Bubba

I had a buddy who wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but a big guy, 6'6" 250ish, who espoused the theory that if a little is good, a lot is better; therefore, a metric shit-ton is the cat's meow! He prolly wasn't the best guy to be a gun owner, but hey, it's 'Murica, baby. He bought a double-barreled 10g through private sale, and being a rocket scientist, did several things an educated gun owner would NEVER do: he took the gun out hunting without ever having fired it, he went to his duck blind alone in the late afternoon, and in the biggest-is-best mode, bought heavy-shot magnum loads for it. At some point during the early evening, the flock started to set down on the lake and he jumped up, accidentally tripped BOTH TRIGGERS almost simultaneously. The gun barrel jumped up, hitting him in the forehead and knocked him out cold. He woke up (luckily) a few minutes later with blood running in his eyes, laying in his blind. If he did actually hit the ducks, I presume they sank immediately. He took the gun home and to my knowledge, never fired the thing again. What's even more humorous is that I learned of this because he was telling the story on himself at work. Like I said, 'Murica baby!!!

The part I don't understand is that, on the face of everything I've seen in the news, documentaries and videos, they seem to have a great love of their children--at least the male ones--and their families. How that idea can be perverted into the teaching of hate, intolerance and self-destruction in the name of their god is beyond belief and understanding, at least for a westerner. The only rationale I can up with is that it's based on pure ignorance, and the compelling need to continue to perpetuate ignorance.

BTD: So….weren't those videos all of the same chick singing the same song? I couldn't concentrate well after my eyes rolled back in my head…. Need more drugs.

Yeah, this is why most people (riders) I know call 'em 'cheese graters'…. Please note that the statistics often quoted about the system being safer means that, along the highway right-of-ways that are equipped with the cable barriers, there is a statistically lower injury/death rate per mile than a similar area with guard rails or other system. This DOES NOT MEAN that the cable systems are necessarily safer for the driver initially involved with the barrier contact….merely that the barrier successfully kept the initial vehicle from crossing the median or contacting other vehicles traveling along the freeway. One death--yours--is statistically safer than multiple deaths possibly occurring from a cross-median collision.

Purty sure it's 'cause all the Junkies are meth-cooking crack addicts that support their habits by stealing crotch-rockets and doin' whoolies thru quiet suburban neighborhoods at 180 MPH scaring little old ladies, dogs and white children. Or maybe it's because they're all Democrats….

Welcome. More of the active folks here are located in C-bus and points north, but a few in the Cinti/NKY area. I'll put in a suggestion to check out the AssfaultJunkies.com forum. AFJ is prolly a more active forum for the local area here and has a mix of both street and track riders. Also, check out LocalRiders.com--not anywhere near as large or active a membership, but still a local forum to watch for rides.

The bigger question is why--once you have left Detroit--would you consider going back? . . . . . . . . Ok, ok, my bad. D is a fine city going thru an extended spell of poor management and fiscal decisions, but still….

Bingo! We have a winner. When it comes to the issue of friction vs contact patch, #2 is the biggest reason we have larger tires/larger contact area on heavier bikes and high-HP bikes, and the /\-shaped tires on race bikes. The capabilities of modern bikes have advanced to the point that weight, acceleration and centripetal force would result in the rubber at the tire/road interface deforming from both heat degradation and shear stress such that the safety--and of course, tire life--would be unacceptable. As was posted above, Ammonton's Law states that for a given pressure, the surface area is directly proportional to force, so tire size isn't what 'creates' the larger contact patch; rather, it's the ability to run lower pressure while still accommodating a larger force (weight/acceleration/etc) without encountering other serious issues such as sidewall deformation and heat build-up. Kind'a gives you pause next time you throw your bike into a hard, downhill corner at triple digit speeds….

Yes. This is why you see most of the top-level Moto-GP racers weighing >250 lbs--to increase traction. OK….JK. Pretty sure traction is a function of the dynamic forces between the contact patch and the road. The contact patch is function of force vectors pushing the rubber to the pavement and tire pressure. So in the simplest terms, the greater the force, the larger the contact patch and the lower the pressure, the larger the contact patch and thus, the greater the traction. Problem with your question is that the actual coefficient of friction at the tire/pavement interface isn't affected that much by the weight of the bike/rider. In a turn, the larger forces are created by centripedal force, which are greater for a large mass (heavier bike/rider) than a lighter one. Just as a lighter car can out corner a heavier one--given that they have similar tires--so a lighter bike can out corner a heavier one. You have to think of the force vs CoF vectors involved….and I'm far too lazy an SOB to try to draw something and post it here. You'll have to go find it on the interwebz for yourself. The same is true for straight-line acceleration, i.e., drag races--you get better traction with greater weight transfer to the rear wheels, but the extra mass you must accelerate by adding weight over the drive wheels more than diminishes the benefit you gain from the added traction.

I think they have really nice lines. They're a half-way compromise between a full-size live-aboard, which tend to be rather portly amidships and slow to sail, and a racing hull, which are much more lively but with no real useable space below decks. The shape kind of reminds me of a pregnant cat, but his boat--fully equipped and stocked for a crew of 4-5 people--was able to achieve better than 7 knots on a comfortable tack with decent wind. As I recall, he was carrying about 2 tons of lead ballast in the keel, too. With boats like these, regular maintenance is EVERYTHING, and I'd try really hard to find a fresh-water boat.

Years ago, I crewed for a guy who sailed his 42' Tartan out of Port Clinton. Made quite a few week- to two-week trips on the Great Lakes into the North Channel. Work during the day pulling sheets and navigating, sleep aboard at night, and take the GH bus home when he didn't need me anymore. Hauling up into the small ports each night and walking to the small waterfront cafes is definitely an idyllic life. Had quite a few great times on Mackinaw Island during the race weekends. Takes some serious cubic cash to own and maintain a boat like that, tho.

Just a heads up. Sounds like you've been evaluated by a physician, but keep an ey on your leg for tightness and painful swelling. Had a buddy wreck his MX bike and nearly died from a leg clot. See link here: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/compartment-syndrome-causes-treatments

Don't disagree that pre-planning early in your children's life for education expenses makes sense. However, there should also be some serious sacrifice on the part of the student as well. I worked full-time during summers to save money for tuition, and part-time during the school year to off-set living expenses. And yeah, I had help from my parents, thankfully. Most financial planners today will tell you it's a poor idea to incur heavy debt to fund a child's college education at the risk to one's financial security in retirement.

Josh: Not sure anyone here is espousing going thru life with only a HS education, although there are many trade positions that are a fine alternative to college if that's where your talents and interests lie. What I believe most here are posting is that it doesn't make a lot of financial sense to be so quick to sign up for $100K+ of what are essentially interest-deferred installment loans without researching what the pay-off will eventually cost and understanding what sacrifices must be made in the short-term--5 to 10 years post-college--to finish your degree program. It isn't any different than those who recently (mid-2000s era) signed up for interest-only variable mortgages on houses they really couldn't afford in the belief that their home value would continue to grow at 10-30% each year, and then found themselves 'under water' to the tune of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars only to shrug their shoulders and ask for the taxpayer to bail them out. Seems to me that if you're smart enough to go to college, you ought'a be able to do at least a simple analysis of the risk-reward equation…. Reader's Digest version: I don't hear too many people complaining about receiving the loans while they attend college. I do hear a lot of complaining once they graduate and suddenly say: "Damn, I didn't know I was gonna have to pay THIS MUCH every month!" That's the big disconnect I see….

Ummm. It was a fish... . . . . . …but, sorry for your loss... . . . . . …I guess. . . . . . Der.

I wouldn't worry about it as long it's simply a puncture and not a tear. It'll be fine for street riding, even aggressively. Probably wouldn't take the tire to the track and pull 160+ on the backstretch, but for everyday riding, you'll be OK. Save your money and spend it on beer!!!

Just 'cause you're smart enough to memorize chit from a text book doesn't mean you're 'smart' enough to be financially savvy. Whole lotta folks in the same boat these days. Whole house carpet--no payments for 1 year? Sign me up. 90 days--same as cash? Hell yeah! Buy here--pay here--no credit check? What could possibly go wrong? Re-fi my home mortgage for 110% of the market value? It's a no-brainer. Instant gratification and repay with tomorrow's dollars. Hmmm. Kind'a like the gub'mint. Free medical. Free rent. Free food stamps. Free unlimited unemployment payments. Money grows on trees. Ain't nobody got time fo' dat. God help our chilluns. They are so fucked….

Sounds like you encountered a bad apple, alright. The tip-off SHOULD'A been when the shop owner revealed to you that he's shady enough to want to dishonestly screw PayPal out of their seller's fee. I've had some seller's request that I mark the transaction as 'GIFT' and that's at the point I said "Nevermind….Thanks for your time….Good bye." Only way I do that is if the seller is personal friend or acquaintance and I know who I'm dealing with. Sorry for your inconvenience, but chalk it up as another important life lesson learned. Hope you get satisfaction with the refund request. And BTW, thanks for 'steakhouse' parable. Now I'm hungry, and it's only 8 o'clock in the morning….

Everything I read on the FZO1A board suggests that the weld issue was in the early Gen-II's, pretty rare, and had been resolved by '08. http://www.yamahafz1oa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69625

That looks like a pretty good price if it's a clean title, but not one to kill yourself chasing. As I said earlier, there ain't a lot of love for the nekkids. Joe's (Scuba) '10 Z1000 http://ohioriders.net/index.php?/topic/105284-fs-2010-kawasaki-z1000/ was on this board for a couple of months at $5500, and I had my '09 FZ1 http://ohioriders.net/index.php?/topic/102440-2009-yamaha-fz1-graniteblk-75k-mi-new-pirellis-lots-of-aftermarket-goodies/ with just 7K miles and more aftermarket extras than the one listed above for sale here and a few other forums for $4795 late last year and it took me almost 6 months to sell it to a guy in L-ville. They are both great bikes for the price. Good luck in your search!!!

Understand. The problem you describe can happen even with gear that fits well. Any two-piece riding suit, even if it's zipped together, can gap in a hard sliding spill. Only way around that is a onesie, and while they're safer than a two-piece, they aren't very practical around town when you're doing stuff off the bike. If you've got the cubic cash to burn, buy yourself a good suit that provides the protection you need/want, then sell you stuff on CL if possible to recoup some bucks. If you budget is tight but you want to be safer, start with some 'cheap' but pretty effective hard guards, some compression shorts and a pressure suit to wear under your street clothes. Then treat yourself to a high-end suit when you reach your goal. Check out these: http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/fox-racing-titan-race-kneeshin-guards http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/shift-enforcer-elbow-guards http://www.revzilla.com/motocross/troy-lee-bp-4600-hot-weather-armored-shorts http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/fox-racing-turbo-belt-1

Sounds like your gear is already to the point of being too big for safety, but man, it's not like going out and buying a cheap pair of pants and a t-shirt to fit you in the interim while you continue with your weight-loss program. I sometimes wear jeans depending on where I'm going, and I always wear a pair of MX-style knee/shin guards underneath for protection. You can pick up a set from Iron Pony or online for between $10 and $20. I'd also pick up a set of the hard plastic arm/elbow guards as well. You could either leave your built-in pads in the gear or maybe more comfortably, take the gear pads out and just go with the MX guards. That should hold you until reach your weight goal and are ready to spring for new gear. OH, BTW, congrats on working your way to healthy!!!

They love to lighten the load when they take off in a big hurry. If they ever do 'paint' you with the full dump, you'll wish you WERE DEAD!!! BTW, nice pic of the front of the bike. Sooo…..do you end up having nightmares and visions of corpses if you use the feathers from a turkey vulture to make a dream catcher?

Definitely potential for death--yours! There's a thread on ADVRider forum about a rider who was killed hitting a vulture at speed. Even hitting a bird at 50-70 MPH leaves a mark right thru gear.

Brand new (leftover) 2012 FZ1 for sale in Indy: $7999 http://www.dreyermotorsports.com/2012-Yamaha-FZ1-FZS10BW-inventory.htm?id=422479&used=1&fm=2&vin=JYARN17E9CA008561