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Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.

SimplyCosmic posted:

I feel for everyone living the in the Washington, DC area today with that Two Million Biker event.

"Organizers didn’t receive a permit to have traffic blocked, so they’re riding through streets all day."

Makes me want to rant, and I don't even live there.

quote:

did not release a route, citing "security reasons"

Let's not get an overblown sense of our value to Islamic fundamentalists now.

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hot sauce
Jan 13, 2005

Grimey Drawer
Giant parades of loud vehicles are the norm here though, it's not uncommon to see a motorcade with someone important in it block traffic for 15 minutes.

Deeters
Aug 21, 2007


hot sauce posted:

Giant parades of loud vehicles are the norm here though, it's not uncommon to see a motorcade with someone important in it block traffic for 15 minutes.

The 9/11 ride that went by my house was about 2300 bikes and that took half an hour. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near a group bigger than that.

hot sauce
Jan 13, 2005

Grimey Drawer

Deeters posted:

The 9/11 ride that went by my house was about 2300 bikes and that took half an hour. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near a group bigger than that.

I totally agree and avoid crowds here as much as possible. I was just kidding about waiting for them to pass, as it would be would be no big deal after sitting through so many police motorcades in the past.

M42
Nov 12, 2012


Dearest claim evaluator:

You loving wish that the parts/tow/labor only came to $290. It's going to be exciting to hear your mewling when the shop calls you up with the revised amount.

What a loving headache.

babyeatingpsychopath
Oct 28, 2000
Forum Veteran

M42 posted:

Dearest claim evaluator:

You loving wish that the parts/tow/labor only came to $290. It's going to be exciting to hear your mewling when the shop calls you up with the revised amount.

What a loving headache.

For a battery. If it stalled in the shop parking lot. Even then the estimate is a bit low from what shops charge insurance.

Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester
Oct 3, 2000
My official estimate whenever anyone consults us for an insurance claim: A MILLION

Digital_Jesus
Feb 10, 2011

Slim Pickens posted:

It helps to put heat on the sticker. Borrow the girlfriend/wife's hairdryer if you don't have a heatgun and blast it long enough to get it pretty warm. The adhesive will soften up and the sticker should peel off in one solid piece most of the time.

I hairdryered all of them. The stickers had been on there for 2 years. All the heat did was peel the plastic top off the sticker and leave the paper and adhesive underneath. Oh well it's done now so whatever. Paint will be here tomorrow.

ReelBigLizard
Feb 27, 2003

Fallen Rib
Lighter fluid (zippo fuel) is the king of sticker removal. I learned this in my time working for an advertising agency and preparing product packaging for photography. It's enough of a solvent to soften the glue but it won't damage paint.

MoraleHazard posted:

My condo complex had a couple of nazis on the board who loved stickering vehicles that violated the parking rules. One of my neighbors showed me the above trick.

I billed the local police department £~250 ($400) after they stuck a parking ticket to the clock on my KTM and it took all the anti-scratch coating off with the adhesive.

The clock that came was the improved version that I would have probably ended up having to get anyway. I paid the ticket.

ReelBigLizard fucked around with this message at 09:41 on Sep 12, 2013

chia
Dec 23, 2005
I've used Autoglym tar & adhesive remover for the warning stickers on my bike. If you get the sticker off this poo poo will get the glue remains off it without destroying the paint.



Great success!

Shelvocke
Aug 6, 2013

Microwave Engraver
Was coming home from work in the dark last night, hissing down with rain. Visibility was appalling, mostly due to-

- Drivers coming the other way taking a good 5-6 seconds to register another vehicle and turn their highbeams down, often needing prompting with a flick of my own, and
- A mudless, pristine chelsea tractor sitting no more than 4 metres behind me for a good 13 miles, despite me giving ample opportunity for them to overtake and tapping my brakes regularly in an attempt to make them pull back

Riding in the rain is the pits, especially on unlit, winding roads populated by road warriors and soccer mums.

ReformedNiceGuy
Feb 12, 2008

ReformedNiceGuy posted:

Oh my loving God! How long does it take to decide if you're going to replace a loving zip or not!

TCX have had my boots for nearly two weeks now trying to decide if they're going to replace the zip on one of my boots.

I've not been off the bike for this long since I binned it last year and had to wait for a new radiator :(

Wankers!

Quoting myself so I can retract this. While I was busy ranting yesterday it turns out they'd already sent me a brand new pair of boots without letting anyone know.

So the dudes at TCX are awesome even if they're a little bit crap at keeping in touch!

ReelBigLizard
Feb 27, 2003

Fallen Rib

chia posted:

I've used Autoglym tar & adhesive remover for the warning stickers on my bike. If you get the sticker off this poo poo will get the glue remains off it without destroying the paint.



Great success!

Pro tip: that is lighter fluid marked up to autoglym prices :ssh:

chia
Dec 23, 2005

ReelBigLizard posted:

Pro tip: that is lighter fluid marked up to autoglym prices :ssh:

Well gently caress me :mad:

Retarted Pimple
Jun 2, 2002

chia posted:

Well gently caress me :mad:

Sounds like someone already did.
:haw:

chia
Dec 23, 2005
I know, I'm Autoglym(tm)'s bitch. Just yesterday I washed my bike with Autoglym(tm) soap and waxed with Autoglym(tm) wax. Ooooh shiny.

Phy
Jun 27, 2008



Fun Shoe
Why does my ignition have a "drain battery overnight" setting

WHAT THE HELL IS IT USED FOR

Nur_Neerg
Sep 1, 2004

The Lumbering but Unstoppable Sasquatch of the Appalachians

Phy posted:

Why does my ignition have a "drain battery overnight" setting

WHAT THE HELL IS IT USED FOR

Draining your battery overnight?

clutchpuck
Apr 30, 2004
ro-tard

Phy posted:

Why does my ignition have a "drain battery overnight" setting

WHAT THE HELL IS IT USED FOR

It's a parking light, don't leave it on that overnight or you'll drain your battery. Leave it on "off".

babyeatingpsychopath
Oct 28, 2000
Forum Veteran

clutchpuck posted:

It's a parking light, don't leave it on that overnight or you'll drain your battery. Leave it on "off".

Then put it halfway around the barrel, not 5 degrees. I dry-lubed up my barrel to keep it from sticking, and now the key just slides into "SCREW YOUR BATTERY" with nary a detent. I have to actively pull on the key as I'm going down to lock to make sure it pops out early enough.

This is so not a feature, and unfortunately it's all internal to the lock cylinder, so it's not like you can just cut a jumper and it'll be OK.

Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.
Check your wiring diagram, you might be able to disconnect the wire that is paired by the parking position.

clutchpuck
Apr 30, 2004
ro-tard

babyeatingpsychopath posted:

Then put it halfway around the barrel, not 5 degrees. I dry-lubed up my barrel to keep it from sticking, and now the key just slides into "SCREW YOUR BATTERY" with nary a detent. I have to actively pull on the key as I'm going down to lock to make sure it pops out early enough.

This is so not a feature, and unfortunately it's all internal to the lock cylinder, so it's not like you can just cut a jumper and it'll be OK.

FWIW I know for sure that if you have LED tail lamps, it can last days on Park and not kill the battery.

babyeatingpsychopath
Oct 28, 2000
Forum Veteran

Z3n posted:

Check your wiring diagram, you might be able to disconnect the wire that is paired by the parking position.

I just quadruple-checked it. On the fifth time through, I found the right wire. I'm off to disassemble this stupid thing and delete that wire.

No joy. It disable the park, but also disabled daytime tail lights on. Enabled brake light flashing, though. The tail tidy is hurting me now, not enough lamps to do what I want.

babyeatingpsychopath fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Sep 16, 2013

Phy
Jun 27, 2008



Fun Shoe

clutchpuck posted:

It's a parking light, don't leave it on that overnight or you'll drain your battery. Leave it on "off".

Oh, hi dad! I didn't know you had an account.

Srsly tho my bike decidedly does not have LED taillamps. Gonna dig out my charger when I get home. And maybe this is a failure of imagination on my part but I'm having a hard time figuring out a chain of events that would lead to me cursing the designers for NOT including a way for me to lock the steering and pull the key but have the brake lights stay on. I mean, I know about the park setting, I've avoided it for years but I must have had a braino last night.

Finger Prince
Jan 5, 2007


Phy posted:

Oh, hi dad! I didn't know you had an account.

Srsly tho my bike decidedly does not have LED taillamps. Gonna dig out my charger when I get home. And maybe this is a failure of imagination on my part but I'm having a hard time figuring out a chain of events that would lead to me cursing the designers for NOT including a way for me to lock the steering and pull the key but have the brake lights stay on. I mean, I know about the park setting, I've avoided it for years but I must have had a braino last night.

I was bitching about this very same thing about a month or so ago. It happened to me again the other day, luckily at work again so a battery pack was not far away. It is a terrible design and I don't know what anyone was thinking when they came up with it. It's like having a device that lets the air out of your tires if you don't have you steering on full lock when your park.
I've never had a problem with it on previous bikes, but previous bikes didn't have such a stupid ignition cylinder.


:argh:

Safety Dance
Sep 10, 2007

Five degrees to starboard!

God dammit I don't know what it is about the street sweepers in this city, but the block my apartment is in must be a street sweeper thoroughfare. It's always wet, and they're polishing the blacktop to a mirror finish.

If the city would outlaw those drat horse-and-buggy tourist traps that move 3mph and poo poo everywhere, they wouldn't need to sweep the streets so goddamn much.

KozmoNaut
Apr 23, 2008

Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle


I wish I could get my hands on whoever invented chip-sealing, so I could pour boiling asphalt down his throat and chase it with "finely graded aggregate".

They've resurfaced a bunch of the local roads around here with the stuff and it's basically just a huge middle finger to anyone riding on two wheels. I nearly lost it coming round a bend because the bastards used aggregate that's the exact same color as the real pavement and didn't bother to put up signs. It was only when I saw the piles of loose rock off the side of the road that I realized what was going on. I thought you were supposed to sweep the road after chip-sealing, but I guess they couldn't be bothered.

Not to mention that it eats tires, breaks windshields and is noisy as gently caress to ride on.

Goddamn lovely low-cost no-effort bastard cunts.

Dellikose
Oct 10, 2003
They did that on a bunch of county roads around me too. They were nice enough to put up loose stone signs. They tend to clear off in a week or two, but the road is still poo poo because they didn't do any leveling to smooth out ruts or potholes.

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

KozmoNaut posted:

I wish I could get my hands on whoever invented chip-sealing, so I could pour boiling asphalt down his throat and chase it with "finely graded aggregate".

Buddy of mine almost died because of that this spring. Did a long sweeping turn and when they came out of the turn, a bunch of that poo poo was just scattered loose everywhere. No signs or anything. Both of them took a header and needed to get out via medi-vac. He just got out of the hospital a few weeks ago (happened in May).

Deeters
Aug 21, 2007


I'm glad that some people like motorcycles, but they need to stay on their side of the road:



I guess it's time for a new GoPro if neither his face nor license plate was visible.

its all nice on rice
Nov 12, 2006

Sweet, Salty Goodness.



Buglord
I'm so sick of people almost merging into me. Check your loving blind spot people!

E: And it's not like I'm flying up on these people and passing them at the last second, either. I'm usually following a good distance from the car in front of me and going a reasonable speed. How hard is it to look to your right or left before turning?

Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.

Pope Mobile posted:

I'm so sick of people almost merging into me. Check your loving blind spot people!

E: And it's not like I'm flying up on these people and passing them at the last second, either. I'm usually following a good distance from the car in front of me and going a reasonable speed. How hard is it to look to your right or left before turning?

Stop hanging out in their blind spots. Blind spots are one of those places that should be like hot lava to motorcyclists.

nsaP
May 4, 2004

alright?

Z3n posted:

Stop hanging out in their blind spots. Blind spots are one of those places that should be like hot lava to motorcyclists.

I'm pretty sure he's been here long enough to read a few paragraphs of your's on the matter. Maybe assume he's not hanging around in blind spots and the drivers might just be dumb instead of handing out the sage wisdom? I don't waste any time in blind spots and I still have occasional lane changes into me.

Zool
Mar 21, 2005

The motard rap
for all my riders
at the track
Dirt hardpacked
corner workers better
step back

Dellikose posted:

They did that on a bunch of county roads around me too. They were nice enough to put up loose stone signs. They tend to clear off in a week or two, but the road is still poo poo because they didn't do any leveling to smooth out ruts or potholes.

A good rutted corner you could rail would be pretty awesome/terrifying.

Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.

nsaP posted:

I'm pretty sure he's been here long enough to read a few paragraphs of your's on the matter. Maybe assume he's not hanging around in blind spots and the drivers might just be dumb instead of handing out the sage wisdom? I don't waste any time in blind spots and I still have occasional lane changes into me.

I guess if you live in the conservative paradises where freedom acts like lane splitting are illegal that might be a possibility. But I dunno, I haven't had someone merge into me in ages because I work really hard to minimize the time I spend in around cars, and by extension, their spots. Sometimes that means finding a gap in traffic and moving to the slow lane and doing the speed limit because that's what maintains the best safety buffer.

"Drivers be dumb" is just an excuse for not paying better attention and planning better. If you're in a place where you can anticipate what's about to happen, you can do something before it happens to avoid the situation. If you're expecting them to look to their right or left before turning, you're doing riding wrong.

its all nice on rice
Nov 12, 2006

Sweet, Salty Goodness.



Buglord

Z3n posted:

Stop hanging out in their blind spots. Blind spots are one of those places that should be like hot lava to motorcyclists.

I don't "hang out" in blind spots. I'm either passing someone or being passed. I also have keep in mind cars behind and in front of me.
It's impossible to avoid the blind spot. You have to be in it at some point. I've almost been merged into two times in the past week while passing on the freeway and once while being passed. Each time, I was in the blind spot when they started to merge.
It wasn't me just sitting in their blind, it was them not paying attention to what's going on around them. Had I not been watching them, I'd have been hit each time.

Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.

Pope Mobile posted:

I don't "hang out" in blind spots. I'm either passing someone or being passed. I also have keep in mind cars behind and in front of me.
It's impossible to avoid the blind spot. You have to be in it at some point. I've almost been merged into two times in the past week while passing on the freeway and once while being passed. Each time, I was in the blind spot when they started to merge.
It wasn't me just sitting in their blind, it was them not paying attention to what's going on around them. Had I not been watching them, I'd have been hit each time.

The reason I said that is because you said this:

quote:

I'm usually following a good distance from the car in front of me and going a reasonable speed.

If you're "A good distance from them and going a reasonable speed" how are you anywhere near their blind spot or having to take evasive maneuvers to avoid accidents?

Lane choice, speed choice, moving through traffic to find the gaps in groups of cars, are how I avoid these things. Most of the time if you're doing it right, after a mile or 2 on the freeway you can find the gap in the traffic pattern.

Backov
Mar 28, 2010
You are so tedious, Z3n.

Pope Mobile - ya, I feel you. It still happens even when you try to stay out of the bad places. I understand what you're saying, even if our resident autist doesn't.

SimplyCosmic
May 18, 2004

It could be worse.

Not sure how, but it could be.
Drivers absolutely don't pay nearly enough attention to the world around them, but I also think many riders underestimate the size of blind spots in the average car, and overestimate their visibility in mirrors and quick head-checks at highway speeds.

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Z3n
Jul 21, 2007

I think the point is Z3n is a space cowboy on the edge of a frontier unknown to man, he's out there pushing the limits, trail braking into the abyss. Finding out where the edge of the razor is, turning to face the darkness and revving his 690 into it's vast gaze. You gotta live this to learn it bro.

Backov posted:

You are so tedious, Z3n.

Pope Mobile - ya, I feel you. It still happens even when you try to stay out of the bad places. I understand what you're saying, even if our resident autist doesn't.

You know what's tedious? Driving to pick up someone's crashed bike because of an accident blamed on "dumb drivers" rather than just avoiding the situation entirely with some forethought and awareness. The number of accidents that would have never happened if riders would just loving let their egos go about being first or "owning their lane" or the rest of the bullshit that gets them into pissing contests with cars that they're guaranteed to lose eventually is staggering. Related: Video in GBS with the range rover guy.

It's one of those things where the number of "near misses" you have goes down dramatically when you start looking at the things that led to a situation where someone merged into you. Someone comes flying up on you on the left and you're near an offramp? Maybe it's best to slow down a bit because they're probably going to cut you off. You're passing someone on the left? Maybe it's best to wait if they're coming up on a car as well and see what they're doing first.

It's one of those situations where it goes past blind spots and into planning when and where you even enter those blind spots.

Of course, the dirty secret is that being a safe rider is very tedious and boring.

Z3n fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Oct 6, 2013

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