redkow97

You have a sickness. The Sonata was what, two years old? Maybe?

I wouldn't bother. Honestly, I had my name changed, and: 1) you'll still have to remember to sign in with "troll" on the login screen 2) any time the site has an update or experiences some kind of issue, it will revert back to displaying as "troll" until you remind a moderator to fix it. I never bothered after mine changed back, presumably after some update or crash.

good looking out. I'll have to plan accordingly. If I'm going to drive 15 hours down to Florida, we'll be spending at least 5 days there, so that may not be a problem. I'd probably keep my options open for both, and then attend one or the other based on weather conditions. Superbike would be my preference though. I really need to plan on getting back to Mid-Ohio this year.

You failed to mention that he also turned the fastest lap of the heavey-weight race on a middleweight bike. "Ausie" Dave Anthony was turning comparable lap times on a GSX-R 1000.

Nathan - if we end up making it down, I'll hit you up for some t-shirts ;-) After talking to a few people: - wife wants me to have a job lined up before we drop a grand on a vacation, so that's the big "if" right now. - Daytona 200 is probably out. I'm being told that the first 10 laps are awesome, but the rest of the race is pretty boring, and the TV coverage of the pit-stops and such makes it better to watch from the hotel than the grand stands. - I will definitely try to make it for the supercross and one of the superbike races - we'll probably stay in Orlando, and drive into Daytona when necessary. I'm not looking to experience bike week, I just want to see some racing at the speedway.

plus the Daytona Sportbike class is a production-based class. There may be something in the rules that says the bike has to begin life as a 'street legal' machine. It might even have to be subject to some kind of inspection before it leaves the factory.

two words: assembly line. I guess it wouldn't be too much work to pull a bike at X stage of the line, but my guess is that it wouldn't be nearly that simple. You'd have to skip certain steps rather than simply pull the bike off the line at step 10 or whatever. that said, it would be sweet if you could just sort of "un-check" the options you know you're going to replace, that aren't essential for a rolling chassis. buy the bike without bodywork, rearsets, levers, etc. You'd still need to buy the stock triple clamps, or it wouldn't exactly be shipable, but all the street stuff could just not be put on in the first place.

gotta update that "bikes" line under your username now ;-)

I wouldn't worry about the username as long as you don't intend to live up to it. Welcome. I haven't been doing nearly enough riding lately. Sold my street bike in 2010 because I was spending more time at the track and my schedule wasn't conducive to using the street bike as a commuter. Track days turned into racing, which turned into lots of $$$ spent, which led to track bike being sold and XR100 'race' bike being purchased. I'll race that this summer on the mini tracks. As far as street (and possibly a few track days) go, I'm constantly contemplating what my next 'big' bike will be, but it's all kind of mental masturbation until I actually have the cash for it. You'll find a lot of us who race and/or do track days pretty routinely, but also plenty of group street rides when the weather breaks. If you're willing to do a couple of hours on the highway on your own, you can probably find at least one group ride every weekend in the summer, and some of us meet up for bike nights on occasion ...but the riding is a lot more fun than the bike nights.

the '04 GSX-R 600 and '03 Kawasaki 636 are really the bargains of the track bike world. Parts are all over (I'd give the edge to the Suzuki on race-setup parts availability), and they're both inverted fork setups with radial mounted calipers. Save for a slipper clutch, there haven't been any major technological advancements since, and both are PLENTY competitive in the WERA novice ranks. Anything fuel injected is pretty much capable of being on the box in novice though.

I wasn't there. Can't say what happened. But I bet 13 cops will say that happened. If deadly force is being used against one officer, everyone who opened fire was justified. The chase itself is a separate issue. But that chase was not the cause of death. That's misconduct (or appears o be, based on the facts and the procedures ignored), and the officers will be punished for that without need for a criminal trial. The civil suit for wrongful death is anybody's guess. I expect a settlement.

You must be in reasonable fear for your life to use deadly force. Whether or not that fear existed is up to a jury. The argument would be that you can't be afraid when you're lying in wait, anticipating the intruder's arrival. You have the drop on him, which makes shooting him right away far less reasonable. If you yell "FREEZE, MOTHERFUCKER!" And then he reaches for something, ten your fear is much more reasonable.

Not accurate. Using the car as a 4500 lbs bullet is deadly force, and responding with gun fire is equal force, not escalating the situation.

That is THE case that says no use of deadly force to protect property.

Not unless they stand to collect contingency, which isn't allowed in criminal cases.

Alright, I'm not going unless someone airbrushes "bike week '93 Daytona" on my ass cheek. And I'm going to need a new thong.

I already reposted that on Facebook a couple hours ago. Love the honesty and hypocrisy all rolled into one.

It will be a settlement, not a trial, and I would like the think the city will get off relatively cheap. By the numbers, i'm betting neither of these two suspects made any meaningful financial contribution to their families, and given the amount of time they were either high or in jail, I can't believe they provided much consortium value to their families either. that said, the grieving families' pain and suffering will be worth something. It will be over a million (before the attorneys get paid) so as not to look insulting, but no way it's more than five million. Frankly, I think a million is ridiculous. from a financial standpoint, this is the best thing to ever happen to either family.

and the union that endorsed them.

I have met a CPD union rep, and that sounds about right. Their attorney is a reasonable guy though. Pat knows when he's asking for the moon. But he's still obligated to ask - he just doesn't do it like an indignant jackass. It's not personal for him. Good guy. Great attorney. I wouldn't be too shocked if he packs it up and retires after this case. It should pay well enough to accelerate his retirement time line!

you're confusing "backpacking" with "being homeless."

(mods, move and edit this out if you think this belongs somewhere else - i thought the appeal was wide enough to stick it in daily ride) Wife wants a vacation. I am not working. Bar exam is over on 2/28. The timing works out for me. Who has gone before, and who would consider it this year? I wouldn't spend the whole week in Daytona, but I would like to watch the actual races. Anything "must-see?" Anything I should explicitly avoid? Any tips for parking near the mayhem without having to deal with miserable traffic? We'll be in a rental car, or my daily driver (depending on what air fare looks like).

Actually, they would probably sell it to you on St. Patrick's day for the right price. Check the facebook page. The 2013 model will be raced in round two. The bike pictured is a 2012. I'm not sure if they'll strip the go-fast goodies and put them on the 2013 bike, or just sell the whole lot as a package, but everything is for sale for the right price!

Is Joey's dad going to destroy my dreams here too, or only on Facebook?

Who gets paid with a live check? Advertising is the only legitimate use of regular mail.