MD Group Ride October 14, 2012

[poyermet]

Originally Posted by robmilchling

Sounds like you were out my way then, I live in Dundalk.

Yep. My in laws live on Peach Orchard, Rd.

[tony7kp]

Guys, just tried to take my bike to get gas and I'm having a wrd issue. Its making a creaking noise and its not going down to first or neutral... so not sure what's wrong... Therefore I prob can't make the ride since now I have to go to lunch and have no time to look at it. Sorry guys. I really wish I could join you guys. And if anyone knows what might be wrong, let me know. Haha

[poyermet]

Originally Posted by tony7kp

Guys, just tried to take my bike to get gas and I'm having a wrd issue. Its making a creaking noise and its not going down to first or neutral... so not sure what's wrong... Therefore I prob can't make the ride since now I have to go to lunch and have no time to look at it. Sorry guys. I really wish I could join you guys. And if anyone knows what might be wrong, let me know. Haha

I'm sorry to hear that man. I wish I knew what is wrong and if it is an easy or tough fix. Good luck

[poyermet]

Waiting for the group ride to start:

[poyermet]

D'oh!

[poyermet]

at least I didn't get hit by that farm machinery

[Jiggles]

Originally Posted by poyermet

D'oh!

Old lemon strikes again

[robmilchling]

Look, he had to lay it down.


It was a combination of mechanical failure and rider inexperience, luckily, he walked away without anything more than a scraped up bike and maybe a bruise or two. If someone is going to take a fall on a group ride, I'd much rather it be in a parking lot.

[Jiggles]

Anytime old lemon is riding, someone goes down. Dude is a curse

[robmilchling]

[Jiggles]

Lol who brought the zx14? Did ryan already crash his r6 and upgrade again????

[robmilchling]

Greg, the owner of ZX14, was with Jo.

Ryan's bike is not in this picture, he split before the ride for personal reasons.

[poyermet]

Originally Posted by robmilchling

Look, he had to lay it down.


It was a combination of mechanical failure and rider inexperience, luckily, he walked away without anything more than a scraped up bike and maybe a bruise or two. If someone is going to take a fall on a group ride, I'd much rather it be in a parking lot.

Thanks Rob.
I'm a little sore, some bruises and bumps on my right leg but mostly I'm bummed it happened. Agreed it was mechanical issue to start then inexperienced/poor reaction on my part to let it get away from me. Thanks for getting the gear shift pedal back in place enough that I could still do the ride with you folks.

[jaesun]

I learned my lesson: I will never call a bike "pretty" before a group ride ever again. It's too much power.

I hit the 1000 mile mark today on my pregen. I'm a 1000 percent better, but I need to get improve my lines on curves. I know what to do, just need to get the confidence to lean.

Hope to see you guys again.

[ryan.chin]

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Lol who brought the zx14? Did ryan already crash his r6 and upgrade again????

I lol'd. Haha.

[robmilchling]

Originally Posted by jaesun

I learned my lesson: I will never call a bike "pretty" before a group ride ever again. It's too much power.

I hit the 1000 mile mark today on my pregen. I'm a 1000 percent better, but I need to get improve my lines on curves. I know what to do, just need to get the confidence to lean.

Hope to see you guys again.

It comes with time. Best suggestion I can give is to find a favorite twisty road that isn't too busy and make a habit of riding it, your pace will improve as well as your confidence, you'd be surprised what those little bikes can do.

Actually, come to think of it, I hit 1000 miles on my Daytona this afternoon as well, picked it up with 4k miles, and it just cracked 5k today.

[epidemic]

Today was a beautiful day in MD -- perfect weather. Completely envious of you folks.

[tnr4]

Nice to meet you folks. Not much different, but here's my pic of the Ninja collection.

And all you folks with the new-fangled videography machines attached to yourselves and bikes need to upload!

[Old Lemon]

sometimes, you just gotta layer down.

@robmilchling

@tnr4

is there any specific parts of the ride you want to see from my camera? otherwise i wouldnt know what to put into a video

[tnr4]

Haha, I don't know, I just assumed it was magic: you wear a goofy little square while riding, and then later, some cool video pops up on the internet from your point of view. That's how it works, right?

Just post if there's anything cool on there; we rode through some pretty areas!

[robmilchling]

Maybe just cut it down, some cool shots, sharp turns, whatever turned out well?

[jaesun]

Originally Posted by robmilchling

Maybe just cut it down, some cool shots, sharp turns, whatever turned out well?

And the hay baler!

[robmilchling]

My reaction inside my helmet regarding that farm equipement would've been worth bringing my helmet cam along as well hahah

[Old Lemon]

here you go peoples. you can play your own durn music. ill make some more maybe if i find a good segment without my camera shaking wildly

Link to original page on YouTube.

[Minikin_Jo]

Weeee!!!

I'll post the vids as soon as I have time to edit them. We filmed the whole time so there's a lot of footage, at least an hour or more worth. I had the camera mounted on the front of my bike, right by the headlights.

The thing I can't stand is I'm right up on a person and they look like they are so far away from me.

Here is what I have so far though:

Link to original page on YouTube.

And Greg put this short clip together. (Watching it now, should have edited out @jaesun's friend who stalled at the stop sign.) Woops:

Link to original page on YouTube.

[jaesun]

The guy on the Honda? He was a friend of poyermet.

I can't view the vids yet, but i'm dreading it. My cornering is borderline dangerous. i'm about to sign up for the total control advanced riding clinic in Frederick next weekend. So I hope to do a lot better next time!
Posted via Mobile Device

[Minikin_Jo]

Originally Posted by jaesun

The guy on the Honda? He was a friend of poyermet.

I can't view the vids yet, but i'm dreading it. My cornering is borderline dangerous. i'm about to sign up for the total control advanced riding clinic in Frederick next weekend. So I hope to do a lot better next time!
Posted via Mobile Device

Oh my bad - I remembered reading someone was bringing a friend but I thought it was you that posted it. Sorry, @jaesun!

We have a total control class here at Howard CC but you have to have a minimum of 1 yr and 5,000 miles riding experience to sign up. Does Frederick have any type of minimum requirement like that?

I don't have the footage of us actually riding yet edited/posted. There was one part where you touched the yellow line making a sharp right turn, which made me nervous. Then there was the second time when you made another sharp right and went into the other lane. LOL I know that scared you because after that you really slowed down before entering the turns. So when I noticed you'd slow down for turns, I would give you more room ahead of me so I didn't run into you because a few times I thought I was going to hit you. On the recording, everything looks far away so I don't look like I'm even close to you, and when I backed off from you, I really looked far away from you. I couldn't help but notice after that you started shifting your butt on the turns but you weren't leaning at all.

[jaesun]

Once I get more comfortable, I'll start using my hands to scratch. Until then, I'll have to settle with shifting my butt on the seat.

The only requirement for the Frederick course is one year.
Posted via Mobile Device

[robmilchling]

If you're worried about your lines, I wouldn't be concerned with shifting your weight about, as without the proper technique it can just upset your balance and ruin your lines. I had this when I first started experimenting with hanging off a bit. At this point, the speeds were low enough, just work on being smooth with your weight transfer, throttle control and lines. Honestly, even up front when we upped the pace, we were hanging off a bit, but it was mostly unnecessary as we all had plenty of lean angle left.

Have you watched twist of the wrist 2? I found that to be really helpful in general.

[Ash]

Wow, I drive by the Ten Oaks Ballroom/Riverhill everyday to and fro from work on rt108.

Sorry I missed it!

[jaesun]

Originally Posted by robmilchling

Have you watched twist of the wrist 2? I found that to be really helpful in general.

I haven't taken a vacation all year, so I was debating on taking the California superbike course in Vegas next month. But it might be too soon. Plus it might already be fully booked. it's one thing to watch the video and try it on my own, I probably need professional help. The guy who sold me the gpz900r did the class back in the 80s. Haha. but i'm definitely going to spend more time in an empty parking lot.
Posted via Mobile Device

[robmilchling]

Yeah, I agree that's it's totally different, but the few points the video really drives home are things you can apply to actual riding and will provide a bit of extra confidence and both make a huge difference that'll you'll notice. It's available on youtube IIRC, but its a good buy as well.

[jaesun]

Um, I used google to get my copy. That video forever changed the way I say throttle. I also couldn't tell if the 2 lead actors were terrible or they were just so convincing playing dumb and stupid that I couldn't see them in any other way.
Posted via Mobile Device

[tnr4]

Originally Posted by robmilchling

If you're worried about your lines, I wouldn't be concerned with shifting your weight about, as without the proper technique it can just upset your balance and ruin your lines.

This. The single best advice I ever got on advanced riding techniques was, "Lean your head and shoulders in preparation, and then point your junk where you wanna' go." Haha. So, crude, yes, but push your outside leg against the tank and cock your hips into the turn, and just a little counter-steering will put you into a deep, smooth turn. Practice this at moderate speeds, and I'd bet that your cornering improves LOADS without moving your arse or hanging off at all.

Just my .02, FWIW.

[Minikin_Jo]

I don't do any hanging or moving other than really leaning and/or pushing the handlebar in the opposite direction on curves but I did try one weekend Greg and I rode with @Old Lemon down local backroads to 'scooch' my booty into the turn more and was amazed how much of a difference and how smooth a little maneuver makes while in the turn. Just a scooch though...definitely no hanging lol

[Minikin_Jo]

[Minikin_Jo]

Link to original page on YouTube.

Was hard to cut down 45 min if footage into less than 8 min. Finally got it done. Sorry for the wait.

Camera is mounted in the front if my bike by the headlight.

[jaesun]

the shame!

yeah, I already admitted that I have cornering issues. I took the lee parks course yesterday. I hope to see some improvement from my obvious counterweighting problem. At least I know what to work on. I felt a lot better today on tight corners earlier today. It didn't feel like I was fighting turns when I leaned with the bike. I didn't realize I was doing this until the group ride.

The weather has gotten a lot colder. Maybe too much for local riders. But my cut-off is now temps in the lower 40s. If there's another group ride before the year is out, I'm game. I wouldn't have even attempted to ride in this weather if I didn't have to make it to the course yesterday, but I was fine wearing thermal underwear, fleece pants and sweatshirt, along with jeans and leather jacket with winter liner. I probably need to go electric for my gloves since a single layer of silk undergloves wasn't enough. I could still feel my fingers but they were definitely stiff from the cold. I was actually surprised at how I handled the cold yesterday with all of the layers. Definitely made me second guess winterizing my bike this year.

oh, and the comment on youtube is from my cousin. he think he's a comedian. if you see a beat up sv650 around silver spring with "BUTTER" on the license plate, it's him.

[Minikin_Jo]

@jaesun how did your cousin know about the vid, did you share it? Because I didn't mention your name or anything in the vid...

[jaesun]

Yup yup, I shared it with him. I really need the criticism. It's the only way I'll get better.

Oh, next time I take out my bike, I'll take a photo of my most recent damage. I had my first drop this past weekend. Couldn't get my leg over my night bag tied on to the rear seat and the side stand came up during this acrobatic attempt. Only a few scratches. Nothing cracked.