Bellboy1

That was almost me! I guess I was all right and could have gone another 75 miles or so, but I didn't think about filling up before we left. Silverfox and others, thanks, that was what I was looking for. The pace seemed OK for our experince level and single file through the curves is what we had all agreed on. Mykill, I think I may try the ride on the 21st. I have to see whats on the baseball schedule, but I'd like to go.

So as a newb, I'm making the transition from solo riding to riding with some folks I know and eventually I want to do some rides with Mykill, Hutch, CSBA and the rest. Over the last few days I have gone riding with two other friends who also normally ride solo, so the group thing was kind of new. We did the MSF stuff, talked about the route, talked about the speeds we wanted to do, talked about formation and basic hand signals. Good experince for us all, but I have some questions on stuff that came up on the trips. 1. How much gap do you leave between the lead rider and the next in formation(using the staggered left/right formation)? We kind of started off with a 3-4 second gap which spread everyone out and then as we got used to it closed up to a 2-3 bike length gap. That seemed like enough to see the rider ahead while allowing us to move around for corners and road apples. Is there a rule of thumb? 2. At stop signs, we all went one at a time and just waited if someone got stuck waiting for traffic. The MSF talks about pulling up 2 abreast at stops, so which is correct? When we were in doubt, we defaulted to "ride your own ride" but in a more experinced group we don't want to mess that up.

Over the winter I bought a new Bell helmet and like it very much, but it does whistle a bit with the vents open. I've used several brands for autocross over the years and Shoei and Arai were very good. As others have mentioned comfort and weight are two of the big factors for long term comfort while riding. My favorite helmet was and still is a Simpson helmet that was given to me as a gift. I'm not even sure they made motorcycle rated helmets, but I would put it up against just about anything made today as far as comfort, fit and protection.

Well put. I just started riding but find that I have not found anything but maybe flying that comes close to the feeling when I'm riding. I've been asked several times lately why I started riding at 40 and have several random thoughts on it. I find that riding allows me to put all my everyday stress out of my mind for a while. A friend once described riding as heightend concentration that helps you relax. You see, hear, feel and even smell everything, you are aware of every vehicle around you, you look out not only for yourself, but also for those around you because there is an element of vulnerability and through it all still have a grin from ear to ear. Every trip promises adventure around every corner. How can you not want that in your life? As an engineer, a motorcycle is a very primal blend of man and machine working in harmony like few other things can. To be successful, the rider and bike must act as one. Body position, shifting, braking, countersteer and lean must all combine with throttle and traction to be successful even in the most mundane curve. When I think about it, when I'm in a car its about the destination. On a bike its about the trip.

Only if the rider is flapping his arms. Chime in here Ringo!

Sorry, newb question. What's a 10/22 ride?

Yep, my bad, I was thinking of the BRC-RR (returning rider) but it also uses class provided bikes.

Bingo and congratulations. Ask most cagers and they guess 2 ft with a 10ft space. So keeping 2-3 lines between you and the car ahead is actually spacing you out about 80-120 feet which works out to about your reaction time to figure out something is wrong and then execute a reaction. On the bike I'm using about 4 lines minimum to give me a little more time. BTW, I use manhole covers for the swerving practice.

I think that's the MSF advance rider course. Mostly the riding skills stuff without all the classroom. I think you can use that too for riders who have a temp. They can pass the class and get their endorsement that way. I like that you can use your own bike for that class.

Either way does not seem to bad. I got mine by doing the MSF and passing. My Dad just by practiced in a parking lot a couple times and went down to the BMV and passed with ease. If you've been riding a while, I doubt you'd even need to practice for the BMV test. It took more study just to get the written temp license and with the new computer based test, that wasn't too bad either. Isn't the test itself free? You only pay the $23 if you pass and get a new license showing your endorsement.

Just for giggles and without looking can anyone tell me how long those dashed lines are on the freeway and how far apart they are? This is a little test that I use with 16 year olds that are learning to drive, but I've had some parents interested in the answer too.

Yep, those are the MSF drills I started with. Then I work in some additional figure 8's of various sizes and use the speed bumps in my local lot to practice going over obstacles. Since it's rained so much, I go over and try various surface conditions too. I try stopping and turning in shallow puddles and just on wet surfaces since you never know when that might come in handy. For me I've found there is not much difference, but I like the fact that I know how it will react in those conditions and don't have to guess out on the road.

Well outrunning him is one thing. Flapping your arms...Meh a little over the top. What color was the GT? If he was so pissed off, I want to be on the look out when he decides to "get even" with the next bike he sees. How often does this happen with sports/muscle cars? I had a similar experince with an orange GT that kept reving its engine by me on my 5:00 commute home last week on River road. I'm too new to riding to be stop light drag racing and a GT looked big and aggressive compared to my little 500 so I just wanted him to get the hell away from me. I just let him go and he seemed upset that I didn't want to race him. I know, I know, old and lame, but hey right now I'm a defensive rider with only about a 2 months of riding under my belt.

Well everyone has their favorite. I had a 1st gen RX-7 and loved it. It was just too worn out to develop any power by the time I started racing. I drove some 2nd gen's and hated them. Way heavy compared to the 1st gen. Third gen turbos were great, but unreliable and I couldn't afford them. Sad thing is now I don't even run the Miata much anymore. This is the current race ride. I can't find much that gives me the same rush and I've driven some pretty impressive sports cars.

Why does everyone go there when I mention that car?!?! That one was purchased with a specific role in mind. Here is me in the car in action.

'05 Dodge Dakota '94 Mazda Miata '02 Mazda Protege

Kudos on calling that in. I'm sure it will help the victim either in avoiding a citation or an insurance increase. I agree its good to see people do the right thing.

That about covers it for me too. When i started out this year, I used the markers for the weave and swerve practice. On figure 8's and U turns I just try to see how smooth and how small I can make them using the painted lines. Forced me to get smooth on my friction zone control. I usually did 3 or 4 quick stops as well. At my lot I have also been able to practice the "going over an obstacle" thing using the speed bumps on the outer driveway. Now that I'm out riding about more, I do not do a lot of PLP. Maybe 1 or 2 figure 8's and 2 quick stops and then I head out into traffic. As a newb, the plp just gets my head in the right place before jumping onto the main roads. I'm hoping the repetition makes it so I just react correctly when I need to. Redkow97- I was pretty concerned about gravel in general , so I used the gravelly part of the lot to practice in it. I did it at low speed but experimented with front brake, back brake, slow turns. I think it developed a feel for what I can actually do around gravel. When I've had to run through it in the street now I have not had any trouble but the plp helped me get over the fear of it on the road. Now I just respect it and try not to do anything stupid as I go through.

I think either way you go is good. I have a .pdf of the MSF riding tips practice excersizes that call for milk cartons or plastic bottles with water or sand in the bottom. I thought that was a bit of overkill for PLP. I used cut up hollow racketball balls since I had some laying around the house. I don't think they show up as good as the tennis balls would though.

Welcome to OR!

Go back to about page 4. Some of us are planning that ride! Nothing like just doing it and stop talking about it! Now if it would stop F'n raining!!!!!

Dang Wippersnapper youngsters! I started riding this year at age 40 on an EX500.

Could be an insurance semantics issue. Autocross in SCCA is classed as "precision driving competiton" and not a "race" so it allows coverage by most companies. (I'm hoping never to test that!) Same for many driving schools. This may be a case where an "advanced riding course" with instructors is covered while an "open track day" is not. May also depend on where and which organization is running it. I'm still too new to motorcycles to know for sure. Based on my racetrack experince with cars, using a bike you don't care about scratching is maybe the better option if your personality tends to push limits. On a track I know that is the case for me. I am very conservative on the street, but that all goes out the window when I'm on a track. I'll get competitive even if its not a competitive event. I plan on doing some track days, but not on the bike I bought from Roxynoodle.