smccrory

I agree completely Chris. And yea, I think it's gotten a lot less flamboyant overall.

It's funny because I was in the Columbus Pride parade representing my employer, and I was surprised with how much more normal it was than I expected. It certainly was no DooDah parade, that's for sure, nor was it a Comic/Sci-Fi con or Maker's Faire or Burning Man or Coachilla.

I bet their motivations would be justifiably questioned. Heck, there already is a "united white boy college fund" in the form of historic economic advantage and enrollment figures. Anyway, like Premo said, straight white people are doing fine (well, no certainly worse than anyone else!), and I agree wholeheartedly that the flyer is unproductive. I maintain there should be a Straight White Nerd Parade and have Weird Al officiate. I'd attend that one.

And most of those can be re-valved - often only requiring a lap job, new guides and seals (though I'd probably do the rings while I was in there, and potentially new valves themselves if I can get them).

What is this "math" of which you speak? Honestly I can't remember physics, trig and geometry enough and am too lazy to piece the googles together but I agree, screwing those things into a valve stem gives me the willies. The "solution" could very well cause the very problem it's trying to guard against.

I guess it depends on who on the left you're talking about because there are numb-skulls on both sides, particularly in the media who make money whenever a fervor is whipped up and ratings increase and ad rates skyrocket. Too many people let the media do their thinking. I have fiscal conservative friends who have thrown out that prez-price connection, and one who even swears it's always bad when the stock market goes down - no mention of market timing, and of course no "credit" to Obama for market records broken this year. The banks are having a great year, even with several huge civil penalties paid by JP Morgan Chase, Citi and Bank of America. So, economics and investment strategies don't appear to be the exclusive domain of either party.

Sept 13 and 20 are the only weekends for sure I wouldn't be able to make it, so I voted for the last weekend to help Snot and Mutt's availability.

I wish Obama would get off his butt and drop the gas prices. And then fix YouTube's caching problem - it's gotten worse and worse since he took office.

Well, they are CRUISERS with short cornering ground clearances after all. Footpeg scrapes when you don't know the point where they'll grab and cause a low-side can be nerve-wracking. At least the guy knew his limits - a lot of squid boyz don't, and not only pay the price, but ruin the group ride for everyone else collecting the smashed bike and waiting for an ambulance to arrive. When I'm on a slow group ride, I take it as a challenge to just dial back and enjoy the scenery instead of pushing the art of curve lines.

Oh, FORK play. No wonder I keep getting thrown off of people's property when shopping for bikes.

Absolutely. In aviation, vehicles that sit unused are called Hangar (or Tarmac) Queens and have Hangar (or Tarmac) Rash. Expensive things happen to steel, rubber and plastic when they're left to rot. I kinda feel like owning a bike is like taking care of a puppy. It's a commitment to play with it, feed it, keep up with the shots...

Yea, those high mileage numbers on the V-Strom boards are staggering! I'm already seeing 10-25k+ on 2013 models and 50k+ on some 2012 bikes. Wow! But, we know that those guys (gasp!) actually change their own oil and filters, maintain their chains, check tire pressures, torque the bolts, change tires when needed or every 5 years, whichever comes first, do TPS (aka carb) syncs and check valve clearances on schedule and so on. In other words, they don't want to get left out in the boonies playing ADVenture games and know that maintenance is therefore critical to having the kind of fun they want. Whenever I buy used bikes, I assume that the previous owner(s) did only the minimum maintenance, at best. What's the bare, dumb-ass minimum? Oil and filter changes. That might get you 15-50k on a bike, but you're gonna have to do more to reliably go beyond. The good news is that it's mostly straightforward and enjoyable work once you have the tools, a service manual and YouTube. If I buy a bike under 600 miles on the clock, that means it's still running the original oil and oil filter, hasn't been torque-checked and so on, so I personally perform the first maintenance interval early - ALL of the items stated in the service manual - and I record it in a smartphone reminder app. I also record a baseline compression test, replace the spark plug, check the hydraulic fluid (erring in the side of caution with replacement) and usually replace the tires depending on tread depth, tire age and rubber consistency. Sometimes I also do a TPS/carb sync at that time. I price all of those things into the purchase price. If I buy a bike coming up on a major maintenance schedule, I'll likewise lower the offer by $500+ because the seller is most likely trying to unload it before he/she's hit with the the cost to maintain confidence in the bike. At that point, I make a judgement call on whether the bike has ever been properly maintained because that'll tell me what kind of life it probably has left in it.

Sounds like you're OK - good! Nice new story to add to the campfire.

And yet I can't get a certain CB77 seller to respond to my serious inquiries - crazy. I wish I was in the market for your CBR - it sure looks nice and that's a fantastic price.

Wow, unbelievable. I have no words...

Schweet. I never understood guys who prized self-sufficiency to not also know how to sew. It's not that freaking hard, the basics anyway. I've saved hundreds of dollars repairing my and my daughter's clothes over the years.

So can real men. ;-) Attaching extra cordura, mesh or even denim on a pant leg with a zipper is impossible without replacing the whole zipper.

You're right, and it would be categorized under the "war on women" message. Of course, classical conservatives have a long tradition of it, but slut-shaming is BS in pretty much any venue.

Roughly $50k plus benefits if my calculator skills are correct.

She sure is cute, but what disturbs me is that this jerk wants to shame her sexuality, as retribution for doing something he doesn't like. He's acting like an old-world religious patriarch who didn't get his way. Piece. Of. Shit.

Indeed. What an asshat. I don't want him near an elected office or any other job for that matter.

You might end up having to custom order a pair, but I bet one of the manufacturers would be willing to do it for no additional charge or a nominal up-charge.

Lots of sub-200cc bikes in Europe. A well-tuned, fuel-injected 125cc engine can just about anything slower than a highway. I'd probably place an ORC placard when sidewalk parking...

Let me see if I can help. $70?! Damn, girl, normal slacks/pants/jeans can cost close to, or more than that. I paid $170 two years ago for an insulated, waterproof cordura overpant for cool weather and another $110 for a mesh overpant and still may get a cordura onesie and/or Kevlar jeans. I kinda figure as a parent, I owe it to my kiddo to mitigate the additional risk I take on with a bike.

Wow, thanks for posting, and glad you're OK. Losing the bike is a lot better than 4 months of skin graft hell or worse.