Aerik

It is a really great little bike-- lots of fun for its age, too. The pic doesn't show, but the damned thing still has the factory warning stickers on the tank. Only real cosmetic issue is a bar-ding in the tank, where some idiot in the last 25 years has dropped it. When I bought it, it had cracks from over-torquing in the oil filter cover (since replaced), and the final drive oil cap was messed up. No other problems, aside from the regulator/rectifier dying tonight.

Good points all around. I've always followed the 'look where you want to go' philosophy, and I've been pushing that pretty heavily with her as well-- she doesn't always do it, but it has helped. Since I made my last post in this thread, we went to the school parking lot to work on some cone exercises only to have her bike die as soon as we arrived. After trucking it home and doing some testing, we've deduced that it's the regulator/rectifier, so we're gonna have to hunt one down. In the meantime, I guess she's getting a few days' bench time. Maybe I'll make her watch the 'ride like a pro' videos or something.

I agree that she may just not be up to it, but she said she wants to wait until after the BRC to make a final yes or no decision. I get my stubbornness from her, so I can't really force her to quit earlier than that once she's made up her mind. Until then, we've been keeping her in her neighborhood and the school parking lot across the street-- I'm just trying to think of anything I might be doing wrong or have forgotten to tell her.

Okay, so I've been tinkering around with this problem for a few months, and I'm finally getting annoyed enough to ask for help. Siouxsie, my '77 Suzuki GS750, accelerates smoothly at up to a quarter throttle or so. If you apply more than that, however, she makes a noise like you'd make if you attempted to gargle without water, and will actually stall if you let it keep doing that at idle. You can 'roll up' to full throttle by increasing it gradually or feathering, but there's no real acceleration at that point. Here's what I've tried so far: The jets, airbox, and pipes are all stock. The air cleaner is clean and in good shape (it's a Uni, and has been freshly oiled). The mixture screws (this model has separate air and fuel screws) are at spec. The carbs have been taken off, inspected, and cleaned several times, with no change. The plugs are pretty new, and made no difference. Two were somewhat rich at last inspection, but that's been more or less adjusted out. These carbs don't have the normal synch ports (I've been told I have to get something to thread into them somehow), so I've had to settle for bench-synching. Can anyone think of anything else I should try? Or is my bike just being a 33-year-old Suzuki? We work on stuff all the time, but we're not mechanics, so don't hesitate to point out anything I might have missed.

Okay, so I've spent the last couple of months teaching my mom and my wife how to ride. They're both scheduled to take the Motorcycle Ohio course in August. Cari (the wife) has done really well, and is at the point where she's just getting more precise and competent with each ride. Mom, on the other hand, has been much more difficult. Every little thing has been a process of repetition (we're still working on not doing 'Flintstone stops', for example). Then, a few weeks ago, she made a very wide right turn onto a road that was bending left, ran out of room, and bounced over a curb. No injuries, but it shook her up a bit. Basically, we've identified three primary problems: 1) She has a tendency to let her brain get between her instincts and the bike. She'll be thinking (okay, clutch, shift, gas, Oh! Lean!, Did I do that right? etc) instead of actually just riding. 2) She's learned to handle road curves well, but has great difficulty with low-speed turning, such as pulling out from a stop sign. She always goes too wide. 3) She's always been somewhat nervous, but it's only become worse since the crash. Her riding posture is very rigid, she accelerates very slowly, and I think she may be self-correcting out of the necessary lean in slow corners. I'm just looking for any advice or tips on how to try and help these problems from people who have taught others to ride. Thanks all

Like I said, Doom Jazz-- they use a lot of the theme elements, mood, and structure from Doom Metal (which, like all metal, is rooted in jazz and blues anyway), but they're essentially playing jazz. I dig it, anyway. I didn't mean to imply that Bohren & Der Club of Gore was actually a metal band, just that their sound was derived from a combination of elements of those styles.

I guess that means I might do well if I ever decide to sell my Shadow

Nope, the band I built the station from is called "Bohren & Der Club of Gore". Start with Doom Metal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebt0g8kxPV0 Then add Jazz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6WwuxqXPOg And you get Doom Jazz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R-lUWuxeog Note: I'm not responsible for what happens if you drink alone in the dark while listening to Bohren & Der Club of Gore.

Hmm. I guess I just didn't realize how well those hold value. I suppose it kind of makes sense, since they're generally not ridden to death like a sportbike or normal cruiser is. Except for that one video of a guy riding one on the track, anyway. Of course, they cost a lot more brand new than most other bikes, too. Something about basically being a two-wheeled car.

Okay, so some people may remember my write-up last summer about Kermit. If not, here goes: Kermit is a 2001 Ninja 250 that Raincheck bought for a starter bike. It had a bunch of weird problems, and we spent epic amounts of time trying to fix it up. We got it mostly functional, and he had a decent season riding it. The plastics were a little messed up (it had been dropped before, and so on), and Raincheck flipped over a guardrail with it as well. Also, it was OMGWTFBBQ kawasaki green. Anyway, this summer he was ready for a bigger bike. I had bought Todd's ninja 600 for my wife (Scari812), but she was too short for it to be a good fit. So, we traded, and I acquired a Kermit. This week, we painted the damned thing. Here's the 'before': And some of the damage on the plastics: Needless to say, a bit of fiberglass was called for. A lot of fiberglass, actually. Anyway, we decided to follow our motto, "When in doubt, murder it out". For those who don't know, that means we're using flat black rattlecan paint, because we are fucking classy in here. So, to make sure this is as janky as possible, we made a paintbooth by hanging plastic sheets from my open garage door: And yes, we used an old surround-sound speaker for a paint stand: And I actually got Cari to come out and help: On the second day, we gave up on the paint-booth because goddamn it was stuffy in there: Also, because we're not exactly a well-trained body shop, we made a few stupid mistakes that led to us having to re-sand, re-prime, re-wetsand, and re-paint the tank and main fairing like three fucking times. We got weird 'droplets' sprayed from the can, strange 'furry spots' in the dried paint, and so on. Yay. In the end, though, it came out alright: Total cost, including paint, dropcloths, and all sanding supplies: about $45.

Alright: In my apartment complex, we're known as the 'guys with all the bikes'. So, last night a neighbor comes up while we're working in the garage and asks if we'd be interested in a '93 Gold Wing with approximately 40k miles. He says it's loaded, royal blue, and the only thing wrong with it is a hole in the left muffler (I have no idea how-- I haven't seen the bike). So here's my question: He says he's hoping to get $5000-$6000 out of it. Is that actually reasonable for this bike, or does he just have "It's my bike and I paid a lot for it so someone else should" syndrome? Doesn't actually matter to me, since I'm not in the market for anything that expensive. I was just curious. Incidentally, if anyone is actually interested, let me know and I'll get you in touch with him to find out more.

Here are my main Pandora stations right now. I'm still training some of them (so they'll still occasionally play stupid stuff), but overall they're not too bad: Bohren & Der Club of Gore (German Doom-Jazz, plus older jazz and ambient stuff) http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh217636588662935132 Katatonia (Originally a metal band, now more depressive rock) http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh245787535192739420 Industrial (Lots of Front Line Assembly, some VNV Nation, etc) http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh247085401295146588 Legions (Lots of Antimatter and other downtempo acoustic stuff) http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh245787775710907996 La Grange (Generally older blues-rock: ZZ Top, SRV, etc) http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh245787612502150748 Taake (Old-school blackmetal: Satyricon, mayhem, etc.) http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh243377276855635548 Denali (Artsy chick indie, plus some other alternative stuff) http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh237153083264716380

I didn't say it was a great idea, just that he did it. +1 on the rescue dogs. Gremlin here was abandoned in a cage for two weeks when his owners moved during foreclosure. He's very clingy, but otherwise a great dog.

One of my good friends did this. There are vets who will help you get a pit documented as an American bulldog for this specific reason.

I generally do. In my experience, dogs have a stronger sense of ethics and an inherent loyalty that many humans could certainly learn a lot from. They typically aren't bright enough to lie. They also don't consume resources nearly as much as children. Then again, I don't really think a life has any value except that defined by its own actions.

Cool, will do. Thanks

Yeah, I forgot to add that I'd hook it to a better source. Oh well, I fail at electrocuting babies, guess I'll stick to throwing things at them.

Yep. Wouldn't you need some sort of grounding plate in the floor of the crib, and a resistance in series with the perimeter wire? I'd think that then the baby would form a parallel circuit, getting all the voltage but with current limited by having the other resistance be larger. Is that right?

This is probably the first thing you've said that I agree wholeheartedly with. That town is an armpit.

"Mmmmmppphhhh!!!!!!!" doesn't necessarily mean "No."

Arrgh, just painted Kermit and now it needs another sticker. Could I just come pick one up or something? The wife wants her sticker back like nao!

Actually, went and got an Asus for about $300, and I've been happy with it. It's certainly slower than my other one, but fine for typing papers and lurking on here.

http://joebartonwouldliketoapologize.com/