redkow97

Interesting. I'm hopeful that these are true repairs, and not just "fixes" that cars will destroy in a matter of days. It's so easy to armchair quarterback these things, but I don't understand why NL can't forecast a basic repair budget for every spring... You would think they could set up a multi-year contract with someone do a turn a year or something.

now that this is sold, I don't feel bad derailing it. My buddy's (now) ex-wife insisted that he buy her an elliptical machine, "because she's from Florida, and it's too cold to walk from the car to the gym in the winter." (i'm not kidding) Anyway, she picked out some ridiculous $1,200 elliptical with "LIVESTRONG" logos all over it. In the 16 months they were married, she used it twice. She moved out, but left stuff that was too big to fit in her A4 (I joke that she has Audi taste, and a Dodge Neon budget). So this dumb elliptical sat in his living room for almost a year before he sold it. A friend of mine was looking for one, and I asked what he wanted for it. "$700 is half what I paid." I almost shit myself. I remember saying, "DUDE! $1500? You know there's a website called Craigslist, right? FAT FUCKS SELL EXERCISE EQUIPMENT ON THERE." I think he ended up getting $200 for the elliptical after having it listed for several months. Then his ex-wife called and wanted $1,000 for it, or for him to pay to ship it to her! He responded with "it will be in the garage if you want to pick it up." She hasn't come (from Florida) to claim it yet

don't make fun of Huffys! and anything feels small and nimble after riding that Civic convertible of yours! ;-)

well that's where we're going to disagree. I won't debate the issue further. I confirmed it was Scott btw. Someone else said he had some broken ribs and a punctured lung. Healthy enough to post on the N2 board this morning at 7:30 though.

Unless it's someone else on Scott's bike, I know the CR who was involved in that incident pretty well, so forgive me if this question comes across as mildly defensive, but what would have been anything but easy about that pass had the rider stayed on the throttle as expected?

I have never tried that, but I have two 3' screw drivers that go largely un-used. Let me know if I need to bring one to work for you to borrow. Can arrange to drop it off after work, or you can pick it up during the day or something.

torqueboner! This is on my short list of bikes I wish I could rationalize affording. GLWS.

just invite a bunch of us over. We will gladly test-ride your bike for a few hours, then stand around drinking beer while we listen to the bike idle in your driveway and give our best guesses as to what might be causing it

On paper, I love rotary engines. In practice, they offer disappointing torque, and worse fuel economy. If the need is a lot of high-RPM power in a small package, then rotary all the way, but in the current American and world economy, no one is going to mass-produce an engine that is 1.8 liters, and only gets 20mpg (estimates pulled out of my ass based on the RX-8's dismal economy numbers).

I didn't take pics. We only saw the mass of bikes from a highway overpass. I do wish I could have snapped a shot of that, but we were grateful to be in traffic that was not stopped, so the opportunity was fleeting. In the District itself, I saw almost exclusively cruisers. On the highways, I saw more Hayabusas than I have ever seen in person before. Two riders in particular stood out to me though: a guy on the oldest GSXR 1000 I have ever seen (so effing cool), and a guy on a Buell XB12 who was weaving through highway traffic at about 95mph. He was nuts.

While I think the premise is ridiculous, I would agree that the majority of the attendees just seemed to be looking for a good time, and wanted to show off their bikes. It was definitely not my scene as far as what they were expecting to be impressive, but I understand taking pride in something that you have spent a lot of money blinging out. I'm basing my summation on pictures btw. There was a gallery somewhere that highlighted some of the more ridiculous happenings. I doubt anyone was taking pictures of the 90% of the crowd behaving themselves.

there are legal reasons I think they would want to avoid that sentiment, but it does appear that way.

I was there. It was pretty impressive to see, and highly annoying to navigate. DC traffic sucks balls pretty hard under normal circumstances. Adding in a 6 mile group of motorcycles required closing multiple highway exits. My bottomless bloody Mary brunch was also seriously disrupted by the a-holes on straight-piped cruisers who thought it was cool to peg the rev limiter at stop lights. I was more annoyed because it was scaring the crap out of my daughter, and our friends' two sons (4 yrs, and 6 months). I'm officially a cranky old man yelling at kids to get off my lawn.

this interests me, since N2 didn't exist last year. I guess they're using NESBA's group break-down. That means I have to safety wire the Katana to "Advanced" requirements to ride with them, then get totally blasted on the pig... booooooo.

I posted that on their facebook page in 2012. Got called all sorts of racist names.

Yeah, stay calm for now. An engine that is running with strange noises is still running. That means nothing vital has failed. Yet. It's easy for me to armchair quarterback this and tell you to pull the motor, crack the cases, and inspect everything... But you're probably safer starting small. Still, if you can take it apart, I'm sure someone here can help you get it back together!

Hope everyone had fun today. Will is likely one of the guys running the show. Good dude. Stay safe.

Bridgestone BT45 Cheap. Proper size. Great in the rain. Will last a while. Sticky enough to gum up during spirited rides.

Yeah, "murder" is a legal conclusion that requires that a person intends death as the result. Not including manslaughter stats would certainly reduce the USA number. "Firearms fatalities" would be more relevant. Although most of those stats include police shootings and self defense situations, even when justified.

I wouldn't file an insurance claim. If I'm the insurance company, the first thing I'm asking you is how closely you were following the vehicle ahead of you. Then I'm telling you you were failing to keep an assured clear distance, and the damage sustained is your fault. Had you maintained an adequate distance between vehicles, the rocks wouldn't have struck your bike. Not trying to be a dick, but the insurance companies will be. They are going to pay out more on this one claim than you pay them in a year. That's not their business model. You have no police report that says the driver ahead of you crossed the edge line and bit the rumble strip. I have to believe they will question this claim. Something to consider.

based on the thread title, I was expecting this to be some kind of bike rally/rib cookoff put on by the Nazi party or something...

I guess I would also point out that we do not know the defendant. It's not common, but I have had defendants who are genuinely extremely remorseful and apologetic to victims. Good people do make horrible mistakes. Especially when they are in the midst of a major substance abuse problem. The victim's family may have requested a light sentence if this guy has made a sincere apology and demonstrated that this is something he takes seriously, and is making changes in his life. I have a couple of people in particular I'm thinking about, but one was a heroin addict when I met him. He was a criminal. Plain and simple. Now I would let him live in my home if he needed a place to stay.

if you already own it and have a place to store it, that sounds like a great option. The only way I would advise you to go another route is if your fuel economy towing that trailer sucks badly enough that a hotel would be less expensive.

took the bike out last night for the first fully legal test ride. I had previously lacked mirrors, front signals, and a speedometer. All I have left to be "done" with this bike is to paint the gas tank. The tail and front fender are done, and I was able to clean/inspect the brake calipers and pads while I had the wheel off to remove the fender. My $10 LED turn signals came yesterday, and I was lucky enough that my wife took the baby to dinner with her sister, giving me a chance to install them right away. So the signals were soldered up to the factory plugs, covered with heat-shrink and electrical tape, and then mounted up to the bike. I had installed the bar-end mirror last week, and the GPS has been functional for a few days now. Everything worked great on the road. The only problem I encountered is that the GPS unit catches the wind, and wants to fold forward toward me above 65 mph, or if I hit a bump on the highway. I think the solution will be to construct a small 'leash' to limit the movement so that it can only reach a 75 degree angle, or possibly less. But for $25 (the GPS is from eBay) I am very pleased with the result. All together, I am probably into this bike for less than $700, and it's looking and riding how I want it. I have more cleaning and minor maintenance to do, but for now, I am very pleased!

That's where the wrongful death suit comes into play. Locking up the perpetrator doesn't make 'your' family whole in the example you gave. Money doesn't replace you, but it relieves the burden of funeral expenses, lost income, etcetera. I agree that the sentence was light, and I am surprised he was only ordered 90 days, but what would you deem appropriate for aggravated vehicular homicide?