10 Reasons why riding a sports bike on 1200 mile trip is a bad idea.
1. ) Duh.
2. ) Your knees touching elbows is not a nature position.
3. ) 10 hours of wind noise makes you hard of hearing.
4. ) Having your calf/lower leg angled forward 15 degrees makes your heels numb for hours afterward.
5. ) Fast is the only speed the bike finds. Sort of like an on/off switch.
6. ) 3rd degree burns on your lower back due to the wind blowing your shirt up despite having sun block (45 SPF applied every hour) will render you immobile for the length of your vacation.
7. ) Semi trucks, there is no good position.
7.1 – Behind spans a wake of turbulent wind 200 feet jostling the head of a cyclist until you are out of it.
7.2 – To the side you are a good candidate to become road kill, but thankfully only by the rear wheels.
7.3 – Nearing the front a cyclist gets blasted with wind which either veers you away or toward the truck.
7.4 – Also they are ‘le slow.
8. ) Sitting behind the 190 degree operating temperature engine is, you guessed it… you.
9. ) Side bags are generally not an option for sports bikes which makes luggage a bit of a task to mount to the passenger seat.
10. ) Riding a grey hound bus with with a new born with colic would be more favorable.
First attempt to steal Chiquita and my solution.
Last night someone attempted to steal Chiquita. I could tell because plastic cover over the key mechanism on the lock was damaged. I honestly think they were just doing research but even still its a little bit aggravating.
The first two nights I had Chiquita I just parked her behind the two and locked the steering column. I didn’t sleep too well so on Sunday morning I set out looking for a bad ass cable lock. After going to 5 stores I finally found one. Its a 6′ long 5/8″ diameter with integrated lock by Schlage purchased at Lowes.
Since then (that is until today) I parked it on the side and locked the rear wheel of the 240SX to the rear wheel of Chiquita.
Well today when I saw the damaged plastic I decided to beef up security. So now its parked between the 240SX and a curb; and also I’ve routed the cable lock through the frame of the bike. Routing it through the frame was decided as better because when I adjusted the chain yesterday I realized just how easy it would be to steal (a single nut holds the axle which disconnects the rear wheel.)
On to the pictures:
Riding in the rain.
Today my manager calls me and asks "Do you want to come in and run some First Overnight packages?", its 6:10am and I know I won’t fall back asleep for a while if I say no; I figure I might as well go in, make some cash, and come back exhausted for a better nap.
Its raining, I knew it was going to rain last night so I put a cover over Chiquita. Being its raining, I decied to take the 240; I mean that is what its good for, rainy days. So I disconnect the 240SX from Chiquita; using it as an anchor so Chiquita is less likely to be stolen. Get in the car and crank it, the power to the dash dies. "Shit the battery is dead." I don’t have a jump box and the Saturn is currently at my mom’s. "Looks like we are taking Chiquita." I think to myself. So I go back up the three flights of stairs, put on my water-proof boots (which I hadn’t intended to utilize the water-proof portion) and put on my rain gear outfit which I got from work when I worked at the ramp.
I let it warm up, the tires and engine. I made the first leg of the trip, several turns later and I still haven’t crashed or gotten squirrelly. I’m a little disappointed, at least about the not gotten squirrelly part. So while sitting at a light, first in line, I check to make sure the cross traffic stops, and then I launch, progressively turning to full throttle, I hit 11k and shift. No traction loss, not even a little wiggle in the ass. I’ve heard from several bikers that riding in the rain is fine but I didn’t really believe them. It seems they were right, its more of an annoyance due to getting wet.
Jealous Much?
First full tank of gas for Chiquita totaled a whopping $13.18, and that is after driving 5 miles after the light came on. I only put 3.5 gallons in the tank of regular unleaded fuel.
BUT the best part of this is miles per gallon. Get this, I got an impressive 49.67 MPG with mild flogging. That works out to $0.07447151 per mile which is much better than the 240′s $0.18852381 per mile. The oil companies will nickel and dime you to death.
Jealous much?
First full tank of gas for Chiquita totaled a whopping $13.18, and that is after driving 5 miles after the light came on. I only put 3.5 gallons in the tank of regular unleaded fuel.
BUT the best part of this is miles per gallon. Get this, I got an impressive 49.67 MPG with mild flogging. That works out to $0.07447151 per mile which is much better than the 240′s $0.18852381 per mile. The oil companies will nickel and dime you to death.
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Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s Basic Motorcycle Operator Training Course Completed
I’ve completed the MSF Basic course. I was deducted 10 points on the test portion, 5 for not shifting to 1st while in the sudden braking test and then another 5 for not going through the corner quick enough but I did get 100% for the u-turn portion of the test (u-turn in 2 parking spaces without touching the ground). The course was very informative, definitely worth the $190 if you’ve never ridden a bike or are just general timid about riding one. I wish the class size was smaller though, some of the people that just have no clue about bikes really slow things down.
During the class only one person laid a bike down, which isn’t a big deal because the bikes have been thrashed anyways. I was given a Honda Nighthawk 250cc, which was alright but the tranny was abused; my riding it didn’t help. There was no neutral while it was running (it would literally skip over it.) There was a couple of times when I neglected to clutch in and shifted anyways to have the bike just run with it; shifted with no problems. It was a fun bike but I could tell I would get bored of it quickly.
I’ll have my "M" endorsement on my license by Thursday and a bike by the 17th.