The General Motorbikers Discussion Thread

Sounds like an awesome trip. I loved my Italy trip, it is absolutely amazing, the roads, the scenery, I love it. YOu just reminded me how good it is. ANd whatever good roads we have here, they cannot compare.
I think I even like the mountains more then the roads, such a nice place to be, on the top of a mountain pass.
 
I have taken Gro?glockner, Jaufenpass and Timmelsjoch myself two years ago - yes, they are amazing. :)
I'm stunned that you made the trip down there, around there and back from there in just three days...
 
That looks like an awesome little trip indeed. Hopefully I'll be able to ride it one of these summers.
 
I have taken Gro?glockner, Jaufenpass and Timmelsjoch myself two years ago - yes, they are amazing. :)
I'm stunned that you made the trip down there, around there and back from there in just three days...

5 days, not 3. "Weekend" is perhaps not the right choice of words. ;)

Left on Thursday for Ulm along the motorway. Friday B roads across the Austrian border and followed by some motorway to make up time, across the Gerlospass into the (Salzach?) valley and to the hotel.
Saturday, we did a ride up and down the Grossglockner followed by some meandering in Neukirchen to enjoy the festivities. Sunday across the old Gerlospass, motorway to Innsbruck, across the Brennerpass into Italy, up and down the Jaufenpass, up and down the Timmelsjoch into Austria and then motorway to the hotel in Ravensburg. And then finally yesterday an 800km blast back home from the hotel to the Schwarzwald region, from there into France, across Luxemburg and into Belgium.
Total distance was about 2600km in 5 days avg speed of 81kph, 34 hours on the bike. :)
 
Ugh. 91 degree heat and rush hour traffic. That and a dead battery didn't make today a happy experience.

No more air cooled bikes after this.
 
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Ugh. 91 degree heat and rush hour traffic. That and a dead battery didn't make today a happy experience.

No more air cooled bikes after this.

But but but but but but but LIGHTNESS! SIMPLICITY! LA BELLA FIGURA!

:mrgreen: :p
 
i've been told that in africa, they only want aircooled (dirt)bikes
they're the only ones that work in the desert?

could be they have no idea they should actually put some liquid in the radiator though! :lol:
 
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i've been told that in africa, they only want aircooled (dirt)bikes
they're the only ones that work in the desert?

could be they have no idea they should actually put some liquid in the radiator though! :lol:

For many years, VW used that rationale in the Bug's advertisements. "Air does not boil!" :p
 
i've been told that in africa, they only want aircooled (dirt)bikes
they're the only ones that work in the desert?

could be they have no idea they should actually put some liquid in the radiator though! :lol:

To be fair, they're often at the end of a very long supply chain there and the fewer parts on the bike, the less parts there are to break when you're way out in the back of beyond in the bush. On the other hand, you're not usually going to get great power numbers out of an air-cooled either...
 
For many years, VW used that rationale in the Bug's advertisements. "Air does not boil!" :p

Air is also not that good as a coolant. :p It makes a good insulator, though.

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This too, since you and I run around in that kind of temp or higher routinely with few problems. :D
 
The General Motorbikers Discussion Thread

Spectre needs to quit yacking about comparing street body position riding to MOTO GP riding. Its just unrealistic.

http://starmotorcycle.com/body-position-moto-gp-comparison-just-isnt-realistic/

You need to quit claiming things I didn't say. I never brought in MotoGP riding to compare as I already know it's not necessarily realistic or even logical to compare it to street riding.

I do compare your shit body position to others who are riding on the street, and in fact even to those on the same exact street. Mostly your body positioning is the same as those who are crashing out on the same turns due to... Bad body positioning.
 
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Here's a couple of people riding like Handz on the exact same road he likes getting his picture taken on. Let's see how this works out.


[video=youtube;_-PylOp2EB8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-PylOp2EB8[/video]

Here's how not to ride like Handz; first clip is again on Mulholland, as referenced above:


You don't need to hang off and drag elbow or shoulder like a pro racing star - but body position is still very, very important.
 
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One of the 'nice' things about running a helmet cam all the time is that you also get a video record of when you screw up. Since we're on the subject of body positioning, here's something from last week. I was actually reviewing my footage today and about to toss it when this topic came up.

Here's the setting: I am running late for an appointment due to bad initial directions (thanks a lot, Google Maps). I had thought the layout of this offramp was quite a bit different. The offramp pavement is the classic southern aggregate with rocks in it, the kind that often is (and in this case actually was) polished to a surprisingly slick surface by time and usage. See what I got wrong and how I corrected for it.

 
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It's frustrating to realize I rode daily for a year and barely started getting the hang of it. :|
 
It's frustrating to realize I rode daily for a year and barely started getting the hang of it. :|

I practice when riding my bicycle! :D
 
I practice when riding my bicycle! :D

Not really. :p

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It's frustrating to realize I rode daily for a year and barely started getting the hang of it. :|

Takes a bit longer than that to get generally proficient at it. The MSF courses offered here are estimated to provide the equivalent of about 5 years of untutored experience worth of street skills. From what I've seen, that estimation is about right. Even at that it doesn't get anyone out of the 6 month 'newbie drop' period. :mrgreen:

I've been riding since I was ~15 and I consider myself merely a competent rider who happens to have a lot more experience than most. Riding is an art as much as it is a science.
 
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