Shoop

Hi Steve - Welcome! I know there's a few V-Stroms around, but you wouldn't happen to be the guy I met, briefly, at the Yamaha Demo event at Harding's Park Cycle two weeks ago, would you?

In June I switched from a white Scorpion to a light silver Shoei. I'm always wearing a backpack. Mornings I go on Corridor D from the Ravenswood/Lubeck exit to the one from 68 just before the bridge.I'm usually on that stretch just befor or right near 8 AM. Very variable in the evenings.

Zippy, I figure you've found the post for the ride event by now, but... http://ohioriders.net/index.php?/topic/105711-unofficial-fall-epic-ride-saturday-september-27/ or, direct link to the route... http://goo.gl/maps/ZnwBZ Chris

I'll be signing up tomorrow. Then we only need one more, I exchanged emails with the admin lady in MO and she'll transfer the fee I paid for the cancelled 8/9 session. I'll also be putting flyers on bikes at work. Last week was so rainy that I only saw one other bike in the lot.

Dude! In my experience an impromptu engagement followed by a right-the-heck-now wedding usually had a shotgun involved. Check the back on the invitation envelope to see your friend wrote any desperate pleas for your assistance and/or a getaway vehicle. Chris

Update: I experimented a bit on the way home today and think I know why the helmet whistles at the chinstrap. I simply stuffed a folded paper towel (that I keep in a pocket for misty mornings) into the gap btwn the strap and the cheek pad. This eliminated the whistle on that side. http://ohioriders.net/index.php?/gallery/image/14697-rf1200-bottom-view/ Check the photo noted above. The cheekpad for the RF1200 exhibits an unnecessary and troublesome notch along the edge that should seal against the riders cheek. Instead this notch creates a gap where the chinstrap passes through to the inside that causes a whistling sound when your speed exceeds about 50 mph. I'm tempted to keep a kleenex for each side in a pocket for any rides longer than my 6 mile commute. The red straps near the front of the pads are part of the emergency pad release system which is a great feature - or might be some day. On a more irritable note, Last night I sent an email to Shoei-America's customer service to ask when they would be likely to ship the Transitions shield. The first reply was that the dealer should not have cited a ship date because they (Shoei) did not tell any dealers when the shield would be available. So I replied immediately to ask whether they actually have this as a product, if the dealer should have sold it, and if he could tell me why it was not yet available two months after I bought it. The reply was "The transition shield is not being shipped because it is not available yet. When the shield is done with final quality control testing we will inform our dealers when the shield will be available." This is not really an answer to any of my questions, and it raised my emotional level from "concerned and annoyed" to PISSED! So, if you wear an XL and would like a great deal on a very slightly used silver helmet - talk to me before I get over the anger!

BUMP Four of twelve available seats for this class on 9/6/14 are filled. We need two additional students to sign up so that the class will be held. I want to attend but cannot commit to it at this point. So I am trying to get the word out and I'm hoping to be able to sign up on Friday, 9/5 - if there are any openings remaining then. Chris

Which bike was it that the war dept approved? And did you get to ride it?

A guy on the FZ6 forum posted a similar mod, but he tied the wires to his turn signal. That way there's no extra drilling. The opener gets triggered on every left turn, but it's intermittent and he said he ran for years and never needed to change the battery. See, that way you don't need to have balls. Nice write up. Someday I'll do this.

DID IT!!! Took the afternoon off and rode 125 miles, each way. The weather was Awesome, though the slab ride got a bit tedious. Took a demo ride on an FZ09 and then on the FZ07. Both were very light and agile compared even to my FZ6. I LOVED the 9, sorta liked the 7 but it is a VERY different bike, a two cylinder, and sounds a bit like a single. The 7 didn't have as much torque as I was expecting, but maybe part of that (both things) was that my ear is calibrated for a four cyl. The 9 was great. Huge WIDE powerband. I wish the demo route had put the short stretch of highway farther into the route instead of right at the beginning before I had any feel for how it would take off - so I was cautious, dang it. I stayed in STD mode most of the time but tried the B (tuned down) mode. STD was as just notchy as advertized, so I didn't try the tuned up A mode. Chris

Great, let's keep this in mind.

DRC They DO NOT provide the bikes for the Advanced Riders Course, They provide bikes for the Beginners class (BRC) and I think maybe one of the other beginner "bonding" classes. Are you sure you're signed up for the ARC? The count went from 3 to 4 last night so that was probably you.

Sign me up. Slow group. Sent a PM re the T Shirt. Chris

Zip (Tim), I see that there are three signed up. I have not yet - still pending a discussion with the wife and i probably shouldn't decide till after her surgery. I'm hoping to get a bunch of people interested tomorrow at the Texas Roadhouse bike night. So if I see the count of available seats dropping off I will probably hit the button to sign up. But it we get to 6 taken and it holds - would I be able to be a walk on as late as the day before? Will you and Gil be the instructors for this session? Chris

Wow, my new member post is getting to be pretty old but it flared up again. Are any of you guys who are near Marietta/Parkersburg planning to go on the Epic ride in Sept? I'd really like to go, probably will, but I don't know for certain that far ahead. Anyway, if anyone else is going, would you like to meet up? If we want to use 550 over to Athens we could meet in Barlow or Bartlett. Or if we want bragging rights we could meet up in Coolville, but we'd probably end up taking 50 - unless one of you knows the back roads. I'll be taking that straight-ish fast road on the way home. Oh - one last pitch for bike nights, Thursdays 8/14 & 8/28 at Texas Roadhouse.

My oldest son worked there as a bellhop/valet until he finished architecture school. And yes!!! The roads around here are great. Well they have been since all the sand the State used last winter finally washed off.

I bought an RF-1200 in June and I'm very pleased with it. This replaced a Scorpion EXO-400 that I bought in a rush just before I got back into riding last year. I walked into the Iron Pony fully intending to get the Bell RS-1 but the sales guy (very skillfully) redirected me to the Shoei when I said I was most interested in reduced sound. And that I was not willing to try the Schuberth - maybe someday. Anyway the RF-1200 fits great, its very light, flows lots of air, and amazingly does not catch the wind when you turn your head.Though you get a noticeable cool blast of air into one of the top vents. I'm a bit disappointed in the sound levels though. I've played around with it and found the sound is coming from the bottom at the cheek pads where the chin strap goes through. Its a very small gap but above 60 or so it whistles a lot, depending on the position of the helmet. It's reduced if I keep my chin tucked down. It goes away if I put a hand up to near either of the sides. When I do that the helmet is impressively quiet - much quieter than the Scorpion that had whistles everywhere. I use the chin skirt usually but it doesn't change the whistle. So, some day when I'm not messing with something else I'm gonna try tape across that small gap to see if maybe some sort of skirt would help. I've looked at ads for whole bottom skirts, but I'll wait till the winter before I bottle every thing up like that. BTW, I ordered the (pricey) Transitions shield that they say they will eventually provide. But the August ship date has now changed to Sept. That was one of my primary reasons for wanting the Bell. Chris

The OCC Patriot Chopper (Not my style but very sharp)

That's my list! How early? And, what's the format? Do you ride one lap around the pk lot, or how do they do this? How long or far do you get to ride them?

One last plug for the final two sessions for this summer, Thursday 8/14 and 8/28. This coming Thursday they will host the OCC Patriot Chopper. Check the FB/Texas Roadhouse link above. "Come join us August 14th for our Armed Forces Bike Night. We will have representatives from the Army, Marine Corp, Navy and WV National Guard. The National Guard will have the OCC Patriot Chopper on display. Join us and show your support for our troops." And, BTW, I'll be unofficially promoting the 9/6 Advanced Riders Course workshop to be held, hopefully, in Marietta. Chris

Hey Josh! I hope to meet you there. I'm working to get the word out here locally. Right now there is only one person registered. If that isn't you, then please register. I have not yet registered for the Sept session because I won't know how my wife is doing after surgery till that Friday. I'm hoping that by that Friday we have more than 6 but that there's room for me to sign up last minute. OTOH if there are only five by Thursday I'll probably sign up to make certain the class happens. Chris

BUMP for crissakes!!! We need four more warm bodies, I mean students who want to learn to avoid and or maneuver out of situations, so this 8/9 session doesn't get cancelled. Chris

I signed up. One less seat for the 8/9 session.

I'm not biased I took the ERC last year in Morgantown, what I think is now called BRC2. Anyway, the instructor told us there wasn't very much difference between the Basic courses and that we, the returning riders, should consider the ARC since it was a real step up in levels of skills taught. The ARC is not taught often anywhere in the area. I was thinking that some day in the winter, I'd trailer my bike to Atlanta to the MSF center to take it. But a 20 minute ride, for me, sounds a lot better! SNOOP - HA!!! Many tears some guys used to call me Shoop-Dogg, but I think we're well past that era. Chris