redkow97

I'm just pointing out the need for a balance. I understand and acknowledge that it's unwise to trust police completely and without question, but I think you have to also weigh that distrust against the potential consequences of not cooperating. Police need information to do their jobs. They get frustrated when that information is withheld. I'm not suggesting that people incriminate themselves, I'm suggesting that they avoid illegal activity, and thus not have as many reasons to be concerned about speaking truthfully to law enforcement. This bozo would have been better off keeping his mouth shut. Instead he fabricated a story that paints himself as a hero. He's been charged with falsification and obstruction, NOT the underlying offense(s) he was trying to cover up. At least not yet. Simply shutting up might have made him a suspect, but if the police could prove what happened, I doubt they'd only be charging him for the lies.

I don't mind cruising, I just prefer to do it on a non-cruising bike. welcome.

I'm basing my guess (and I admit is purely that) on the articles claiming they have info that the engine is based on the 636, and the fact that the last H2 (the mach IV) was a 750 two-stroke triple. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_H2_Mach_IV If this ends up being a turbo triple on a completely new engine block, that would indeed be a lot of engineering... If it's a 2-stroke, I'll shit myself

hahaha - I was thinking more along the lines of a CBR500 or KTM390 spec class

The interwebs says it's a 636-based engine with a turbo. Bore and stroke the 636 a tad, and a turbo or supercharged 750 I-4 sounds like a pretty good guess. that would be liter bike power with a lot less weight. Could be pretty cool, but I'm not sure where it will fit in. This is being touted as a "flagship" sportbike, so more expensive than the ZX10?

I would like that too, but I think there will be a smaller displacement class for the rising stars.

me, but the tire is a couple years old. You can look it over and toss it if you want, but it's yours for the taking. PM me. I'm out in Lakewood relatively frequently. I'll have to take a look at the tire tonight and inspect it, but as I said, it has been un-mounted and stored out of sunlight.

ambient temp and track temp are two different things, so don't stay home just because it's only 50 degrees outside. I'd take sunny and 50 degrees over 65 and raining any day of the week. At mid-ohio, the trees will shade the track at the exit of the keyhole late in the day (twilight LED, back in the day). That alone was enough to create a difference in traction between the sunny and shaded portions of the track. I wouldn't call it "sketchy," but there was more wiggling going on in the shade. I think most problems occur when the change in traction is unexpected. If you're waiting for it, just approach your normal pace cautiously.

not true. Speaking early allows the police to conduct their investigation more effectively in the hours immediately following the crime. If you're actively trying to cover the truth, then sure, keep your mouth shut, but if you've actually been victimized and want the perpetrator caught, talking can help. As for lawyering up, go ahead - but you're paying for it. You are not entitled to court-appointed counsel until after charges have been filed. You have the right to have an attorney present while you are questioned, not to have one provided for you. If you choose not to speak to police, you may be viewed as a suspect, and thus detained much longer than otherwise necessary. I never fault anyone for invoking their rights, but sometimes they're only screwing themselves.

I would think something like this is pretty dangerous, and would require a large tank on a small bike... You'd need to minimize stops and maximize speed. As you point out, it's nearly impossible to do legally. i'd attempt it if I could get some kind of sponsorship, or to raise money for a charity or something, but I think you would legitimately have to ride back and forth across a plains state (or two, or three) with carefully scheduled stops just as the tank was nearing empty. It certainly wouldn't be enjoyable.

Refusing to talk to the police would have made him a suspect much sooner.

I have an old Q2 in my garage that you're welcome to. It is a couple years old, but I don't think it's cracked or dried. Not exposed to sun.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/oh-summit/bath-twp-police-former-navy-seal-chris-heben-lied-about-getting-shot-at-west-market-plaza For those who may not have heard about this when it was breaking news, this guy claimed to have been shot in a parking lot, then drove after his attackers. I heard him interviewed on the radio locally multiple times. Now he's being charged with falsification and obstructing official business, because they're saying things didn't go down the way he claims. What has not been mentioned by the media yet is what the police claim actually happened. It seems they don't believe he was in the location claimed, but I can't tell if they're implying that he negligently shot himself, or if it was some kind of drug deal gone bad, or some other scenario. Regardless, I am pleased they charged this "hero" if he's hindering their investigation and/or wasting their time by lying to the police.

0-60 takes over 9 seconds, but that's a lot of practicality for $6,800.

You're right. None of that was rude or condescending at all. You didn't at all imply that i'm a takentless hack and lsmaller bikes arent real racing. And apparently you have a really unique way of showing your "respect" for Brian. All I've ever seen you do is rant at him about how small bikes are worthless teaching tools. Keep telling yourself how nice and helpful you are to everyone. I never questioned your riding credentials, only the way the message is delivered. As I plainly stated, I don't consider myself any kind of riding phenom, but I know what experiences have helped me learn. You're trying to tell me that I didn't learn things I've experienced firsthand. Which one of us sounds like the know-it-all in that scenario? I don't know why I bother responding to your posts. You don't actually hear what I'm saying an just choose to fight rather than actually responding to my points. Here's to another year of ignoring each other.

Brian, I have ignored your posts for close to a year now, but you are simply wrong on several points. First, that wasn't an inside pass any more than passing on the left in the middle of the front straight is an inside pass. I acknowledged from the start that it was a dumb move by the CR, or appears to be on the video anyway - but it wasn't dumb because it was an "inside pass," it was dumb because it was extremely close for no discernible reason. I could only speculate as to why the decision to pass was made, but I'm sure it wasn't to wreck the guy behind him. He passed on the right when then next turn was also a right. To me it looked as though he clipped the rider's bar or clipped his front wheel when he moved left to set up for the right. Second, 1:0X is not an advanced time (unless you're on an SV, maybe). At least it never was with NESBA, and everyone here seems to think N2 is "NESBA reincarnated." I was turning 1:05's before NESBA moved me into Advanced, and I still felt like the slow guy out there. I have never ridden with N2, so perhaps that has changed, but I would be in the 1:08 range on my out lap with cold tires and not be the fastest guy in Intermediate. Not by a long-shot. As for the passing rules, did you make them? You claim to be able to read the minds of the people who did and know their reasons. The passing rules are not only for safety. Yes, disallowing inside passes prevents one rider from lowsiding into another, but I have discussed this many times with former NESBA and current N2 event directors. Their passing rules are designed to force you to learn before you move up into the next group. When you're only allowed to pass on the straights, you have to learn to back off and get a good drive on larger bikes, and/or be hard on the brakes and carry more speed through the following turn. When you're only allowed to make outside passes, you have to learn to be that much quicker in a turn, and complete your pass before the other rider runs wide and blocks your line on exit, or apex later and come up the inside with more drive right at the exit. Safety is absolutely part of it, but that is not the sole purpose of the passing rules. That's simply false. I learned to back off on the back straight so that I could carry more speed through turn 10 and catch people exiting 10, then pass them on the straight. I also learned to pass people on the brakes into 1 (while still straight up and down) before tipping in and carrying more speed through 1 than they would have. By the time you get to turn 7, any liter bikes who were on your ass entering turn 1 are not close enough to stay in front of you braking into 10 again. If we're going to agree to disagree, then that's fine - but try not to be so condescending about it. I've never claimed to be god's gift to riding, but to the best of my knowledge, you have never seen me ride and have no basis for judging my abilities. Even if you had, you could do so without being rude, couldn't you?

My interpretation was that the kickstarter is just to raise enough money for them to order the 10 shells required for their supplier. I was under the impression that the rest of the vehicle is pre-production, but it exists. So you could theoretically purchase a complete model at some point, just not yet. $10k for a carbon fiber shell is one thing. How much is the aluminum shell going to cost? You'd really need a lot more specs to make a value judgment. A vehicle of this size needs to cost under $10,000 with a drivetrain and get 55mpg, or cost under $20k, and be able to perform like an Ariel Atom ...and still get 40+ mpg.

rearward visibility appears to be nonexistent as well. I'm still intrigued that someone actually built it and is trying to produce it.

I understand the desire for safety on the track. 100% in agreement with that goal. I agree with enforcing rules and having consequences for breaking them - but I reject the notion that any org can prevent riders from being asshats. If they were observing that and not addressing it, then that is absolutely a problem, but no organization can alter the way a person is riding unless the offending rider wants to modify his habits. I've never ridden with N2, but I do think it's somewhat ironic that while there are so many concerns about the "free for all" in novice at this event, my concerns about letting everyone and their brother into "Advanced" with other orgs has routinely been met with a distinct lack of concern. It's the same disparity in pace, just at higher speeds. The "more structured" novice group a few of you are advocating leads to people being all that more fed up with novice, and forces them into Intermediate too soon. I still don't think that's a solution.

I think I'd test drive it before poo-pooing it.

Maybe I'm misremembering my own novice times, but I seem to recall doing 1:08's in Novice back when I had the F2. It's not all about pace, it's about demonstrating that you can make passes on the brakes, and set people up to a good drive on them down the straights. That is what only allowing passing on the straights is designed to teach you. It forces you to learn, or be "held up" and bitch about it forever. Your 'solution' wouldn't alleviate that problem, it would just make the range of pace in Intermediate that much wider. You're not solving the problem, just shifting it to a different group - the group that ALWAYS sells out. If you want to advocate for 4 groups (maybe just for the first half of the day, until the true beginners are up to pace), then I'd listen harder, but this notion that people should be in Intermediate after their first or second full track day doesn't seem any safer to me than having true beginners on track with people who have the ability to ride at a decent pace.

That's not a CR saying that, just another member. I also don't think the video showed an inside pass. The CR didn't lowside into the guy. It looked to me as though the CR passed between turns 4 and 5, and either cut-off or clipped the "I" rider's front wheel as he moved back onto the race line to set up for turn 5. I'm not saying it wasn't a dumb thing to do, but to characterize it as an "inside pass" doesn't seem correct from what I saw. I'm guessing that CR was thinking, "why did that guy just turn into my rear wheel? He turned-in waaaaaaaaaay early if he thought he was tipping it in for turn 5."

On a liter or 600, 11's and 10's aren't exactly lightning at PIRC. I don't think of those as lap times that are out of place in novice. Certainly in the top 25%, but not ridiculous. Moving people up sooner would only create a greater disparity in lap times in Intermediate instead of in novice, and Intermediate is already full of people who are just fast enough to really get into hairy situations. as for 'getting frustrated and breaking passing rules,' that logic never made sense to me. If I'm turning 1:10's in Novice, there is no way I should have any problems passing someone circulating at a 1:14 pace, and doing it legally, while we're both still straight up and down.

Alaska actually has so many natural resources that citizens receive payment from the gov't in the form of tax credits.

I guess I just wanted them to mount it sideways, and then use a shaft-drive or something. Anything to make me think, "yep. there it is. that's the BMW I was expecting." Like I said, it's a fantastic bike, it just feels like an asymmetrical GSX-R 1000 with better stock brake and suspension components.