NAC: Assistance with motorcycle needed in SE Virginia

[frank j. bauer]

david:

listen carefully to your unka bart!
print it and read it before every ride for that first year.

the magna is a great bike to start - small enough for a beginner to 
handle and faster than you'll ever need to go.
make sure you have new tires on it.

i will add a few more tips:
- you would be well advised to take your first umpteen rides with 
(an)other rider(s).
let them ride in front.
(actually, alternating diagonally in a lane is the safest way to ride in 
pairs or a group.)
you will be much more visible and will learn a lot.
- those two tiny patches of rubber will only control the bike if BOTH OF 
THEM are turning at a reasonable speed relative to the bike.
the instant one of your tires stops turning before the bike and/or the 
other tire you are potential roadkill.
- wear a brain bucket or get good life and disability insurance.
otherwise you are being irresponsible to your family and society.
- leather is slippery.  this is a good thing.
skin is not.  road rash sucks for a long time.
denim explodes upon impact with asphalt.  road rash sucks.
falling on a short ride hurts just as much if not more.
- watch things like front tires, steering wheels, driver head movements.
these are the clues to what direction the "cages" will be moving before 
you hit or get hit.
the front tire might be your only "signal" for that unsignalled left turn.
- parking lots are dangerous!
sometimes the exhaust vapor of a cold engine will be a useful hint of a 
car ready and waiting to back into you.
otherwise rely on the other "signals".
- stay alive at least until the leaves change.
you haven't lived until you've ridden through the mountains on a crisp 
fall day...

frank

David Ullrich wrote:
> So, you would say take a pass on the 1966 BSA Lightning bobber that's for
> sale locally? LOL I would never really consider any bike that used Lucas
> electronics. But, thankfully, the new Triumphs are very reliable and very
> low maintenance. And for my beginner bike...it's going to be a Honda.
> 
> Dave
> 87 CGT 2.3
> Portsmouth, VA
> 
> On 1/18/07, Unka Bart <gatorojo at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> I'm mostly in deep lurk mode these days, but I gotta chime in on this one.
>>
>> First, I'm an ex-rider, not active anymore.  Still, I rode for 40 years
>> before I got tired of healing and I have a couple of tips worth passing on
>> that I haven't seen so far.  Sold my last Scoot in '94 after buying a
>> ragtop Porker.
>>
>> Be very aware that the vast majority of car/motorcycle introductions (of
>> the painful/fatal variety) happen when an on-coming auto makes an
>> unsignaled left turn in front of a motorcyclist.  Assume that every driver
>> you see is an idiot and determined to give you a trip to the
>> hospital/morgue and you will not be far from wrong.
>>
>> Be very aware that the center of the traffic lane at every stop sign/light
>> becomes soaked with oil that has dripped from countless automobiles
>> waiting
>> there before you.  Want to learn how to bust your fanny and your scooter?
>> Accelerate rapidly from the center of the lane when the light changes.
>>
>> Be equally aware that all pavement absorbs oil from the traffic passing
>> over it.  Rain will bring this to the surface.  The first hour following a
>> rain storm in a city is very dangerous for this reason.  Doubt this, see
>> advice above.
>>
>> In the mountains or other areas that make earholin' fun, the inside of
>> tight curves tends to get a build-up of sand and loose gravel.  Guess what
>> happens to a motorcycle wheel when it encounters this when you are leaning
>> over through the turn...
>>
>> Many fine, upstanding, genuinely friendly and otherwise fine citizens seem
>> to have a deep-seated homacidal hatred of motorcyclists.  Expect to learn
>> this for yourself, as you will without question.  I have had gray-haired,
>> saintly looking grandmothers drive up beside me, look over and make
>> eye-contact just as she cut the wheel hard over and ran me into a ditch.
>> Likewise, with my wife on the rear, I've had a van with a family in it, do
>> the same on the eastern shore approach to the Chesapeak bridge on the way
>> to Annapolis.  For the record, I've always dressed like someone for an
>> Apple Pie ad, so it wasn't as if they thought I (or my wife,  for that
>> matter) was an outlaw biker.
>>
>> If you buy a british bike, be prepared to learn why the limeys drink warm
>> beer.  Also, have deep pockets and be prepared to regularly replace the
>> bits that vibrate off during each ride.  Things like Air-cleaners,
>> etc.  As
>> an old BSA rider, my life brightened when I became an ex-BSA rider.
>> Neither my CB750, nor the Kawasaki Z1B that replaced it, ever had anything
>> lost to vibration and I've ridden both of them for many 8-10  hour days.
>> Rode the Honda coast to coast when I returned from SEA back in '71, and
>> rode the Z from Annapolis to San Angelo, TX in 2 1/2 days (1750 miles).
>> All of this was a comfortable cruise at about 85.
>>
>> It's not a bad idea to always be on the lookout for a soft place to crash.
>> No kidding.  With one drive wheel and many possibilities for said wheel to
>> stop turning, opportunities to meet pavement at speed abound.
>>
>> All of that said, there is no finer way to see the country than from the
>> saddle of a scooter.  A trip through the mountains on one is almost a
>> religious experience.  You'll love it.  Good luck.
>>
>> Oh yeah, one parting thought.  I recall that in about '66 or '67, the AMA
>> (not the medicos) released a long term study done with insurance industry
>> backing.  They determined that nearly 97% (if memory serves) of all
>> fatalities and serious injuries ocurred to riders in their first year of
>> ridership.  Think about it and keep your attention on the job at hand.
>>
>> yer kindly ol' Unka Bart
>>
>>
>>
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