Well Phooey!

[datrupr]

"Back opnt he saddle"


Dude.............Have another cup of coffee! :Wow1::wings::bike_rider:


REX

LOL. There, I fixed it.

 

[grahamfitter]

I have a 1980 CM400T. It is a sorta-kinda cruiser styled bike. My friend in high school had a Honda "Hawk" I think it was a CB400. In my limited research, the Hawk has a fuel capacity of 3.8 gal. Mine has a capacity of only 2.6 gallons.

Does anyone know if the Hawk tank would fit on my bike? Any Idea where I might find one to try?


REX

Its probably less than 2.6 gallons now! :sombrero:

Glad you're OK and ready to get back on the bike. Ride safe.

Cheers,
Graham

 

[Rexsname]

Aaron (Datrupr) showed me how to post pictures from Photobucket over the weekend. I took some pictures this morning and cannot for the life of me figure out how to get them from my computer into Photobucket.

I am planning to show you all the damage, but for now I'm stymied


REX

 

[RedRocker]

Photobucket has a place to click to download, click that and it should give you a browse option that can lead to your picture files. Hold down the ctrl button and click the ones you want to load.
Next time you hit a corner too hot, look ahead to where you want to go through the turn and counter steer. Breaks aren't a good idea once you're leaned over. You'll be amazed how far you can lean over w/o going down. I always figured in those situations that the worst that could happen was a low side if I stayed in it. If I panicked and hit the brakes or stood it up I'd high side or ********** something. Having slid on my butt before I opt for the first option and it usually pays off.

 

[goodtimes]

Next time you hit a corner too hot, look ahead to where you want to go through the turn and counter steer.

That is actually an important point to bring up. You should be looking at the exit of the corner. Most people (myself included) tend to focus on the apex of the turn, only shifting to the exit when they reach the apex. You should be looking at the exit much sooner...

Breaks aren't a good idea once you're leaned over.

If you need to shed some speed in a corner (ideally, you would be at the correct speed *before* the corner), the rear brake is much more forgiving than the front. Obviously, you don't want to lock the rear tire up, but gentle application can slow you down without the huge nose dive and steering issues associated with the front brake.

You'll be amazed how far you can lean over w/o going down.

I saw a video a few months ago of some guy on a track (professional racer) who got so deep in a corner that his inside fork tube started dragging the ground. It levered the front tire off the track, as evidenced by the bike movements. Using his elbow and knee, he pushed the bike back off the ground, and recovered from what was, technically, a crash, without stopping (He finished the lap doing a wheelie, he knew that his time would suck anyway, so he was having a little "crash recovery" celebration). So how deep can a bike go into a corner and still recover? Pretty darn deep.

 

[T.Low]

Helmets are a "one time use" item. If it bounced -- it should be replaced.

In the real world, most do not follow that rule. Each rider must answer one question for themselves: How much is your head worth? Are you willing to risk your life on a helmet which is known to be damaged? The choice is yours.

Also glad you are ok (shaken, but not stirred).

Once a helmet has been hit hard enough to "do its job", it then has lost the ability to absorb and spread the energy of the impact. Significance beeing that next time the energy will pass directly to your mellon.

For much the same reason, helmets truly do have a shelf life also.

 

[ntsqd]

If you need to shed some speed in a corner (ideally, you would be at the correct speed *before* the corner), the rear brake is much more forgiving than the front. Obviously, you don't want to lock the rear tire up, but gentle application can slow you down without the huge nose dive and steering issues associated with the front brake.

I was just looking for another posting of mine and found this thread again. GT, I nearly high-sided my sport bike because of the rear brake. As I was sliding off the bike saddle on the inside going around a corner my foot clipped the rear brake pedal. The bike Instantly stood up straight. Had I not been off the inside it may have kept going. It was a very dicey couple of seconds. From that point on I made a hearty effort to always brake standing up and never leaned over.

Rex, fyi, this happened at the WB Olivas Adobe Dr. to NB Victoria semi-circular transition.

I don't know if the Traction Circle was discussed in your class or if you're familiar with it or not. A tire has a finite amount of traction (radius of the circle) and can be used in any direction within the circle. If it is all braking then the traction arrow points straight back. If it is all cornering then it points straight to one side. If it is a combination of the two then it points at an angle. Note that if both cornering and braking that it can't corner as well because of the braking and it can't brake as well because of the cornering. When in doubt, get OFF the brakes and look at where you want to go, not where you're afraid of going. The bike will always, always, always go where you're looking if you're still in control of it, even if that its not really where you wanted to go.

 

[Rexsname]

Interesting that this thread got bumped to the top again......

I went down to the shop yesterday to check on things and the mechanic showed me something. When he was rolling the bike out of the back of my truck he grabbed a handful of front brake and......nothing! The lever went all the way to the handelbar!!! It worked the second time but I was thinking about other things at the time not "Should I squeeze it again" :Wow1:

A master cylinder rebuild kit is $31 and one hour of labor. I should have it back on Tuesday or Wednesday.

REX

 

[goodtimes]

As I was sliding off the bike saddle on the inside going around a corner my foot clipped the rear brake pedal. The bike Instantly stood up straight.

That's interesting. I use the rear brake in corners on a more than 'infrequent' basis. Granted, most of the time it is on huge sweeping corners (1/4 mile long overpass/on ramps where I catch up to traffic), but I have goofed around in parking lots using the rear brake on tight, fast corners, and on the street where someone does something rather dumb in front of me while I am 1/2 way through a corner . . . the rear brake has always been much more forgiving than the front. The bikes (plural) never wanted to stand up with the rear brake, although there is a definite impact on the handling. Obviously, the best solution is to not use your brakes in a corner, but I still find that if I need to, the rear brake is better than the front brake.

I don't know if the Traction Circle was discussed in your class or if you're familiar with it or not.

The traction circle concept is a good thing to understand, regardless of how many tires a vehicle has. I don't recall it being in the MSF course (of course, it's been years . . . ), but it probably should be.

 

[robert]

ABS is your friend :roost:

Not so much on loose surfaces- gravel and sand fool the ABS into thinking it's locking up and so it releases then grabs again, releases then grabs again. That's why BMW puts a cutoff switch on the GSs; the Strom needs one but last I checked (and it's been a while) I don't think anyone had come up with a good way to rig one up.

Disclaimer as I'm not trying to be argumentative, you may well be a better rider than me (I won't claim to be more than an average rider so that's not hard to do) and the Strom is the first bike I've ridden on dirt and gravel that had ABS. I've ridden BMWs with ABS before, but never off paved roads.

 

[ntsqd]

I've driven a rear wheel only ABS 4 wheeled vehicle off pavement. The ABS got immediately disconnected right after it's interference caused me to simultaneously generate about 12" of air under all 4 tires.

 

[goodtimes]

ABS + dirt = no good.

Four wheels or two, I ain't no fan of ABS.

On the road, I like it . . . but not in the dirt.

 

[Rexsname]

I got my motorcycle back this afternoon. :bike_rider: Unfortunately, it was right in the middle of evening traffic time. I hadn't ridden in a few weeks so I took it easy and took the back ways home. No incidents to report. The windshield was broken in the accident and I am eager to replace it. It gets very windy at 65mph! :Wow1:


REX

 

[scarysharkface]

I got my motorcycle back this afternoon. :bike_rider: Unfortunately, it was right in the middle of evening traffic time. I hadn't ridden in a few weeks so I took it easy and took the back ways home. No incidents to report. The windshield was broken in the accident and I am eager to replace it. It gets very windy at 65mph! :Wow1:


REX

The back ways home are usually preferable to me when I'm on the bike! :bike_rider:

 

[Rexsname]

It was close to dark when I got home and I noticed that the headlight was skewed slightly to the left. I went back down to the shop and the took a closer look and decided that the forks are bent . The bike is rideable (I guess) but now I need to come up with another couple hundred bucks to make it right. I bought a cheap bike to save some money........it's not working out that way at all.


REX