motorcycles

Cats on Duty

mikemjensen Useless Observations Tags: , 3 Comments

Hey Kids,

To get home I pass through an affluent neighborhood of Salt Lake City.

Usually there aren’t very many people out, if any at all. It’s a nice quiet drive and so long as I watch my speed, I can pass in peace.

Today, things turned a little different.

I pulled off of campus from one of the few outlets and entered this neighborhood. The road takes a tight left and down a small hill. It’s a weird turn and it takes all of my attention to make the turn, watch for opposing traffic and remain upright. I did notice two little girls hanging out around the street sign to my left. Young girls, maybe 7 or 8, II kept them in my periphery, afraid they might dart out into the street. They didn’t.il_570xN.265363993

As the bike set back up straight, I was able to take a better look at these two girls and noticed they were dressed as cats. Their faces bore whiskers drawn across their cheeks and black velvet ears showed obvious against their blond hair.

I looked a little too long apparently, as one of these cute little girls let out a hiss and the other made a clawing motion.

It made me laugh and the thought of those two girls, hissing and fussing at the big guy on the motorcycle and any other vehicle that passed by this afternoon, reminded me of a quote:

Stay gold Ponyboy. Stay gold.

I hope they never grow up.

 

Day 249

Stop Light Profiling

mikemjensen Useless Observations Tags: , , 2 Comments

Hey Kids,

Not all cars and drivers are the same.

Riding a motorcycle gives you more options of deciding on what lane of traffic to get into when pulling up to a light. A quick scan is necessary as you approach the intersection and your decisions have to be quick to enable the needed extra time to safely change lanes. In these cases, profiling is very helpful.Red_Light_590

Choosing the best lane isn’t always determined by the number of cars already in the lane, but the make of the car and the person driving is very important. Let me give you a few examples from what I have learned.

Hondas. Never get behind a Honda. The drivers of Hondas are very conservative and very light on the throttle. They are also usually very courteous drivers so they will always yield to merging lanes and traffic even if they don’t have to. If you see the “H” on the back, keep to the side, do not get behind.

Toyotas. Corolla drivers usually feel they need to compensate so they push the cars to the limits. They don’t have a lot of horses, but they will use them all. Camry’s go half and half. Half are super proud of a Camry and drive it like a race car, the other half are wannabe Honda drivers.

Newer Fords and Chevys. If there are imports around, they’ll drive like crazy to prove themselves better. Trust me. If not, 50/50.

Dodge and Chrysler- Pull behind them every time. They always seem to suffer from the self-conscious syndrome and will step on it every time.

Trucks in general are a good bets.

German imports- Macho syndrome. Possible exception, the Beetle. If a girl driving, yes. If a boy driving, no. Boys driving beetles is just not right. It has something to do with having a flower vase built into the dash board.

As a general rule, the older the car, the slower it is. Likewise for the driver. Exception: Men between 35 and 50 seem to have that mid-life thingee going and will try to outrun a bike behind them every time.

Women drive slower than men. Exception young girls. They are hell on wheels and best to stay behind anyway. Young boys driving simply are dangerous but they are never slow, unless they think that’s what you don’t want.

Another motorcycle is always a great bet. Although, I notice that Honda Motorcycle riders still seem to have that conservative thing. A part from the occasional part falling off and coming at you, Harley’s are always a good bet to follow. It’s that “something to prove” thing again. Sport bikes are awesome. Just rev your motor once and they think you want to race and at the turn of the light, they are gone and it’s like having the road to yourself.

I know this is all based on profiles and stereotypes, but when picking a lane- it’s what you do. I hate or judge no one, but when at a stop light it’s all about Lord of the Flies survival.

 

Day 224

Radar Love

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Hey Kids,

In a state that averages a little over 14” of rain per year, to get 2 ½” in the past two days is pretty amazing.

What’s equally amazing is that during these two days of Noahish rains, I have not donned my rain gear once and have had zero rain drop contact.FRAME_2_SS0

Because what’s the most amazing thing of all is the ability to log on to the local news website and check the up-to-the-minute radar and plan the rides to and from the job between the bans of rain.

There are times that looking back to the good ol’ days has its place, but you know, this world we live in now, ain’t so bad either.

 

Day 205

Petty

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Hey Kids,

I like big picture thinking.

Standing back and looking at the whole scenario, as opposed to reacting to each individual action, I believe, will net you more success.

Riding a motorcycle through a turn, it’s important to look where you want to go. If you watch the yellow line tracing the outside of the turn, that is exactly where you will go. Target fixation it is called.

Look down the road, not at it. Yet, keep your eyes on the alert for important details such as potholes, loose gravel, and stray varmints darting into your path. And sometimes, you can find stuff like that too. I have a weird collection of things I’ve picked up from the streets. However, that might have to wait for another blog.

I like having the Police around. They are a safety net to our society. That’s the big picture. They can also be the annoying yellow lines tracing the limits of our smooth riding. They issue speeding tickets, they enforce registration, and they can pull you over for loud pipes. In the big picture, it’s good they do that stuff. But it does foster a love/hate relationship.

1394300455_e38f4ff35dThis morning I saw a State Trooper waiting at a stop sign waiting for his chance to pull into the steady flow of commute traffic. Being on the bike, I maintain a larger following distance behind the car in front of me as compared to normal commute bumper-to-bumper. I thought for a second about slowing down a few clicks and give him the opportunity to slide in front of me. He’s an officer of the state and most likely it would be a good thing to let him be on his business as soon as possible.

Small picture thinking took over.

I sped up and made sure he couldn’t get into traffic. I made him wait even longer. Like we have to do when they pass with their lights on.

Petty? Sure. Feel good? Yes sir.

Sometimes you just have to take those little pleasures when they come. The big picture will still be there.

 

Day 183

Some Reason

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11148753_940758249318297_3321767991454029834_nHey Kids,

Today I rode for the dogs.

Great Danes that is.

I know how much of a pain it is to see a group of motorcycles, sometimes numbering in the 100’s and occasionally over 1000, traveling together on the highway. We stretch out down the lane, making it near impossible to change lanes, pass, or have a little peace and quiet. When the police escort, they even make you all stop just to let us roll past.

I’m sorry about the inconvenience, but I’ll admit I’m only slightly sorry for the inconvenience. Riding in a large group, from time to time, is a lot of fun. It also serves a personal pleasure to interrupt normal life and cause some road mayhem.

But when you see the groups of bikes, know that many of the smaller groups and every large group rides are engaged in a charity fund raising effort. Today we rode with a group of 17 bikes. Our effort was to raise money for a Great Dane Rescue group. It was told to us at the end of the ride that we raised, through participation fees and raffle purchases, about $1000. Not bad for a little ride through the hills.

I know that doing things for a good cause doesn’t ease all the pain, nor does it reflect the only or main reason I join an occasional group ride; but it at least gives it a reason.

 

Day 180

I Still Want to Blame the Bike

mikemjensen Life's Truths, Motorcycles, Vanity Tags: , , , 8 Comments

Hey Kids,

It’s a sad day. The Suzuki is sick.

It’s been sick for a little while, but it’s not really sick; it’s been damaged by my repair efforts.

A little while ago, I decided it was time for the valves to be adjusted. I’ve done it before and had no worries about it. The bike had been running just fine, but it was well past the recommended 7500 mile adjustment. So I took a Saturday afternoon and adjusted the valves. Upon reassembly, the warning light came on. I had done something wrong. I had seen this happen before and that time it turned out to be simply a sensor not hooked up right. No big deal.

Next week, I tore it apart again and found no such bad sensor. Hooked it together and warning light came on again. Fine. I’ll figure it out. The engine wasn’t working exactly correct, but I’ll get it, I thought.

Please save me from my owner.

Please save me from my owner.

After work one day, I had a tremendous writing session. So good I spent some extra time to ride out the literary wave, only to discover that I left the key in the bike with the ignition on. Dead battery. Great. Got a jump and headed home. With a quick off and on, I tested the juice. The bike started right back up.

The next morning not so much. The battery didn’t hold enough of the juice to turn the starter. So I took the other bike instead. And then continued to take the other bike for the past several weeks.

Today, the Suzuki had no juice whatsoever. I jumped it again, rode for a while to charge it up. Figured I wouldn’t stop until I got back home and then try to restart it. Unfortunately, I paid too much attention to the parked cop I passed speeding and noticed the stop sign ahead just a little too late. I locked up the back tire stopping and stalled the engine. Despite riding for the past 30 minutes, the battery was still bone dead. Had to call for an emergency, mercy jump.

The bike is back home and I’ll pull the battery out and have it checked or replaced. And then I can get back to figuring out the Error light problem.

The poor thing. It just wants to run and I’ve let it sit.

I’m really angry with myself to allow things to deteriorate to this point. But then again.

How angry can you be when life has allowed you to have a second bike to ride during this whole time?

I’m back to realizing I’m facing a first world problem. Relax says I.

 

Day 174

Saved 10 Minutes

mikemjensen Motorcycles Tags: Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

So I found myself in the left turn lane and I didn’t mean to.lane-assignment-sign-left-lane-left-turn-right-lane-straight1

The construction barrels and zigzaggy lanes had me confused and next thing I knew, a car pulled up to the right side of me (Commonwealth people that would be your left). It is at that moment I realized I had strayed from my needs.

It was just the next street that I actually needed to make the left and this block, in the downtown area of Salt Lake, was going to take a good extra 10 minutes to make it back around.

10 minutes! I can’t be wasting that much of my life.

I eyed the situation. One car across from me making the opposite left. And no cars going straight. Distractions minimized.

The light turned green and I pulled out to the middle of the intersection; the car that had been next to me was slow off the line (on the phone).

I punched the bike and zoomed (safely) in front of the car and continued straight to the next side street and quickly made the left that I needed. Another 10 minutes rescued from the waste pile.

I love riding a bike!

 

Day 143

Loud Pipes

mikemjensen Motorcycles Tags: , , 1 Comment

Hey Kids,

The adage is: “LOUD PIPES SAVES LIVES”.79c2b0af1931e444981d043e21d88e96

The idea is that as much as motorcycles are invisible to other drivers, the problem can be mitigated by utilizing the auditory senses and announcing a cyclist’s presence with authority. Even if they can’t see you, they’ll know you’re there.

I heard people talk of it on both sides of the issue, arguing about the effectiveness of the loud pipes and whether or not amplified exhaust overcomes tight cockpits, loud music, and driver indifference (or idiocy). I’ll admit, I haven’t looked up any citied studies and rely on my own opinion.

I have no doubt that making noise over being unheard makes a difference in some instances, maybe even more than not. But it’s not full-proof. The size of a motorcycle is the biggest issue. The ease that motorcycles can move in and out of lanes, accelerate and decelerate to new positions almost instantly, and the ability to blend into background images; is just too much to be “fixed” by simply being a noise ordinance violation.

With the age of self-driving cars around the corner, I’d bet the development of anticipatory software and computer reactions will have more of a difference than Vance and Hines. Anticipation and reaction are what we riders say saves us daily, right? The new “Anti-Crash” (my word) devices developed by Ducati will also give riders more options in avoidance as well.

The new battle cry may not be as macho: “MOTORCYCLE COMPENSATING COMPUTERS SAVES LIVES!”

Honda Gold Wings are not known for loud pipes but they can be gaudy. One version of the Gold Wing in particular comes in bright, bright yellow. On the back of one such motorcycle, the rider had placed a bumper sticker that is just as valid as any argument defending loud pipes. It read:

LOUD PAINT SAVES LIVES.

Leave it to a Gold Winger to cloud the issue.

 

Day 116

Look Twice

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Hey Kids,

Motorcycle cruising today was awesome and other than one incident, the road was smooth, the curves were manageable, and the mountains were cool and refreshing.

Early on, before we left the city, a truck began to change into our lane while we were still in it. I had noticed that he might so I had already increased my speed and by the time he noticed me and swerved back into his original lane, we were already positioned to be perfectly safe.

The next sign spanning the highway was a highway alert reading “Look Twice for Motorcycles.”

UDOT Alert

UDOT Alert

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) posted this message on many of the highway alerts throughout the state. It’s a nice gesture, especially with the increase of motorcycle fatalities this year, as I’ve noted on a previous post. I do appreciate it and I wondered what the driver thought when he saw it: lesson learned or just more curse words directed to those damn motorcycles.

Either way, I like the thought that maybe someone learned that it’s important to look before you change lanes, cross an intersection, or back up. And not just because of motorcycles. We all need to be more careful.

In addition, I’d add to the Highway alerts: Motorcycles, Look Twice.

 

Day 111