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BigChickenStrips
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#51 Unread post by BigChickenStrips »

ok, so 52 degrees is not so bad to be standing outside in a jacket, gloves, bots and jeans. but to ride on the road at 60mph, its a bit chilly. my the front of both thy's and my chin are just becoming un-numb as i type this.

i decided friday would be cool to ride thebike to work. o because im dead set on rideing, it doesnt matter that it is obcenely cold for the middle of may here. by-golly im riding to work!

so i go pick up the bike at about 5AM from my grandmothers house so i can get in a little riding while there is NO traffic. i go to the gas station and put in $4 in fuel. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

i ride up to Kroger and buy some poptarts (yea, the s'mores ones with the delicous crust) I just shove the box in my jacket and zip it up because im on a motorcycle and i have no backpack or anything. but it works.

my bike appears to be setting off stoplights because im gettign green lights when there is no other traffic around? so i ride back to my appartment wher i live. im looking out the windao saying "damn thats a sexy ride"
so in a few minutes, i am going to ride to work for the first time. im nervouse abotu leaving my bike in the parking lot but i see other bikes out there soemtimes and i dont think its really unsafe. hopefully i will have another update later about how it goes.

**unthawed enough to go have breakfast**
[b]Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency! [/b]

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BigChickenStrips
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#52 Unread post by BigChickenStrips »

good ride this afternoon. went ot the parents house but then went and rode a few little back roads for about another 45 minutes before i decided i needed to go see the lady friend. tomorrow morning, weather permitting, i am going to go over and see if i can find my rider coach to show off my new bike. i guesi should wash it a little as it has gotten a little dirty for the 150 miles i have put on it this week. hope to do some longer distance riding as well, i;d like to put on another 100 miles tomorow if i can.

ha ha ha i love motorcycle gas mileage.

i would write more and tell you all about my ride today but nothing much happened and a cold six is caling me.
[b]Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency! [/b]

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camthepyro
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#53 Unread post by camthepyro »

That sucks about it being cold, and I know what you mean. It doesn't feel too cold, until you get on the bike and start riding, and realize you're shivering.

Why don't you keep your bike at your apartment?

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BigChickenStrips
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#54 Unread post by BigChickenStrips »

camthepyro wrote: Why don't you keep your bike at your apartment?
my truck has been broken into 2 times stealing about $900 worth of stereo equipment, and my g/fs car has had its $1300 convertable top slashed once and now that she leaves it unlocked so it wont get cut again and it has been "rifled through" at least 2 times, and a lot of the neighbors have had vehicles vandalized or thefts from vehicles.

Sadly, i live on the nice side of town in a pretty nice apartment complex. but the theives from other parts of the city know the people on this end of town have white-collar jobs and lots of money to put into toys liek stereos and whatnot so they come here to commit crime. and i am moving next weekend to a duplex with a private garage so i'll keep the bike there when i move. (so i can ride EVERY DAY!)

so i did get to ride this morning. i left my apartment at abotu 6:30 because i never sleep-in. i had a bad charlie-horse last night and my left leg was stiff and sore but sometimes you just gotta ride. so it is again about 50 degrees but to me riding is still like in middle school and getting my hand up a girls shirt for the first time- im game no matter what. so i mount up with all my gear, and hit the road. i know of a nice twisty road about 4 miles from where the bike is kept so im going to head over there and try it out. i pulled out onto the "main road" to get there and was smooth on my acceleration. i stay in the "fast lane" because there are a lot of parkign lots and side streets that people could pull out of but theroad is pretty quiet. i accually passed one car that was only doing abotu 30 in the 45 zone. i get to the twisty road and it was great. those signs that say "25mph turn" whiz by at about 50mph. the road is very short so it was over quick but i felt good on it. so i went over to see if i could find my rider coach at the community college where i took the course. she wasnt there but i talekd to another guy who said he loved my bike and that yellow was the best color for it. I agree. so off i go again. i found a nice little 2 lane "country road" with farmland on either side. i passed a guy and his wife on a goldwing going the other way and we exchanged "biker waves". i got going pretty fast on some straightaways and Damn it was cold. but the road goes from long straight stretches with long smooth curves into a more wooded twisty section. then.... .... suspense music... .... .... i almost hit a dog!

when i say a dog, this is a stretch, this thig looked like a cross between a pit bull, a welsh corgi, and cujo. i know your supposed to accelerate to make the dog miss its trajectory but this dog was so close to the road and jumped out of a bush on the road side, i was right on me boefore i even saw him. worse yet, i didnt know a different way home so i had to ride by 2 times. scared the crap out of me and i can officially say was my first "close call". so i turned around, passed the dog at a better speed and went back through the nic section with the sweeping curves. i rode up to a section of town i am not as familiar with but decided to head back toward my apartment as my lady-friend should be waking up abotu now. so i stop at a gas station and get a capiccuno (sp?) to warm up. i got a couple looks from people pullign in and out of the station as i stood by my bike sipping my cup. a lady in a minivan pulls up in the next parkign space over and gets out. her daughter (probably abotu 12-13 years old) starts checking otu the bike as they walk in... the lady grabs her daughters hand and literally pulls her into the store part. i guess maybe she had a bad experiance with a biker? quite funny. so i head back to the apartment on the bike and i get there... the power is out. no 50" plasma TV, no TMW forums on my computer, nothin... so i chill with the lady for a bit but then i decided to go back out riding. I drove out toward the other end of won from where i had been riding earlier because i know a nice long 2 lane road i want to ride. so i go out and hit this road about the middle of it. so i turn left and ride to the end of it, i go to turn around in a parkign lot and accidentally forgot to downshift so i slow donwn and let of the clutch and got it down to abotu 300rpms. the ngine bogged down so i grab the clutch and downshift from 4th to 1st, trun around and im off again in the direction i came. there is an awesome place on the road where it goes to 4 lanes wide (2 lanes each way) and there is a redlight intersection that the road curves pretty sharply even if you want to go straight. so i was doing about 50 mph and there are cars stopped watining to go and i ripped through the intersection at a 45 degree angle going around the corner. i dont know if it looked cool but it felt cool like a video game or something. then i rode out to the other end of this road (abotu 15 miles?) saw soe people out cleaning up trash with orange vests saying "I AM A DRUNK DRIVER" [rant] i think thats a REALLY good idea. puttign drunk drivers in jail wont really solve much. drunk drivers unlike other law breakers, are not intending to hurt anyone. the guy(s) that broke into my truck intended to do harm to my propery, but the person who drinks and gets behind the wheel wasnt thinking "i'll probably hi someoen and kill a young mother and her child, or paralize someone so they will never walk again" they just made a bad decision (sometimes several times). throwing them in jail will give them time to think, think abotu how to not get caught next time. i think that makign them go to classes (like AA) and do comunity service are much better solutions. as for people who break into car... DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD. [/rant]

ok but anyway i got to waive to th cop that was supervising them. by this time i really need to pee so i better head home. i took a different but similar 2 lane road that loops around so i wouldnt have to stop for the drunkies again, then i went toward the main road. by this time of day there are a lot of traffic. i did really well, quickly gettign it up to speed. i took the long way throught the neighborhood to get back to my grandmothers (went in the back enterance of the neighborhood and she lives at the front) but then i put the bike up. i had a great ride. i am feeling a lot more confident with my startign and shifting although i am still dumping the clutch a lot. oh well im sure the more i ride the better i'll get. i put about 95 miles on today. a few miles shy of the 100 i wanted but if its not raining tomorrow mornign im going to ride otu to a dam near here and that ashould be a soild 60 mile ride round trip.

ok so my friends just got here so i must go entertain them, but thank you all for reading.

yay for motorcycles!
[b]Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency! [/b]

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BigChickenStrips
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#55 Unread post by BigChickenStrips »

i put another 80 miles on today. i left about 7AM and drove out to the next county over. turned left and drove over a dam (Melton Hill Dam if anyone is familiar with east TN) then i kept going on the road. i got to do some higher speed riding. the limit was 65 but i was doing about 70-72. i overtook a honda goldwing with a guy, his lady, and pullign a trailer. we waived but i just kept going, i didnt "ride in formation" with him at all. i got up to the next county going this way (i think i ended up in 4 different countys today). i rode out by the knoxville airport on a pretty busy road. it wasnt so bad on a sunday morning. i rode home on Pelissippi Parkway, AKA: Knoxvilel Motor Speedway. 70mph speed limits; traffic movign about 85. the bike did fine, i only rode about 75 but there was more power there if i had needed it. I ended up at my g/f's parents house and out to lunch. luckally i got home before it started raining. boo to rain.

i had to get gas again. $11 to fill up, thats literally 20% of what it takes to fill my truck up.

i'm half way to my first service. maybe by nexy week i will need an oil change. i think im going ot have it done at 500ish miles instead of 600. i am also going to have the dealer do the first service then i will do it myself after that. i need to go pick up my tag sometime this week too.

well, its nap time....

happy mothers day biker moms.
[b]Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency! [/b]

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BigChickenStrips
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#56 Unread post by BigChickenStrips »

i have about 560ish miles on the bike so its time for service. here are a few things i've learned-

birds hang out in the road and WANT to be hit by motorcycles.

cars do sometimes see me and for the most part are polite.

i dont look cool parking my bike, i look like a newborn giraffe that is just learning to walk.

i like 5th gear.

i like 6th gear more.

i gotta stop taking off like a drag racer from stops, it makes me squiddy.

learn to control the choke so you dont idle at 7000rpms.

when you stop and get gas, turn the fuel valve back on or your bike will die in traffic, 3 times, until you figure out why.

old people will give you mean looks when you walk around in the store carying your helmet.

people riding larger bikes will be nice in traffic/parking lots, people who are not with their bikes at the time they meet me will make fun of my small bike and say i should have bought a 600+RR bike.

im too stupid or too conservative to scrape the little rubber "nubs" off my pegs but gawd do i want to.

bugs are gross.

if you upshift into neutral instead of second, panic and get the back end a little loose by letting out the clutch too fast at too high of revs, thats how i do it.

try to do the speed limit.

practice downshifting even if you are afraid of it.

practice starting up hills cause you suck at it.

I love my motorcycle.

how do people without garages do it?

note to self: learn to wash motorcycle cause its nasty.

im sure there are more but thats all i can think of right now.

i got moved into the new house this weekend. it is awesome to have my own garage to keep the bike and bike gear in. now i can ride it every day. I will try to do a better update tonight. thanks for looking.
[b]Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency! [/b]

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BigChickenStrips
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#57 Unread post by BigChickenStrips »

i have about 560ish miles on the bike so its time for service. here are a few things i've learned-

birds hang out in the road and WANT to be hit by motorcycles.

cars do sometimes see me and for the most part are polite.

i dont look cool parking my bike, i look like a newborn giraffe that is just learning to walk.

i like 5th gear.

i like 6th gear more.

i gotta stop taking off like a drag racer from stops, it makes me squiddy.

learn to control the choke so you dont idle at 7000rpms.

when you stop and get gas, turn the fuel valve back on or your bike will die in traffic, 3 times, until you figure out why.

old people will give you mean looks when you walk around in the store carying your helmet.

people riding larger bikes will be nice in traffic/parking lots, people who are not with their bikes at the time they meet me will make fun of my small bike and say i should have bought a 600+RR bike.

im too stupid or too conservative to scrape the little rubber "nubs" off my pegs but gawd do i want to.

bugs are gross.

if you upshift into neutral instead of second, panic and get the back end a little loose by letting out the clutch too fast at too high of revs, thats how i do it.

try to do the speed limit.

practice downshifting even if you are afraid of it.

practice starting up hills cause you suck at it.

I love my motorcycle.

how do people without garages do it?

note to self: learn to wash motorcycle cause its nasty.

im sure there are more but thats all i can think of right now.

i got moved into the new house this weekend. it is awesome to have my own garage to keep the bike and bike gear in. now i can ride it every day. I will try to do a better update tonight. thanks for looking.
[b]Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency! [/b]

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Scoutmedic
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#58 Unread post by Scoutmedic »

:laughing: Awesome list.

Watch out for the really large birds... Almost collided with a turkey buzzard a couple days ago on mine. For those that don't know, they have a wingspan of 6 feet. :yikes:

Congrats on the house and the garage! I need to make more room in my garage. The poor ATV is sitting out until I do. :frusty:

Finally, the cold. I haven't ridden in temps over 65 yet. The downside of riding a bike in the snowbelt of Pennsylvania. I'm looking forward to some 70's weather later this week. Not sure how I'll feel about taking the thermal liner out of my riding jacket... :lol:

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CNF2002
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#59 Unread post by CNF2002 »

Good tips!
2002 Buell Blast 500 /¦\
[url=http://www.putfile.com][img]http://x10.putfile.com/3/8221543225.gif[/img][/url]
[url=http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=11790]Confessions of a Commuter[/url]

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BigChickenStrips
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#60 Unread post by BigChickenStrips »

so i joined the AMA last night.

$40 isnt that much money (in the grand scheme of things) and if they really do fight to protect riders rights then im all for it. i personally believe as long as what your doing doesnt infringe on the freedoms of others, you should (within reason) be free to do it.

My bike also went to the shop for the first service. i miss it. but i think i'll have it back either tonight or tomorrow morning. my b-day is this weekend (well, monday) and i'll be 21 so if there are any incoherent [more-so than usual] postings late monday night, you'll know i had a good time. im hoping the engine is broken in enough now to be a little less gentle on it. i dont mean i have to bounce off redline in every gear, but im so used to driving vehivles that redline at 4500-5500rpms that i feel weird about cruising at 8000 on the interstate and going to 9-10,000 to pass. i did finally ride on the intersate, it was almost disapointing, i kinda wanted to be scared, but it wasnt much different from any other road. i could feel the wind pushing me from side to side, but it wasnt as bad as i had expected.. i did have a kid in a honda civic with rims/bodykit/huge spoiler pull up next to me and check the bike out then accelerate as hard as he could like he wanted to race or something. i was on a mission so i just ignored him and he took off weaving through traffic.

the people at my dealership were again VERY nice to me. the sales manager remembered my name, then one of the owners came out and asked my g/f and i if we ever agreed on the color. (she wanted me to get a red one, i wanted the yellow one[and got it]). i felt like they really wanted my buisness, and to me that means a lot. i will definatly shop there in the future. they had another yellow 250 on trade in that looked a lot like mine but had the black exaust instead of crome. i like the chrome better. he said he'd make me a good deal on it if my lady-friend wanted to ride too, but i better start paying this one off before i buy more toys.

my truck insurance bill came and it has dropped by OVER $250**!
YESSSSS! i was going to sell the truck before the next insurance payment was due because paying $1400 a year for a truck + $700 a year for a bike + $250 for renters insurance is a lot of damn money going to state farm. but now i think i may keep the truck and just use the bike when i can to save gas. (the bike gets about 6 times the fuel economy of the truck).

ok well im at work so i guess i better go do some work... thanks for reading.

**I had an accident a month after i turned 16 and i guess it has finally gone away and i have had a clean driving record since then.
[b]Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency! [/b]

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