rain

[smithben1983]

2 questions for ya'll

1. When riding in the rain how careful should I be? Like when cornering and what not should I be super careful? I am careful now but I worry alot on highways with long sweeping corners will the bike stay on the road easily?

2. Today well riding in the rain a kid in a care cute me off really really bad I had my fiance, Emily, on the back and everything, the spray off his car just dosed us. It really pissed me off, few miles down the road he was stuck again in the slow lane as I passed him and I flipped him off and kept going. He than got right up on my ass like really close so I moved over to the right, cutting a car off so he couldn't get behind me again and slowed down kinda just to get away from him, this whole time Emily is freaking out I can just feel it in her body when she was holding on. so the guy goes by and flips me off I don't even really look at him than he cuts me off again swerving back and forth as I slowed down more and more than he speed off and started to slow down again but at this point the highway opened up to 5 lanes and we where taking 2 that went right he took the others to the left.

What should I have done there? If it was dry roads and Emily wasn't with I would have pulled out my cell phone and called the cops or tryed to get him to pull over so I could kick his ass or just flipped him off as I went by at 100. I was so pissed I got his plate number MN tag 059-ETW or 059-EWT, I do have a few kinda cop buddys that could pull his info if I wanted I'm sure but I don't like to do that to them.

whats your thoughts?

 

[Fire-medic]

Every time your 'cop buddies' access personal info they leave an electronic fingerprint. If it's really that bad, swear a complaint against him. Good luck getting any agency to follow-up on it. Those things happen almost daily if you let 'em, be defensive and do not provoke drivers because they can get away with a lot more damage to you than you can do to them. Get off the same road, and then if they follow you, have your partner call 911 and report "road rage" & the tag #.

 

[RaWarrior]

For the first part....use your discretion. It's tough to say "how aggressively" you can ride, but in rain with two wheels for me it's better safe than sorry. No sense pushing traction to it's absolute limit when there's no need or benefit. You don't need to go around corners like grandma in a Buick, but I wouldn't try and drag the pegs either. Again....discretion.

For the second part....welcome to the world of riding. There are people out there who just inherently dislike bikes and the people who ride them, and go out of their way to be dickheads toward you (i.e cutting off, hosing you with spray, ect). Then there's people who are just oblivious, and because they're trying to show off to their girlfriend in the front seat, feel the need to retaliate because you flipped them off. Anybody who's got any time in the saddle has stories like this...you're most definitely not alone.

While it pisses you off, think about it....you're on a 600lb two wheeled machine with no protection besides what you're wearing, they're in a two ton cage of steel. Playing chicken and fucking around isn't in your best interest. You never know how far the douche at the wheel is going to go with their hatred for bikes. All it takes is one twitch of the wheel on their end and you can be dead. When you encounter drivers like this, you have to play your advantage over theirs. They have size, you have speed. Just get away from them however you see possible. Dump the throttle and dust them, cut lanes, whatever.

Drive offensively in your car (you get there faster) and defensively on the bike (you get there alive).

Like F-M said I wouldn't bother calling the cops over it...I'm sure they'd say "mmmhmm" and "yep" and "we'll make a note" to your complaint and that would the be end of it. The other guy isn't going to get "in trouble", since all they have is a baseless claim from joe nobody on the phone. Nobody got hurt, nothing was damaged, and honestly they're just not interested. Now if they waved a gun at you, or caused you to lay the bike down or something that's a different story. He was being a dick, you provoked it, more bullshit ensued. I'm sure that happens tens of thousands times a day in this country.

Hey just noticed we have the same bike....silver 97's....

 

[Rollie]

1. What condition are your tires & suspension ?

2. Leave the cagers alone .

Po Po can get in trouble running plates if they are not involved in the situation.

Welcome to the forum .

 

[Fire-medic]

Here's something I found on a south FL bike website. It is not exactly what we are talking about here but it does have everything to do with choices when riding. The more-defensive you ride, the more-likely you are to be able to ride tomorrow. Just ride like the other people on the road don't see you, don't care about you, and will deny you the right of way constantly. I know one rider who kept a grease pencil in a piece of PVC zip tied to his bike, so he could whip it out and write on his gas tank info on whoever put him at risk.

"You take your chances on the bike as soon as you get on it. The level of protection depends on the amount of chance you're willing to take. Some only ride in leather and ride sane, others choose to ride in just a tanktop and vest and ride like assholes. Bottom line, it's up to you."

 

[smithben1983]

yea most of this is what I was thinking but it made me feel better just to vent it out, ya know, so thanks for that.
@RaWarrior yeah I love my 97 silver.. thinking about going black one day though

@Rollie my tires are in really good shape, suspension... it is stock from what I can tell. The guy I got it from said he just did fork seals. On that note how do I check the air pressure in the suspension and what does the numbers on the rear shocks mean and used for. I see theres something I can twist and than some numbers on the bottom part of the shock. any ideas?

 

[smithben1983]

Here's something I found on a south FL bike website. It is not exactly what we are talking about here but it does have everything to do with choices when riding. The more-defensive you ride, the more-likely you are to be able to ride tomorrow. Just ride like the other people on the road don't see you, don't care about you, and will deny you the right of way constantly. I know one rider who kept a grease pencil in a piece of PVC zip tied to his bike, so he could whip it out and write on his gas tank info on whoever put him at risk.

"You take your chances on the bike as soon as you get on it. The level of protection depends on the amount of chance you're willing to take. Some only ride in leather and ride sane, others choose to ride in just a tanktop and vest and ride like assholes. Bottom line, it's up to you."

I like that line well put!

 

[KJShover]

Every time your 'cop buddies' access personal info they leave an electronic fingerprint.

It's no big deal, I've ran numbers many times, as long as they don't pass on the information to you, no harm/no foul. In the situation you describe, it would be no different then a complaint. This can also stack up against the driver/vehicle. So in the future if he gets yanked over, or in a situation, there is now a history being generated on his/Vehicle driving habits.

myself and many other officers that I've worked with have requested a "print and hold" many times. Sometimes they go somewhere, and sometimes not. No big deal.

Good on you for rain riding, I was begining to think I was the only one who liked a good ride in the rain

 

[smithben1983]

It's no big deal, I've ran numbers many times, as long as they don't pass on the information to you, no harm/no foul. In the situation you describe, it would be no different then a complaint. This can also stack up against the driver/vehicle. So in the future if he gets yanked over, or in a situation, there is now a history being generated on his/Vehicle driving habits.

myself and many other officers that I've worked with have requested a "print and hold" many times. Sometimes they go somewhere, and sometimes not. No big deal.

Good on you for rain riding, I was begining to think I was the only one who liked a good ride in the rain

Yeah man I love a ride in the rain it feels refreshing!

 

[COP RUNNER]

i SHIT , REFRESHING , ------------ REFRESHING WOULD HAVE BEEN PULLING OUT YOUR 44 CAL. AND SHOOTING OUT HIS RIGHT FRONT TIRE AND WATCHING THAT MOTHERF@#%*R CRASH ! .unk:. I FUCKING HATE SOME PEOPLE , MY BIG THING IS BEING TAILGATED , I FUCKING HATE THAT ! .. :th_biggun:

 

[RaWarrior]

That means you're not driving fast enough Tim!


As for the rear shocks. The bottom twist is for preload adjustment. The top twist(with the numbers) seems to do absolutely nothing. The manual claims it's damping adjustment or something, but damned if I can tell a difference between 1 and 4.

The plastic chrome caps on the tops of the fork tubes unscrew and there's a schraeder valve underneath. Any standard tire gauge will give you the pressure.

 

[smithben1983]

what does preload mean?

 

[KJShover]

what does preload mean?

Preloading is when you change the amount of pressure on the springs before weight (other than the bike's) is loaded.
The bottom adjustment ring on the shocks has several settings. So you can adjust from a solo rider to two-up with luggage. It firms things up a bit so you won't bottom out as easily.

 

[tonyg-5386]

Here's a good story below. I have not flipped off anyone while riding my bike in a very long time. I certainly would not do it with a passenger on my bike either. Live to ride another day. Too many kooks out there.

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=179

 

[mattness]

in the rain i dont play games. always slow and steady and way easy on turns

 

[Redbone]

I would much rather you come on here and vent, better to ride defensively and ride again.
Riding in the rain just requires a little restraint with the throttle and as long as you have proper gear on I find no particular problem riding in the rain. The road will be slippery when it first rains as the water brings all the oil/ grease to the surface so be extra careful when it first starts to rain. As long as your tires are in good shape, you exercise good judgment with the throttle and are geared up riding in the rain will be safe and not as bad it looks.