Aerik

Welcome

Look up Toby Gehrlich. I've lost touch with him lately, but he's probably still at Stained Skin. Excellent artwork, and a total professional. Also, check out Hard Knox in Mount Vernon. Another group of really talented artists, totally worth the drive.

It's all good. Joel's a cool guy. Eh sounds like Samuel L Jackson and doesn't afraid of anything. Anyway, welcome, bluh.

I'm rockin saddlebags on my Shadow, also.

I've used it in my Shadow and my GS750 (admittedly, low-revving, low-performance bikes) with no issues. Not bad for being so cheap.

I have several sets of longer risers here taking up shelf space that might fix that problem for you, if you're interested. I bought them for my Shadow, but ended up not using them. They'd be cheap, since I can't remember what I paid for them.

Actually, those little dudes can be fairly surprising, if you're willing to flog the hell out of them on the high end of the rpm range. That said, though, their real strength is in maneuverability and decent brakes. A flick of the wrist and she can be a full lane away from them, or tap the lever and let them go by. Good situational awareness (to know where you can safely move) and a solid feel for the bike's light handling are essential, though.

This is awesome, except for one thing: You end up carrying a bunch of foul-smelling, soggy tampons in your pocket/tank bag, in warm weather. I can just imagine what happens when you forget they're in there and find them a few days later. Oyster juice is serious business.

I'll check it out tomorrow. If it's another "beards and beerguts in the woods welding Czech Hedgehogs to get ready for the UN tanks coming to take their land" thing, I'll be quite irate. (shakes fist)

Yeah, same as most of the others here, I've punched mirrors, kicked doors, thumped hoods, "dropped" pocket change on tailgaters, run up on people's windows, etc. It is quite gratifying to see a traumatized yuppie sitting behind me in his Beemer, 7 carlengths back at the stoplight because he's afraid to get near me again after he tried to bully me out of a lane. About half of them are just the same idiots we always see, but I've been seeing a lot more cagers doing blatantly rude/ dangerous things, like trying to merge on top of bikes or "fake" swerving to see if they can scare them. Of course, we should remember that we're kind of relying on shock/surprise and pure intimidation when we take aggressive actions with moving cars-- we are rather vulnerable if they decide to push back. Also, these: http://www.selfdefenseproducts.com/Fingerless-Lead-Lined-Defense-Gloves-p-17074.html Oh, and that F-250 that backed you up is probably just another rider. I've done that too, when I'm stuck driving my truck-- see a car bullying a bike, bully the shit outta the car. For great justice.

Agreed. These are things that every biker should say/hear on a regular basis, regardless of their level of experience. Also, never slow down without checking your mirror first-- you'd be amazed how quickly a mack truck can sneak in behind you, and you don't want to find out by stopping suddenly. I live on Broad street, and the cars start/stop/turn with almost no warning throughout the day. It's just the way the road is arranged, but it definitely warrants leaving a little extra room around you.

Welcome. I'm totally gonna steal the engine from your '91 katana for my '92 600.

You're dead right about the steel toes. Once that metal gets cold, all the wool socks in the world won't make a bit of difference. I've never tried that other brand, I'll have to take a look-- sounds pretty decent. UnderArmor was the first brand of this kind of material I saw, so I decided to give it a shot. I definitely agree that it's expensive, though.

Under-armor "winter-weight" base layer, a decent long-sleeved shirt, Carhart hoodie, and a good riding jacket (preferably lined and windproof). Fleece balaclava, wool watch cap, and good goggles. The heaviest gloves you can safely use, or some medium-weight gloves and a set of giant ATV mitts on the bars. Sturdy boots, but not steel-toes. This basic setup served me nicely all through the last winter, and combined with a backpack (for adding/ removing layers) is pretty versatile in the variable weather we get this time of year.

When a car does that to me, it's normally when pennies magically fall out of my pocket. Of course, I also don't generally impede the reasonable flow of traffic, and I always make lane space for other bikes.