Owner: Motodisiac - where motorcycles are more than just a passion ... URL:http://www.motodisiac.com/ Join Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:19:58 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Motodisiac - sickness that has no cure. As the name suggests we are passionate about motorcycles and everything that pertains that subject. Site statistics:Click here
Scooter Madness in Israel 2007-11-29 13:00:33 I chose Israel
for my last vacation getaway. Apart from the obvious reasons like all the history of the world and religion associated with this area I had other incentives like scuba diving in Red sea for instance. In any case I went and spent 10 days there.
What I could not help but notice was the abundance of people riding scooters and motorcycles everywhere. Scooters prevailed and the most of the motorcycles I saw were a dual purpose 125 to 400cc Kawasakis and Suzukis. I spotted some older sports bikes on occasion and even did see a brand new Yamaha R6 parked right next to my hotel in Tel Aviv.
Apparently motorcycle safety isn’t regarded highly in the promised land. The helmets are loosely fit on almost all the riders. I even saw one rider lift up his helmet to have a smoke as he was riding his scooter. That’s not the proper helmet fit if you can easily lift it up over your face. Almost noone wears protective gear. Some scooter riders wear shorts and flip-flops.
The s Read more:Madness
Automobile Affliction 2007-11-28 13:53:42 I came back in town from an overseas vacation on Monday night. Overseas vacations usually imply jet lag. So with that in mind and given my 11 hour flight back to Los Angeles I figured that I should not be riding to the office on Tuesday. Motodisiac also approved my idea. “You are not sick of driving yet” - were his exact words.
On Tuesday I got into my car, got on the 405 freeway and hit the slow moving traffic. Of course there were a couple of accidents on the 405 that morning, so it took me twice longer to get to the office. As you can imagine I got sick of driving or rather crawling fairly quickly. I was really envious of the riders zooming by.
Today even though I am feeling a bit under the weather I decided to ride. More and more it looks like the mileage I put on my car is going to be very limited.
P.S. Tomorrow three of my coworkers start their motorcycle riding course. I am excited :).
Read more:Automobile
Chinese car crash test 2007-11-25 15:35:26 Everybody is talking about Chinese
cars. Before you know it world marked could be saturated with them, cheaper alternatives to their Japanese cousins.
What Chinese car manufacturers are known to do is take their competitors car, copy it and sell it for 50% less. I would even consider buying one when they showed up here, what is wrong with driving reliable copy of Toyota Corolla for half the price?
However, it seems to me they are not the same as the original. There must be a reason they are so cheap, and it seems that what they make up in price they lose in safety.
Please meet Chery Amulet, the car that is currently in production from the biggest and the fastest growing automaker in China.
After seeing this video of crash
testing at about 40mph I will make sure every member of my family NEVER gets to ride in one of these “cars”
Judge yourself……
Brush With Danger 2007-12-05 00:44:36 Riding back from the office, the 405 is heavily congested, splitting lanes between the two left most lanes, going 25-30 mph, suddenly “oh, shit” moment came. I have had a couple of close calls in my short riding history. The most recent one was when I came under attack of a clueless Prius. But this one tops them. As Motodisiac said before “it wasn’t such a close call because you saw it coming.” This one is my first REAL “oh, shit” moment. And I did not see it coming.
I left the office a little after 6pm geared up in my new riding pants - Rev’it Ultimate (gear review is coming up soon). I received them just today and could not wait to try them out. The freeway was unusually congested, with more than usual merging activity. I did not want to push it and was going not faster than 30mph in a standstill traffic. I was just picking up my speed after squeezing through a somewhat tight opening when THAT happened. I noticed an old pickup truck in th Read more:Brush
, Danger
Road Rage - Rider Retaliation 2007-12-04 15:17:16 I blogged about road rage before. But today I almost feel victim to my own desire to flip out and retaliate. Here is how.
I am riding in my lane earlier today when a black Mustang merges not more than 5 feet in front of me and slows down. I slow down too, go around him and look at him shaking my head, basically letting him know of what he just did. And the driver basically starts aggressively cussing me out. I get pissed immediately. What do I do? If I was driving I’d have the option of getting in front of him and subsequently slowing down to a crawl speed. I can’t do that on a motorcycle. I have heard about the riders throwing coins at drivers like that and speeding away. As I am contemplating my retaliation I see a couple of ambulances on the side of the road. It is a rider down situation. The rider seems to be fine though, his motorcycle not visibly damaged. Clear sign for me. I should abstain from retaliation. I get to be an adult in this situation. Slightly fuming over Read more:Rider
, Retaliation
, Road Rage
Rainy Day Rant 2007-11-30 21:44:31 Today is the day of the Californian “national disaster” - rain. Knowing that it would rain I decided not to ride today. For those who are unaware whenever it rains in Southern California the traffic situation becomes much worse. For some odd reason people drive super slow.
Armed with this knowledge I decided to leave my house much earlier this morning. At 8am I was already on the road. When I ride my motorcycle my morning commute usually takes 20-25 minutes, when I drive my car - 25 - 35 minutes of approximately 15 miles on the 405 freeway. Today the same commute took me … 56 minutes. I took picture of my trip computer to show the details of this tedious trip (below) - 15 miles in 56 minutes with the average speed of 16 mph. Wow, that is lightning fast.
Now here is my big question - is rain such a disaster that wreaks havoc all over the Los Angeles freeway system? Have we indeed become the generation of sissies? Slowing down to 16mph on a freeway while it rains Read more:Rainy Day
Gear Review - Fieldsheer Tour Temp TX Jacket for California Winters 2007-12-11 16:12:59 I have been shopping for a “winter” jacket for quite some time now. One can mock me for the word “winter” as temperatures rarely drops lower than 50F (10C) around here. In any event my Rev’t Airforce does not cut it for that type of temperatures especially if it is windy. Some time ago Motodisiac and I went to see the Supermoto racing event at Morongo Casino. And on our way back I got really cold. With temperature just below 60F (16C), howling winds, and the summer riding jacket that barely covered my lower back I almost did not feel like riding anymore. I could not lean forward to keep my profile low because every time I’d do that my lower back would freeze up in no time. And when I was upright I was violently attacked by winds and my whole upper body would feel cold. Between a frozen lower back and moderately cold upper body I chose latter. So there I was riding upright like a telegraph pole. Long story short under the circumstances we made a pit s Read more:Jacket
, California
, Winters
Police vs Motorcycle Rider Controversy 2007-12-10 16:03:07 The incident occurred on August 25 this year. In a small Texas town of Watauga a police officer had initiated a chase after a motorcycle rider that allegedly had ran the red light. A backup officer in a cruiser gets in a way of an elusive rider forcing a crash. Both 25 year old male rider and his 31 year old female passenger were thrown 60 feet and suffered severe head trauma, broken ribs, and leg and arm injuries. The rider was in a hospital for a week. The Watauga police alleged that the pursuit had started after the rider ran the red light. On November 30 under the order by the Texas attorney general's office the videos from both police cruiser mounted cameras were released by the city of Watauga.
The videos revealed that not only the rider did not run the red light. But also the backup police officer turned his vehicle into the rider to cause the collision. That officer was suspended for 60 days without pay, and the officer who began the pursuit was suspended for 15 days without Read more:Police
, Motorcycle
, Rider
, Controversy
Brand New Additions to the Rider Community 2007-12-07 19:11:25 Well, half way there actually. As I mentioned earlier three of my coworkers got infected with a motorcycle virus and decided to pass a riders course. So they successfully did last weekend. Passed the riders course tests with flying colors. The bigger question now is - how many of them will actually follow through and become riders.
Suspect number one - a female who’s fiancee is a rider. She has a street commute to the office. So traffic doesn’t take a huge toll on her all that much.
Suspect number two - a database admin. He has had some little riding experience in his early teen years. Also he has a fairly long freeway commute that implies sitting in traffic.
Suspect number three - a project manager. He has no prior riding experience but does have close friends who are riders. A big factor in play is his height and weight. He is pretty skinny and 5′4″ (160cm) tall. Therefore very limited to the choice of beginner level motorcycles.
When I took my riders course Read more:Rider
, Brand
, Brand New
New Bond Girl Announced 2007-12-17 18:41:48 Traditionally Bond movies are surrounded with enormous hype and anticipation. There are never ending debates about who is the best James Bond, who is the hottest Bond girl, what is the coolest gadget that Q ever gave to 007 and so on.
Last Friday we got to know that a 22 year old actress Gemma Arterton will become the new Bond girl in the upcoming release.
Being an advocate for cool motorcycle chases I will say this - hopefully she’ll get to ride not only Mr. Bond but a motorcycle of some sort as well (no sexual connotation intended). Last time we saw a motorcycle in a Bond flick was in the 1997 “Tomorrow Never Dies” movie when Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh sped down the streets of Saigon on the stolen BMW R 1200 C. they were handcuffed together, and constantly swapping positions to get a view of their pursuers.
Hopefully the production crew will hear my cries and use their creativity productively to make a memorable motorcycle chase scene. The fi
Time to be heard 2008-03-10 14:03:43 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 [...]
How to Make an Italian Sports Car Manufacturer Mad? 2008-03-07 13:15:55 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 [...] Read more:Italian
, Sports
, Manufacturer
Gas price perception 2008-03-06 12:11:55 With gas price
s 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 [...]
Tragic End of Great Adventure 2008-03-05 13:26:33 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. [...] Read more:Great
, Adventure
Are You a Donor - Part 2 2008-03-04 12:28:24 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 [...] Read more:Donor
Stubborn Zippers 2008-02-29 15:34:50 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 [...]
Pay it forward 2008-02-29 13:27:38 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 [...]
Motorcycle Riding and Religion - The Turban Battle 2008-02-28 11:31:55 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 [...] Read more:Motorcycle
, Riding
, Religion
, Turban
, Battle
Boyd Coddington Dead 2008-02-27 18:22:11 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 [...]
Are You a Donor? 2008-02-27 14:01:00 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 [...] Read more:Donor
Riding in Thailand 2008-03-20 17:48:15 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 [...] Read more:Riding
Cell Phone Talking Women Drivers - Rider’s Imminent Threat 2008-03-27 17:53:06 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 [...] Read more:Talking
, Women
, Drivers
, Rider
, Imminent
, Cell Phone
Valentino Rossi Has a Baby 2008-03-28 16:50:37 A picture (or a video in this case) is worth a thousand words. Enjoy and happy Friday to everyone. Read more:Valentino
, Rossi
Gear Review (sort of) - Alpinestars Cycle Jean 2008-03-28 13:30:11 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 [...] Read more:Cycle
Sales and Marketing 101 or How I Sold My Bike in Two Days 2008-04-04 13:00:55 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 [...] Read more:Sales
, Marketing
, Two Days
Fieldsheer Tour Temp TX - Air Vents Done Wrong 2008-04-09 16:54:13 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 [...] Read more:Wrong
Morning Drop - Part 2 2008-04-08 19:01:58 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 [...] Read more:Morning
Lane Splitting - Riders Etiquette 2008-04-11 13:10:17 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 [...] Read more:Splitting
, Riders
, Etiquette
Thoughts on Commercials - Subaru WRX STI vs KTM Super Duke 990 2008-04-14 19:04:24 Some time ago Motodisiac showed me this commercial. It was a KTM Super
Duke 990 commercial that KTM had to take down from their site as it did not promote the right riding attitude and style. When you see it you will probably understand why.
Today I read this blog post that showcased a Subaru
commercial. [...] Read more:Commercials
Group Riding Done Right 2008-04-14 13:13:15 Found this great article describing group riding etiquette, signals and rules.
I’ve ridden in small groups before and it is very important that everyone in a group knows these guidelines. We have been on a ride a couple of weeks ago where Motodisiac was a “lead bike” as he had a GPS system, a couple of [...] Read more:Group
, Riding
, Right
, Done Right
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