Bellboy1

Been around aircraft almost all my life but have only done a little flying myself. Mostly I build and fly R/C stuff. I've met many great pilots ranging from WWI and II vets giving talks at the Air Force Museum when I was growing up, to airshow pilots at the Dayton airshows and Oshkosh, to recently the F-22 demo pilots. Most are great people and like motorcyclists, they understand the risks vs enjoyment of what they do. Someday I will go back and get my private license. I had a friend in Northern Kentucky with a blue and white starburst clipped wing T-Craft. He used to keep it at the Hamilton Airport. Not sure if he still has it or not. Been a long time since we have talked.

Why would critics yell at you? This is the point. You are doing nothing wrong! If you and your child are OK with the risk, then others should be as well. What gives anyone else the right to tell you how you are allowed to transport your kids around? As far as the 7 year olds on dirt bikes, the government is trying to underhandedly take that away by using the lead law they passed that was intended for toys. AMA has been fighting this for a few years but the issue comes open again this year and has to be voted on again. This had a significant impact on the motorcycle industry a couple years ago. Congress could not just make a law banning minors on dirt bikes, so they tried to back door it by using this lead law so dirt bikes could not be sold. Hell in a couple months I won't even be able to buy a standard light bulb anymore because Congress decided it wasn't good enough for me and I need to replace it with something more expensive and has special handling instructions if it breaks. I don't even remember anyone debating this in the press. I'm just saying we can't let people jump on the bandwagon on this and agree with the reporter. Before you know it they will pass a law that will make it so you CAN'T take a minor with you.

I agree that its a family decision. I do not take passangers of any age on the bike period because I'm not ready to take on the responsiblity for their safety on a bike. The kids want to ride on it and when I'm ready to let them, I'll make that decision. That is my decision alone. I do not want anyone making it for me. I already have the government trying to tell me what I can feed my kids, how big they need to be and still be in a car seat(which is BS), and threatening that they can't ride their own dirt bikes and go karts because of lead content in the alloys used in the components. (What, they are going to lick the carburator?) If they want to go somewhere with this, then make it mandatory for any minor to wear a helmet when riding on a vehicle. That may already be the law, i'm not sure. I am just sick to death of people trying to tell me how to raise my kids and either trying to swing public sentiment or passing stupid laws to enforce things they have no business with. Ok Rant over!

After riding to Springfield to ride with my Dad for a few hours, we were hitting the backroads around Yellow Springs. At some point we turned off onto a gravel road that dead ended. I tried to be all fancy and do a quick right hand U turn when he stopped in front of me. No big deal except that at that moment I stalled it, and at the same time the front wheel was on one high spot, the rear on another and too late I realized my foot was still about 2 inches off the ground when I tried to catch myself and the bike. So I did this slow motion roll to my right while trying to keep my balance and prevent the bike from falling all the way over into the gravel. I wouldn't really call it a drop since I got it stopped just as the footpeg touched the ground, but it was embarrasing and I felt like I was trying to do a new version of the splits. The adrenaline burst helped me push it back up immediatley and Dad was facing back down the road, so I don't think he even saw it. Otherwise a great ride and a great day.

Its a bit hard to classify the Ninja 500. Its kind of a sport standard. In my case maybe its more about HOW you ride it, so sportbike it is.

God Bless all of our servicemen and their families both past and present. Thank you all for earning and maintaining our freedoms. Your sacrifices are not forgotten.

I have used the tricks listed here to start riding a couple time a week to work. Since the way I take to and from work is often congested and crazy in a cage, I have done the following to help make the ride better. 1. I leave early. I find that about 1/2 hour is enough in the morning. I have two routes. If traffic is light, I hit the freeway and all is good. If traffic is heavy, I take a back road route. The trick seems to be getting used to the traffic flow and quicks of both. 2. I do not ride the freeway home at night at all. Too crazy with too many people not paying attention and my exit is extra crazy. 3. The route home took a couple tries to find a good one. Sitting in stop and go 3 cars at a time stop lights sucks! I found a route that is 20 minutes longer distance wise, but I am moving the whole time and have a few curves thrown in as a bonus. 4. I broke down and bought a hi-vis vest to wear. I don't know if it helps, but I have noticed that people don't seem to get as close to me in stop and go since I started wearing it. Good luck and always be alert!!!!

I think the OP has a point in that for almost everyone in Ohio, the motorcycle is "in addition to", rather than "instead of" a car. You are still potentially making payments on both,insurance on both, maintenance on both, etc so getting your money back is totally based on your mileage alone which just won't get the job done in most cases as far as getting your money back by riding. Replacing a car with a motorcycle could work for savings over the long haul. In Ohio, that just does not seem realistic.

For whatever reason it seems like Xenia always gets nailed. Dad had just rotated home form the Air Force and Oklahoma in '74. Since we had been living in Tornado alley, we did the open all the windows thing when we heard the sirens and our house was the only one left standing on our block, so I guess it works. Still, it ripped off the carport, broke every window and removed the shingles from the roof. Then a few years ago they got hit again and it knocked down half of the church just up the block from my grandmother and destroyed a Walmart. +1 on watching storms. I should have grown up to be a storm chaser. I love speed, adrenaline and technical stuff. That job has moments of all three. What could be better?

Years ago, one did a fly by at the Dayton Airshow. On his last pass he came on the radio and said he pulled one engine to idle and cranked up the other trying to keep it at .9 mach for the pass. The yaw must have been crazy like that. The afterburner flame was as long as the aircraft and it went horizon to horizon and out of site in maybe 8-9 seconds heading towards California. It was the one and only time I can remember anyone punching through the sound barrier as he accelerated out at that show. Its normally a big no no to do that in such a residential area.

Awesome story. I've met a few Blackbird pilots over the years when I grew up in Dayton. Coolest pilots ever. Almost astronauts, going faster and higher than any other conventional aircraft and not able to tell anyone what they are doing up there. Almost nothing seemed to shake these guys. I am glad I got to see a few of them fly and meet a few of the guys who flew them.

Parking pass is good but Bad324 is right. Traffic will be a pain just to get to the parking area. Sun burn, meh. Indy is just like Ohio. Sun and warmth are not a guarentee, but it is infinitely more fun when warm. Whole different set of scenery to take in and nothing to do with cars. General rediculousness is a requirment for any Indy weekend. Which race you attend is not important! Personally I'm planning on stagering back across Georgetown Rd to the campsite at the MotoGP race this year.

Do you have tootsie rolls to throw to the kids?

+1 Make sure to go early. Get there at like 9:00. That should be early enough to get into someone's yard for about $15-20 parking and will give you time to walk around and see stuff if you want to. Most of the festivities start at like 10. Its a lot different than MO or Cleveland. Plan on staying for a while after the race too. It takes a while to clear out all of the roads. I usually kick back have a few more cold ones and just relax for a while. Pace yourself. I've seen guys chug a bunch of drinks during the opening ceremonies and be passed out by the race start! Not sure yet if I am going. I go about every other year and I went last year. Definately something to experince but not what it was in the 90's when you could go party in the infield all day and never see a race car!

Well, I'm riding today while its nice. Coaching baseball in the morning and tomorrow night I'm camping with my son's cub scout group of out of control 9 year olds. (Oh crap, that probably does mean the world will end tomorrow night!)

This forum seems about the same as most motorsport sites. I lurked here for quite a while just to see who was who and what kind of folks hung out here. I pretty well knew what I was getting to when I signed up, both good and bad. This isn't a warm/fuzzy feel good beginner/kids site. This is a site for people who like to ride motorcycles, share that passion with others, and have fun with a healthy dose of adult humor thrown in. If you are expecting something else from this site, you've come to the wrong place. When the weather is bad and people can't get out they tend to start bashing on something or someone. Doesn't matter if its motorcycles or racecars. It also seems like there is a certain amount of folks who just like to push buttons on any forum to stir up crap. I think its OK to poke fun at those who bring it upon themsleves, but outright bashing is over the top. If you don't like a certain internet poster, just ignore the thread and move on with life. Never assume that something posted sacastically in jest will come through either. The tone often does not come through in a post and I've seen that start some incredible internet fights when the orignal post was meant to be a joke.

If they do a sequel I hope it doesn't suck. BTW I read that in a recent Chinese propaganda film for one of their new fighters they used clips from the Top Gun F-5 fight at the end. I would think even their propoganda folks would be smarter than that. If they use F-22's it will be Red Flag instead of Top Gun. Air Force equivalent of Navy Fighter Weapon School (TOPGUN) RIP Art Scholl.

I woulda had to pass on the squirrel BBQ anyhow. I heard they were high in cholesteral.

So after many pages of discussion, what I get out of this is: 1. On OR the majority of people posting would like to see other riders wearing gear. The type/brand fo gear does not seem so important as just having a jacket, full face helmet, gloves, boots and preferably some type of riding pants or riding jeans. This seems out of genuine concern for their fellow rider's health than a moral supperiority issue. Fair enough. We can encourage this trend, but not force it on others. There was a helmet thread last week where someone mentioned that more cruiser riders were buying full face helmets. Maybe the trend will change over time, but it still up to the individual rider what they wear. 2. The mesh based jackets seem to be the thing for the summer. The mesh jackets were mentioned repeatedly in the posts. Perf leather and the camelback were mentioned which also seem like good summer gear ideas. Also, the underarmor/starter wicking shirts seem like a good thing for under your jacket. I noticed a big difference in the heat the last two days from my starter t-shirt vs a regular cotton one. Starter shirt + vented jacket was very comfortable. Cotton t-shirt not so much. What kinds of mesh jackets are recommended? I've been looking at some that are combination construction. Leather in the elbows, arms and shoulders and mesh along the front and sides.

I wonder if people like that have a real concept of the damage road rash can do. Not only the rider, but his passenger who may be out just to have fun and may not understand the risk. I wonder if during the course of getting your motorcycle temp if you did "road rashes from hell" gory videos like we used to watch in driver's ed if that would change people's minds on gear. I'm not a doctor, but I've seen enough damage to people caused from motorcycle laydowns that I can't imagine riding without my gear. I dunno maybe Darwinism is the way to go for those folks.

I think this is a good question, especially regarding the upcoming heat. 1. The perception is just stupid to me and NOT OK. You can and do get just as hurt falling on a cruiser. I think there is a conception that cruisers just ride around slowly and don't really corner the same way sport bikes do. Therefore if you do go down it will be a drop rather than a crash. However as you are going around off ramps and down the freeway at 70mph, you can see they are NOT riding slowly. I see the same thing with scooters. I wonder how it feels to fall at 45mph onto pavement wearing only flip flops and shorts? ATGATT!!! 2. Do some research on this and take opinions with a grain of salt. Everyone has their favorites, but you will have to decide what is right for you and your budget. Many people switch to perforated leather or textile based safety gear in the summer which allows more cooling air to flow through. You may give up some protective qualities, but there is a school of thought that if you are comfortable, you are less likely to crash in the first place. Some of the textile stuff seems as good as leather too, but it is my belief that it is kind of like an airbag. It will protect you once, but then you may have to replace it. Good leather can usually protect you a few times. My jacket has vents everywhere that can be opened to help with cooling, but at stops it still gets hot. The generally agreed on coolest gear is the mesh based nylon stuff, but I've heard bad things about its protective qualites (like it will protect you from road rash, but get so hot from the friction that it can burn you) so I have shied away from it myself. I did a lot of research on this subject over the winter and while I was picking out my safety gear. You can find good threads on the subject on many of the motorcycle forums.

Welcome!

Wait, I want to change my answer!!! This about made me spit out the drink I had while reading it!

Welcome to OR!

Welcome to OR!