Riding vs Flying -- How many here ride?

I used soft leather, rust colored, welding gloves. They kept the wind from
going up my wrists.

On the way home from Wisconsin yesterday, with Becca riding on the
back, I had my leather jacket sleeves unsnapped, due to the heat. This
allowed the wind to flow up my arms, albeit somewhat restricted by the
fairing and windshield -- which didn't seem to impede the bee that
managed to fly in there, and sting me on the forearm!

At first I thought I had been hit with a stone, but it kept hurting
long after the initial "impact". Luckily, I'm not allergic to bee
stings, and it went away in a few minutes...but that's the first time
*that* has ever happened before.

(Although I DID once get hit smack in the middle of my forehead, above
the windshield, below my helmet, and above my sunglasses, by what felt
like a bumble-bee. Darned near knocked me off the bike! Another
reason I now wear a full-face helmet.)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I now take active, positive, and if necessary, aggressive
control of my driving situation. If I sense even the
slightest hint of danger (the list of hints is huge),
then I do something to remove that danger from my presense.
I now have the attitude on the road that I *DO* own it
and to hell with everybody else and to hell with the
laws.

I agree with you...to a point.

There are many, MANY hints of impending danger when riding, and many
little tricks that I've learned to spot it well in advance. These
hints, when detected, require action to be taken NOW, without
hesitation -- whether it means flashing your bright lights, beeping
your horn, or hitting the binders. He who hesitates is lost,
especially when you're surrounded by brain-dead motorists.

Luckily, my only riding since the kids were born (16 years ago) has
been largely rural, cross-country cycling -- and damned little of that.
Of course, there was a guy my age that was killed here last week when
a deer jumped out in front of him -- so "rural" doesn't always mean
"safe", either...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

After reading numerous reports about crushed bones and the long
rehabilition process, I decide there would not be a motorcycle in my
future.

So you went out and got married, instead.
Selective research! g

More variables, less reliable data. I opted for the empirical research.

"Jay Honeck" wrote

On the way home from Wisconsin yesterday, with Becca riding on the
back, I had my leather jacket sleeves unsnapped, due to the heat. This
allowed the wind to flow up my arms, albeit somewhat restricted by the
fairing and windshield -- which didn't seem to impede the bee that
managed to fly in there, and sting me on the forearm!

At first I thought I had been hit with a stone, but it kept hurting
long after the initial "impact". Luckily, I'm not allergic to bee
stings, and it went away in a few minutes...but that's the first time
*that* has ever happened before.

(Although I DID once get hit smack in the middle of my forehead, above
the windshield, below my helmet, and above my sunglasses, by what felt
like a bumble-bee. Darned near knocked me off the bike! Another
reason I now wear a full-face helmet.)

Been hit by a bumblebee in the forehead by a bumblebee, also. I saw it
coming, even!

I also was zooming around the outside of a corner (those sharp, almost
hairpin, banked ones, you love to zoom around in the mountains), and a car
coming at me on the inside of the corner got off the road, and kicked up a
piece of gravel. I suppose it hit my cheek at close to 60 MPG. I was lucky
to keep control, and get stopped. It left quite a strawberry bruise.

I still hate full face helmets, though. I think that is one part of the
equation I'll still have to risk.
--
Jim in NC

"Jay Honeck" wrote in news:1151811765.345086.45160
@p79g2000cwp.googlegroups.com:

I now take active, positive, and if necessary, aggressive
control of my driving situation. If I sense even the
slightest hint of danger (the list of hints is huge),
then I do something to remove that danger from my presense.
I now have the attitude on the road that I *DO* own it
and to hell with everybody else and to hell with the
laws.

I agree with you...to a point.

There are many, MANY hints of impending danger when riding, and many
little tricks that I've learned to spot it well in advance.

Yes, and although one could write them all down for others
to memorize, experience is the best teacher.

For example, when I see a vehicle stopped on a cross road
or driveway, I look at the front wheel. It's much easier
to notice the wheel turning slightly than it is to notice
the vehicles forward motion. If the wheel is turning, the
vehicle is moving.

These new fangled spinning hubcaps should be banned IMNSHO.
My first encounter with them caused me to slam on my brakes.

Another one is that I somehow can sense when a person is
about to make a lane change. There've been many times my
"spidey sense started tingling" and I had the hunch that
a vehicle was about to change lanes. Sure enough they did.
This one bugs me as many times I cannot figure out what
the clue was that I was obviously picking up on. I do have
a habit of looking in peoples mirrors in the vehicle I'm
following, so maybe I'm noticing them looking around. But
I don't always notice it consciously.

Another favorite tactic is white lining. In a perfect
scenario I white line to the front while everyone is stopped
at a red light. Then, I take off fast enough to stay ahead
of everybody, only to catch up to the next block of cars
stopped at the next red light. This one works best on
routes that one travels frequently and knowledge of the
timing of the signals along that route. The upshot is that
I am only near other vehicles when they aren't moving.


These
hints, when detected, require action to be taken NOW, without
hesitation -- whether it means flashing your bright lights, beeping
your horn, or hitting the binders. He who hesitates is lost,
especially when you're surrounded by brain-dead motorists.

Absolutely. Again, this only comes with experience, but you
must become the bike. You can't think about what you need
to do. It must just happen. You decide you need to maneuver
to a certain position and it just happens. A person doesn't
normally think about how to pick up a leg and how to bend
the joints in order to step forward. They just do it.

I may have forgot to say this, but this is why my tactics
work for me, and may not work for anyone else.

There have been times I've reacted to a situation only to
pause and wonder how on Earth I did it.


Luckily, my only riding since the kids were born (16 years ago) has
been largely rural, cross-country cycling -- and damned little of that.
Of course, there was a guy my age that was killed here last week when
a deer jumped out in front of him -- so "rural" doesn't always mean
"safe", either...

Lately I have not been riding as much as I used to. I used
to ride every day. It was my primary transportation. In fact,
I've ridden so little lately that my clutch hand has got weak.
Harley's are known for their tight clutches. After 20 minutes
my arm is killing me now.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?

"Morgans" wrote in
:


"Jay Honeck" wrote

On the way home from Wisconsin yesterday, with Becca riding on the
back, I had my leather jacket sleeves unsnapped, due to the heat. This
allowed the wind to flow up my arms, albeit somewhat restricted by the
fairing and windshield -- which didn't seem to impede the bee that
managed to fly in there, and sting me on the forearm!

At first I thought I had been hit with a stone, but it kept hurting
long after the initial "impact". Luckily, I'm not allergic to bee
stings, and it went away in a few minutes...but that's the first time
*that* has ever happened before.

(Although I DID once get hit smack in the middle of my forehead, above
the windshield, below my helmet, and above my sunglasses, by what felt
like a bumble-bee. Darned near knocked me off the bike! Another
reason I now wear a full-face helmet.)

Been hit by a bumblebee in the forehead by a bumblebee, also. I saw it
coming, even!

I also was zooming around the outside of a corner (those sharp, almost
hairpin, banked ones, you love to zoom around in the mountains), and a
car coming at me on the inside of the corner got off the road, and
kicked up a piece of gravel. I suppose it hit my cheek at close to 60
MPG. I was lucky to keep control, and get stopped. It left quite a
strawberry bruise.

I still hate full face helmets, though. I think that is one part of the
equation I'll still have to risk.

I too have been struck by a large bug in the face. It was
about the size of a bumble bee, although I think it may
have been one of them large green 'japanese' beetles we
get here in So Cal. Hit me on the lower lip, splitting it
against my teeth. Well....I was doing about 90 at the time.

Hey, it was on the freeway, and believe me, traffic wasn't
much slower. For those familiar, I had just transitioned
from the 91 east to the 15 south in Corona. Years ago when
I'd go out that way often, I found that at times the flow
of traffic was 80-85.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?

In article ,
Skywise wrote:

Absolutely. Again, this only comes with experience, but you
must become the bike. You can't think about what you need
to do. It must just happen.

Charlie: What were you thinking?

Mav: If you think, you're dead.

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

"Skywise" wrote

Another favorite tactic is white lining. In a perfect
scenario I white line to the front while everyone is stopped
at a red light.

Here in NC, your are liable to get a bullet in your ass, or run off the
road, doing that crap. I might be one of the ones to run you off, as you
are pulling forward.

Don't do that crap. Be a little more patient.
--
Jim in NC

JJS wrote:

It used to be that most pilots I knew rode motorcycles, but that seems
to be less of a correlation lately. Wot say the group -- do you
currently ride a motorcycle? Did you in the past?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


Reading about the other guys' bikes brought back fond memories. I've been riding since about 9 years old.

I've owned:
Bridgestone 7 (anyone remember those)?
(2) Honda 90's (one was the 5 hp model with the long carb slide. It was cut down to size).
Honda SL350 I was 14 and thought this thing was a power house).
AMC Harley 125 (piece of crap)!
Suzuki 185 (Highly modified. Started racing motocross and hare & hound races with this one).
Suzuki RM 125 motocrosser (also highly modified).
Kawasaki KX 250 dirt bike.
Suzuki RM 465 motocrosser
Suzuki GS 1100 street bike (in the barn awaiting restoration).

Not currently riding. Almost had a mid life crisis and bought a Goldwing a couple of years ago. The wife said no!

If you listened to the wife, then it wasn't a real MLC! :-)

I've owned only four motorcycles in my 30+ years:

1970 (I think) Chibi - how many folks ever heard of those?

1973 KZ100 Kawasaki (at least I think it was a KZ model, they had two
different 100s that year, one that had a dual range transmission. I
didn't have that one)

1976 KH400 Kawasaki (one of the famous two-stroke triples. Fun bike,
but only 35 MPG!)

1987 ZG1200 Kawasaki

I sold the last one two years ago as Kawasaki had told the AVA (American
Voyager Association) that a new model was in the works and imminent.
When they dropped the Voyager from the line-up in 2004 I was sure the
new one was just around the corner. Then someone offered me way too
much money for mine so I sold it thinking I'd buy the new one in the
fall when the new models came out. Then Kawasaki reneged on the deal
and decided not to build a new touring model. I'm still ticked at them
and likely won't buy a Kaw as my next ride even though I have a long
history with them.

The only bikes that I really like now are a couple of the BMW models,
the K1200LT in particular, although I'm waiting for a full-dresser to be
built around their new inline 4 engine. Trouble is, the nearest BMW
dealer is 80 miles away. My next in line is the Yamaha FJR1300, but it
lacks electronic cruise control which my old wrist needs for long
distance riding. I couldn't believe Yamaha put a gimmick electric
shifter on this model last year yet overlooks something with true
utility like cruise control. I haven't see any sales figures for the AE
model, but I'll be astonished if it sells well.


Matt

Jay Honeck wrote:

I used soft leather, rust colored, welding gloves. They kept the wind from
going up my wrists.


On the way home from Wisconsin yesterday, with Becca riding on the
back, I had my leather jacket sleeves unsnapped, due to the heat. This
allowed the wind to flow up my arms, albeit somewhat restricted by the
fairing and windshield -- which didn't seem to impede the bee that
managed to fly in there, and sting me on the forearm!

At first I thought I had been hit with a stone, but it kept hurting
long after the initial "impact". Luckily, I'm not allergic to bee
stings, and it went away in a few minutes...but that's the first time
*that* has ever happened before.

(Although I DID once get hit smack in the middle of my forehead, above
the windshield, below my helmet, and above my sunglasses, by what felt
like a bumble-bee. Darned near knocked me off the bike! Another
reason I now wear a full-face helmet.)

I agree on the full-face helmet and leather jacket. I got hit in the
chest by a crow one day and I'm really glad I had my jacket on. I also
rode occasionally with dress shoes when going to work. Then one day a
rock about the size of a tennis ball came off a dump truck in the
opposing lane. It headed under the bike so I thought it would just hit
under the engine and I'd be fine. I had my feet on the highway pegs and
that rock bounced behind the front wheel, under the engine and came up
and hit the inside of my right ankle (right on the bone) knocking my
foot off the peg. Man did that hurt! Didn't break anything (I've got
tough bones), but I had a goose egg for weeks afterwards. So I
recommend good boots as well...


Matt