Hailwood

I got to ride one of those back when I worked at a motorcycle shop. Was an absolute blast to wring its neck everywhere I went without having to worry about killing myself. LBTS/GLWS/Etc.

I'd plan on trying to stay as close to 300 - 350 miles per day as possible, especially if the roads will be very technical. We tried to do 400-500 on our trip and while possible, I think we would have had more fun if we'd kept the distances a little lower. The fatigue really adds up over the course of a few days, especially if you aren't used to it. 6 hours of seat time a day is pretty optimal and will stretch out quickly with stops. Your schedule is on the ambitious side IMO, but probably fine. One thing I would definitely recommend is getting a camelbak and trying to stay hydrated while riding. It really helps with the fatigue.

Here's a couple of shots with me in the suit. I'm about 6' and 165 lbs, with not a lot of meat on my bones. As I said, in a standing position, the suit is just a bit tight in the crotchular region, but it feels like it was custom fit for me in a riding crouch. The construction of the suit is a notch above anything I've owned before. The leather is very soft, the armor feels molded to my body, and the stretch panels really make it fit perfectly. Overall I'm incredibly happy getting such a great suit for such a great price. Hopefully I'll be able to try it out on the bike in the next month or so.

Suit arrived today (next day!) and is as nice as I was expecting. The 42/52 is just a bit tight vertically while standing, but is absolutely perfect in a riding position and I'm glad I took Nathan's advice on the sizing. As always RD was awesome every step of the way. I'll try to get some photos with the suit on tomorrow.

WV-16 was amazing, especially the part South of Pineville, WV. Very tight, very technical, and with passing lanes in many of the best parts. I have no doubt it would have been one of (if not the best) road on our trip if it hadn't been raining like crazy.

I'm not exactly 'small' height-wise, but I am a lanky-ass em-effer. One of the rare occasions when having the physique of a scarecrow pays off

This is great advice that seems like it would be common sense, but apparently isn't. Relative to the education, I feel that it's important for getting a foot in the door, but attitude and motivation are so much more important for long-term career success. I work with many people that are 'educated' and credentialed out the ass, but don't ever accomplish anything and are passed-over for opportunities because they have terrible attitudes. My sense is that employers (or at least my company) are starting to value capability over credentials, which I think is a great thing for people aren't allergic to a little work.

PM sent.

This. Normal passenger car tires almost all have a layer of base tread underneath the top compound to improve rolling resistance and provide added protection for the belts. You have to get some pretty significant mileage beyond the wear bars to hit the sub-tread.

One of my coworkers was there for F1 and said that anyplace in the 12~15 area was great, and that general admission tickets still allowed for a good viewing. T1 is the corner with the most elevation gain and was really fun to watch during F1 (at least on TV). MotoGP should be even better.

We picked up one of those the last time we were there - it's a very nice case. I'll probably wind up picking up a couple more for the helmets at some point.

26 into Marietta is a fantastic stretch of road, but continuing on 260 down to the river would be a great way to go as well. 260 has a better flow to it, but that part of 26 is technical and fun with lots of elevation change. You can't go wrong either way.

SOLD! Up for sale is an Alpinestars CR perforated leather jacket, size 44/54. I've worn this jacket for two riding seasons, almost entirely on-road, with one track day thrown in as well. $150 + shipped. The CR is one of Alpinestars mid-range jackets and has very good armor, with the standard CE shoulder/elbow, but also some non-CE padding in the back and chest. There is also a liner included for cooler days. It was a great jacket, it just never fit me that well and I found myself continuing to wear my old jacket more often - the length is great, I just don't fill it out in the chest and sides. For reference, I'm ~6'1" and a very lanky 160 lbs. This would be a perfect fit for someone about my height in the ~180 range with a more muscular build. The jacket has never been down and has no scuffs to speak of, and is in overall good condition, I'd say 8.5/10. The only slight cosmetic issue is some slight wear on the edge of the A* logo on the chest which I have shown below. Anyone in the NEO area is welcome to meet up and try the jacket on, just shoot me a PM and we can go from there.

Congrats! I've had my '11 hatch for about 2 years now and still love it. I've had the Accessport since the beginning, and it really wakes the car up and improves the driveability as well - you will not be disappointed. Even thought the ground clearance isn't spectacular, a 'Rex with a good set of snow tires is basically god mode in the snow. If you're interested, I've got a brand new STI rear sway bar sitting in my garage that I never installed that I'd probably be willing to part with fairly cheap.

555 has some good spots, but there are many sections that need some work, especially as you get closer to the river. I definitely recommend 78/26/260 if you have the time. 26 and 260 are two of my favorite roads in SE Ohio and were in good shape the last time I was on them.

I've been wanting to adapt one of the RAM mounts to use in place of one of the passenger pegs. Would be very secure and give a cool perspective. I've used the adhesive mounts on my helmet and saddlebags without any issues. The suction mount works well, just make sure the area it's applied to is clean.

That is a trip that my Dad and I have been talking about for years but will probably never do. Would be great to take some detours and see some of the amazing things on the way (Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Glacier, etc). If you have the chance, do it!

My dad and I did this route last year and loved it. It really wasn't too bad to link the BRP with the New River area, and VA-311 over the mountains past Roanoke was an amazing road. We didn't get down to the Dragon or Cherohala, but there are plenty of other great roads down in that area. Here's a link to the thread I made about the trip that has some comments on roads in the area. If you're looking for a great way to get to/from Ohio to WV, I highly recommend WV-16/WV-10 combo. That was one of the best roads of the entire trip.

Day 2 results: No real surprises here, although it's good to see Nicky and Dovi improve a little. 1 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 2:00.549 2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing 2:00.568 3 Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team 2:00.803 4 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Factory Racing 2:01.038 5 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.311 6 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda MotoGP 2:01.369 7 Alvaro Bautista Honda Gresini 2:01.729 8 Bradley Smith Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.931 9 Nicky Hayden Marlboro Ducati Team 2:02.110 10 Andrea Dovizioso Marlboro Ducati Team 2:02.379 11 Kosuke Akiyoshi Repsol Honda Team 2:02.526 12 Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha Racing 2:02.701 13 Ben Spies Ducati Team 2:03.002 14 Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha Racing 2:03.156 15 Andrea Iannone Ducati Team 2:03.169 16 Aleix Espargaro Power Electronics 2:03.251 17 Randy De Puniet Aspar Team MotoGP 2:03.791 18 Danilo Petrucci CAME IODA 2:04.284 19 Takumi Takahashi Honda Team 2:04.559 20 Hiroshi Aoyama Avintia Blusens ART 2:04.786

More HST from Song of the SC: The final measure of any rider's skill is the inverse ratio of his preferred Traveling Speed to the number of bad scars on his body. It is that simple: If you ride fast and crash, you are a bad rider. And if you are a bad rider, you should not ride motorcycles. - Hunter Thompson

Watching some of the test footage from MotoGP.com, it's really interesting to see how much less comfortable he is on the bike than Pedrosa and Lorenzo. Once he gets it setup and gets comfortable, it's gonna be really fun to watch what he can do.

Superbikeplanet was reporting that Spies' shoulder wasn't doing very well, and that might have impacted his performance. There was some speculation that he might not finish the test, which for him must have meant excruciating pain.

This the first time all the major players are all together on their respective rides for 2013, with some pretty interesting first results: 1 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 2:01.157 2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing 2:01.165 3 Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team 2:01.201 4 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Factory Racing 2:01.584 5 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda MotoGP 2:01.789 6 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.881 7 Alvaro Bautista Honda Gresini 2:01.981 8 Katasayuki Nakasuga Yamaha Factory Racing 2:02.968 9 Kosuke Akiyoshi Honda Test Team 2:03.336 10 Nicky Hayden Marlboro Ducati Team 2:03.336 11 Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha Factory Racing 2:03.456 12 Bradley Smith Yamaha Tech 3 2:03.460 13 Andrea Dovizioso Marlboro Ducati Team 2:03.525 14 Aleix Espargaro Aspar Team MotoGP 2:03.782 15 Randy De Puniet Aspar Team MotoGP 2:04.283 16 Andrea Iannone Pramac 2:04.500 17 Ben Spies Ignite Pramac 2:05.086 18 Takumi Takakashi Honda Test Team 2:05.154 19 Hector Barbera Avinta 2:05.469 20 Yonny Hernandez PBM 2:05.656 As a Rossi fan, I'm really happy to see that he's back up near the front. Ultimately I don't know that he can beat Pedrosa/Lorenzo, but I hope he'll at least be able to give it a good try. Also, it looks like Marquez is the real deal - kid has been fast since day 1, and this is only his 3rd time on a real MotoGP bike. Also, it looks like Ducati is going to be slow out of the gate again this year Hopefully they can find a way to make Nicky/Spies competitive as the season progresses. If there were ever a couple of guys that deserved some luck it's those two. This season should be pretty entertaining.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Trust me, I tried that route within days of getting the ZG screen. The 'Graphic 46' part is no longer available and has been replaced by one that just has the little Fiat logo - I've got one sitting in my garage. I also tried SRS, but never received any response to my emails. Now that I've found an spare OE windscreen, I just need to figure out how to get the logo off the factory screen without destroying it.