Somehow this event escaped my notice. If I'd been aware of it, I probably would have taken the day off and gone to check the bikes out while they were here in Arizona. Oops.
There are some cool videos, and I'm looking forward to reading through the ride reports.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Where Did All These People Come From?
So I've seen things around on various forums and blogs about putting bikes and other toys away for the winter, which confused me slightly until I remembered it's mid-September and most of the world is now getting cold.
It's hardly cold here. In fact, right now is the beginning of prime riding season in Phoenix.
Which means everyone and their cousin has their motorcycle out on the road. As a year-round rider, it always surprises me in the spring and fall when all of these bikes just appear, seemingly out of nowhere, on the roads. I don't mean to sound like an elitist, but where were all these people the rest of the year?
I understand not riding during the summer here. It's flipping hot. But where do they all go during the winter? If you don't ride in the summer, and you don't ride in the winter, that gives you approximately two months of riding weather in an area where ice and rain are exceedingly rare.
I don't get it. What do they do with their bikes for the other 10 months?
That little rant out of the way, I have to say I really am glad to see lots of bikes on the road again. It's like a whole bunch of friends I haven't seen for a long time are back in town. So I guess my feelings on the matter are mixed. Therefore, I guess I'll just say it's good to see you. Wusses.
It's hardly cold here. In fact, right now is the beginning of prime riding season in Phoenix.
Which means everyone and their cousin has their motorcycle out on the road. As a year-round rider, it always surprises me in the spring and fall when all of these bikes just appear, seemingly out of nowhere, on the roads. I don't mean to sound like an elitist, but where were all these people the rest of the year?
I understand not riding during the summer here. It's flipping hot. But where do they all go during the winter? If you don't ride in the summer, and you don't ride in the winter, that gives you approximately two months of riding weather in an area where ice and rain are exceedingly rare.
I don't get it. What do they do with their bikes for the other 10 months?
That little rant out of the way, I have to say I really am glad to see lots of bikes on the road again. It's like a whole bunch of friends I haven't seen for a long time are back in town. So I guess my feelings on the matter are mixed. Therefore, I guess I'll just say it's good to see you. Wusses.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Breaking Bad Riding Habits
It is said the best way to break bad habits is to never develop them in the first place. I hope whoever coined that bit of wisdom promptly got kicked in the shins by someone trying to break a bad habit.
Lately I've been trying to get rid of habits that have a negative impact on my riding. So far, it hasn't been easy.
The particular bad habits I've been trying to break are: not keeping my knees in, putting too much weight on my arms (which is, amusingly enough, mostly fixed by keeping my knees in), and rolling on the gas too late in curves.
Keeping my knees against the tank is easy to remember, so long as I'm paying attention. As soon as I do it, it's easy to keep the weight off my arms. Of course, eventually I stop paying attention and get lazy and before I know it my arms are tired...
This probably isn't a revelation to many of you, but keeping my knees against the tank also does wonders for my riding confidence. Tight corners with my knees out? Scary. Tight corners with my knees in? Exhilarating.
The habit I've really been battling, however, is rolling on the throttle before leaning the bike over. I've somehow developed the habit of not applying throttle until I've hit the apex of the curve. Now, I know that getting on the gas before leaning into the curve makes for a more enjoyable and controllable turning experience. But I still tend to coast into curves and hit the gas at the apex.
For what it's worth, I've been working on it. I've been slowing way, way, way down and hitting the gas before the curve when I remember to. Over course, when I'm thinking about other things, like that oncoming truck, sometimes I forget. Frustrating.
Have you got any bad habits, or stories of breaking bad riding habits?
Lately I've been trying to get rid of habits that have a negative impact on my riding. So far, it hasn't been easy.
The particular bad habits I've been trying to break are: not keeping my knees in, putting too much weight on my arms (which is, amusingly enough, mostly fixed by keeping my knees in), and rolling on the gas too late in curves.
Keeping my knees against the tank is easy to remember, so long as I'm paying attention. As soon as I do it, it's easy to keep the weight off my arms. Of course, eventually I stop paying attention and get lazy and before I know it my arms are tired...
This probably isn't a revelation to many of you, but keeping my knees against the tank also does wonders for my riding confidence. Tight corners with my knees out? Scary. Tight corners with my knees in? Exhilarating.
The habit I've really been battling, however, is rolling on the throttle before leaning the bike over. I've somehow developed the habit of not applying throttle until I've hit the apex of the curve. Now, I know that getting on the gas before leaning into the curve makes for a more enjoyable and controllable turning experience. But I still tend to coast into curves and hit the gas at the apex.
For what it's worth, I've been working on it. I've been slowing way, way, way down and hitting the gas before the curve when I remember to. Over course, when I'm thinking about other things, like that oncoming truck, sometimes I forget. Frustrating.
Have you got any bad habits, or stories of breaking bad riding habits?
Minding Your Own Safety When Stopping To Help
On the freeway yesterday, a dude ahead of me on his Harley pulled left into the breakdown lane. Naturally, I pulled in behind him to see if he was OK.
He saw me, and I think that led to the weirdness that followed. Instead of coming to a stop, he rolled on for probably a quarter of a mile, finally braking just before we reached the widest part of the space between an on ramp and the HOV lane.
So, we're both in the breakdown lane, and I pull up next to this guy to see if he's OK. Only he's in the middle of the damn breakdown lane, so I can really only get to his 4 O'clock and holler "You OK?" without sticking myself in the HOV lane. Traffic zoomed past a few feet away from my right side.
This is right about when I realized I'd put myself in a stupid, dangerous situation.
My man on the Harley was fine, had just been worried he was going to lose his cell phone so he'd pulled over to put it somewhere safe. He thanked me for stopping, and then we had to figure out how to merge back into traffic.
Since he was ahead of me, it was only polite to let him go first. Of course, that meant I had to back up and get out of the way so he could see traffic.
After he had safely pulled into the HOV lane, I realized that I could actually just take over the handy on ramp to my left and merge into traffic that way. So I did.
I gave the dude a wave as I passed him and continued on my way.
Next time around, I think I'll do things a little differently. Risking my safety to see if someone else is OK is not the best strategy on the street...
He saw me, and I think that led to the weirdness that followed. Instead of coming to a stop, he rolled on for probably a quarter of a mile, finally braking just before we reached the widest part of the space between an on ramp and the HOV lane.
So, we're both in the breakdown lane, and I pull up next to this guy to see if he's OK. Only he's in the middle of the damn breakdown lane, so I can really only get to his 4 O'clock and holler "You OK?" without sticking myself in the HOV lane. Traffic zoomed past a few feet away from my right side.
This is right about when I realized I'd put myself in a stupid, dangerous situation.
My man on the Harley was fine, had just been worried he was going to lose his cell phone so he'd pulled over to put it somewhere safe. He thanked me for stopping, and then we had to figure out how to merge back into traffic.
Since he was ahead of me, it was only polite to let him go first. Of course, that meant I had to back up and get out of the way so he could see traffic.
After he had safely pulled into the HOV lane, I realized that I could actually just take over the handy on ramp to my left and merge into traffic that way. So I did.
I gave the dude a wave as I passed him and continued on my way.
Next time around, I think I'll do things a little differently. Risking my safety to see if someone else is OK is not the best strategy on the street...
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