, brake-checked/swerved to miss a car turning into a driveway, wrecked. Female passenger died, rider error it looks like on this one. Happened just up my road, saw the cleanup crews after it happened. Wear your fucking lids people, especially your pillions. Don't end up like this guy carrying around someone's death for the rest of your life. Sad.

I'm sure it is. They support their new line very well. Will it be in a few years? Not saying the Japs are super about this either, but they tend to drop support and parts for things once a newer generation comes along. That's where BMW really has bragging rights, IMHO. For someone who rides their bike a couple years off the showroom and trades up, or races, non-issue, but I'm one of those stubborn asses who rides my stuff till it dies of old age. Knowing a model is popular enough to have an availability of parts and aftermarket in the foreseeable future matters to me.

The 990 is a good adventure bike, no doubt about it, it's light for its class and probably good offroad but Casper's Vstrom is a smoother more comfortable bike on the street. I don't think it's heresy to suggest the Strom the advantage in reliability (I've owned KTM big bores, there doesn't exist one without a short list of gremlins in my experience). Every bike is a compromise, everything has a niche, every rider a different want and expectation. The 990 has a hell of an engine, but have you ridden a DL1k? It'll lift that wheel with just the right hand...and is a joy in higher revs, it's a delightful bike on anything but technical terrain. The Adventure is also way more expensive than the Strom, so if someone isn't interested in its advantages offroad, it doesn't make much sense. Especially given the Strom's cheap ownership (including aftermarket, insurance, parts cost, lower-octane gas, you name it). Over the life of both bikes, you're going to be spending a lot more on the KTM, so you'd better be enjoying what it does better than the Strom. If you're on the tarmac more, what is it doing for you better than the STrom, other than fitting in at Grandview on Tuesday? For me, issues like 2-up riding also came into play. The Strom is luxurious compared to the 990, and the 990 is tall as hell. I'm not. Also worth mentioning if you're more interested in offroad, a KLR with a big-bore kit has about as much going for it as the Adventure at 1/3 the cost. Not sexy, but neither it nor the 990 is worth a good shit in the tight Ohio offroad anyway. For that kind of fun, I'd rather have a lightweight 4-stroke anyday. I'd also mention that KTM has a short window of parts availability, you'd better enjoy your new 990 and get all you want out of it, cause in 10 years getting some parts for it will probably be like hen's teeth, that I can tell you from sore personal experience. KTM thinks in the right now (that's that pesky racing-first mentality). Just my tooth hence, which I'm sure will not be met with orange-applause.

You're selling Amway you say? Wow, color me interested.

Scary that it's noteworthy that rides have taken place where new guys didn't crash.

I waited until my daughter was 13 and I had many years under my belt before considering it. I wanted her to be sure of it, able to be a good pillion, and also mature enough to understand the consequences. She took her second "big" ride with me today, had a great time.

I'm taking my daughter on her first big motorcycle ride Sunday, so I wouldn't be much fun in the group, but if you guys are out near Coshocton and see a silver Vstrom, that'll be us.

I'd totally do that, except I hate people who aren't white.

The other reason a lot of bike guys prefer Perry is that it's not as crowded, not very patrolled and there's a ton of places that are off-trail play areas and secondary trails that you can't find at Wayne. I think Perry is supposed to be something like 16 miles of trails, but I've ridden double that down there when hitting all the additional outlaw trails.

Wayne is a National Forest, Perry is State. Perry requires a pass if you're not plated, but if you have a plate it's free. Wayne still requires a pass + ORV sticker (waived if you're plated), so it's $12 a day for Wayne, free at Perry if you're street legal, or if you're not then you have to get the ORV sticker and pay the pass too.

Uh, captain obvious here, but California has been governed by liberals, moderates and idiots (three interchangeable terms) for a long time. That state's slide into financial decay isn't new or shocking to any conservative, in fact it's quite predictable. High taxes, rampant government spending, and irresponsible accounting are the hallmarks of big bad government, be it Republican or Democrat. Conservatives, however, are not Republicans. Republicans are supposed to be conservatives, but sometimes fail to be. Your Lincoln/Republican retort is infantile. Democrats largely fought the civil rights act, so are the present day Democrats racists? Lincoln was not by any definition a modern conservative, and he also imprisoned tens of thousands of people without trial, shut down presses, suspended habeus corpus. He believed in federal power that Bush could never dream of exercising. Choose a better example next time, no conservative claims him as a mantle of their principles.

Actually you're quite correct. Where you seem to be failing to understand is that many folks who are conservative aren't particularly married to a politician as much as they are to the principles a politician is SUPPOSED to represent. So, if a republican behaves as a liberal, he is a liberal. If you're a priest, but fuck little boys, you're not really a priest but a child molester. You can't blame those who admire priests for now calling the guy a child molester, there's not a contradiction unless you expect them to support their priest no matter his behavior, which actually is worse of a trait. California is being run into the ground by liberals, some with R's after their name, some with D's. It's not confusing, unless you're a liberal apparently.

I like how when liberals are confronted with tangible evidence of liberal spending being horrendous for everything, they bring up the fact that some Republicans have engaged in liberal spending and (surprise surprise) it was a disaster. As if that counters the argument. It makes the case, it doesn't refute it. Bush spent like a drunken sailor, Ahnold is about as conservative as Eddie Izzard. Neither are models of conservative financial prudence. Anyway, carry on.

Yeah, who wouldn't want to roll down the street looking like Thurston Howell III. Pass.

37 miles, Granville to downtown Cowlumbus.

Me too, I don't care if it's a motorcycle, I'd stick my junk in the exhaust, pull out and do a big money shot right on the tank. Oh wait.

It's Italian, so technically it's pronounced Fra Jeee Lay.

Me and my ladies...

I guess my thought is, why? Kids will become lecherous little horny fucks like us soon enough...why rush it? Let them be innocent for a while. I don't feel the need to doll my daughter up like a pole-spinner, nor do I understand anyone's inclination to make little kids into adult women.

Every failed relationship is fuel for the good one you're aiming towards, and every woman that turns her back on you sets you free to find it. Sounds like a shitty platitude, and it is, but it's also true. If you look at every woman who jilts you as a lesson, and also lost time, it gets your head right about relationships. Unfortunately, people often times betray what they know is good for them and keep choosing the same dumb bitch over and over again.

I've got a daughter, no way no fucking how would I allow her to engage in titillating stuff like that, and it IS sexualizing little kids.

Poor kids, first they came for the jeans, and I said nothing. Then the pushed all the cheerleaders into ovens, and I said nothing. Oh wait, I might not be happy if they did that. What was I saying? Oh yeah, who gives a shit.