I drove a road in South Dakota like that. On and on and on and...... I zoomed way out on the GPS until I could see a bend in the road. It was something like 70 miles away.
I remember riding a brand new Buell... the 1200 sport bike I think... back around 2008 or so. At the time I felt that it was too slow, but I was used to Japanese liter class bikes. I think I’d feel different these days, it reminds me a lot of how the Guzzi feels and rides. Not the fastest, not the best at, well, anything, but captures the essence of how a motorcycle should feel.
Couple of our recent day trips. 550 & 600 miles. Getting back into riding shape for a couple upcoming rallies.
The original XB9R Firebolt - which is what I have - had a Sportster-based 984cc powerplant with 92hp*. Lots of folks bemoaned the “small” size. Then the XB12R came out and there was much rejoicing in Buell land. And then people rode the bigger one, and many ended up preferring the smaller. Sure, the 1200cc engine was torquey as hell, but did not feel as “sporty” since it was slower to rev. As an aside, riding 101 miles today my bike took 1.65 gals - working out to about 61 mpg! Not bad considering the fun factor. *I put the Buell race kit on mine. Less restrictive muffler and air filter and differently mapped ECU. Pretty sure that added a few ponies.
Me and my friends talked to some 5 to 6k driving age kids about motorcycle awareness last year, plus several trucking companies, civic groups, etc. We had another 8k scheduled this spring, pre covid crap, about that many this fall. I figure talking to others about awareness beats the crap outta complaining about it. (Plus it's kind of fun) Lane splitting and loud pipes are a common topic. Oklahoma is kind of a gray area, not really legal, but not specifically forbidden. Also, I had a talk with a motor officer when I got to riding full time again after a 5 year layoff. His advice was to practice constantly, and use the bad habits of others as a challenge instead of a reason to be ****ed off. Works too. (Thanks Cleo) I love riding almost as much as flying, and I'm convinced flying is probably cheaper if you count the accessories that get added to each bike. (My wife jokes about the 100k driveway.) Everyone whines about what the other group does wrong, but probably doesn't look at the reflection in the mirror when they do.
Haha... Indeed. We were doing a couple "Grand Tour" type rallies. Right now our schedules do not allow for much more than day trips so we make the most of them when we can.
I won’t engage in a back-and-forth with you on that, but there’s a boatload of bad information and questionable logic right there.
Count me as someone who was glad I had a full-face helmet on when I screwed up a panic stop avoiding a <deleted> moron on a bicycle in the left lane of a 50mph zone.
Ya know, every time I start getting excited about getting into motorcycling, someone starts bringing up crashes. Head, neck and body trauma. The back and forth, It is a real buzz kill
I was forced off the road at 45 by an oncoming car that crossed the line. Jumped a ditch and slid across a farmer’s field. The full face sure saved my bacon.
Oh my. Where to start. This is an autopsy study, all the study subjects are dead. While interesting, you can't go back from highly selected subset to draw conclusions about a separate population. Motorcycle racers tumble off their bikes at 100+ mph, get up from the ground and swear that they can't complete the race.
This afternoons past-time is to bill corneal transplant surgeries. So let me change that to: By all means. Dont wear a helmet. We need you, transplant surgery can't sustain itself on drug overdoses and pool drownings.
so what is your experience level? My current bike has just shy of 500K miles and it is my 3rd street bike. I’ve also spent many years on dirt and have raced. yes, racers can and do pop up after 100mph accidents but NASCAR racers also survive 200 mph flips while people die everyday from hitting each other at 30mph. what is your point? You don’t like motorcycle riders. Got it.
Also... yes it was an autopsy report but it was defined by certain periods. In this case it was injuries seen before helmets were required and after. Do you expect the results to differ in living subjects?
I responded to this statement that someone posted as a response to the OP: Personal choice in many states. Studies show that having a helmet on can cause people to feel secure so they take more risks. Also, hitting the ground without a helmet at about 20 mph will cause brain damage while hitting at the same speed with a helmet can cause a broken neck and spinal damage. Faster than that and you are dead either way so pick your poison. You don't smoke or eat processed sugar do you? If I mis-attributed this nonsense to you, I am sorry.
10 years at a level I/II trauma center. I love motorcycles. Dont have one right now, but I'll probably get one after 2-3 other items are taken care of.
That was me. Never said I didn’t wear one but also asked if the OP ate sugar, drank sodas, spirits or smoked. I don’t see much of a difference.
sure but that was the path you chose when you responded to all of the other things I mentioned in response to your initial rant.
I think you missed my point. I don't (really) care if the rider dies... I care about going to prison because of an accident where you neglected your safety. That's where your lack of safety starts to infringe on my freedom.
Why would I go to prison if a helmet was optional? Why would you go to prison if I wasn’t wearing a helmet and was injured unless you were acting in a reckless manner? How does a lack of safety on my part infringe on your freedom unless we are talking about laws to mandate helmets? Never said I don’t wear one so I’m not impacting anyone.
What gives me the biggest giggle are the folks with the "Loud Pipes Save Lives!" safety plan are also typically the same people who's idea of PPE is a do-rag, a leather vest, and assless chaps.
You need to read something besides POA to get your buzz back. I highly recommend https://www.amazon.com/Leanings-Pet...Z5QENAT1YSB&psc=1&refRID=5PR7GGKEMZ5QENAT1YSB
and adding to this....I've thought for a long time...I DO NOT want me or my kids to be scarred for the rest of our lives from seeing your opened skull, should we come on the scene or be involved in the accident.... I don't see the lane splitting very often.... I have a bigger problem with bicyclists riding two wide or not keeping right...but that's another thread I suppose...
Got stuck behind a couple road pirates so pulled off and enjoyed the view before resuming the zoom zooms I think I get less evil side eyes with the top case makes me look less crotchrockety Spoiler
Well, I guess that puts me in the infinitesimally small group who can hold a set speed for miles and miles. Cruise control in my car works great. As it did in my Jeep Wrangler. As it does in my wife's Jeep Commander. And the orthopaedic surgeon who put us back together after an idiot in a car ran a stop sign and hit our motorcycle broadside a bit over 46 years ago called them "murdercycles". He also wasn't a fan of them. I don't mind you calling San Jose "Valley Joe", I lived there for over 11 years, but please remember Ogden Nash's poem. written after he got caught calling The City that name. "May I be boiled in oil, or fried in Crisco, if I ever call San Francisco, Frisco". Sorry, but my mom's parents were both survivors of the 1906 earthquake and Nana never called it anything other than "The City". Woe be unto anyone who called it Frisco in her presence. Please don't get me started on bicyclists. They are indeed the worst around here. They ride like they own the road and the RCW (Revised Code of Washington) doesn't apply to them, even though it does. I've even had one riding on the wrong side of the road and try to tell me that he was correct. Well, if he was walking, yes. but riding a bicycle? No way, just looking to become a hood ornament on the Jeep Grand Cherokee I was driving at the time. Idiots!
Actually it ws Vallejo I was calling Valley Joe. It is litteraly spelled Valle-Jo. I was stationed in Stockton for three years and did a couple multi-month tours at Mare Island going through various electronics schools in the 80s & 90s. I actually taught myself how to ride on the street while I was in Stockton. I used a 1976 GL1000 for those lessons. Prior to that my primary experience was riding a '72 Honda 175SL through the mountains in SW Montana. Lots of trail and off-road riding, zero street. Hahaha.... I am surprised it took as long as it did for someone to react to that...
When I was a kid I called it Valley Joe--I was really mystified when I heard it pronounced correctly. How someone could get San Jose out of that is beyond me. Tim
All chaps are assless by definition.....assed chaps are called pants. For the record, I do not own chaps. I do, however, own pants.
I know of someone whose fiance died riding a motorcycle around in a parking lot without a helmet, tipped over and struck a parking block with his head. Point is that stuff happens. Stupid stuff. Untimely stuff. And hence why it's ATGATT for me. I have a full face as statistically, a large percentage of helmet impacts are to the chin area. (https://motorbikewriter.com/crash-statistics-motorcycle-helmets/) Even when I had a 125cc scooter, I'm wearing my mesh jacket with body armor, gauntlet gloves and full face helmet. If I think I'm going farther than around the neighborhood, the nylon pants with body armor go on also. For the faster bikes, it was ATGATT including the Sidi Apex boots. I know of people who feel strongly about not wearing a jacket or full face helmet. It's all personal choice. But I will say that a rock kicked-up by a car in front at 80 mph hit my shoulder in an armored jacket and it stung and had me sit upright on my sport bike. I would HATE to imagine what that would feel like with an impact to the face with an open face helmet (or no helmet.)
I have unloaded on pavement several times in the many thousands of miles I've ridden. Every single time there was evidence of a scrape or impact on my helmet, even if I didn't think I had hit my head on anything. I always figured that at least some of those, without helmet, would have been emergency room rather than get up and walk away. Tim
You probably won't be riding it on your Harley, but it looks as though the longest straight section of road is in Saudi Arabia at 140 miles: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-longest-straight-road-in-the-world-is I would have guessed the Eyre Highway which crosses the Nullarbor plain in Australia - but they only claim 90 miles for it. By the way: Null + Arbor is Latin for "Treeless". I once embarrassed an Austrailian over that - since he had no idea what it meant. Does the name of the Author of the referenced article ring a bell? Dave
The good news is that chin injuries by themselves dont kill you and that there are excellent maxillofacial surgeons who can rebuild a nice looking face from the pieces. So open face with goggles vs. full-face is truly a decision of personal choice. Do you like your face ? Do you like pureed food ? If the answers are 'no' and 'yes', an open face helmet may be for you ! I do get a kick out of the prussian military helmet style that some riders wear. Are you expecting mortar fire ?
