MSF does (or at least did) teach left foot down, with the bike in first gear and clutch disengaged. In this condition you're ready to move forward at a moments notice. They teach this as a safety technique. I taught this because it was required but I never agreed with it. IMHO, sitting there with the clutch disengaged puts unnecessary wear and tear on the clutch and clutch cable and doesn't really add to your safety. A proper scan that includes keeping an eye on your mirrors will give you plenty of warning that you need to move.

I stop with my right foot down and the bike in neutral but my left foot covering the shift lever and ready to shift into first as soon as I need to. If you need to hold the bike on a hill, you can use the front brake lever with your index and middle fingers and use the other three fingers to operate the throttle. It takes a bit of practice to be smooth doing this but it's not that hard.

Dale B

I just bought a scooter and the seat shape makes me sit in the wrong place. The seat on it's own terms is not all that bad. It's just that my legs are so long that I need to sit further back on the seat than it allows. Does anyone know of someone in the Twin Cities that can reshape the foam and make a new cover for the seat?

DaleB

I'll second Ray's suggestion with an addition. Store the bike with the tank as full as you can get it (i.e. the bike vertical on a center stand or a rear wheel stand) so that there's as close as you can get to no air in the tank. Do this with ethanol free gas. The Minnesota Street Rod Association has a list of gas stations in MN that sell ethanol free gas http://www.msra.com/NonOxygenatedFuel/NonOxyFeb2011.pdf. The MSRA keeps this list updated so if the link gets stale, go to the MSRA home page and look under "Features."

I've been looking into this a good bit and it seems that regular red Stabil does not work as well in E10 (10% ethanol gas) as it does is pure gas. In general, E10 degrades much faster than pure gas.  If you must store E10 gas, Stabil recommends using their Marine Stabil. Most of the people I've talked to recommend Marine Stabil or Yama-Lube fuel preservative for E10 gas. http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/stabil/products.aspx#marine_formula. MArine Stabil is easier to find.

I always store my bikes with non-oxy gas and red Stabil. I also add some Sea Foam. I don't know if the Sea Foam really helps but I doubt that it hurts and it makes me feel better. I use this same mixture in my small gas engines (lawn mower, snow blower, etc.). When I take the bike out of storage, I drain most of the storage gas out and put it in my car. I then fill the bike with fresh non-oxy gas before I fill up the carb float bowl and start the bike.

YMMV

Dale B

Honda America has apparently decided that they don't need their Cantil California Proving Center. They have another center in Ohio that's a lot closer to their R&D HQ.  Maybe they think that it's all they need.

It'd be pretty cool to have access to this place. You get a 7.5 mile oval and several paved and unpaved road courses.

The article at The Trouth About Cars.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/01/for-sale-one-test-track-never-used-enthusiastically/

The real estate sales ad.
http://www.cbre.com/USA/US/CA/South+Bay+LA/Property/hondatesttrack.htm?pageid=0

Image on Google Maps.

Dale B

I was thinking of going but hadn't decided. It looks like nice weather so I guess that I'll go.

Dale B

Okay, I'm back. I finally got around to finding all the miscellaneous pieces and the bike is ready to go. It's also posted on Craig's List

1999 Honda VFR800 $3,200

I have a 1999 Honda VFR800 for sale. I just don't ride it enough any more so it needs to go. Plus, even thought it doesn't have all that aggressive a riding position, it's become a bit too much for my old knees. I've done all the maintenance myself except mounting tires. Here are the particulars.

Odometer 25,736 miles
Red Tank Bra
Spare windscreen
Model year 2000 mirrors (not ugly) and mirror extenders so you can see more than your elbows.
Tires have about 3-4k miles left
Mobil-1 15W50 and Honda filter changed every 3k miles
Valves adjusted at 23k miles
New brake and clutch fluid at 24k miles
New DID X-Ring chain at 24k miles
Ohlins shock with hydraulic preload adjuster (in a box). I never got around to installing it.

Pictures at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalebor/sets/72157624442070555/

Last time I posted this I tried to set up a priority list in the order that people contacted me (#2 can't buy until #1 says no, & so on). I think that this pissed off some people so this time the first $3,200 gets the bike. No other deals or trades.

Email to dalebor@yahoo.com is okay but calling 612-616-5621 is probably better. If I don't answer, leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

I found an interesting rider perception test on another forum. It's harder than I thought it would be, even at medium speed. The road sign test is a bit lame but  the collision trap test is pretty good. I did not get a perfect score.

http://www.msf-usa.org/riderperception/

Dale B