redkow97

what's the weather like at Blackhawk in early April? I vowed I would not open two seasons in a row riding in 40 degrees & rain.

most shops will charge your battery for free over night - at least the Yamaha place in N. Royalton did for me...

PM "ridersdiscount" on the WERA board. $245 for the Pit-Bull TRS (including pins and shipping). I've only seen them elsewhere for $280. Mine has already saved me one argument with my wife (she no longer needs to sit on the bike while i ratchet it down), and I have every reason to believe the thing will last damn-near forever. I'm also pretty sure I can sell it for what I paid any time in the next 3-5 years, although the pins might be a bit harder to move, since they're bike-specific. it also leaves the trailer floor almost completely flat when removed.

I hate the idea of abortion, but I acknowledge that 1) it's going to happen whether it's legal or not, and 2) some people don't have the same options I do as far as finances, family support etc. to be brutal, I'd rather pay for a child to be aborted than pay for that child (and it's mother?) to be on welfare and in social programs their entire lives. the government SHOULD be looking at such things from a strictly financial perspective. Cost-cutting measures are a good thing, even when I don't necessarily like how they're accomplished.

and if the government manages to profit from treating certain diseases, where's their incentive to cure them? Turning Uncle Sam into a controlling force (rather than one providing incentives) gives them a clear conflict of interest.

Where does Ryan think he's running to? just mom's house? then what? "living with mom" isn't a future. I understand why you're encouraging Community College, but I'd hesitate to push too hard on that. there are (or I think there should be) other acceptable options for him to pursue and not be kicked out. Trade school, gainful employment, etc. - forcing him to do what YOU want under duress isn't really teaching him anything, and it will make him feel like you're telling him what to do (how many 18 yr old boys like that?). I think you are justified to have reasonable conditions for Ryan to remain in your house -but if he wants to leave, I wouldn't even try to stop him. Just make it clear that options A and B are on the table now. If he leaves, there may be new conditions upon his return. the older i get, the smarter my dad gets...

and you're convinced that those stats are because we have shitty healthcare? I'm not saying you're wrong, but there are a ton of environmental and societal factors that could easily be to blame as well. the average american treats their body like shit. We eat garbage, don't exercise, and then wonder why we get sick? ...come on I can't conclusively say that our healthcare system isn't to blame, but you can't conclusively say that it IS either. the bill passed. I wish it hadn't, but now we're all going to see who was right. I really hope I'm wrong and it works out great, but I don't believe it will.

you can ride it naked, but as others have noted, you will need to convince the tech inspection people that nothing is going to fly off at speed. in your place, I'd drill holes along the edges of all the cracks and make some zip-tie "stitches" if you're planning on replacing the broken pieces anyway, there's no harm in drilling some extra holes. if you're more ambitious, you can pick up a cheap fiberglass kit at lowes ($20?) and try to fill in the gaps yourself. over-fill, and sand it down. It doesn't have to look pretty to pass tech.

Obama created a job!!!

I tend to agree. to me, bikes with huge rear tires are like strippers with double-H implants. It's only sexy up to a certain point. After that, it's just cartoonish. oh well. it's not my money.

I don't disagree, but I rarely want to be the first vehicle into an intersection. I'd be more inclined to split lanes in crawling highway traffic.

FWIW, my ONLY complaints with this trailer are: - the plywood deck makes it so it won't fold as neatly as i'd like, but it's good enough. - the casters suck ass. They're just too small to roll over even the small cracks in my garage floor. ($8 at home depot fixes that though) - there are 4 carriage bolts that hold the trailer flat while it's in use (so it doesn't fold while you're towing). the left side holes line up great. the right side don't. a dremel fixed that. - even with those 2 holes fixed, GETTING to those 4 bolts sucks ass. but it's worth it to keep the trailer in the garage.

trailer was on sale for $299 (normally $329), so it ended up being $323 after taxes. In retrospect, if I'd waited for Motor Trend to arrive, I could have gotten another 20% off from the coupon in each issue... so $323 for trailer the PitBull TRS was $245 through RidersDiscount.com - YOU WILL HAVE TO CALL THEM TO GET THAT PRICE. Retail is $280. the plywood and hardware to bold it into the trailer probably totaled at least $40 the 2" rise hitch was $20, and the ball was $7. so all together: about $640 (plus $3300 for the bike ) There are more expensive and less expensive trailer options from Harbor Freight. for a few bucks less, you can get the model with 8" wheels that will only hold 1 bike (~770 lbs. max). I wanted the 12" wheels so I can actually do 65mph. for another $100, you can get 'my' trailer with 5-lug wheels that up the payload capacity to 1900 lbs or so. Mine is rated at 1170, so two bikes will fit as long as they're not both goldwings...

sold it for $230

I give the 'normal' wave to 'normal' looking riders. if some huge cruiser with a rider in sleeveless denim and a fu-manchu comes roaring down the road, I do my best to give him the biggest, gheyest wave possible. I also yell "hay-ay" in my helmet, although I'm pretty sure they don't hear me. That's just for my benefit.

I finally did today

nice bike.

'Merica, FUCK YEAH. I'm really hoping Hayden finally has the Ducati working right for him. Being the 'B' rider on any team has to suck balls...

i'll take a quick stab at this, but I admit I haven't done it. there is no simple answer. it really depends on the bike, but... - if you swap forks of the same diameter, there's probably no need to swap triple-clamps. - if you're changing from conventional forks to inverted forks, then it's highly likely that the top portion of the inverted fork is thicker, and you'll need to swap triple-clamps as well. All of this may or may not effect what front wheel and brake setup you can use. In my case, the 2003-2004 600RR has conventional forks, but the 2005 model has inverted forks. That's essentially the ONLY difference. that said, I'm pretty sure I would have to switch to 2005 triple clamps to make the 2005 forks work. Front wheels may or may not be identical, but then you also have to consider the braking systems - the mounting for brakes on inverted forks is rarely the same as it is on conventional forks, so you may be buying new calipers as well. If the calipers are different, the master-cylinder may be different. Before you know it, you've basically put an entirely new front end on... so "fork swap" makes it sound a lot simpler than it is.

I would be interested, but I'll be out of town. Next time though.

Up until today I had only taken quick rides up and down the street, and once around a few blocks on my brother's bike. Last night I 'fixed' my fork issue (minor drama with a stuck fork cap - it shot my spacer and some oil across my garage!) and checked tire pressures. Amazingly, the front was at 32 psi (good enough for a cold day), and the rear was at 28. not bad for sitting as long as it did. The squirrely wrath of 40-some horsepower felt surprisingly potent after a long break from riding. The bike's in the parking lot right now, and I took the afternoon off. this day can only end well. May 1, I get to bring out the track bike and have some real fun

I care. I didn't see this thread yesterday, but I subscribe to Spies' twitter feed, so he notified me himself when he ended up 3rd fastest for the day, and 'still had more left for tomorrow' (today). I do the majority of my race debating on the WERA board because more members DO follow racing. That said, nearly all of those guys know more about it than I do, so I tend to stay quiet over there.

^ actually there was an article about that in some biz magazine lying around our office. it was prompted by the poor economy, but the idea was: - you buy all employees notebook computers (already the norm in many settings) - you share office space with another company (M-W one wee, ThF the next) and split the rent evenly. - company saves money (50% rent and utilities), and employees save gas. win-win. I actually like the idea. it's very rare that we have clients in our office; certainly less than 50% of the time. We could easily share our space with another business.

wait, so is he not a 41 yr old named Nicky?

as far as I know, there is not a formal "Ohio Riders" event at Grattan at any point this season. At one point it was between Grattan and Gingerman. Gingerman won. If you want to ride Grattan, check the schedule at www.sportbiketracktime.com I registered for 5 or 6 trackdays before I ever turned a wheel on the track. After riding 2 sessions on track and being totally hopelessly lost, I thought I'd fucked myself. Luckily the third session was dramatically better, and the rest is history. I'd cross deal's gap off your list at this point. there's a rock-slide blocking part of the road for the next few months, there are cops everywhere there nowadays, and compared to a trackday, it's going to be either boring or unsafe, depending on the pace you take.