It's a joke, son

[mro]

Sounds like you'd be a BLAST to ride with in the twisties....

Hmmm ... Hey Tod, I think his bike is still in one piece?


mro
BTW, did we high jack this thread?

[Wildkat]

Hmmm ... Hey Tod, I think his bike is still in one piece?

Hey Mike... Tod's bike IS in one piece...
One piece here... one piece there...

BTW, did we high jack this thread?

That never happens here... never...
~snicker~

[Lucien Harpress]

Not quite Texas, and not driving Volvos, but.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lsY5BaKhuQ

(Top Gear. Awesome show. )

[motoman]

Sorry for the hijack Wildcat! With this and several different threads pertaining to top speeds etc., just was throwing out a reminder how quick "fun" can turn to "ugly". And yes mro, my Venturer has never been down. Can't say the same for my ST, as I went down hard two years ago here locally avoiding a T-bone on a four lane. No helmet, no gear, just many ayear of motocross racing likely atributed to automatic reactions(don't even think about touching that rear brake unless it's a final ditch effort). Based on witness behind me I initially low-sided after letting off brake to try and gain control and bike sharpley veered to left side after releasing a lightly added rear brake application which high-sided me capapulting me off bars a 132ft with two flips through the air hitting pavement. Bike slid 325ft.(football field distance) and came to rest in same driving lane. Resulted in 5stiches in head and a dislocated shoulder. Bike is fixed and a more visible color(pearl white with red pearl). Very fortunate to say the least, and realized just how precious life is and being able to live to ride another day. In order to compete at the no-fear level winning motocross regularly, even at 50+age, that no-fear factor dissapeared I think during one of those flips and hitting pavement. So for Tod, I would still be a BLAST to ride with here in some of the best mountain twisties to be found short of the Tailofthe Dragon. If it were an emergency dictating scenario, fairly sure largest pecentage here would be trying to catch my tail light on a seriously twisty road. Best part is, I have nothing to prove as I already know I can out ride the bikes capabilities cept maybe for the ST(madmax can attest to its capabilities). Again, ride safe, think before making choices of twisting that right hand. You will live to trade stories and lies, which is part of what it's all about.

[Wildkat]

Not quite Texas, and not driving Volvos, but.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lsY5BaKhuQ

(Top Gear. Awesome show. )

That was absolutely hillarious!
and probably set Alabama back... oh... I don't know... a few months anyway...
LOL

I love that show... hadn't seen that one yet though...

Motoman... no problem here... wasn't my thread and I didn't exactly stay on topic... I was being sarcastic... which will come as a huge shock to many here...
Ahem...
lol

[trbig]

Hey Tod, I think his bike is still in one piece?

MRO, I know you're just kidding, but I was kind of just stating that motoman has an opinion, and feels it should be the only one. Apparently it's only aggressive riders that go down or crash, not any cautious ones. Kind of surprised he didn't throw in there that ATGATT is the only way to ride a bike also.

I ride more miles with my style of riding every year than a lot of people EVER put on their bikes. As a matter of fact, like he said, I have a dirt bike, and have most of my life, and is probably a major reason why I ride the way I do on the street.. lol.

If I had to choose between riding 25k miles a year at a very careful, cautious, strictly defensive position, or just 100 miles of riding the way I enjoy it, I'd take the 100 miles. I could come on here and tout my position of "If in doubt, burn out." and post up all kinds of things backing my opinion and how many accidents I avoided because of it, but the simple fact is that my riding style works for me NEARLY all the time, and his style works for him. Whichever style you have, if you ride long enough or enough miles, you're going to go down. I choose to live my life and ride the way I enjoy doing so and he's got his choice to ride how he chooses to and is comfortable with. His riding style sounds like it would probably bore me to tears.

I have buddies with Harleys that ride 5-10 under the speed limit and take corners at just about the posted curve speeds for loaded semis. They enjoy the hell out of that, and I'd rather not even ride if I have to stay with them. To each his own..


Tod

P.S. You posted while I was writing... but I sure hope people DON'T take your advice...

don't even think about touching that rear brake unless it's a final ditch effort

Very dangerous opinion. Good advice on the dirt.. not so much on the street.

[DGXSER]

You know, it is interesting. From now very personal experience I can tell you no matter how defensive you are, you can still get screwed and go down.

The day of my accident, as I posted in another thread, I had just had a side stand incident wher eI forgot to put the side stand up and it caused me to almost go down and almost off the road before I got it up and could lean to the right. With that on my mind I was abit freaked out and was definitely being cautious. The speed limit on the road I was on was probably 35 or 40 and I'd say I was going no more than 40 when I came up on the turn with the gravel in it. Still, I could not get slowed or stopped in time to make the turn without leaning to slide in the gravel.

The one thing I will say, and yeah it is just my opinion, but please wear a helmet preferably a full face. I can tell you I feel certain it saved me from alot of head and face trauma and could be why my neck is intact.

Ride to the level/speed of your experience and your comfort. If your with someone who is riding harder and faster than that, let them wait up for you when they see your not there. IF you are not sure where your going, believe me, your better off going your speed and taking some minor detours to your destination than wrecking, then you never get there. And that sucks big time The only I hate to see on here is people who like to ride hard or fast that refer to those who do not as being less experienced or less brave or the like. That type of statement only serves to taunt people to ride beyond their skill level and get hurt. As has been stated, for some folks riding a motorcycle is no fun unless they are riding hard and fast, If that is you, well, I hope luck and skill are with you and you continue to have safe journeys. If it is not, well, there is no less joy in riding at slower or safer speeds, I still get the wind in my face and on my body and I still get to lean into turns and feel the road beneath me. Heck I could just as easy say any one who does not ride their bike nakid is missing out and not really riding. I'd be just as wrong. There is my 2c worth.

[motoman]

Would very much like to ride with you sometime tribig! Boring it would NOT be. Being of a competive nature(have to be, or I would not have the box-full of trophies from moto-cross, trials skiing,etc.), I still like the adrenaline rush of pushing the envelope so to speak. I just tend to be more picky for those times and places to do it. Sure it has something to do with age and experience knowing when to "fold". As far as being the "only correct opinion", not true, and it is easy to have things mis-interpreded texting here. As far as front brake, that IS in fact your main slowing, stopping power, street or dirt, specially in a straight line. I believe 40+years riding, half of which was competitively, street and dirt gives me the ability based on many years of experience to advise those somewhat new to the riding experience to remember that and make it a HABIT to be able to apply that in a panic situation on the street, as long as there is no loose material on the roadway. For those who may have read my post a little closer, I was hoping they would have caught what I was saying, maybe not. For that, I apoligize. Again, we all have different riding styles and abilities, just remember not to ride beyond your ability to know how to react in a quick panic situation. That also goes for knowing what the bike is capable of in a stress situation, frame design, suspension.......you know the drill. Beyond that, your playing with chance, not calculated risk and there IS a difference! Know it wasn't the thread for this, but just had to throw out the reminder that all may keep in the front of there mind as a reminder of the alternative, which can be very ugly in a nano-second. Again, the riding season is upon us and I hate to see the "rider down" come up on here as a result of bad judgement. The rest, we can't control what cagers and riders alike do, just control what choices we ourselfs make. I also now use ATGATT. Thanks, Brant.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Atgatt

Just a thread on another forum I read that I thought I would share as it pertains to the discussion.

http://www.pashnit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12638

TRUTH!

[cywelchjr]

Just a thread on another forum I read that I thought I would share as it pertains to the discussion.

http://www.pashnit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12638

TRUTH!

That's a good forum, it's the other place I hang out at. And while I agree with ATGATT, in many cases it's ride with as much gear as you can afford, or don't ride at all. I wear as much gear as I can afford, and I do wear boots and jeans almost 100% of the time (sometimes I have to wear slacks to work, I still wear boots then, just change them when I get there). But that article makes a good point, you can easily push beyond the point that the gear can protect you, and frankly it doesn't have to be MC specific gear to protect, as I recall, the gear worn by Tod when he had his incident was pretty good at protecting him even though it was not MC specific. We all have to choose the level of protection we are comfortable with. I am one who is very much an advocate of helmet use, but am apposed to helmet laws, just as I advocate seat belt use but am apposed to seat belt laws.

[trbig]

As far as front brake, that IS in fact your main slowing, stopping power, street or dirt, specially in a straight line.

That is, without a question, an accurate statement I agree with. Dirt or street, your front tire does most of the work, and the harder you are on the brakes, the higher that percentage gets from back to front. But, this statement,

don't even think about touching that rear brake unless it's a final ditch effort

is what I didn't agree with. You have a back brake that when applied properly, does a good job also. That just seems to be advice to not use the rear brake except as a last resort, and maybe I did misinterpret what you meant. Applied too hard, the back end will come around. If you are skidding sideways, USUALLY, you are either a very skilled rider and planned that, or you have screwed up and applied too much rear for too long. If you get off the brake at this point, you'll likely get high-sided over the bike. Your best bet is to just stay with that skid and keep the brake applied. A low side dimount is going to preferable to the high-side launch.

Just the front brake applied very hard in a curve will stand the bike up straight, but front/rear applied together carefully, you can keep your line and angle. That's why the linked brakes on some of these bikes work well for a lot of people. I just prefer to have more control over the rear than that system allows.

As Greg noted with that link, I have been guilty of that... Pointing out someone's chicken strips on the sides of the tires and making fun of them a bit. I'll make an effort to stop doing that. I'd sure feel like crap if someobody wiped out pushing things they weren't comfortable with just because I was giving them a hard time.


Tod

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Um... Fred,
don't you know EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas, jus ask em

Well hell yea!!!

BTW, just riding thru Dallas during the home commute is considered hazordous duty

Ummm........I can testify to that!!!

[motoman]

Thanks for showing that link XSokie! Sure makes us ALL think about some of our actions and choices when riding! Tod, as for my braking choices pertaining to my "get-off", fortunately it was the ONLY CORRECT choice, or it would have been a full-blown T-bone. Releasing brakes to try and regain control apparently allowed wheels to start rolling enough to create just enough forward motion in that direction to miss the front of car. Scares me enough even now to know what the alternative would have been!.....Yikes! If that doesn't take some of the "no fear" out of someone, then definitely "can't fix stupid". Thanks Tod for understanding where I was coming from. I CAN still ride and "hang with the best of riders", street or dirt, no matter what age......just don't as I would rather trade lies and stories with fellow riders than become a donor. That's all for the "hijack", and hope it was a bit imformative for all.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

I'm with you on the "get off". I've totaled the front ends on two occaisions (different bike) and got the hell off both times.

I'll take my chances with the pavement over an upright solid object anytime.

Funny thing is, I've never wrecked without a helmet. I did twice riding conservatively with the helmet because of things I didn't see possibly because of the limited vision and hearing due to the helmet.

If your going to ride like an idiot, wear a helmet. At least when you crack up in town on the way to the liquor store your splattered brain will be contained in a bucket.

I'm not saying don't use one but I don't most of the time simply for that fact. The helmet helps greatly in an accident but I would personally rather avoid the accident.

But that is just me, a crazy Okie

[mro]

MRO, I know you're just kidding

I choose to live my life and ride the way I enjoy doing so

remember not to ride beyond your ability

and making fun of them a bit.

"can't fix stupid".

Words to live by …
Think we just had a Guru moment

mro
BTW, now for a public announcement
NO one should take my $mart a$$ remarks as anything but a sorry attempt at humor. And Tod, since Prom’s not around for me to pick on … your it. After all you’re a oaky

what was this thread about any way?