Re: Had my first road demon today

Is that for anyone with a permit (including cars), or just for motorcycle-permits? Also, is it age-related in any way, or a 35 year old permit holder has the same rules as a 16 year old permit holder? Just curious...

We have similar rules as far as night & passenger riding goes, but no freeway/interstate bans, here in Florida.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

yeah it's the same as on cars too if i remember right, sucks but i know they're just trying to keep people safe on the road. i'm not quite sure about the age differences either, sorry, but i was thinking of doing my msf course maybe next month and get it over with already.

I like my competition werkes fender eliminator. I am going to re-tighten the bolts though after reading this!

Carry wire ties in your toolkit . They WILL come in handy one day . I think I've given them to more people in need than I've actually used , too .

Damn that could have ended badly if it had locked up your rear tire .

yeah i know i guess i'm lucky to be able to ride home in one piece that day, and trust me before i even jump back on that thing i'm gonna make sure the new license plate bracket, is a lot stronger and tighter.

Loctite!
and/or
Nylock Nuts.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

Hey! Another Long Beach person - cool!

I'm personally not a big fan of fender eliminators - they're there for a reason as far as I'm concerned. Not to mention on the Kat, it's part of the one-piece plastic section that runs under the seat and includes (among other things) the battery tray. But whatever - if it's done it's done and it's your bike. If you like it, that's cool. As with any modification, there are side-effects and consequences, which I guess you've just figured out!

If you ever want to get together for a ride or just to turn wrenches on the bike or whatever, shoot me a PM.

I do my daily commute (about 70 miles round-trip) on the Kat regularly so you might see me around. FWIW I find myself much more at ease on the freeways than on surface streets. At least on the freeways traffic is always going the same direction and is reasonably predictable. You need to pay a lot of attention to junk on the roadway though. There's an insane amount of debris out there on SoCal's freeways and if you happen to hit any of it at speed, you're as good as gone. I honestly think that's the biggest threat to your survival on the freeways - that, idiots that make "warp speed" lane changes in traffic (fortunately you can usually position yourself and/or read the signs of an impending action like this), over-laden "work trucks" piled high with junk that isn't tied down and likes to bounce its way loose at inopportune times (like when you're following them about 5 seconds or less entrail), etc. All facts considered though, the freeways are less dangerous than surface streets and intersections - at least I think so. Be careful out there in any case!

To echo what's been said here, zip ties are a good thing to have a few of in your tool kit, as is some kind of tape or adhesive. How badly mangled was your plate? I s'pose in certain situations having it a little "beat up" might come in handy. . . Anyway glad you're okay.

why did you choose a homemade findereliminator instead of buying one ..just curious

well, i don't like to pay for something or anyone to do something i can do myself. thanks for the responses guys. and it's real simple to make your own eliminator bracket i just used the wrong kind of metal, i needed something thicker i guess and more tolerant to the bouncing around and such.

hey cool pop944 likewise for you, fell free to hit me up let me know what's going on. it'd be nice to meet a fellow katrider in the area. yeah i take the sidestreets myself to work in downtown la, so i don't know, i use to drive on the 710 in the car every morning and afternoon though before i got the bike, i find it's more enjoyable on the sidestreets on the bike because people aren't so much in a rush like on the freeways, and attitudes are a lot better.

Same thing happened to a friend, he even damaged the sprocket of his bike.

for the bolts try loc-tite. I use it on the cars I work on and it make the bolts hold and you don't really have to worry about the backing out. You got lucky that it didn't come loose going down the highway. have fun ride safe.
Zip ties are a great thing, licence plate brackets or handcuffs your choice.

SCAAARRREEEEEYYYYY!!!!