redkow97

I'd be up for bike show Jan 25/26, and hanging out. I may bring the XR to get some wrenching done, and I may have it already taken apart in my own garage by then... It's so simple to work on, I don't anticipate needing THAT much help, but then again, I guess I could just bring the engine and have someone show me how to properly check valve clearance. I don't own feeler gauges, so hopefully someone else does!

get the harbor freight folder with the 13" wheels. Should be under $400 brand new. Or if you're okay with 12" wheels, you can get out for closer to $300. if you have room to leave them un-folded, a solid 4x8 treated deck really firms up the whole trailer. I also recently cut a trapazoid-shaped piece that makes the triangular tongue good for more storage space. With my generator on the back of the trailer, it was actually nose-light, so I can add weight there when/if necessary. Good for gas cans, the spare tire, a tool box, etc.

you mean like you did for 3 or 4 years?

I think the ideal buyer is someone with a HUGE heavy cruiser (or two) and a light pickup that can't fit two big bikes, and is significantly more difficult to load. That trailer probably weighs 600 lbs. on its own, but it wouldn't flinch with two big bikes on it. Personally, I would lose the ramp-gate if it's going to see any highway use, but they are undeniably convenient for anything that isn't a motorcycle. A 7' aluminum ramp would bungy to the side rail and take up almost no room, but I bet the improvement in fuel economy would be significant pretty quickly. **edit - hahaha, I honestly didn't notice what Conn-e-Rott's ride was when I posted this. The fact that he's got a Victory bagger is just about perfect.

i don't think $800 is necessarily unreasonable, it's just over-built for how infrequently most of us trailer bikes. That trailer will last longer than I need it to, and holds more weight than most cars or small SUV's can handle - so you're limited to larger SUV's and people with pickups, who, ironically, probably have less need for a trailer than most of us. remove the chocks and try it on CL as a landscaping trailer that will fit 1 commercial cut mower, and all the other lawn care crap one could possibly need. I got rid of my first trailer (for a profit, no less) to a kid who was planning to use it to transport his snowblower and run a little winter business.

you shouldn't find it offensive, you should find it concerning. Flying the flag inverted is a distress signal.

^ that's totally reasonable. I hope people take you up on that. I'm reconsidering the powder coat though, and will probably just rattle-can the frame, if I even strip it down that much. I have to keep reminding myself that I got into mini racing to keep costs low. Sinking $120 here, $50 there, etc. into a bike that didn't even cost me $500 just seems kind of dumb... I'm going to be making mechanical improvements and repairs, but the cosmetics will have to wait, i guess.

how much are we talking though? if i buy the setup, i can rationalize future use. This is a $475 dirtbike... I'm not looking to spend hundreds on powder coating it.

the more I get the XR cleaned up and torn down for cleanup and maintenance, the more I want to just strip the frame and paint it. But powder coat would be better. 2 minutes of internet searching yielded powder coat guns on amazon for $40 (marked down from $180), and a craigslist electric oven would be just about perfect for hanging smaller parts like rearsets, skid plates, etc. But there's no way I can fit a frame in there. Any idea how much it would cost to have a frame professionally powder coated? I can't imagine the oven costing me more than $100, but if the powder itself is expensive, I may be better off just sending away ALL my stuff rather than messing with a DIY setup. what say the beeb?

I'm betting they refer to their kit as "custom." I don't believe they'll install a kit from any other manufacturer.

Hmm. I'll have to hope it was too big of a tube or something.

What pressures were you running in the ML's? I have heard people claim I'll run out of tire before full lean, but nothing about folding. And I they suck, it was a $60 lesson. It's not like I've blown my wad on the prices so far :-)

Uhaul does "custom" hitches only. They won't install a kit hitch. But yeah, if you can find the kit on eBay, most don't require much drilling. And drilling a hole in your frame isn't as scary as it sounds. Now running the wiring... That, I would let Uhaul do. My local uhaul guy was pretty cool. We bought our SUV used, and it had a hitch already installed, but the lights wouldn't work. So I took it in, they did the tester thing, and he cut off the old plug on the spot. I had to come back two or three times to catch him when he wasn't busy, but the price was reasonable to begin with, and he felt so bad about making me come back (didn't know I lived like 3 miles away) that he knocked off $50. That was over 30%... Granted, because the connection to the battery was still good, he had considerably less work to do, but still.

I wanted to take a look at Jinu's old bike (with new parts) a few weekends ago, but finals and Browns tailgate got in the way. That was my loss, as it would have been a pretty good deal for an '01. BUT, I found another bike about an hour closer, and only a year older. The owner had listed it for $1000 on 11/7 and then apparently wised up on how over-priced it was (or got desperate for cash) and re-listed it for $500 recently. It's definitely been used, and the left-side case cover has been damaged, but it rides and runs pretty good. Needs a good carb clean, but otherwise in good shape, if a bit muddy. $474 later (I had only brought $100's and $50's... had to borrow $24 from my buddy JB when the seller agreed on $475, but didn't have change!) it was on my trailer. I had an "you idiot..." moment when I got home and couldn't get the bike to fire. Helps if I turn the petcock back to "on" before wasting energy with the kick starter. 2 kicks later, it was running great, just like it had for the test ride

I actually thought about this more last night, and that's probably why the guys on scooters pulled up. My guess is that they had a van or a box truck near by, and were going to use the scooters to push the bikes far enough away that foot pursuit was futile. I have used the scooter trick when bump-starting bikes. Scooter rider extends one of his feet and puts it on the foot-peg of the non-running bike, while a second rider sits on that bike and keeps it straight and upright. it's a little hard to get the non-running bike moving quick enough to stay balanced, but if they rehearsed even a little bit before the robbery, I am sure they could get good at it without much practice. If you have a third person to push the non-running bike to get it rolling, and then have the scooter pull up along side it, that makes things pretty easy. I learned this at Nelson Ledges in 2008 when some guy had an old 450 single that was a BITCH to bump-start. I was pushing him up and down pit-lane, and Todd from NESBA comes zipping up behind me (after my 4th or 5th try pushing) and looked like a fucking genius. ASS

Congrats man! My wife got her MC endorsement as a wedding present to me But I totally understand your concern. I have been terrified every time she takes the bike out (i will be a disaster with kids...) My wife only ever rode the TW200 they used at the MSF course, and my EX500 thereafter. I cannot stress enough how important it will be for her to learn on something she can drop, pick up, and not worry about. With that in mind, I would start her on a small dirt bike, and forget about commuting on "her" bike. your $500 budget keeps things a little tight, but having shopped XR100's for the last month or so, they're out there, and you CAN make them street legal. My wife dropped my EX500 in the garage once, and then the tar snakes on our street get so loose in the summer, I was too afraid to let her out on the street again (I nearly dropped the bike on the tar snakes, and I'm 6' and was 180 lbs. at the time). But now that I'm going to have an XR in the garage, I'm taking her to a parking lot on day 1, putting her in my "rain" leathers, and saying "go have fun." Even a couple days on a dirt bike will vastly improve her chances of success on a bigger bike.

I watch sentencings quite frequently. Trust me when I say that judges want to hear the following: - "I'm sorry." - "I know what I did was wrong, and I shouldn't have done it." - "I won't do that again." And you better be sincere. If you start pleading your case again after you've already been found guilty, I have watched criminal defendants talk themselves into an extra year or three. That wouldn't happen with felony fleeing, but it might be the difference between a fine and a lengthy license suspension. When you're speeding excessively, that is one dumb mistake, but also a dumb mistake that is relatively common. You get caught, you say you're sorry, and you try to do better in the future. Running from the cops compounds your mistakes. Not only have you made a bad choice by speeding, but now you're demonstrating that you're not sorry, you think you're invincible; you know that what you're doing is wrong, but won't own up to it, and; because you thought you could get away, you're probably going to flee again in the future.

I'm guessing they're paying him more than $18k a year, and he is discouraged from racing anything that's not red. But yeah, you could go buy a set up GSXR 1000 (and a "B" bike) for less... I don't think that's entirely the point. Those of us who have to worry about how much the bike costs are hardly in ducati's target market.

wait until facebook hits rock bottom pricing, and then put all $10k into stock.

Fleeing is a felony. That stays with you. Don't do it.

You want to be pissed off, read the gun hating anti-American comments on the YouTube thread.

May as well dig a moat and add a draw bridge while we're at it.

Now I'm picturing speedy instructing his sons to douse logs in gasoline before lighting them up and sending the rolling down the hillside at the first sign of an intruder :-p

I wonder if I could convince Todd to do a 3-lap XR 100 exhibition class if we guaranteed 10 racers :-D

I just browsed MyLaps, and the fastest novice lap I saw at Nelson was in the mid 11's. If you're turning 13's, you'll be fighting for a podium spot. That's at the end of the season though. Some of the guys turning 13's later in the summer were in the 17's for the first couple of rounds. Fastest overall lap I saw (including experts) was a 1:08.89, which is pretty damn impressive... Breaking 1:10 means you're averaging over 100mph on the lap.