8Rider6

Totals?

Equipped or raw?

Last few year were equipped. Best meet I put together was a 1625lbs total - 635/420/570 in 2011. Next meet I think I hit 640/400/575, my bench took a shit that day. I've never been a good meet lifter, don't sleep well the night before and nerves get to me. Last September I hit hit a pretty solid 700 squat in the gym, but they've got a lot stronger guys than that there. If I get back into it, my initial goal will be 1300 raw at 198 (which should be fairly easy), then 1400 at 198. After that, I'll think about equipped again.

Here's mine...

Just a fun Photoshop I did a few years ago, lol.

Here's "normal" her:

I'd been a powerlifter for a few years (2009-2012) and was training before that starting in 2005. This year I stopped training at our private gym in December, just too much else going on with work, and other things to make the commute and time/mental dedication to keep doing it right now.

I've still been training on my own at a local gym, but mostly just going through the motions. It's been my goal since I've left there to go from ~220lbs to 205 so I can compete in the 198lbs class if I decide to get back into it again any time soon, as well as get my stamina/endurance up.

It shouldn't be too hard for me to drop the weight, but maintaining/gaining strength while doing it will be the hard part, especially since I've already lost a decent bit of strength in the last 3-4 months. I think I'll feel better at a healthy 205 though. I remember when I was ~180-185, overall I felt the best even though I've been a lot stronger at 220.

Not sure where this stuff fits in but:

https://soundcloud.com/mogigrumbles/19-mr-dillinger-1 (press the orange "play" button)

A little more subdued:

No one wants a "cherry" 2006 EX500 with only 1100 miles...

They're all the same from 1994 on, so find a mid-to-late 90's model with higher mileage for $1500 and you won't feel nearly as bad when it falls over, nor will it depreciate as much.

My first bike was a '97 EX500, and I'd never ridden a motorcycle prior to throwing a leg over it. My daily driver was a 5 speed manual though, so I was familiar with how a clutch worked. I think that helped a lot.

The EX500 is a great bike for what it is. With a good tune and a hole drilled in the air box, they're good for a little over 50hp, and will do 115+ with stock gearing. I did plenty of trips from Cleveland to Dayton and back on mine, doing 75+ the whole way, and getting 58mpg.

I also did 5 trackdays on mine before buying my F2. The EX is still a great value for a new rider.

I'd actually consider picking up another one, but the late 90's 600's are getting to be so cheap now that I can have 40 more horsepower for the same money.

My first bike was a Bandit 600. I don't think it was "too much" for a beginners bike at all and I'm guessing it's pretty similar to the EX500.

I'd never used a manual transmission anything before deciding to get a bike. My brother in law had me learn on his dirt bike, just how to shift, then my other brother in law let me take his GSF500 to a parking lot and get familiar with it there.

I actually got my first manual car about 3-3.5 month ago, and I have to say, learning manual on a bike was easier for me. I find it a lot easier to manipulate the clutch with you hand instead of you foot, especially if a car has a light clutch. I think going from a car to a bike would probably be easier.

Not mentioned to often but wear ear plugs. And this almost went 6 post before going ghey

Yep, I wear ear plugs on the street if I'm planning on riding more than a 5-10 minute ride to the gym or store. I've found they don't really seem to eliminate much noise for me though.

I'd like to give this a shot if my bike's ready. I'd likely be in the slow or medium group. I haven't ridden these routes, but been riding since 2008 on the street. No track days yet, but hopefully doing my first here in May or June.

The Pilot Roads should be fine for novice.

And the speedometer thing is not a joke, and you pretty much nailed it about why. No reason to worry about speed, and makes it easier to just focus on the skills you need to build. This way there's no temptation to be looking down at your speedo. You have a tachometer on that thing, right?

When doing a Motoseries novice day they make you tape it. At least they did when I did my first trackday (with good ole Craigypoo as my instructor).

Makes sense, yes it has a tach.

Just saw that you mentioned new tires in your post...Doh!!

Oh, and put a piece of tape over your speedometer.

Thanks. I'll be getting Pilot Road 2's. This bike is primarily a commuter/street bike and maybe eventually sport touring bike...

Down the line, I'd like to get either an FJR, Concours 14, BMW R1200 RT, Triumph Sprint ST or something similar for Sport Touring and delegate the 919 to track day/urban street riding, or I'll get something like a CBR600, 954, GSX-R 750, SV650 specifically for the track and using the 919 as my main street bike.

For now, I'm probably only going to be able to do 1-3 track days this year (vacation from work, etc), so I can't go dumping a ton of money into specific track tires just yet.

Is the tape over speedometer thing a joke? lol. I could see how it would make you more focused on your riding and less concerned about speed, but at the same time, I've often used the speedometer to know what gear I need to be in. I'm sure at the track though, I'll be a lot higher in my RPM range than my typical street riding... Street riding I don't usually go above 4-5k RPM on the 919.

So I'm getting ready for my first track day, hoping shooting for May 13th or 14th if everything's ready (and they're not sold out). If I don't make it then, I'll be doing it sometime in June or July.

I'm getting new tires, chain & sprockets, front forks (from an F4i) with new internals & rear shock from a F3 on my 919.

I'm going to have Hoblick do the installations, though I just read in another thread he has a torn rotator, so I'm not sure if that'll delay him.

Anyway, other than that is there any major I should look into for my first track day? Oil was last changed in the Fall (October I think), but I've only put ~1000 miles on it since then. Should I definitely change that before the track day, or should that be fine? Was probably planning on doing it around June, but I guess I should just do it at the start of the major riding season.

Only other things I'll definitely be making sure to check(out of lack of knowledge) are the brake pads and brake fluid, and coolant (water for track?). Besides those items, removing mirrors/taping headlight, etc should I be ready to go for Novice? Do you have to wire nuts/screws for Novice at Mid-Ohio for tech, or is that only Intermediate and Advanced?

Looks quite nice... If I had room for more than 1 bike right now, I might be interested

Sort of ^ on page 3, love mine but word is you have to be a cock to ride one.

Lol, why is that? That, a VFR, or BMW R 1200RT would probably be my top picks.

10. Post pictures of anything with boobs/buttocks.

You might want to rephrase that

http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/mmb/boobs/d_cup.jpg

Sadly Americans are assholes. You'll have a guy in a cage decide to cross the line to cut you off from passing him because he thinks "it's not fair you get to cut in line".

This... It's like people get pissed you're using a vehicle that's small enough to fit places theirs can't and they get mad about it... Stupid. I'd be all for lane splitting, but I don't think I'd do it except around the city under 25mph, and I believe in Cal. and maybe around the world it's supposedly only legal to do under 25mph (this would exclude emergency situations like described above, however).

No mention of the FJR1300? I don't personally have any experience with these bikes, but I would like to get a sport-touring bike eventually, and from what I've read, the FJR is hard to beat.

My 919 is tough for me to go more than ~150-200 miles in a shot, and that would include a short ~10 min break about half way through, but I think I could probably do ~400-500 a day if I decided to go on a few day trip with a few breaks each day.

I love the orange/black GSX-R 750's... I think I've made my mind up when I get a new bike as primarily a track bike, that will be it.

X-Element Leather Jacket, Fieldsheer Mercury 2 Pants, and Alpinestar Drystar gloves. I try not to get caught in the rain if I can though, but on a long, or all day trip, I pack for it.

Any zombie motorcycle response "unit" like this lacking chainsaws, and/or other blades on the side of the bike is a joke.

See left bike:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1026/4724218075_e6dcc98fcb.jpg

Unfortunately I can't seem to find any pics of something like that mocked up on a real bike for show.

But now you say there's a turbo Veloster? May have to stop by the dealer again....

Yep, my white one pictured above is the turbo. After having both, the turbo needless to say is the way to go, IMO. With the Elantra GT, I sort of feel like the N/A Veloster is almost pointless besides looking better, and maybe a few interior features the GT is missing, but not 100% sure.

I had the 2012 model, Dual clutch. Wasn't crazy about the dual clutch transmission since it was a little laggy getting going from a start. Not bad, you just had to adjust and hit the accelerator a little early to give it time to get into 1st.

5 months after I got it (was my first new car ever, after getting my first job out of college), I got rear ended by an uninsured driver on my way to work while I was completely stopped at a red light on Hamilton.

He had at least a good ~40-50+ car lengths to see stopped traffic, no idea wtf he was doing. Probably messing around on his phone.

Anyway, in February I ended up with a 2013 Manual Turbo version. Since my dealerships worked with our family a lot, I got a very good deal on my trade in (over blue-book despite being in an accident). I love the turbo, seat warmers, adjustable lumbar support, all leather seats, etc.

Here it is:

Rear, not my car obviously:

Not the fastest or best handling hatch, but unless they're going to bring the VW Scirocco or Renault Megane 265 RS state side, this is more or less the next best thing. Plus, it's pretty fully loaded cheaper than more performance oriented cars like the Focus ST and Mazdaspeed 3. It's enough for me to have fun with for a cage and is a good daily driver, plus the warranty can't be beat.

Dont they make them with the Turbo too? I've been interested in hearing about the quality of Hyundai as of late, more from personal references than like commercials. Seems their rides look sweet and are built really solid now.

Keep us updated.

Hyundai's improved vastly in the last 5-10 years. The Elantra has won car of the year from a few publications a few years in a row I believe.

This will destroy you: They move on tracks of never-ending light

Interesting, reminds me of Explosions in the Sky a bit. Haven't heard of them before.

Anyway, feeling "retro"

Distance is always measured in feet (or some other unit). By it's very definition it is not an intangible thing.

Yes, but it's not a "safe following distance of 50 feet" if they still rear-ended someone... A safe following distance is the distance required to brake and NOT hit the vehicle in front of you, regardless of when or why they hit their brakes.

Even before I starting riding, I always gave motorcycles more space because they can stop faster. Also bike riders often tend to be more unpredictable than cars (squids, etc).

This may be simply a case of the battery being dead. I also have the Hero 3 Black Edition. When I first got it, the battery was very close to empty. Charging it isn't very straightforward either...

I left it plugged in via USB on my computer overnight and it didn't really charge it. You pretty much have to use a wall charger. Right now I use a wall charger to USB while the battery's in the camera. I've also read you should turn the camera on (if possible) while it charges, otherwise connect it so the red light in front is on to charge until you can turn it on, then turn it on and let it charge the rest of the way (so the LCD screen has a progress animation).

The best sure fire bet it to get this kit:

http://www.amazon.com/Wasabi-Power-Battery-AHDBT-201-AHDBT-301/dp/B00AAIPT76/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362456742&sr=8-1&keywords=wasabi+gopro+hero3

Unfortunately I bought one and haven't been able to find it for a while, but it's a great price for 2 extra batteries (slightly higher capacity than normal), a wall charger, and car charger converter... I might just order another, then I'll have a total of 6 batteries when I find the other.

I also have a Contour +2. The Hero 3 Black Edition has better video quality hands down as it's got a better image processor. Low light, color, and smoothness are all better. The Hero 3 can do 1080 at 60FPS, 720p at 120FPS, and 480p (840x480 I believe) for short clips at 240fps, so it has some nice slow motion capabilities.

However, I think contour is easier to use, and its profile works much better as a helmet camera. I would suggest the Contour Roam 2 for overall price and quality as a helmet cam, but the Roam doesn't have a removable battery like the +2, which can be quite limiting. If I'm riding, I often like to carry some spare batteries to swap out.

Currently, I'll be using the Contour as my helmet cam, and the GoPro mounted elsewhere on the bike (lower fork for now).

Awesome, just one question, where do I get his contract info (phone or email)? Their site http://www.pegramracing.com/index.php doesn't have much info. Only thing I can find is his twitter account, which I guess I could sign up for if I need to, but never gotten into the twitter thing.

So, I have an F3 rear shock and F4i forks coming for my 2002 919. I'm probably going to want to have both of them rebuilt and adjusted for my weight. The F4i forks I'll want new seals, oil, and Race Tech springs, etc.

Are the any good shops around here to have that done? Someone I know mentioned he takes all his stuff to a guy in Indianapolis, but I'd prefer somewhere/someone local if there are some reputable places you guys can recommend.

Other than that, the only places I've heard of are Max Performance and Handing up around Cleveland, but I've read a few reviews that were negative, and a member here said they'd go to the place across the street before MPH.

I was planning on just dropping off the forks and rear shock, but I currently don't have a stand besides the wheel stands, and those aren't going to work for installing the forks and rear shock myself. So, what would be the most economical way to stand the bike up for that installation, or would it just be better to take the bike in as well and have a shop handle it completely?

Besides the suspension, I'll also be getting new tires, chain and sprockets (15, 45) within the new couple months or so. Pretty sure I'll be able to handle the chain and sprockets.