redkow97

I think there's a minute but important difference between "legal" and "not stolen." My bike's in the same state of limbo as Grape's. It's not stolen, but it's also not legally mine. For a track bike, there's an infinitely small chance that it matters. I have heard of state police sitting at the entrance to tracks and checking VINs on the way in, but I have yet to meet anyone who has actually experienced that. My inclination is that it simply doesn't happen. I suspect there's no probable cause to run the VIN of a vehicle on a trailer; especially an enclosed trailer, and even if they do run it, there's nothing illegal about being in possession of something that's not yours, but also not reported stolen. The only steps the cops could take would be to call whatever phone number(s) are on record for the last registered owner. I took my bike into Canada to ride Calabogie, and the boarder patrol gave my buddy Mike and me the full-court press. "is this your trailer?" It was a borrowed trailer, which we told them. They asked whose it was. We told them. They asked if he knew we were taking it out of the country, and we confirmed that he did. If they had run my bike's VIN, i believe it comes back to a dealership in WI that's now out of business, but it's definitely not flagged as stolen. Unless it is, I really don't think they can impound the bike or detain you for any lengthy amount of time.

I found older (but still pretty low mileage) bandits for as low as $2300. as much as I said I wanted a V-twin, I'm not sure I can beat the value of 100hp and 64ft-lbs. of torque at that price... The only real complaint about them is that they heat your legs a bit, and the stock suspension kind of sucks. Pretty much what I expect from a bike in that price range. I did kind of want something loud and thumpy though we'll see SV1000 might be the other front-runner.

Nice pick up, but what prompted the purchase of a second large liquid-cooled twin?

it could also be pretty awesome though. For the time, Top Gun had a lot of access to military aircraft. Most Americans had never seen a fighter "up close" before. Now they'd probably feature the F22 or F35 - a lot probably depends on how badly the Air Force wants/needs good publicity... It seemed like they set up the original for a sequel as soon as he said he wanted to instruct at Top Gun school. I just wonder if the sequel would be about Maverick in the present day, or if it would be more about the new class of young pilots.

My thoughts exactly. Is there anything we can do for the family?

Class at from 8-1:10 tomorrow Would have gotten "sick" after lunch and tried to sneak down this afternoon for evening practice, but that looks like a total waste of time and faked sickness with the weather forecast.

^ That's kickass. I need to get to Grattan to learn the track so I can race there next year. (Steve, Nathan, and others - we should talk about putting together a semi organized north-central race effort next season... I was waiting in line at Chipotle last night, and realized that wife and her sister's order were written on the back of my WERA schedule. North-Central is all BeaveRun, Nelson, Gingerman, Grattan, and a trip to Cycle-Jam. All those tracks are within 5 hours. I think I'm out of excuses not to do all 8 rounds.)

I believe the kawasaki bagger is also the only liquid-cooled model. Probably performs quite well compared to its competition.

yeah, it's probably just me trying to rationalize that "it won't happen to me," but I always look for a way I'm different from the rider involved. It could have been a million things that happened, but the guy's age, and the model of bike jumped out at me a bit.

...except wearing a seat belt is required by law.

off-topic, but careful with slapping stickers on your bike around the racer crowd. Trackday folks don't seem to care, but a handful of the racers you'll encounter really hate it when people advertise for free. It makes it harder for them to get real (paying) sponsorships. And they've got a valid point, to some extent. Why should Vortex pay race contingency if every trackday rider is running their stickers anyway? I hope the storms come through fast and early. With any luck, you'll have a dry race line for the afternoon.

Nothing bad to say about z1000 or FZ1, but they aren't cheap to buy or insure. If I start leaning toward the liter I-4 route, I'd be more inclined to check out older Bandit 1200's, and just strip it down so it looks more like a naked SV650

SV1000 would be one I'd consider, but I have encountered a couple people with major issues with those.. I'd have to look up what they were, but it seemed semi common. an RC wouldn't be comfortable enough to live with on a daily basis, or for long trips. Something like a SuperHawk might though.

I completely don't understand that... I knew virtually nothing about bikes when I first started wanting one, but I knew the single most important thing i liked about them: Cheap acceleration. If I happened to look cool, then great, but I've always considered bikes as performance machines, not fashion statements.

Reading a few other threads got me thinking about what I really value in a street bike. I have said for a while now that my next street bike will probably be an SV650, but now I'm reconsidering. My criteria are: - lots-o-torque (i.e. I've all but written-off anything but a twin) - cheap(ish). older is okay as long as i can find parts. - easy to work on/low maintenance (possibly meaning air-cooled and/or belt drive, which is the only reason I remotely question the SV650) - decently comfortable if I wanted to throw on luggage for a longer trip. - handles well enough to have FUN at a trackday, but no misapprehensions about setting lap records. (i.e. XR1200 or other cruiser-biased bikes aren't off the table) ...did I just convince myself I want an older Ducati Monster 900?

internet says top speed of the Furry is ~110, so that's not going to be much of a chase! The helicopter won't even need to be called in!

only until the cops caught up to you on your slow-ass honda furry (sic)

before I owned a bike (at 22), I actually wanted a standard or a cruiser. Buying my EX500 was a last resort after 2 cruisers had been bought out from under me. i remember thinking that "rice rockets" were dumb noise machines, and that dragging a knee was stupid. then a couple of years into owning my EX500, I started looking into ways to make it faster (because there was no way I could afford a newer bike). Like I said before, the EX500's engine began life as a 454, so it's hard to (reliably & cheaply) increase the performance of an engine that's already been bored at the factory to the point that its cylinder walls are so thin... Looking for performance mods was how I found track days though. 2 bikes and 30+ trackdays later, I might actually really enjoy a cruiser for street use

your 454 LTD shares a lot of DNA with sportbikes anyway. The engine in your bike is literally half of this bike's engine block: The 454 was later bored out to 498, and was used in the Vulcan 500 up until 2009. It shared its engine with the 1987-2009 Kawsaki Ninja 500, which (having owned one) I would call a "sport standard" more than a sportbike, but you get the idea - you're more of a sport bike rider than you think ;-) Plus like everyone has said, I'm cool with anyone on 2 wheels. Actually the stereotypical sport bike rider irritates me.

I think my best ever at Mid-Oh was a high 45... 49 is more typical. Gotta get into the 30's this year

I'd just yell back, "my convertible is a lot harder to tip over." as for half, or even those flip-up helmets, I have seen far too many people come back with their lid looking like this to ever wear anything but a full-face helmet. My friend Ryan was wearing a full-face helmet and the medics still had to help him find some of his teeth. It was too large, and the chin bar hit him in the mouth. Still better than what would have happened if he'd had a half helmet on.

what kind of pace is that? ~1:35?

if it says "police" in big enough letters that you could read it from your vehicle, I would say that it's "marked." Probably explicitly to skirt regulations on unmarked cars. Not a new trick. Local PD has always had 1 or 2 white/grey/blue crown-vics with just "police" in black letters above the front fenders. Now it's usually black Chargers with gray "police" decals that glow white when headlights hit them. I think that's sort of extra sneaky, because during the day, it's damn hard to see them. The low-profile light bars aren't easy to spot these days either. But hey, if i'm not breaking the law, it doesn't really matter to me...

FWIW, the term "squid" seems to have expanded far beyond its original connotation. I was told by some old racers that the term was coined when the veterans would refer to the reckless youngsters as "squirrely kids" as they got the bike loose on corner entry and exit. They would let the bike get "squirrely" and they were young, so the combination was a "squid." It had nothing to do with gear, or lack thereof, and was purely a comment on how they raced. Now it seems like people will use the term for anything dumb done on a bike, regardless of whether it's gear, age, aggressive riding, etc.

I am against the government trying to be my daddy, so I actually appreciate ohio's lack of a strict helmet law. That said, anyone riding without gear is asking for pain or death. I always wore helmet, jacket, gloves, and boots. I should have been better about pants. Jeans are definitely not protection. Cruiser riders seem to be more about image than function. You can tell that by the style of bike they ride. Most handle okay at best, and they prefer air cooling be aide radiators are ugly. Gear just doesn't fit the image. Gear on a sport bike looks less out of place, but I have heard people say, "I'd rather be comfortable the 1,000 hours I'm on the bike and risk being uncomfortable if I crash." comparing sweating to road rash doesn't add up for me, but I have heard that logic. Personally, I think you should be required to do a couple hours of "gear education" to get your endorsement, including graphic photos of rash and head injuries. Don't require gear; inform people about the consequences of not wearing it. Then those who refuse to wear it get none of my sympathy.