redkow97

and that's another wrinkle. I think it will take some time to sort out who is definitively responsible, let alone their true motive.

The Ukrainian "rebels" (the ones who want annexation into Russia) are alleged to be responsible for the shooting. While I doubt the Russian government will condone the act, the driving force behind the rebellion is a sense of Russian patriotism. For obvious and predictable reasons, the Ukrainian government opposes ceding any part of their country to Russia, regardless of what the citizens (or at least a vocal minority?) desire. I agree that the U.S. will need to make a public reaction. I would like it to be "our thoughts and prayers are with the victims. Please take the current conflict in Ukraine into consideration when planning your world travels." I expect that it will be something more like, "The Russian government needs to make it clear to these rebel forces that acts of aggression are not productive steps toward their goal. If the Russian and Ukrainian governments cannot quell such acts, the U.S. will be urging the United Nations to authorize military measures from someone who will." Of course Republicans will call the former "isolationism" and the latter "weak foreign policy," but I don't see why the U.S. needs to stick its neck out here...

it would be great to get a big Ohio Riders group. We could pit together and set up camp in the same part of the paddock. I am debating which day(s) to ride, but I would entertain the notion of sticking around for an extra night just to hang out if people are going to be around.

It definitely has. A bunch of us were there a few years ago for the unofficial ORDN track day. Every group was OVER-sold. (which is the type of thing I have been led to believe the 'new' management has corrected and eliminated. I'm looking forward to riding with them.)

I went into law school assuming $60k was the basement for a practicing attorney working for a small firm. That assumption was likely optimistic even in a good economy. I shouldn't be so dramatic about the economy though - I could probably make double what I do now, but I would literally be putting in twice as many hours. It would cost me all my free time. I'd never ride, my wife would hate me, and my kid wouldn't know me. I'd rather struggle a little and actually have a life. I know more than one young attorney who has quit the profession completely after 2.5 years at a job pulling damn near $100k. Now that she quit, we actually get to hang out with Julie again.

some of them actually appear to be pretty talented stunt riders. Totally irresponsible on public roads, but still talented. I need to learn to do rolling circle burnouts and the drifting moves.

That's all set on the XT timer unit. You tell the timer how many beacons it should expect to pick up, and then set minimum and maximum lap times so that it can tell the difference between an insanely fast lap and a sector split. That way your lap time is still valid even if it misses one of the sector beacons. You'll see how it works when your XT arrives. It's pretty high-feature, but low tech.

it's a 2002, or I would agree that the question was ridiculous.

Like TPoppa said, you're too new for the handling effects to matter much. Basically (no offense intended by this comment) you're limiting the bike more than the suspension drop will. Dropping the forks in the triple clamps is extremely easy. Installing longer suspension links would be the proper way to lower the rear to match. I don't know what the links themselves would cost, but the whole job should take an hour... If the shop is including parts, and charging $75/hour for labor, $123.00 sounds a little high to me, but not totally unreasonable. If you buy the parts yourself, I'm sure there are a bunch of people local to you who would help you lower the bike for free. Especially if the bike has a center stand, this is a VERY easy job. I could do it in my garage in less than an hour even with beer-drinking breaks...

If you don't want that, I am interested. for a human that is under 20 lbs., my daughter requires a lot of fucking accessories.

test it in the shop? Rig the timer onto the fork lift and see how consisted your crew is when moving things between warehouses?

What's not your style about the bandit? Are you just talking aesthetics? It suits your other requirements just about perfectly, as would the FZ1. You won't notice the weight difference between the two anywhere but moving the bike around the garage. I would assume the FZ1 is mildly more capable at a track day, but again, not to the point that you'd notice a difference between the two, and either would still be a lot of fun. I'll admit I'm drinking the Suzuki koolaid lately, but the Bandit is a bike that has a lot to like. Nothing bad to say about the FZ1 (I believe some riding schools put the coaches on FZ1's), but for street use, I don't think there's much debate that the Bandit is more comfortable.

I wasn't asking for sympathy so much as I was venting and asking if the percentage i'm looking at paying is typical. My estimated loan debt was actually higher than my current balance, and my payment amount is in line with what I had anticipated. What's vastly skewed is what I had projected my income to be. I started law school in 2009 when the legal profession was still pretty solid. During the 3.5 years I was in school, the bottom dropped out of the big law machine. There are still places that hire starting at $120k/year for first-year associates, but there are a LOT fewer of those jobs than there used to be. Like 10% of what was available when I applied to law school. Competition for the sub-$100k jobs is proportionately more fierce. During the time I was in law school, the average starting salary for attorneys in Ohio dropped by close to $25,000... a 30% drop in projected income hurts a lot when average salary was part of your considerations for debt repayment. Now i'm looking at leaving a job that I like quite a bit :-/

tempting. I will be on vacation over the 2 days surrounding the weekend prior, so spousal unit may not be wild about me taking off right away. But I have yet to ride the new layout, and you can't really argue with $99... What's capacity for this type of event? Is it going to sell out completely?

I will also be looking to split travel costs and have a trailer set up for 2 bikes. Debating between Putnam, Grattan (never been) and Gingerman (never ridden the addition). Will likely register in "I"

I'm fiscally responsible and not a hypocrit, so bitch as I will, I'm still going to pay off my loans as quickly as possible... I can save more in interst than the $20k that will be forgiven if I knock down the principle enough. May cash out an IRA or 401k to do it. I have a pension now, but it doesn't make sense to be earning 5% interest on savings and paying 6.625% on loans with a higher balance than said savings.

If i'm being honest, the payment amount doesn't shock me as much as my income. when I applied for law school, I figured I'd make more money as an attorney than I was making in sales at my old job. I make marginally more now than I did before law school. More income would solve a lot of problems though...

I don't want to defer them. Assuming a worst-case scenario where I can't find a higher paying job, I get public employment forgiveness after 120 minimum payments. I was just expecting the minimum to be a lot lower, and the amount forgiven to be a lot higher. I'm only looking at "saving" $20k with the forgiveness option, so even a small salary increase at a different job (or this one) would amount to $20k a lot quicker than 10 years. I'd like either a lower interest rate, or a cap on the amount of total interest I can pay in a given year. By my calculations, $430 or more of my monthly payment is interest.

my balance isn't even that high! For people who went directly from undergrad to law school, and financed both (especially without a wife covering housing expenses during law school), they are looking at double or triple my balance... I'm going to be stretched, but not flat-broke. There's going to be an entire generation that is beyond fucked by this.

Just got an ass-fuck from Sally Mae. I'm looking at paying close to 10% of my (pre-tax) income toward student loans from August until eternity. Is this par for the course? The last time I had loans (undergrad) I don't recall what my payment was, but I know I didn't qualify for income-based, because my balance was pretty low. I all but killed those loans in a few years, and have a few thousand outstanding that were added to my law school loans. The killer about law school is that no one has a job when they graduate - you have to study for the bar, which for 80% or more of bar applicants, is a full-time job of its own. So you exhaust your grace period before ever even having a whiff of a paycheck. I did some temp work for a few months, then landed my current gig in September of 2013. Based on my $0 income at the time my loan payments were scheduled to start, I haven't had to pay until now. I only have an estimated figure at this point, but it's not an insignificant amount. More than a car payment (which we don't have right now). My concern isn't so much about how we'll afford this, but rather how we'll afford things like a car payment the next time a vehicle needs to be replaced. My wife (thankfully) has no college debt. I'm an educated guy who doesn't live extravagantly, and has never paid interest on a credit card - if I'm struggling, how the fuck are everyday morons surviving in the world?! /rant (for now)

keeping a couple of extractor bits in my tool box has prevented any bolt breakage for me since I twisted off the caliper bolts in my 600RR in 2011, I believe. It's like bringing an umbrella to ensure that it doesn't rain...

Like I said, I need to stop thinking of gear as really expensive clothing, and start thinking of it in terms of "would I have paid $xxx.xx to not be bleeding and in pain right now?" I can't foresee (m)any crashes where my injuries would be so minor that the answer would not be a resounding "YES."

Not sure Putnam fits my schedule. Gingerman "Track Fest" looks pretty appealing though. I would probably pay for one day and use the freebie the next. My only concern is that it's likely going to be booked solid, and might be a bit of a clusterfuck in "I." My bike is safety wired to Advanced rules, but I've only commuted on this bike, and it's got sport-touring tires mounted. Not sure Advanced is a safe choice when checking my ego is a readily available option.

Only when you stop moving. Even at city speeds, I am quite comfortable in full leathers on an 80 degree day. That's with my chest protector blocking a fair amount of the perforations as well.

come out Friday and I'll race you for my spot ;-)