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Lane Splitting - Riders Etiquette
2008-04-11 20:10:00
I was riding back home from the office last night. Merging from one freeway to another. End up close to another rider on a pretty new R1 with two small saddle bags. We were on both sides of one of the left most lanes. He apparently intended to take the space between the 2 left ...
More About: Life , Motorcycles , Etiquette , Street , Lane

Fieldsheer Tour Temp TX - Air Vents Done Wrong
2008-04-09 23:54:00
As you all might know last October I was forced into buying this jacket. And even though I am as big a Rev’it fan as Motodisiac is I sort of had no choice at the time. As my original review says I am fairly happy with this jacket. The only 2 stated problems were velcro strap that closes the collar feels awkward and uncomfortable against my lower neck collar is not doing a good job of protecting the front of your neck from the incoming wind and lets the air inside a little bit Last week I found another disappointing and at the same a pretty funny issue. I was riding back from the office. I had put the thermal liner in the morning because the weather forecast had promised cold weather and winds. However when I left the office in the late afternoon the weather was neither windy nor cold. I was slowly boiling inside the jacket even though I was going at a pretty good speed. I had to use the shoulder vents. As I stated in the original review the vents worked great. Apparently I...
More About: Tour , Wrong , Temp

Morning Drop - Part 2
2008-04-09 02:01:00
Sometime ago Motodisiac had blogged about him almost dropping his Aprilia. Now my turn has come. I also did not drop my bike, but again like him was really close to dropping it. Here is what happened. Two weekends ago we went canyon riding. The total of 4 riders including myself and Motodisiac. We went to ...
More About: Life , Motorcycles , Street , Morning , Learning

Sales and Marketing 101 or How I Sold My Bike in Two Days
2008-04-04 20:00:00
As you all know I bought a new bike back in January. Obviously I did not need 2 motorcycles. So I started passively selling my SV650S. My passive selling strategies were pretty much limited to posts on craigslist, conversations with my friends, co-workers (neither of whom owns a bike as of yet). And that was ...
More About: Marketing , Life , Motorcycles , Sales , Bike

Valentino Rossi Has a Baby
2008-03-28 22:50:00
A picture (or a video in this case) is worth a thousand words. Enjoy and happy Friday to everyone.
More About: Baby , Rossi , Valentino , Valentino Rossi

Gear Review (sort of) - Alpinestars Cycle Jean
2008-03-28 19:30:00
This post is not necessarily a gear review but my quick rant about the Alpinestars jeans I bought some time ago. Motodisiac and I stopped at a local cycle gear store to kill some time. And there they were, on sale at 50% off. I decided to try them on as I needed a pair of jeans to walk around the office in. The jeans fit me pretty well at the store. So I handed over 40 bucks to the cashier (who happened to be a pretty good looking girl). It has been a couple of months now and I have been wearing these jeans pretty much non stop. Yes, I have been washing them too. Now that the weather in Southern California became much warmer I even ride in them instead of the heavier Rev’it Ultimate Pants. The jeans are made pretty good. A couple of my female friends had found them fairly stylish (sorry for being a little vain here). So long story short - highly recommend. They won’t offer full protection, but as an every day wear pants they’d be just fine. Follow this link to the...
More About: Review , Cycle , Gear , Sort , Jean

Cell Phone Talking Women Drivers - Rider?s Imminent Threat
2008-03-27 23:53:00
I am sure this post will stir up some controversy like the Prius one. So before I go into more details I would like to say that I am talking purely from my own riding experience. Not a vast one. However I believe that logging approximately 1000 miles (1600 km) per month might entitle me ...
More About: Drivers , Women , Life , Cars , Motorcycles

Riding in Thailand
2008-03-20 23:48:00
Riding in California Thailand motorcycle 2003 Aprilia Futura RST 1000 2006 Yamaha Off Road / MX engine size 998 cc 250cc mileage ~7K miles ~6500 km (allegedly per renter) condition as new beat up helmet Z1R Blade ~$90 noname camouflage hat ~$10 riding jacket Rev’it Airforce ~$300 beach volleyball t-shirt - free riding pants Rev’it Ultimate ~$200 old faded out quiksilver surf shorts - unknown riding boots Rev’it Freestyle ~$150 noname sandals ~$10 gloves Alpine Stars ~$70 no glove Yes, riding in Thailand was fun. No, it was not safe, neither was it AGATT compliant. Having a bike however enabled me to go places and see things that I would have never gotten to see had I had a car or taken a tour. In my defense tons of people ride bikes and scooters (mostly). So the traffic is definitely more rider-aware though I have seen more than one close call. Long story short - you be the judge: surveys - Take Our Poll
More About: Riding

Time to be heard
2008-03-10 20:03:00
Since the day I bought my Futura I have been thinking about it. It’s very nice to be able to ride the bike without disturbing other people. Yes, loud bikes make people mad and upset instead of saving lives. How many times did you wake up at night when some jackass on a Harley with open pipes passed ...
More About: Motorcycles , Time , Street , Riding

How to Make an Italian Sports Car Manufacturer Mad?
2008-03-07 20:15:00
How do you make a very respectable sports car brand mad at you? buy their car cut it in half inserted a 3m (9.5ft) section of hand-built carbon fiber keep the badge on and drive this car around town The brand - Ferrari, the person who made them mad - Dan Cawley, 36, of Cheadle, Manchester. The Ferrari lawyers say that once you modify the car like that it is no longer a Ferrari. Therefore the all prancing horse badges have got to be removed. Mr. Cawley on the other hand is saying that he can do whatever he wishes to with his own property. The legal battle is about to begin as Mr.Cawley was given 14 days to remove the badges from his creation. Who do you think is right in this situation? polls - Take Our Poll Read the story here.
More About: Sports , Italian , Make , Manufacturer

Gas price perception
2008-03-06 19:11:00
With gas prices hitting record $106 a barrel there are a lot of discussions regarding gasoline prices. Usually I hear two complaints. One comes from American public, crying that the gas is about to hit $4 per gallon. Opposing opinion comes from members of the European community, letting clueless Americans know that they’ve been paying double that for years. While both parties have a point, they fail to notice the following. While it costs double to fill up the car on the European continent, average car is much more fuel efficient compared to their American rivals. They drive 1.0 liter econoboxes and 2.0 liter SUV’s. Only in Europe you will see BMW 520 and Mercedes E200. Americans, known to desire everything oversized, will drive 5.8 liter SUV to pick up a cup of Starbucks, in process burning more gas than some Europeans burn in a day of driving. I wouldn’t be surprised if the overall gas spending per mile driven is higher is USA despite lower gas prices. I don&rsqu...
More About: Price , Perception

Tragic End of Great Adventure
2008-03-05 20:26:00
Lately we’ve been covering very sad and depressing topics. This one is no different. In May of 2006 Clayton Schwartz, beginner motorcyclist and avid adventurer, left for a trip of his dreams, riding Kawasaki KLR from Seattle to the south tip on South American continent. It was a trip many of us can only dream of. He was posting daily trip reports here. Sadly, his dream was cut short about a month into the trip near Acapulco, when he hit a donkey and got paralyzed from chest down. I remember thinking back then, how does one stay positive and keep living when something like this happens? Many great racers get paralyzed but still appear happy and active. Doug Henry, Wayne Rainey, Ernesto Fonseca. The list goes on and on. The truth is that it’s probably very hard to stay positive, for the moment it may seem that the life is over. In the beginning Clayton struggled, deeply depressed he was even talking about suicide. As time passed his life got back on the track, he even got ...
More About: Adventure , Great , Tragic

Are You a Donor - Part 2
2008-03-04 19:28:00
This will be a superficial kind of post. I am not sure I’ll ever discipline myself to give this subject alot of thoughts. However it is definitely a subject worth discussing. Fear of death is the most primal of all fears. There are ways to suppress it depending on situations. When I just started riding I ...
More About: Life , Motorcycles , Street , Part , Riding

Stubborn Zippers
2008-02-29 22:34:00
I left office late the other day. Even though it was warm in the morning and during the day the evening chill was already in full effect. Normally this sort of weather won’t feel cold, the Rev’it Ultimate pants are fairly warm even without both liners. However my legs felt cold, something wasn’t right. The front ...
More About: Motorcycles , Street , Gear , Riding

Pay it forward
2008-02-29 20:27:00
How many times have you bought a car only to realize 5 minutes later that it is running on fumes and you need to hit the gas station NOW? When I purchased my 2.3-16 a couple of years ago, I was pleasantly surprized that the owner filled it up before handing me the key. I remember thinking that it was ...
More About: Life , Cars , Auto , Learning , Forward

Motorcycle Riding and Religion - The Turban Battle
2008-02-28 18:31:00
About a couple of months ago I blogged about different sorts of freedom that motorcycle riding offers. My post was called “Freedom of Movement with Less Freedom of Attire“. What I said then (and what I still say no) is that “motorcycle riding gives you the feel of freedom”. Mr. Baljinder Badesha begs to differ. In ...
More About: Religion , Life , Motorcycles , Motorcycle , Street

Boyd Coddington Dead
2008-02-28 01:22:00
Boyd Coddington, the hot-rod innovator whose creations won the coveted Grand National Roadster Show’s America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) trophy a record six times, died Wednesday morning of undisclosed causes. He was 63. Coddington was raised in rural Idaho but moved to Southern California as soon as he could to pursue his dream of building hot ...
More About: Life , Cars , Trucks , Auto , Dead

Are You a Donor?
2008-02-27 21:01:00
We all know that motorcycling is dangerous. Accepting that there is a possibility of crashing is easy. I’m ready to go down every second of my ride, it would upset me but not surprize me. How about dying in a crash? I refuse to even think about it. I’m in this state of denial when ...
More About: Life , Motorcycles , Street , Offroad , Riding

Embrace the Power of the Back Zippers
2008-02-27 02:13:00
I had already posted a review on my riding pants - Rev’it Ultimate. As I noted in that review “One of the best and unfortunately not used features of these pants are a full-length and short internal zipper for attachment to Rev?it jackets.” It has been unused because my winter jacket is not Rev’it. Now ...
More About: Power , Motorcycles , Street , Back , Gear

International Bike of the Year - Ducati 1098
2008-02-20 19:11:00
No surprise here. Motodisiac and yours truly had an opportunity to test ride the 1098’s younger brother - Ducati Superbike 848. Looks like Ducati came way ahead of its competition in this contest. What’s also interesting that Ducati completely dominates the list too. Read full story here.
More About: International , Motorcycles , Bike , Street

How big is your ego?
2008-02-18 19:27:00
Some people like having personalised licence plates. Every day I see dozens of them, each one meaning something. What if the plate you desire to have on your car is already taken? How much are you willing to pay for it?  Abu-Dhabi resident Saeed Khouri just paid cool 13,638,848.35 USD (yes, 13.6 MILLION dollars and change) for the plate he wanted. Khouri said he bought it because he, “wants to be the best in the world”. Now I know why oil got more expensive.

Is Stoner cheating?
2008-02-18 07:49:00
With Grand Prix Zero now officially over, I’m still in a state of shock. How could Casey Stoner come out just for few laps, post the fastest time on 5th lap and never get challenged by the rest of the grid? No, they tried, but all their efforts looked pitiful considering the fact that after it was all done the gap between 1st and 2nd (Vale) was 1.5 seconds. Normally there is less than a second between first 10 places. 1.5 freaking seconds! Keep in mind that Stoner’s time was posted on wet track that was drying with every passing minute, so theoretically this was huge disadvantage. He completely demolished the competition, winning BMW Z4 in the process. Can anyone stop this man in 2008 season? I really hope so.
More About: Cheating

El Cheapo
2008-02-15 22:39:00
I was sitting at the light this morning when fellow motorcyclist rolled up to me and gave me a nod. He was riding Ducati Monster and looked like your typical city commuter, with black messenger bag across his shoulder. His gear was somewhat lacking in my opinion, with only black bike jacket providing any kind of protection. No gloves, sneakers and jeans. Well, it’s his choice. Then I looked at this helmet. First thing I noticed was a pair of $400 Persol glasses on his face. The didn’t fit in the helmet so they were “halfway” on which looked extremely funny. Something didn’t look right about it, it was like an eye sore in my eye. His helmet! It was unidentified brand, really beat old lid with the visor complitely missing. Can somebody please tell me why one that rides Ducati and wears Persol doesn’t use proper helmet? This is beyond me. Got $20 head?

Love and hate. How do you cope?
2008-02-14 21:12:00
Southern California is considered paradise by many. Sunny and warm most of the year, beautiful ocean, mountain range nearby, movie stars you meet, malls, Starbucks on every corner, countless possibilities for recreation, retreat for organic lovers. For motorcyclist in presents many opportunities to enjoy windy canyons, cruise on the PCH and ride trails offroad. Pick your poison, So Cal has it all. What’s there not to love? However sometimes I really wish I lived somewhere in Montana. Did I mention I hate traffic? Let me explain. As a motorcyclist, traffic is not something I’m afraid of knowing that I can dodge it and be at my destination on time. It’s a pleasure to split lanes knowing that poor people in cages are stuck in this four wheel mess. Still, when the road is clear it gives me entirely different feelings to twist that throttle wide open, this is what the motorcycling is all about. In daily life motorbike becomes a smart choice for commuting, saving time a...
More About: Love , Hate , Cope

Creature of Comfort - Alpinestars MX Thick Socks
2008-02-13 16:25:00
It has been cold the last couple of months for riding out here in Southern California. I could not quite put my finger on why despite wearing my riding pants with a thermo liner my legs were still sort of cold. And then I bought riding socks. The more I ride the more I get the ...
More About: Motorcycles , Street , Gear , Riding , Socks

Morning Skidding
2008-02-11 20:31:00
I am definitely becoming a better rider. With the weather becoming increasingly better I choose a bike over my car almost every day logging over 30 miles daily. Today was not an exception. I left my house and started going down the street, my bike still cold and me still getting to the state of ...
More About: Motorcycles , Street , Morning , Learning , Riding

Gear Review - Rev?it Ultimate Pants
2008-02-06 21:08:00
When I started riding in the early fall of 2007 the weather wasn’t cold and winds were mild. A couple of months later I was freezing to death in my jeans that also offered absolutely no protection in case of a fall. I had to buy motorcycle pants. Ever since I got my Rev’it Airforce ...
More About: Motorcycles , Pants , Review , Street , Gear

Morning Fall - Chilling Video
2008-02-05 05:25:00
Motodisiac had told me about this short film a couple of days ago. We decided to post it on our blog with one warning - it is sort of nerve wrecking. So proceed at your own risk. The video is approximately 8 minutes long. Would love to say “enjoy” but I just can’t be that ...
More About: Video , Life , Motorcycles , Travels , Street

Dangers of WRC
2008-02-01 18:36:00
Rally is extremely dangerous. There are no runoff areas, safety barriers or corner marshalls. The road surface is unpredictable. Still, you have to push it to the limit to be at the top. You also have to deal with the spectators jumping out in front of you, sometimes the entire stages are cancelled because of that. ...
More About: Cars , Racing , Auto

Unplanned Swerving - Another Attack on a Rider
2008-02-01 07:00:00
I was riding home today, freeway is packed as usual, cautiously splitting lanes, don’t want to be too aggressive, I usually tend to learn my lessons fairly quickly. It seems to be a known fact to drivers that motorcycle riders “come out of nowhere” because they move faster than traffic. Well, tonight was not the ...
More About: Motorcycles , Auto , Street , Learning , Riding