I am a huge fan of lane splitting and particularly the filter, but I tend to agree with some of the comments already posted about how it will not work here.
1- Minnesota drivers are bad. they are not good or particularly well trained or enforced.and leo. Yesterday i saw (and almost crashed with) 6 cars diving into my lane. South Minneapolis, downtown and northeast 2- Motorcyclists here have a declining reputation (cars hate us) and there are probably a lot of reasons for that with varying degrees of legitimacy 3- it would only really effective during the riding season, see #1 4- on the plus side: The new age bicyclists now have a ton of dedicated bike lanes, and from what I have observed, a complete disregard for all commonly accepted traffic laws. cagers are slowly getting used to random fly by's and lane filtering in town.
I have done both in CA and have to say that filtering and splitting at low speeds is genius and generally really easy to do without creating issues for the other motorists. I would support it here as long as the state and safety offices/officers fully promoted the program.
I try to late apex in car and on motorcycle to address your last point: "with a fuller view around a corner, it makes it easier to be on the gas while turning which provides more steering stability and cornering clearance"
There is a stop light left turn near my house across a 2 lane and I consistently turn in 10 or more feet later than vehicles in front of me.
Like Harley Honda says they still make parts for every motorcycle they have ever made.
Thats not necessarily true. I believe that Honda guarantee's that they will provide parts for 12 years after the model is retired. I had a lot of problems getting parts for my 85 '500.
I owned an 03 for just about a year. I was mostly stock*.
In my year of ownership I learned a couple of things: - it has the single worst seat in the history of production motorcycles - WIth the fairing stay and the wide tank, steering lock and bruised thumbs come with the territory. After market bar options are limited. - Strong internet community around them - Brakes are feel very weak, and in fact the rear brake is pretty worthless. No feel. They work pretty well, but no feel without an after market radial master cylinder. - Ride is firm - a Lot of engine heat.... I highly recommend either a fan upgrade or installing fins inside the fairing or both. - Tank range n the 110-135 Mile area. Lest you be in the middle of nowhere and run out of gas and have to call someone to bring a gas can (...ahem...errr....) -* They sound Awesome with a Leo Vinci exhaust. -* Throttle response is very very good with a honda race throttle tube - heaps of strong predictable power - Great gearbox - Under 20 mph and or 3500 rpm it is one of the worst street motorcycles I have ever been on. It's hot, glitchy fuel, *snatchy throttle, limited maneuverability. SUPER high pegs. I believe that motorcyclist measured the seat to peg distance at 16.5 inches. ...
Above 30mph I have no problem saying that its probably the best sportbike i have ever had. Everything that's wrong with it under 20 mph is magic at speed. Feels light, super responsive, very predictable, just amazing. I kind of miss it actually.
In my case - I got a deal because some had raced it and then "*re-streeted" it (sans disclosure) as cheaply as possible and the little issues just kept adding up. I sold it with full disclosure.
Good luck - If you got a good one I am sure you'll like it.
I remember reading an article in one of the moto magazines about five years ago either written by, or referencing, James Ouellet who was one of the authors of the original Hurt report and is now the president of Motorcycle Accident Analysis Inc. He said that the five year life of a helmet is not necessarily true. He said that if the shell is intact (hasn't been dropped and has no visible cracks) and the chin strap is still properly attached and not weakened, the helmet still has plenty of life left in it. He ran some DOT impact certification tests on some 10+ year old helmets and they passed tests to the standards they were built to with no problem.
Sorry but I can't produce the actual article.
I still replace my helmets about every five years anyhow as the chin strap is usually pretty frayed and even if I haven't dropped the helmet it's still been banged around enough that I figure that I need to get a new one.
The polystyrene may shrink a bit but I've never seen old Styrofoam significantly degrade unless left in the direct sun day in and day out. I understand Brent's POV, just not sold that it degrades significantly in 10 years if care is taken to not expose the helmet to persistent heat or sunlight.
I've never measured the degradation of polystyrene in any objective way, so I can only guess, but if it shrinks, then it has become more dense and therefore less protective. (Unless some of its mass has evaporated or something. I really don't know why it would shrink other than from being pressed between the shell and the rider's head.)
I think helmet fitment is a better rationale to change it out. Or when the fashion starts looking dorky.
Or when the Snell standard changes. M2010 was a significant change from M2005. Otherwise, I think Dale's rationale of a frayed chin strap is as as good as any.
Right - This is the line of thought that I was vaguely remembering: That the important bits of the helmet - Shell - EPS liner - Strap - are the ones that "age" a helmet. and as long as they check out then the helmet is safe. EX: Arai's 5 year guarantee/Warranty starts from the date of sale.
So in that vein, -- modern helmets with removable liners provide a cleanable barrier between the head/sweat and the EPS foam attached to the shell. -- Gasoline fumes significantly degrade (shrink) the EPS liner. -- Impacts and UV rays degrade the shell -- (which leads to a question: Does modern Laminate construction fare better for UV exposure than plastic?)
These would indicate that modern helmets, under normal conditions, should keep their protective properties for longer than 5 years.
So, Monday I was going through my helmet cleaning ritual - liners, shields, condition etc. - and figured that I should really investigate replacing the removable liners in my favorite helmet. Once I got them out they looked a little.... Worn. Anyway while all the padding was out I cot a peek at the manufacture date - 08/06....
So that got me thinking. The 5 year thing was the rule back when helmets were made out of plastic, correct? With cheaper non removable foam liners, also correct?
So with a helmet that is made from a laminate with removable liners, does the rule apply? Is it more of a milage and exposure rule now?
Regular rules of helmet care are apply - not dropped, not resting on gas tank, etc.
I saw the Ninja 1000 and immediately thought that it should have been the VFR replacement instead of the hobgoblin Honda actually released.... It does look nice though.
I have been on that road a couple of times and it was fun, fun, fun.. Both times it was a weekday so there was almost no traffic. I have heard that it can get really, really busy during the weekends.
The thing about the video is that there is no context. The days that I was on it there were maybe 10 other vehicles total so if you were inclined you could really move right along
Cool. What I kinda want to see is some of the cable routing and through the undertray etc. I suspect that that there were a lot of parts moved around by the p.o.
I will try and get in touch with you guys this weekend.
Show Posts
