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Harb67

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Posts posted by Harb67

  2. Harley XR1200??

    in Daily Ride

    Posted

    That bike made me realize how profoundly ugly that engine is. Why they insist on building bikes around it continues to baffle me.

    Other than the engine, it's not a bad looking bike. Now if only it had the performance to match.

  4. We're in a recession? No wai!?!

    in Dumpster

    Posted

    its only official til they tell us!! didnt you know that???

    These tools would probably argue that a baby is genderless until the doctor declares "it's a boy!" or "it's a girl!". Pity the baby who is born just as the doctor is having a heart attack; that's how hermies are born.

  5. We're in a recession? No wai!?!

    in Dumpster

    Posted · Edited by Harb67

    Good lord I could have made that declaration months ago and I'm not even finished with my economics minor yet.

    I so badly wish I had a screen cap of the "HOT NAKED CHICKS & World Report" news headline from Idiocracy: "SHIT SUCKS!"

    Since they went ahead and did all the hard work, I'll finish the job for them. That chart on the right that lists past recessions? The last number should be "2013 or later". There, now you guys can rest easy. Good work National Bureau of Economic Research, I'll call you for help next time I need to make change for someone; hopefully you'll be able to figure that out in less than a year.

  6. ORC4511.43a ... F*CK :(

    in Daily Ride

    Posted

    Eh yeah when you put it that way, it makes sense. In Jon's situation it doesn't sound nearly as bad as the classic "car pulls out in front of a bike on a country backroad, biker killed car just goes "oops i rolled the sign""; I hadn't really considered the latter.

    I still stand by my hatred of cops giving out tickets though. :p

  7. ORC4511.43a ... F*CK :(

    in Daily Ride

    Posted

    I can't really argue the fact that you were in the wrong, but goddamn...TWO points? I got that many for doing 90 in a 65; I think two is way excessive for rolling a stop sign.

    Here's a lil' joke I just came up with:

    How do you know it was a slow day for catching speeders out on 270 and 71 that day?

    The cops were doing even more useless of shit than normal that day.

    ZING. Go stop some criminals cops...be useful for a change.

  11. Help me pick some tires?

    in Tech and Tips

    Posted

    but for what i know you WANT to do (hocking) go with the PP's (or PP2ct's), M3's, or any of the other equivalents.

    you'll be a lot more confident and you'll have more fun.

    honestly throw a 3 sided quarter in the air and whatever it lands on is your choice. just as it was said above, everyone will say something different as to why or why they don't like them.

    /endthread

    That's more or less what I was thinking in the back of my mind, but I wanted to hear it from some people who actually knew what they were talking about before I pulled the trigger on some new donuts. Can't wait to get new rubber on...there were too many times last season (especially when I was out with other OR guys) when I caught myself going "man, if only these tires didn't suck...". Who knows if it actually was the tires or not; I can't wait to actually have some confidence in what I'm riding on.

    These BT020's have one final job to do; an epic burnout picture to use on Facebook. Vain? Yes. Sue me :p

  14. first wheelie/best wheelie

    in Daily Ride

    Posted

    I've only done a handful of wheelies, and I can remember damn near all of them as if I had just done them 10 mins ago.

    Within a few months of buying the bike, I found a small parking lot that I could dick around in. I was actually just trying to get my hard launch technique refined, but I then found out that if I ran WOT from first the front would come up if I wasn't being careful. Did one or two small ones and then chickened out :p

    Last winter I found a longer stretch of asphalt to do the same thing; an empty backroad out near the Columbus airport. Basically more of the same; hard launches with the front end coming up shortly before clicking up into second.

    I eventually got to the point where I wanted to actually do a wheelie, and using the tried-and-true 1st gear slow roll - power on - power off - hard power on technique, I promptly brought the front up about a foot or more and nutted myself so goddamn hard I havn't wanted to do a wheelie since.

    Aside from that, the only times I can remember that the front has come up has been on the crest of some hills during hard twisty riding; I love hitting hills and not letting of the throttle and feeling the front end leave the road and glide back down once the rear end crests the hill. I only do this in one or two areas where I know exactly what awaits on the other side of the hill, and even then it's usually too dangerous for my tastes. Hills = blind spots = not a place to fuck around on public roads, at least as far as I'm concerned.

    Besides; my clutch and I have a quiet agreement; I don't cause unnecessary damage to him, and he won't die and cost me a few hundred dollars and several hours of labor.

  17. Help me pick some tires?

    in Tech and Tips

    Posted

    So I'm finally finished with the stock rubber on my 650r and am looking to do my first tire upgrade.

    I was running Bridgestone BT020's which are described as "Sport Touring & Cruiser Radials designed for touring oriented sport riders offering solid performance and good mileage", which is a nice way of saying "super cheap tires that'll get ya where ya need to go, probably". They were decent commuting and freeway tires, but inspired no confidence in the twistys at all. After about 8500 miles, the front had some pretty significant cupping and the rear was squaring off to the point where I could feel it hit the 'ridge' and abruptly fall into turns, and the whole bike didn't like to hold a line. While I still had a few mm of tread left before I hit the tread indicator bumps, it is definately time for new rubber.

    I was originally torn between Michelin Pilot Powers (seemingly the staple sporty street/track tire) and Pilot Road 2's, but after doing some more research, my options have increased and I'm even more confused than before. Now, I'm considering those two options as well as Metzler Sportec M3's and several Pirelli tires; Diablo's, Diablo Rosso's, and Diablo Strada's.

    My riding consists of around town commuting, some highway riding (mostly the 140 mile jaunt up and down i71 between Akron and Columbus, as well as a typical 1 hour trip to the twisties), and ever-increasing amounts of twisty riding in Hocking County, Coshocton, and around East Canton. Drag racing isn't of any consequence, and while not out of the questions track days aren't really something I'm planning for at this time. I'm really only concerned with dry-weather performance; if it rains, I usually immediately turn around and take the safest route home anyway because I simply don't like riding in the rain :( Also, for reference, my chicken strips are about 1/4" to 1/3" on the rear; they're getting smaller and smaller and might have been gone by now if my current rubber hadn't turned sour towards the end of the season.

    Obviously, a confidence-inspiring tire with lots of grip, quick warm-up times, and good road feel would be great, but I need something that can handle my highway needs without squaring off in a hurry. Overall tire life is a major consideration too; I don't want to be forced to replace my rubber mid-season next year.

    My fear of a sporty tire getting ruined by the freeway is what made me consider Road 2's; a dual compound tire that can supposedly handle tons of freeway riding when needed but that is also competent when leaned over. However, I don't know if they'll give me the stickiness and confidence I want in the twisities.

    Powers, M3's, and Diablos all seem to be roughly in the same vein; soft, grippy tire that would offer me all the grip and confidence I want in the bends but that might not survive i71. Diablo Rosso's are a tire that I only recently heard of, but after some research I'm fairly interested in them. The naked edges on the rear seem to be a pretty sweet idea, and apparently they warm up insanely quickly. The only negative thing I've heard about them is that they don't have the best road feel. I've also heard very good things about Diablo Strada's, but I'm a bit worried they might be a bit too touring-oriented; if anyone can dispel that notion...feel free :)

    Price isn't a huge consideration; the Road 2's are the only ones that really stand out as being expensive; the rest are all within 10$ or so of each other. I really can't put a price on my own safety and riding confidence, so for all intents and purposes; money isn't an object. I just don't want to have to be burning through 300$ more than once a season.

    Most of the tire recommendation threads I've read here relate to people with much bigger bikes than mine; even a 600cc supersport more or less doubles my RWHP, and I can't help but believe that mileage estimates for tires on those bikes would be somewhat undershooting what I would be able to get on my bike with the same rubber.

    ...so, yeah. Didn't realize I was going to be that verbose :S Anyway, any advice people want to give me would be greatly appreciated. Who knew buying tires would be such a headache :confused:

    *edit*

    Oh, also, whatever I buy has to come in 120/70-17 up front and 160/60-17 out back (though 170's fit my rim too). That rules out a few tires, like Corsa 3's.

  18. Sick people

    in Dumpster

    Posted

    Are you kidding me? What exactly are you going to get a Black Friday bargain on in Wal Mart anyway, a Chinese-made children's toy that is probably ridden with toxins or a sub-par HDTV or something? This is exactly why I refuse to go shopping on black friday; I'm not competing to give a store my money, ever.

  25. Thanksgiving!

    in Dumpster

    Posted

    I'm having Thanksgiving at home this year, instead of here in Columbus with my moms side of the family like we usually do. Which really pisses me off because now we have to have Christmas here in cbus which fucks my winter break over; I now get all of about 13 days at home. Fantastic.

    I also get to try to do Thanksgiving dinner without eating any starch or refined carbs...should be a fun science experiment at the least :p

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