redkow97

would you kick someone in the face if they tripped a purse snatcher or beat up a rapist? stopping something illegal is stopping something illegal. You just don't like it because the rider is the one breaking the law. you know what it says to me when someone drives on the berm to avoid traffic? "my time is worth more than yours. I am more important than you, and thus the rules don't apply to me." I call bullshit. Until lane-splitting is legal, follow the traffic rules just like everybody else.

see, that's where I don't understand some people's choices... gas mileage matters EVERY TIME you drive the truck. Towing manners only matter when you're towing. if that's every day, then yeah, get a big diesel truck, but for most of us, towing is less than 5% of our driving. Yeah it sucks to strain a vehicle, not get good acceleration, and have to do 60 on the highway, because you're very near the recommended towing limit, but it's such a small portion of my driving that I can live with it. The OP said he has a 3500 lbs. boat. I think a small truck with 4 doors, or even a truck-based SUV is probably the most practical choice; definitely if the boat lives in a marina, and is only towed twice a year. If it's towed every weekend, then yeah, a half-ton pickup starts looking like a smarter option.

^ ok, at least the belly pan water was to blame. that's not SO bad. better than the idiot who drilled a drain hole in his lower to get the water out. I couldn't make that up if i tried.

she got her endorsement last fall. Had planned on surprising me before we got married, but then realized that she was going to change her name pretty much as soon as we got back from our honeymoon, so she waited to get the "M" endorsement until she was already getting a new license.

be careful. You're learning to ride on a race bike with mirrors and head lights. As much as I appreciate having cheap, plentiful parts available, none of us want to hear about a rider going down. There are a lot of ways to screw-up on a 600...

like? what does PETA actually do? (other than apparently try to scare children into their way of thinking)

cry. hasn't anyone else seen the episode of "Family Matters" where Laura dresses up like a dude so the used-car dealer will negotiate with her?

my wife took the class on a TW200. She called me at lunch and had no idea what it was. hahaha

well i agree with part of what they said: "people are carrying loaded hidden guns in public places. Some of these people are potentially dangerous." I do know some whack-jobs who carry (legally), and there are probably a lot more who carry illegally. preventing people from protecting themselves from those nut jobs doesn't make much sense though.

I'll be there saturday, and unless it's ridiculous, I'll be riding. at the very least, I want to learn the track so the next time I get there, I can be up to speed sooner. The wife and I are planning to camp at Cloverdale RV park, but if the forecast calls for rain all of Friday afternoon (looks good right now), we'll probably grab a sleezy motel. like i said, i just really want 2 or 3 dry sessions to put a knee down and knock off the cobwebs from the winter. really hoping for a miracle on this one. at last glance, Saturday no longer called for thunderstorms, but the chance of rain was up to 70%

why would it piss off your STT buddies? they got something against inexpensive trackdays? I'm friends with quite a few people who ride primarily with NESBA, but none of them are mad at me for doing the Gingerman date with STT in a couple weeks.

"chucklehead?" you mean there's NOT a good reason to push cold tires on the out-lap, in a place where a high-side probably throws you into the race line for turn 1?? blasphemy!

i just want 3 dry sessions. it can rain the first 2 morning sessions while i learn the track and get my 'track legs' back under me. if it stops by the third session, we should have a dry race line by lunch. the 1:00 sessions will be fast, 2:00 faster, and then I'm fine with the sky falling. I'm trying not to hope for too much

at the risk of making this political, it sounds like the extremists within PETA alienate would-be supporters in the same way that the Republican Party is alienating reasonable conservatives.

eh, I can appreciate the enthusiasm, but I agree. Taking any 'race replica' on a 30 hour trip is like using a ferrari to plow your driveway. welcome to the site. I'm sure we can help you find more suitable uses for that RR of yours

YouTube might trash the Tundra, but Top Gear likes the smaller 'yotas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVkedyQZfwQ

watch "food inc." I'm all for eating meat, but 'factory' farms are not only cruel to animals, but pretty gross... But it drives down the cost of food, so people turn a blind eye.

I actually wouldn't mind that at my funeral. I love riding. Don't mourn my death; celebrate my life. Hopefully the people I loved show up to my funeral - why not have the bike I loved there too? A woman died in a WERA race last year, and they had a mock grid at the cemetery, with an empty space for her bike. I thought it was actually a really nice gesture by her racing buddies. I may be mixing up her funeral with someone else's, but I think they also had a picture of her on the track, and hung her leathers next to the casket.

different region. Putnam is Mid-West. BeaveRun is Mid-Atlantic. Ohio is the red-headed stepchild of NESBA's region system. i've been a member for the last two years, and Saturday is the first time I'm going to ride at a Mid-West event. I'll be riding both days with NESBA at BeaveRun, or i'd be all over this!

absolutely. Buy a vehicle that's ideal for what you do most often, and adequate for what you do occasionally, not the other way around. For us, that meant trading my truck for a small SUV and a trailer. My truck bed was empty way too often to rationalize getting 18 mpg and handling shitty in the snow. I can think of ONE time i ever moved/towed more than 1,000 lbs., so the truck was overkill. And the trailer is actually BIGGER than my old truck bed (longer by 2' and no wheel-wells to eat bed space).

probably true. Per PETA's web site: "Rather than euthanizing dogs and cats, couldn’t we just build more animal shelters?” Shelters do not provide a solution to the problem of companion animal homelessness because dogs and cats need more than food, water, and shelter from the elements. They need and deserve loving care, regular human companionship, respect for their individuality, and the opportunity to play and run. As difficult as it may be for us to accept, euthanasia (carried out by veterinarians or trained shelter professionals via intravenous injection of sodium pentobarbital) is often the most compassionate and dignified way for unwanted animals to leave this uncaring world. (end quote) http://www.peta.org/about/faq-comp.asp browsing the web site, I actually agree with more of their views than I would have thought. PETA is pro "animal rights." the short version is, "animals are not for humans to use or exploit." For anything. not clothing, not food, and definitely not entertainment like zoos and the circus. Clearly I enjoy the eating of delicious animals, and I wear clothing products made from animals, but I understand why they object to captive wild animals. PETA also distinguishes between "animal rights" advocates, and "animal welfare" advocates. I would consider myself the latter. Basically, human benefit outweighs animal rights, but if you're going to keep an animal captive, or kill it for food, do so in a respectful and compassionate way (i.e. good living conditions). http://www.peta.org/about/faq.asp So their agenda isn't all wacko. but scaring kids to push that agenda is a dirty play.

Is your libertarian buddy a white guy? I'm not one who tries to find racism in all situations, but let's be honest here; if a cop pulls white, 27-yr-old, clean-cut, 'me' over, and sees my 25-yr-old, harmless, white wife in the passenger seat, she can get away with a lot more, "I don't have to provide you my drivers license" statements than a male minority between age 17 and 30 can. You can claim that's profiling, or you can claim that's the cop basing his judgment on factual statistical data. Either way, the minority male can make the same statement to authorities with very different results. Ever seen an episode of "COPS" where a white woman is enraged about being pulled over and screams at the officer, and demands his 'badge number?' ya think that would go the same way if it weren't a white female? hell no.

I don't even like VISITING other countries without being able to speak the language... If Rosetta Stone didn't cost 500 fucking dollars, I would make an honest effort at Spanish and maybe French. i just think about how irritated I used to get when old Hungarian women would shop at the grocery store I worked at in high school. Their English sucked ass, but at least they were trying! If they just showed up and expected me to be able to speak Hungarian, I would have looked at them like they were retarded. it's a silly, ultra-conservative platform to base a campaign on, but in Alabama, it might work.

I think Roto Rooter has this on their vans - i know it's one of the major plumbing franchises: "Your #2 problem is our #1 priority." My parents have tree roots growing into their clay pipes, so 'dark water' backed up into our basement 3 or 4 times when I was growing up. After the 4th time, my dad realized it was cheaper and less painful to just rent a pipe snake and clear the drains every 6 months BEFORE any problems occurred. Preventative maintenance isn't just for bikes. Wise advice.

Tacoma's are badass. expensive though. there is a 4-door ranger; it's called the Explorer Sport Trac. Depending on how serious your towing needs, I believe the Sport Trac has an optional V8. My ranger also had the 4.0 V6, and it had more towing power than I ever expected of it. I averaged 17-18 mpg, but on extended highway trips, 22 wasn't out of the question. Supposedly it could tow over 5,000 lbs. I saw the 3.0 tow a 6x10 enclosed trailer with 2 bikes in it no problem. biggest thing I ever pulled was my friend's "Browns Bus" 1967 motorhome. I'd say it was 4,000 lbs. at least. Didn't want to make it up the hill out of the pit lot after a game. traction was a bigger problem than the towing. 6 drunk guys in the bed fixed that problem :-p