buildit

Going to the bar is no way to save $$$ either. How much do you drop in a night at the bar? $20, $30, more? Better to have some friends over and play x-box than blow $100 a week on booze. I save so much money now that I don't drink and I also never have to worry about a DUI.

RIP, our thanks will never repay your sacrifice.

Before selling the car and or bike I'd check to see what the KBB value on them is. There is a real possibility that if they are new the value is probably lower than the amount you owe on them. ie You won't be able to sell them for what you owe on them, so selling them gains you nothing. First step is stop spending. Second is save enough to afford a place to live. Third increase the debt payment to the highest interest loans first. As Iron butt mentioned on the other page, investigate debt consolidation but still pay off that debt as fast as you can. Another tip I can give you is put yourself on an allowance. Take a set amount of cash out of your pay check every payday and force yourself to live on it. I recommend $105 per week cash. That's $15 per day to live on, if you can live on less then take less out or put it in a rainy day cash fund. NO USING Credit cards!! If you run out of $$$ then suffer till the next pay day, they are for emergency use only. Pay bills the old fashion way, use a check. It will help you keep better track of what your "real" account balance is. Also, forget Christmas. Sounds really crappy but tell friends and family you can afford to participate this year. It will save you a ton of money and it doesn't sound like you need any new toys. Last suggestion, if you have grandparents who are doing okay see if they could loan you a lump sum to get the high interest stuff off your back. Just don't be an ass hole and not repay them if they are kind enough to help you out.

Yeah, chicks are like that.

Would that mean he'd change his user name to "Boy Toy"?

A couple have hinted at it already but I'll just come out and say it. When you are just starting out is not the time to be spending more than what you make. The mistake most people make is to think "I deserve this". Bull! Don't believe the hype that advertisers sell you! You seem like a resourcefull guy and willing to sacrifice for your economic sins. But I'll warn you now, learn from this mistake. You are young and it is easier to correct these errors now than later in life when you have a house, wife and kids. I truely feel for the people who have had to go home to their spouse and explain that the way of life they had is about to end. But a wise man once told me, "neither a lender nor borrower be". When you lend you gamble on that money being paid back to you. There is never a 100% guarentee, ask the investors in Madoff. When you borrow, someone is making a bet you will be able to repay that loan. The cost of the risk is the interest you are charged. Just last week I had to explain to my GF how her good deal on a $5000 vehicle was not as good as she thought. Simply because by the end of the loan she was paying $7000 for the vehicle, not $5000. But that is the cost of a bad credit history and failure to read the loan and ask the right questions. They sold her on the $120 a month payment, not the five years that she'd be making that payment. I do have one question. If your parents are declaring bankrupcy why are you? Is your debt tied to theirs or is it a matter of the money you should have been saving for rent was going for toys because you lived at home? I hope you get it right, being financially responsible isn't easy but the reward is worth it.

Okay, I'll play.

The point of this ride was to give 950cc+ bikes a chance to do some unpaved stuff. So it would have been real cheesy of me to show up on the KLR or KTM and say, "see how easy this is". As it was everyone was amazed at how well the V-strom did and how well it handled stuff that the people with smaller bikes were having issues on. My favorite phrase, "the bike can do it, it's the rider who's struggling".

Mines running on Amsoil 10W/40. I'll be a step ahead for winter. On another note someone asked about why Amsoil filters are not offered there? Am I missing the rack for them?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbXl3hrjACA Usually I have a video camera facing rear to catch those behind me. Well, the ATC 2000 is a POS to begin with but it kept shutting down on me and couldn't compensate for the vibration. So all the video was shot from my POV or when I could get far enough ahead of everyone to turn around and watch. Hope you enjoy.

I think Earache makes some holders also. Maybe he'll post some up when he gets back from out west?

Depending on how much use the 426 I have gets now that I have the KTM I might be selling it. But I really liked riding it down around Tar Hollow on the unimproved roads. God it's a little power house of a bike.

Had to ask, if it had been you off 56 I was going to tell you that you missed the real ride.

Were you riding around Laurelville this morning? Someone with a bike much like the one in your avitar was back and forth then went in the grocery store as we got ready for the gravel road ride leaving from the gas station.

Not all, some are avid motorcyclists like you and I. They might even be posting in this very thread! And no, it's not me.

I'll take what I can get

I am not against stunting per say, I am against doing it where others can be hurt if you screw up. Practicing things like wheelies is usefull in learning how to control the bike in excelleration, gaining balance and learning the motors power band. I guess that's why I like offroad riding, it allows me to improve skills you can't learn on the road.

Well, I'm no engineer but the science behind the spring steel works pretty well for me as cheap fix. I have a rubber stopper included in the video camera holder on the KLR which helps too. The ultimate vibration isolator is your body, which is why after dicking around with mounts for two years I finally got a good quality helmet cam.

If you can splice the chewed wires. Harness = Big $$$ and time.

First one, Not really that shocking. Second one was kind of a let down. Sorry I kill me.

Carefull you don't video yourself having your first accident! I'm assuming you never made it over ~25 mph? Most mounts, like the one you made, have a serious problem in that they pick up all the road vibration from the handle bars. A way to soften this is to buy a piece of spring steel at lows or Home Depot and another piece of all thread. Bolt the steel to the base, and attach the all thread to the other end. This will not only dampen the vibration but allow you a wider variety of angles to shoot from. Here's an early video I made riding on gravel with a mount using this method. http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r288/luke1324/rides/?action=view&current=farmroadride.flv The camera was a Nikon Coolpix L2. It finally stoped working and since then I've tried to find another Nikon Coolpix that has a center mount as it adds stability to the camera. Here's a photo of how it looked on my V-max. Recently I started using a palm camera on the back of the KLR to record people riding behind me. I made a case with foam bottom and sides to cushion it and then mounted it using the same method. The rear view shots in this video were made using it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUvWwqV7DAs

When you say it sounds like a dirt bike, do you mean really loud or do you mean like a single cylinder thumping? If you can you might try removing a plug wire from each cylinder while it running to see if anything happenns. If you pull the plug and it dies that's good, if not you now know which cylinder is running rough and needs attention. Just a thought.

Any 10 W 50 as speced out for the KTM 950's?

Could be the valves. Could be electrical. Could be the stator is not recharging it fast enough at the lower rpms. Could be a hole in the exhaust reducing back preasure. Could be a thousand things. Start from the intake and work your way through the engine to the exhaust. Then check all electrical you can.