Bubba

I knew that it was kind'a dirt specific, but I've been lurking on a few MC forums for a while and it seems like there's been a rash of riders doing the ton and more on backroads who are going down more often than it seems wise. Some lucky so far--some not so.

If I was going to go out and push my limits to 9/10s on the street, I figger I'd want all the gear I could get to protect me. Since I've ridden dirt a lot in the past but never had a neck brace, it seemed like it could do double duty for on- and off-road railing. Maybe not for the track...

Just out'a curiosity, does the brace work with all helmet types, or just the MX-style?

Neck brace on CL today. Not sure if this is a righteous price, but figgered I'd post it in case there's interest.

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/mcy/2040416564.html

Ummmm, not very many of these bikes around. I think they only made 'em in '95-96. I've got a 95 too, and I've only seen one other GPZ for sale on CL in the 8 or 9 years I've owned it.

Good luck in your parts search. FYI, if you come across a source for parts and it happens to have a stock or aftermarket seat pan, I'll buy it from you. Been looking on E-Bay for awhile now.

A friend's wife took this nice 9pt off my property in SW Hamilton Cty (Cinti) around 7 PM Sat eve. Made a nice kill shot from about 25 yds using a crossbow. Took a similar one, may be a bit smaller, last year. As good as she is with a bow, I suggested he NEVER screw up at home....

It sounds like maybe you're approaching the turns just a little too cautiously--i.e., too slowly--and then having to accelerate in the middle of your turn, which is prolly the reason you find yourself heading into the opposing lane.

Now, initiating a turn at a reasonable speed and gradually increasing it as you complete the turn isn't a bad thing (that's how the racer boyz do it) but as a relative beginner with low mileage under your belt, you should try carrying a bit more speed into the first part of the turn--enough to ensure you're in a stable lean--and then hold your speed constant as you finish the last part of your turn. As you gain confidence, you can begin to increase your lean angles thru the turn as you increase your speed.

And I agree with the earlier post: there are no turns that don't begin with a counter-steer movment. They are just very slight at low speed.

If anyone is interested, there's a ride from the westside of Cinti leaving Sat afternoon and heading to Rabbit Hash for the Old Timer's Day Celebration. Meet for food and drinks first at The Cabana on the River at 3 PM and then head into KY on the ferry at 4ish for about 1.5-2.0 hours of riding on the rural Boone couty roads before hitting the festival for music and fun. Return across the ferry about 9ish.

Details can be found at: http://cincinnatiriders.ning.com/events/more-of-an-event-than-a-ride

Info on the Rabbit Hash Celebration: http://www.rabbithash.com/latest_news/upcoming_events/31st_annual_old_timers_day_is_september_4th_2010.html

Mus' be the day for idjits in cages. I was out just doing some easy backroad cruising this afternoon thru Boone County, KY, just west of the airport. I was headed north on Bullitsville out of Burlington doing just over legal following an old guy in a pickup. I wasn't pushing him--we were both doing about 45 in a 35--and I was pretty relaxed since there was zero traffic, so I was sitting up with my left arm just hanging loose, when all of a sudden, he locks up the brakes and brings his truck to a complete stop! No deer...no driveway...no intersection...no turn signal...and luckily no one behind us. It prolly wasn't REALLY close, but I had to grab a fistfull/footfull of all three discs, howlin' the tires, and it sure got my attention, so I look at the driver--he's stopped in front of me grinnig in his mirror. I thought about blowin' around him and flipping him off, but didn't want to give him the opportunity to run me off the left side fo the road, so I waited until he pulled ahead and went on his way. Only explanation I can come up with is that he was tryin' to take me down, God knows why.

Later in the ride on the OH side, a brainless teen child talking on her cell clicked her right turn signal on and started into a subdivision. I was just passing her in the left wheel track when she jerked the wheel and came out into the road like I wasn't there. Again, prolly not death-defying, but starting to give me an 'invisible man' complex.

Remember....Let's be careful out there.

I'm leading a ride to Rabbit Hash, KY, on Sat for Old Timers Days.

http://www.rabbithash.com/latest_news/upcoming_events/31st_annual_old_timers_day_is_september_4th_2010.html

Sun might work, but be aware that's the day of the Riverfest fireworks, which means there'll be about 500,000+ drunk party-goers in the city. Prolly not the best day to be jousting with cagers....

Figger the weather only gets better from here, so maybe hold off for a week or so. I'm currently 'underemployed' so any day during the week works, too.

I've had wings from all those establishments--BWs, Roosters, Hooters, BW&R, etc--and gotta say that they don't hold a candle to the one's a local Cinti place puts out. If you're ever in a wings frenzy, ride on down to SW Ohio and check out Wild Mikes! They're strictly a local chain with three locations on the west side of the city.

If you want to do a road trip, send me PM and I'd be happy to meet for wings 'n beer and a ride if you're interested.

Bubba gets it.

Post more mang!

Jagr: Post more?!? Why, when the thread seems to have degenerated into a nonsensical discourse of babbling monkeys pecking away at typewriters...

I'm gone.

Anyone up for a couple hours of rding out of the Ham Cty/Cinti/NKY area? I'd be up for doing a loop of NKY in/around Boone Cty/Petersburg, maybe the 10/22 route out'a Alexandria, or heading west to Brookville/Metamora and back thru Oldenburg/Batesville on 229. Meet/leave from a rendezvous point about 9:00-9:30ish. Any interest?

Post here or email icantdrive55@fuse.net

I'm NOT a regular poster here, but I do lurk on a semi-daily basis, so I guess I'm putting myself up for flamin'....

I'm kind'a surprised at all the hootin' going on among members about what is a purty simple topic: that of riding safely on a crowded high-speed public highway. I can think of a whole lot of arguments 'FOR' and not very many 'AGAINST'. That being said, here's a few points I wanna make:

This forum is called Ohio-Riders, not 'Really-Slow-Newb-Streetriders' or 'Gnarly-Squids-Illegally-Riding-in-Private-Lots' or 'Super-Fast-Track-Racers-with-UltraMan-Leather-Suits'. 99.9% of us ride the majority of our yearly miles on urban/suburban streets at mostly legal speeds. Purty sure all of us try really hard to keep the rubber side down and the shiny side up so we can return to our wives/kids/SOs intact and unharmed. Absolutely sure we all face the same hazards together: cagers, stupid/inatttentive drivers, surfaces like asphalt, concrete, guardrails, and telephone poles that are way harder than our soft outer shell and inner skeleton that holds us togther. Also sure that when s--t goes REALLY wrong, we all suffer the same fate of grievous--and all to frequently, terminal--injury.

Please note also that the OP was writing in the 'Daily Ride' column, not the Track- or Stunt-oriented column, so arguments for riding like ya stole it on the X-Way are kind'a silly. I'm gonna be 60 this October and I've been riding since I was 15. To be fair, I used to ride like a fool (even tho I might be a little faster now vs then) and am absolutely convinced that only extreme good luck and the Hand of the Almighty kept me from being a statistic when I was younger. I've owned two Harleys (found them to be nice cruising bikes, but way to heavy, too slow, and too expensive) and a s--tload of Jap bikes, ridden dirt/MX and broken 13 ribs and both collarbones and spent a week in the hospital in London, KY. I also like to ride fast thru the twisties, but find my personal speedometer seems to max out at about 25-over posted limits. I'd love to try track riding where I could enjoy the thrill of triple-digit speed without worrying about manholes, curbs, and little old ladies driving big white buicks, but I don't have the cubic cash to lay out for replacing hard parts if I fail/fall. Some of the older riders here may say "With age comes wisdom" while some of the younger riders will say my nutz have shrivelled and I'm a pussy. Fair 'nuff. I know I'm not as fast as I used to think I was...

Anyway, a discussion is one thing we can all have, but getting personal with the insults over what seems to be/should be a non-debatable subject is a waste of electricity.

Did'ja remember to loosen the wheel adjuster nuts? If you have a lot of stress/strain on the wheel form a tight chain, it'll bind up the axle on the adjuster brackets. 'Course, I wouldn't think the chain should be THAT tight to begin with....

There's a new group site (Yeah, pretty small so far) @ cincinnatiriders.ning.com that I just joined. If yer feelin' friendly, send 'em an invite....or I will, if this is a more-the-merrier kind'a gathering. Haven't met up with any of 'em yet, but their pics say mostly cruiser types. 'sOK by me, since I detest tix from LEOs...

I'll warn 'em of the whole sticky-name-tag thing. BTW, can my tag say F$%#tard? Or is that one already taken?

Sounds like yer on the right track. However, it'd be kind'a unusual that you would need to raise the needle. As the older slide carbs age, the needles normally wear and get loose with the years of vibration and flow more--not less--fuel. That being said, you sound like you know what yer doin' and if it looks lean in the mid-range, raising the needle (lowering the clip) might help.

I still think I'd look for a partially clogged passage (I think you said you checked your float bowl fuel levels) or some other issue causing air infiltration behind the slides. How are your rubber carb mount boots? Check those by spraying either WD-40 or a solvent on each boot and see if you get a change in idle or smoke from the exhaust.

Not sure what kind'a carbs yer runnin' but if they're CV carbs, check the integrity of the slide diaphragms, looking for cracks in the rubber or leaks around the outer seal. If the diaphragm(s) is(are) leaking, you lose vacuum and the slide won't open normally as you crack the throttle, leaning your fuel/air mixture. If I was a guessing man, I'd look at the two carbs that weren't running rich first. Prolly the two cylinders that looked rich were carrying the load on acceleration.

Some other things to check: if your carbs have squirters (most bike carbs don't) make sure they're working; re-check the orifices on your main jets for blockage.

Edit: Also, check yer other vacuum hoses, crackcase breather hose, etc for cracks/leaks.

Not sure if there's a road of the same name near Dayton, but the only one I know of is on the westside of Cinti. It's actually split into two sections, due to the closing of an old, structurally unsafe bridge across the Muddy Creek yearas ago. The the only kind'a fun section is a very short piece (prolly less than a mile) that runs from Werk Rd to Ebenezer Rd. The last part of this section actually becomes Muddy Creek Rd from the point of the old creek crossing east to Ebeneezer.

If you turn south on Ebeneezer, you will cross the next section of Devil's Backbone which runs southeast to end at Rapid Run. Hardly worth the drive from Dayton/Troy area to check out a short twisty....IMHO

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=devils+backbone+road,+45248&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Devils+Backbone+Rd,+Cincinnati,+OH+45233&gl=us&ei=Cre0S4qIJI74MJ7vqO8J&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CAkQ8gEwAA

Junkies: Thx for the outing today. It's been a few years since I've ridden 10 & 22, and had forgotten how nice the roads are. I did pass a KY State LEO on 22W just after I left you in Willow, but I was enjoying the sunshine and doin' the legal, so I waved at him and rode on. Hope you didn't run across him on your route....

If you guys do another ride locally, lemeno. I'd be up for it, especially if you plan on rollin' the throttle back just a bit so we can ride as a group. I don't mind bein' dropped occasionally, but it's nicer if there's some group interaction other than at the stops.

Prolly see ya at Mid-Ohio later this year. Ciao.

Ride well. Stay safe!

How long (time-wise) you guys ridin' today? I've never ridden with anyone from this group, but I'd like to do some riding today, and 10/22 is a nice place to start.

How fast does the group ride? I'm OK with corners, but not into super-uber-legal speed limits. Prefer keeping the shiny side up.....

Lemeno.