Noobster observations

[superskip]

Well, been lurking here over the summer - thought i'd finally post something since it's raining right now...

Attended msf about 3 yrs ago - intended to get a cheap used bike...

first observation:

1 used bike prices are ridiculous - i'm talking 10 + yrs old, 10 k miles like. And some of the junk advertised as 'good condition' - compost heaps more like.

so i forgot about it all for awhile til happened on a gs 500 in local bargain trader for real good price. Yeah it'd been dropped and maybe sat up awhile and wasn't that pretty but i was looking for a rat-bike anyway - but it really looks too good to do to it what i wanted like flourescent paint and sawed off muffler. Anyways...Made in Japan and all I've had to do was tighten the tach cable 1000 miles ago. And put gas in it

The stuff you guys generally don't mention :

3 - like the NOISE ...was looking forward to the motor noise 'cuz i like engines, but i can't even hear it above about 40 mph 'cuz of the WIND on the helmet. Full face is a little better but i swear it's a wonder you're not all deaf. Ear plugs oh yeah.

4 Bugs, bats, birds, stuff i don't even know coming RIGHT AT ME, 'specially at night (summer) There are some honking big flying things out there. And they hurt when they hit.

5 Grit, dust, pebbles, sand - in my face like when a car passes and gets in front, or a truck coming from opposite direction. Dang !

6 Summer heat, my god, like stopped at a light - all that black asphalt - it literally radiates right into you - how anybody rides in full leathers in August i dunno. (see, physics class says 3 kinds of heat - radiant, convective, conductive - you get it ALL on bike).

7 Wind - wow, like when on a gentle curve I was headed for the shoulder by a little crosswind. Who knew ?

8 Shifting - my god the shifting in town - up, now down, now up again, now down again. 6 gears no less and guess which i'm in 'cuz i sure don't know - and neutral when i don't want it, not neutral when i do. It never ends does it ?

9 Freeway, Interstate - gotta be kidding me...windshield on my 'to get' list for sure. See 'wind' above, and 'noise' more above.

10 Hostile drivers - I was going to be all considerate and moderate in my riding, not tick anyone off or be an a**h*le but now after having on several occasions been passed on blind curves with double yellow, and being pulled in front of and challenged to stoplight races ... no more mr nice guy. H*ll with'em all. (cars, that is.)

11 My big plastic pot. It is my new friend. I take it into the supermarket, and the bar, and the hardware store, and the gas station when i pay...it even has a name - 'DOT' - labeled right on the back. Almost like I have one less arm/hand when I carry the thing around. (and it has a friend named 'BELL' until I whited out that big ugly decal with primer paint.)

Just some surprising things (to me) about m'cycling. If you read all the bs i just typed it may seem i'm an unhappy camper complaining but no, just knowing that thing is sitting out there in my carport - I divide my life bc and ac - before cycle, after cycle. Like someone else posted somewhere. Cliched maybe, but true.

I remember vaguely how it felt to want one, and not have it. Now i got it. And now I think i'll see what riding in the rain feels like

[hot_shoe_cv]

Now that you have expressed all the fun things about riding, don't you really have a few negative things to share?.. you know you do

[safety-boy]

I guess after a while all the larger particles in our soup-like atmosphere get to be a given. I have not hit a winged flying warm-blooded creature yet, which seems to be the exception - the wife caught a bird on her throttle hand once, and still remembers it. Also, swarms of bees seem to leave an impression!

Lots of guys do wear earplugs. I should, but after a few years of factory work in my youth, my hearing is about shot anyway. After particularly long rides, when I get off the bike, all I hear is "WhuuurWhuuurWhuuur"

As for the cagers... Not much to do about them, 'cept watch your butt. When I rode a cruiser, a had a 1.5 inch wrench, which was about 18 inches long. I'd hand it out of my sissy-bar bag, and seemed to have less of a hassle (oh the things it could have done to a car door... or driver ).

Good luck in the rain. I ride all year, and it is no picnic. Make sure you dress right. I take a whole change of clothes with me to work, as I do not have much in the way of rain gear. My hypothermia rule is: when you start shivering you are cold, when you stop shivering, it is hypothermia. It has happened to me. When the teeth start chattering, pull over and get some coffee!

--Dave

[qwerty]

Just wait until you have a wasp fly down your shirt and begin tap-dancing across your back with it's stinger. It's almost as bad as having one fly up your pants, and those sadistic little satans are perverts, they head straight for the testicles.

[superskip]

I'm glad you guys are taking this post in the joking spirit intended.

If I ever take up rock-climbing, i'll be posting somewhere observations about how cliffs are so high and vertical, and the rocks oh so hard.

[qwerty]

It matters not the highness of the cliff nor the hardness of the rocks, until the sudden stop at the end of the fall.

[flynrider]

Just wait until you have a wasp fly down your shirt and begin tap-dancing across your back with it's stinger. It's almost as bad as having one fly up your pants, and those sadistic little satans are perverts, they head straight for the testicles.

You haven't experienced the joys of wasps until you've had one fly through your open faceshield and get stuck in your ear.

[KeithB]

Welcome to TMW

[BAJACRUISER]

Welcome to the forum ¡



And keep your joking spirit forever.......

[WARainMan]

Good observations. No one warned me about Helmet Hair. It's hard to look dashing after a ride when your hair looks like someone took an egg-beater too it.