[Syndacate]

Brings you to the old saying that there's them that have and them that will. This is why our mothers didn't want us on bikes and why we wear all that gear.

I'm glad you're OK. Chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.

See; nobody's yelled at you yet!

Don't think I've ever heard that saying before, lol. Care to elaborate on its meaning?

Though yes, I don't resent my parents or their decision for not wanting me to have a bike, if I had a kid, I wouldn't want him to have one, either, unless he did it up proper, proper equipment, MSF, adequate riding time with good riders, etc.

Though yes, definite chalk up to learning experience. I'm quite surprised, actually, nobodys yellin at me O.o. People like to reprimand..and in this category (bikes), I'm typically on the receiving end.. haha.

[WickedKatweazle]

Sorry to hear about the high side. Just last week a woman in a huge SUV did the same to me. She was talking on her cell phone (illegal here btw) and panic stopped as soon as the light turned yellow. I was about two car lengths behind her and going downhill. I escaped your fate though. If your wondering how, it's because I am ALWAYS looking for an escape route just in case, and I am constantly finding empty parking lots to practice emergency braking. I wound up skidding to a stop next to her door and smiling as I waved off her apologies. The stupid part for her is that we were both in the right lane and she was turning right. In this case, as in most, my predetermined escape route is to stop next to the vehicle only splitting the lanes if necessary. Practice, practice, practice, and if you have still have not done it take the time to take an MSF course! The lessons they teach you are worth more than any motorcycle or gear you could ever afford!

[Wild-Bill]

Don't think I've ever heard that saying before, lol. Care to elaborate on its meaning?...

There's them that have (gone down) and them that will (go down).

[Syndacate]

Sorry to hear about the high side. Just last week a woman in a huge SUV did the same to me. She was talking on her cell phone (illegal here btw) and panic stopped as soon as the light turned yellow. I was about two car lengths behind her and going downhill. I escaped your fate though. If your wondering how, it's because I am ALWAYS looking for an escape route just in case, and I am constantly finding empty parking lots to practice emergency braking. I wound up skidding to a stop next to her door and smiling as I waved off her apologies. The stupid part for her is that we were both in the right lane and she was turning right. In this case, as in most, my predetermined escape route is to stop next to the vehicle only splitting the lanes if necessary. Practice, practice, practice, and if you have still have not done it take the time to take an MSF course! The lessons they teach you are worth more than any motorcycle or gear you could ever afford!

Yeah, I still gotta get an MSF course in and registered for. Though getting there is becoming a pain due to not having my license..I really want my damn license so I'm not worried ****less about cops anywhere I go.

If I go to an MSF course, are they going to ask to see the license of the person who I "had to" drive there with? Maybe I can just go by car if they have their own bikes there...

There's them that have (gone down) and them that will (go down).

Oh, gotcha. Yeah, but those two categories have a logical intersection. There's those that have gone down and will go down again. I can only hope, practice, and train, that I don't fall into that category.

[Suzukirider09]

yes, they have their own bikes there, its good to use theirs anyhow, they are smaller and lighter so you can practice the maneuvers easier, then when you have time in a safe place, practice them on your bike.

[Syndacate]

yes, they have their own bikes there, its good to use theirs anyhow, they are smaller and lighter so you can practice the maneuvers easier, then when you have time in a safe place, practice them on your bike.

Yeah, I did it twice last weekend, found an empty parking lot on campus and did it there (practiced maneuvers). I think my road test will be July 13th, but still waiting for confirmation from the friend who will be going with me. It's going to be a bit of a pain on my bike compared to all those people who did it on 250 Ninjas and the like...so I just gotta hope that he goes easy and all goes well. :-X - Gotta keep practicing, too, but I got decently good at it.

[Syndacate]

update

Hey,

So it's been a hell of a long time since I've been on here so I thought I'd stop by and give all my friends here an update on my "riding life" so to speak.. A lot has been happening (at least as far as what I'm used to, anyway) in recent time.

For starters, Jul 10/11 I took the MSF course, it cost $275 and I passed the road test at the end with a 93%, with a 100% on the 50 question multiple choice written test.

Reason I got docked on the road test was the emergency stop, stopped 7ft passed the maximum distance for 17mph, we were supposed to go 12-17mph before passing the braking cones. The guy said that I was doing 25-27 easy based on my time, which they don't have a stopping distance for, so they had to use 17..so he said it might have very well been a stop within spec, and looked like so, but their card for stopping distances maxes out at 17 so that was that. I can't honestly say that I learned anything from that course, except that I scraped my first foot peg there (and was by far the most experienced rider there)...didn't really learn anything, either picked it up by riding, or I learned it by asking around, but I guess since I got my license out of it, as well as a few tips for stuff that wasn't "correct" (ie. keeping shoulders square while swerving to avoid obstacles), it was worth it.

The test, along with the rest of the course, was taken on a Suzuki GZ250...fun little bike if I do say so myself, and you don't have to worry about it eating you if you give it too much juice - I'm considering getting one as a second bike..but it probably can't get my heavy *** over 60mph...haha .

Though I do got to say, against the MSF, that it doesn't really favor sport bikes. The cruiser styles they have there are nice, but the issue simply is they teach the course "for" those bikes - counter steering seems to kick in a lot sooner on my kat than on those smaller ones, you can't turn the forks like that at those speeds..probably due to the fork length...some of those things aren't reasonable if you ride a sport or sport touring bike, IMO.

In any event, so Monday (2 days ago) I went to the DMV during my lunch (and then for the next hour and a half b/c the DMV is so fu8king slow) and picked up my interm license - the regular license with the M endorsement should be in the mail in X weeks, but this is good until 10/10/10, so whatever.

So...Yaaaaaaay, I'm 100% legal now.


Now for mileage: I have about 960 miles on the bike thus far, I hope to break 1000 by Friday (going to Quebec for the weekend), I'll have to go on a 20mi drive to make it happen! So I got a decent amount of miles on it thus far, almost 1/3 of what the bike had on it when I bought it (about 3100).


As for tires: I also needed tires, after much deciding and contemplation, I decided to upgrade my front to a 120/70, making it 4mm smaller, not much speedo difference, keeping the rear at 150/70. I bought Metzeler Roadtec Z6 Interacts, about 130/160 for them from MCSS - no charge for shipping O.O, sitting in my living room now.

I'm hoping to put them on soon, I *was* going to do them myself, but I'm very pushed for time, as I want to make the long (for me, anyway) trec home next weekend (9 or so days), 260 miles away, and I want to get the tires on before then..but since I won't be back until Tues and have to make up the missed time at work, I won't have much time next week, and I don't have the spoons or wheel weights...so I'm going to see if a local cheaper shop can get them done Thurs evening or Friday when I have off. Guess we'll see what happens there, I'm going to call them now. If they can't get me in I'll have to order the spoons and weights and post pone the trip by a week..

So I guess that's about it, I'm going to have to watch my fuel on the highway, not used to doing that as the tank is larger with a car...

Anybody know how large the tank is? I get about 35mpg around town, about 3.5 or so gal to the TOP of the redzone...is the redzone exclusive or inclusive of the reserve (I'm assuming exclusive), how much once red, how much once on reserve?

Oh, also, I bought some decently heavy jeans for riding on long trips (needed them for the MSF), along with some TCX boots (I needed riding boots anyway), shown here.

I believe that's all...so quite a lot going on in my advancement as a rider O.O.

[Kreylyn]

You will have at least a gallon in reserve if you ever hit it. Ride the bike until you you do once, that will give you the info you want for YOUR bike about where the gas guage is/will be (it's gonna be different for every bike by a hair...) and then just fill up and turn off reserve.

krey

[Syndacate]

You will have at least a gallon in reserve if you ever hit it. Ride the bike until you you do once, that will give you the info you want for YOUR bike about where the gas guage is/will be (it's gonna be different for every bike by a hair...) and then just fill up and turn off reserve.

krey

Yeah, I guess I'll have to do that, I should probably switch it to reserve preemptively (before I run out of gas) just to make sure reserve even works, right? So I don't get stranded TESTING to see if it works.

I don't know much about the reserve system, nor how it works, but if I turn the valve to reserve while there's fuel in the main, will that prove that the reserve system is functional, or would that be a false positive because the main isn't empty...because as far as I know you don't need to turn the valve any direction to fill the reserve back up, which means they're connected somehow.. I just don't want to do a test run and find out during said test run that my reserve isn't functional.

EDIT:
Also, I consistently get 34-36mpg around town with some highway driving, I'm not sure how it does on the highway since it's at a generally higher RPM, but do you know how large the fuel tank is, without the reserve? Knowing that would help me enough, I think, without having to run it down to empty.

[Kreylyn]

Yeah, I guess I'll have to do that, I should probably switch it to reserve preemptively (before I run out of gas) just to make sure reserve even works, right? So I don't get stranded TESTING to see if it works.

I don't know much about the reserve system, nor how it works, but if I turn the valve to reserve while there's fuel in the main, will that prove that the reserve system is functional, or would that be a false positive because the main isn't empty...because as far as I know you don't need to turn the valve any direction to fill the reserve back up, which means they're connected somehow.. I just don't want to do a test run and find out during said test run that my reserve isn't functional.

EDIT:
Also, I consistently get 34-36mpg around town with some highway driving, I'm not sure how it does on the highway since it's at a generally higher RPM, but do you know how large the fuel tank is, without the reserve? Knowing that would help me enough, I think, without having to run it down to empty.

1 tank... 2 fuel inlet positions... On is about 2" above the bottom of the tank... reserve is lower (about 1/2" above the tank bottom). Switch to reserve and it runs = yes, that option is working. You can test this any fuel level as long as some fuel is in there. Do not leave it on reserve... if you run out on reserve... your tank is empty and your walking.

Avg total tank gallons is around 5.4 total (4.9 for cali model tanks due to the fume collector inside it)... reserve is like 1.2 gallons I believe.

Krey

[Suzukirider09]

Mine is a 2000 600 and I can go 130 mi before it starts to enter the red zone (resting on the very top, maybe a hair in it), I went around 150 miles on one tank without having to go to reserve, I was starting to sweat because it got close to E but I made it.

The more you ride long distance, the more you'll get used to how far you get. Constant highway/freeway speeds (no speeding, atleast no excessive speeding) and taking it easy on the throttle as in speeding up, or fast take offs, it will help the mpg alot.

[Wild-Bill]

My 1995 750 gets ~36mpg around town which translates to ~135 miles before I hit the reserve. Best highway mileage has been ~48mpg for nothing but highway riding between fill-ups. That wasn't being particularly conservative with the throttle, just steady speeds around 75-80.

[Syndacate]

1 tank... 2 fuel inlet positions... On is about 2" above the bottom of the tank... reserve is lower (about 1/2" above the tank bottom). Switch to reserve and it runs = yes, that option is working. You can test this any fuel level as long as some fuel is in there. Do not leave it on reserve... if you run out on reserve... your tank is empty and your walking.

So the main fuel inlet from the tank to the carb is higher than the reserve one, and the valve simply switches the line from tank to carb (or pump, rather)?

Avg total tank gallons is around 5.4 total (4.9 for cali model tanks due to the fume collector inside it)... reserve is like 1.2 gallons I believe.

Krey

Okay, so I have probably about 40mi on reserve, probably about 175-190 total. So maybe some pessimism for tank capacity involved, I have about 125mi (about 3.5 gal) before I should start really worrying about gas. 3.5gal down is when my fuel gauge reaches the top of the red zone, which is typically about 110-130mi. After I hit the red zone I should have about 15mi before reserve, and approx 40 after that.

I'll try to plan my trips in 100 or so mile intervals between gas stops, as that seems to make the most since from an optimistic point of view.

Also, my Kat gets 35/36 spot on every time around town with some highway..but since the highways here (though interstates) are all 55mph, the tach doesn't go too high...when I'm on the thruway though, where the speed limit is 65, I'm sure it'll be up around 7k or so at 75mph. Cars are typically geared taller (by a lot) overall, so this is where they thrive and get optimal gas mileage (unless you have a short trans, typically found in Type R type cars), but with the Kat I'll be running the engine a bit faster than normal...on the flipside, i won't constantly be accelerating/decelerating as much. From your experience, how do you think that will affect my gas mileage? Bit lower? Bit higher? I drive around town about average, typically short shift shortly after my flat spot (about 4k)..I'm typically about avg. acceleration with other cars.

Thanks Krey .

Mine is a 2000 600 and I can go 130 mi before it starts to enter the red zone (resting on the very top, maybe a hair in it), I went around 150 miles on one tank without having to go to reserve, I was starting to sweat because it got close to E but I made it.

Yeah, that sounds about what I'm looking at as far as driving around. I'm a little worried because of the rev difference at highway speeds, though.

The more you ride long distance, the more you'll get used to how far you get. Constant highway/freeway speeds (no speeding, atleast no excessive speeding) and taking it easy on the throttle as in speeding up, or fast take offs, it will help the mpg alot.

Yeah, I'm just concerned because my 6th gear is pretty low - I mean at 65mph I'm at about 5-6k, so I'm not sure what 75 will bring - most of the interstates around here are so close to the city that they're all 55... I'm not sure if (or if so, how much) running the engine faster at that high RPM would counteract the fact that I'm not constantly stopping/going as I would in city/town traffic.

My 1995 750 gets ~36mpg around town which translates to ~135 miles before I hit the reserve. Best highway mileage has been ~48mpg for nothing but highway riding between fill-ups. That wasn't being particularly conservative with the throttle, just steady speeds around 75-80.

Wow, okay, that seems to be spot on what I get around town, makes sense with identical bikes, regardless of the fact that I'm probably much heavier than you are.

So it seems i can look forward to slightly better gas mileage on the highway despite being higher up in terms of RPM.

I don't exactly care about what I get, I'm just used to being less than half a tank lower than full when I'm in my car and go ~140-160 miles before I fill up when I go home, so I want to plan a stop trip in between I think...then probably once 50 miles later, before I hit the last 60, just to play it safe. Last thing I want is to be stuck on the side of the road . I seem to get "lucky" for crap like that..

[Syndacate]

Tire Changing

Here's a link to my tire changing thread in case anybody has any extra info for me. As simple of a procedure as it is, having never done it before and nobody looking over my shoulder, in a parking lot, with no immediate people there to help, or no immediate tools that I may need, I'm scared ****less .

http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=111157

I really want to get the tires on by next weekend so I can make sure they're 100% scuffed and such by the week's end. 2 weeks from now I hope to make my first "long" (long for me) trip, about 260 or so miles home.