Had my license for 3 years. I've still got a 2003 Kawasaki Vulcan 500. Looking to get a Triumph Thruxton.

Had a date with this one girl who worked in the overnight ICU. I told her I had a motorcycle. She called it a donor-cycle. That was the last I heard from her.

Just got this 2014 Triumph Bonneville T100 this weekend.

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Buying used from an individual wasn't the smoothest experience with my latest bike purchase. 2 Months later now, and I still can't register the bike. My bank paid off the seller's loan, and then his bank mailed the title directly to the seller and not to my bank. And now he says he's never seen it.

So far, in my 5 years of riding, I've only had 2 incidents that could have ended up very badly. For the most part, I feel that people seem to be very aware of me. I get people riding my tail, and cutting me off in my car on a daily basis. But it seems people are afraid to get close to me when I'm on my motorcycle. But I primarily ride in the city. Probably very different on the highway.

But just last week was my closest encounter. Lady was pulling out of a parking lot, turning left on a 4 lane road with a center turn lane. I was going her direction, and was in the right-most lane. She obviously never saw me, and obviously doesn't understand the rules of the road as she shot over directly into me. I locked up the breaks doing 45mph, and came inches from hitting the curb. I had my horn on the entire time. And instead of correcting, and moving back over to the left lane, she came to a stop, leaving me no more room. Luckily, all ended well, except for my heart-rate.

So after we got going again, she did move over to the left lane. I was really afraid to get in front of her. But decided to anyways, just to let her know that she was "Number 1." And of course she acknowledged that by pulling in behind me, and holding her horn for a good solid minute as we waited at the stoplight. Took every bit of effort to take the high road (safer road) and stay seated on my bike.

If I ever got an HD, it would have to look something like this. Never was a fan of the way motorcycles looked, because I thought they all had to look like Harleys or crotch rockets. Once I discovered bobbers and cafe racers, then my interest was held.

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Here's what I got 45 days ago. https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-many-of-you-pinheads-have-a-motorcycle/page/4#post-3724241

Since 2012 I'd been riding a 2003 Kawasaki Vulcan 500. It rode very comfortably, and was dirt cheap. Spent every year since then trying to figure out what I exactly wanted. I really liked the HD Iron 883, but hated the shake of the handlebars. My hands went numb in the first 5 minutes of the test ride. Hated the HD Street. Both my legs and arms cramped up by the end of the test ride. (maybe I have something wrong with my body. Test-rode the Triumph Thruxton, and loved the ride except I felt my are were going to have a workout if I rode for an extended period of time. Then settled on a used 2014 Bonneville, and I love it! Looking to change up the looks sometime soon.

Actually, the only thing that gave it away for me is that the photo was shot on film. I don't actually know what you look like, so the hair and clothes could still be very well be from today.

I've wanted to test ride a Royal Enfield. There's a dealer here in town that sell them. They look fun, but the single cylinder just looks like it may be sluggish with me sitting on it.

Speaking of Neutral. I can never get mine into Neutral when parked. It's way too sensitive, and jumps to second gear always. I've now learned it's just easier to do it that way, and then quick tap it down. Works most of the time.

BUT.......I have a much easier time hitting neutral when trying to shift into 2nd gear. The damn roads in this town are terrible, and at almost every single stoplight in this town, there is a section of the road that keeps bunching up. It creates a "speed bump" across the entire road. Now, these all have conveniently popped up in the exact spot where I need to shift from 1st to 2nd, and about 50% of the time, I forget to wait one second to pass over it before shifting, and if I shift while hitting the bump, I either double tap it, and shift from 1st to 3rd, or from 1st into Neutral. Either way, I have to quickly re-adjust accordingly, so that the asshole who's already on my tail doesn't run me over.

Just got my Bell Revolution Evo helmet in the mail today. But damnit, I forgot to check to see if it would work with glasses. It does not.

Anyone have any suggestions for helmets that may have enough room to slip on a pair of glasses?

Thought about doing that. If I couldn't return the helmet, I'd be doing that, but looks like I'll get a full refund. Been looking on Amazon, and think I found a good replacement. I think I'm going to go with the LS2 Strobe Modular. http://amzn.to/2tHZtXD Comments say that it works well with glasses, but surprised that the description doesn't call this out. I watch a video from another retailer, and the cheek pads are specifically made for glasses. They even have a glasses logo sewn into it to show that it's what it's for.

Hell, even if in a perfect world where motorcycles were 100% safe to ride, I'd still want to full-faced helmet to stop the bugs from hitting me anywhere in the face/head. Those things hurt at 55mph, and splatter. I don't do windshield because I like the clean look of the bike.

Question. So let's say you go out for lunch, park on the far edge of parking lot, leaving a bazillion open parking spaces between your bike and the building, and someone parks so close next to you, their side mirror bumps your side mirror and knocks it out of alignment. How bad do you beat their ass?

This is what I came back to after being in Arbys for 35 minutes.

Okay, not a car, but a boom truck. This is usually an empty lot that many don't use since it's on the backside of Arbys. But the occasional lawn care truck or city working truck parks there. Knowing this, whenever I park in this lot, I always park away and as close to the curb as I can in either my car or motorcycle, so that I leave them plenty of space for the bigger vehicles. This Jackass just looks like he was purposely trying to be an asshole and just got a little too close. Because when I came back to bike, he pulled away and re-parked about 30 feet over. I didn't notice the side mirror until I got moving.

Practicing getting it into 1st? You mean taking off from a stop?

One thing that really helped me understand the clutch was understanding the friction zone. Start off on one end of you drive, don't give it any throttle, and just slowly release the clutch until it starts to pull. Then pull the clutch back in. Slowly do that until you've walked the bike as far as you can go, turn around, and do it again. No throttle. Once you understand the friction zone, then slowly start adding throttle, but short gentle pulses.

This is how they taught us during the ABATE class. I'm sure it would seem pretty ridiculous to someone who already knows how to get the bike going, but for someone like me who had never ridden before then, it was the most helpful part of the training of the entire course.

I don't mean to brag myself, but out of our class of like 10-15, I scored the highest. So I know what I'm talking about. lol.

The class is actually fun. Nice and gentle learning progression. The only thing they don't teach you is how to go faster than 20-30, and ride with traffic. That was a little nerve-wracking my first time.

On one of the days right next to us beginners was the test-takers for those who already knew how to ride, but had to take the riding course test to get their endorsement. There was a girl that couldn't have been over 5' 3" who brought her crotch rocket to take the test with. She could not stand flat footed, and while she was there, we heard her drop it 3 times. The instructor pointed out to us that it amazes him how many times he see stuff like that. That not only do they get a bike too big for them, but they bring it along to take a test with. Said all they have to do is find someone with a small 250, pass the test, then they can go out and wreck their own bike.

The only thing I dinged on, and it kinda ticked me off was that I was going 2mph slower than the minimum speed around the 30 degree turn test. If I had known or remembered there was a minimum speed, I would have opened it up.

Heh. Kinda looks like how I felt I was riding the first time I took my bike out for the first time after getting it. Took the course, and even though I passed the highest in the class, 2 weeks between the end of the class and getting your own bike is a long time.

My main issue was not remembering what gear I was in, and when coming to a stop I would leave it in second. I've now learned to count, but to also double check before taking off.

I did drop my first bike twice. First time was going to dismount and forgetting to put down the kickstand. lol. Second time was trying to get the bike into neutral on the slope of my driveway. Rocked it back and forth a little, and just lost the center of gravity of the bike, and had to let it go.

LOL. One thing I've learned here in Indy, it isn't about turn signals, or head movements, it's lane position. There are A LOT of drivers here who have the ultimate poker face when it comes to driving. They give no indication of what they are going to do. They don't use turn signals or even check around them to see if it's safe to move. They are only concerned about the one car in front of them. And I've learned how to pretty well pick up on those idiots who don't use the law, or common sense when they drive. If they are tailing someone too close, or are hugging the line, tapping their brakes too often, are constantly slowing down then speeding up, they are probably going to cut you off without even making a glance to see if it's safe to pass.

This is what I always look for when I go through an intersection, I'm most always looking at their front tire to see if it's moving. Best way to tell if a car is moving.

And it was about 10 years ago there was a politician in Iowa who was trying to get "Spinners" banned because he jack-knifed his truck and boat because he thought it looked like someone was about to blow through a red light. Turns out they were stopped, and their wheels were just spinning. Not sure what ever came of that, but it's been a long time since I've seen "Spinners."

When I signed up, the first available class was in late august, and it was currently March. Indy fills up. And then there's a group that shows up before everyone else on the first day in hopes to get in through on the standby list. Had no idea it was so popular.

Past two days I've done something I've said I'd never do on the motorcycle. Taken the interstate to work. All I keep thinking is the line from the second Matrix movie where Trinity says to Morphius, "You said to never take the interstate, because it's instant death...." Or something along those lines.

But I've got another problem I need to figure out. My damn right hand keeps going numb about about 10 minutes of uninterrupted riding. I've tried changing my grip slightly. And I've found out that if I can hold onto the throttle with my thumb, extending my fingers out for a few seconds will get me a little relief temporarily. But I'd be afraid to take any trips where I'd be cruising for 30 minutes or more.

Nope. I've seen those, but unclear how they work. Do you press it with your palm?

I'm not entirely sure this may be something I need to go see a Dr about. I've found my fingers will go numb while playing Playstation, or other things like that.

My first bike had that problem. It was the little switch that the brake handle touches. Just a screw or two, pop off a wire or two, and replace. Was super simple. All it is is a simple micro switch much like the through-hole switches on a pinball machine. Don't know what HD's are like, but hopefully you can replace it with just a simple screwdriver.

Dang. Sorry man. That double U-turn was the toughest part for me to get the hang of during the training. Its hard not to put a foot down.

Yeap. Making sure you turn your head completely to see the direction you want to go, instead of looking at the ground directly adjacent to the front tire makes a ton of difference once you're able to trust yourself.

LOL. Didn't hear about this today. Damn local news. They never report the fun stuff.

See Gryszzz. There's your motivation to learn your tight u-turns. When you're running away from the cops, and you encounter a car barricade, you won't have to do a 3-point turn.

Not pinball or really motorcycle related, my latest VLOG episode does feature my motorcycle at the beginning of the video.

Man. It has been a year hasn't it. Need to get some pinball action too.

I'd love that! I need to have someone follow me with a gas can so that I can properly test out my bike. My new one does have a low fuel indicator, but comes on about 100 miles. Been told that I can go 120 miles on a single tank. I'm too scared to. And from what I can tell, there's no reserve tank petcock.

That's EXACTLY what happened to me the second season riding my first bike. I was PISSED at the Kawasaki dealer. I took it to them to look at and to change the oil. They said they couldn't find the problem, but it hadn't done it for them recently. Rode the bike home, it sputtered, backfired and died. I get it back home and realized that standing up made it backfire. Checked the battery, and one of the connectors was loose. How the hell can this happen, and not be one of the first things a bike shop checks? So I paid for their labor on not fixing the problem and eventually figured it out myself.

I'll let you know when I get to that point.

Cerrillos, New Mexico

I will take my bonus points as a lump sum please.

I need new tires this season. I'm not familiar with motorcycle tires, or pretty much any other tire. I called the local Triumph dealer to get an estimate on tires and install. They gave me a quote of $387 for parts and $203 for labor.

Talked to a local cafe racer inspired shop last year and they suggested a guy that would install them for $20. Now that shop is closed, and I never wrote down the guys name they suggested.

Anyone know the best way to find a good place to get work done without paying dealer fees?

Different people. The shop that went out of business suggested the guy who only charges $20. The shop didn't do the changes. And I'm not sure who that guy is that they were talking about now.

It was a cool shop though. They were around for about 3-4 years. But they were a niche shop and after they opened I wondered how long they would last. They tailored to the cafe racer types. But they didn't wrench on bikes. Only sold a small selection of clothing, boots, jackets, helmets, and very few accessories.

Just heard some sad news. There are no longer any Triumph dealers in the state of Indiana. There used to be 5 as of last year. Now there are zero.

Came to check out the new inventory, and the dealer said they were gone as of 2 weeks ago. Sounds like Triumph isn't making it easy for dealers, so they're dropping them.

Damn dude. Glad you're ok!

So far I've been lucky. The closest call I've had was doing about 40mph on a 4-lane commercial area. Lady was pulling out of a parking lot turning left, heading my direction. She shot over all three lanes, right into my lane.

Slammed on my brakes, locked up the rear, and slid towards the curb. Luckily, I was able to let go of the brakes just before I hit the curb and keep it on the wheels. After I had full control, I made sure she knew she was #1.

For one, I understand that people just don't look where they're going. But what almost drives me more nuts is that people don't understand the common rules of the road. Under no circumstance should she have shot over to my lane. Rules state that you must take the first open lane, and then merge when safe.

Oh, and speaking of laying it down with gravel, I puckered up a few weeks ago when I was going around a round-a-bout, and I ran over that tar-like patch-job on the asphalt. My tire slid the width of the patch, which was about 6-inches. Was like ice. I thought I was going down for a second.

This past summer I went to get new tires put on my Triumph, and while they were doing that, I decided to go look at the new Triumphs. I walked into the showroom where they used to be, and nothing. Salesman said they removed their affiliation with Triumph. Said there used to 6 Triumph dealers in Indiana, and he said in just a years time, that number became zero. So if I want to go to a Triumph dealer, I have to go to Ohio. If it's even still one.

Guess Triumph was acting like dick or something to dealerships, so they all said screw it.

Sucks.

Broke mine out last weekend. Man did it feel good to ride. Can't ride this weekend. Too much rain. And I hear sleet on the windows right now.

Well this just happened on my ride to work this morning. Went to go lift up as I was about to ride over a sheet of metal covering some construction work, and my right footpeg sheared off. And by the looks of the bolt, looks like it was already 2/3 cut though. Luckily I wobbled a bit but was able to maintain it. Not what I wanted to deal with.

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Nice. Got a 2014 Bonneville. SUPER sad though that last year, our local Triumph dealer dropped Triumphs. Said there were 5 dealers in the state of Indiana as of 2017, but they all dropped Triumph due to Triumph being dumb with the process or something. Now the closest dealer is about 5-6 hours away I think.

So I haven't even seen what the new bikes look like. Yours looks different than what I've seen before.

Took my first spill today. Was nice and sunny and about 52 degrees outside. I worked from home today, so I figured I'd get one last ride in during lunch before the crappy weather hits for the season.

Where I live, we're known as the roundabout capitol. Over 100 roundabouts have been built in the city. And I have always been leery of them on my motorcycle. Slow speeds and tight turns. And today, my fear came true.

But while my fear was just that, I knew the bike could always make it through, today it didn't. As I was rounding the bend, my tires just slipped right out from under me. Luckily, I was probably only going 10 mph, so me, and the bike didn't get far. And luckily, it was a little cooler out, so I was fully padded. If not, I know I would have had a nice rash on my left forearm for sure. My jacket shows it wasn't a gentle glide.

As for the bike, I got lucky with that too. The only things that broke were the two things that kept me from riding it home. The clutch lever snapped off, and the gear shift peg did as well. And other than a small chunk taken out of the end bar plate, the bike looks perfectly fine. I was expecting the tank to be all scratched up. But nope. Even the footpeg don't look like it even touched the ground, which im not sure how that was possible being that the gear shifter broke.

But the thing that bugs the hell out of me is I still have no idea what happened. I've taken that turn 100+ times before, all the same way. Ground was dry. My tires are new this season. I went back and walked the road, and didn't see anything that could have cause my to lose traction. So the only thing I could figure was that maybe the tires just were too cold and had no grip? But I've ridden before in colder weather and have had no issues. I've even gone around these roundabouts in rain too. So this is what worries me the most. I have no explanation for how the tires just went out from under me. Which is going to make me punchy the next time I get on it.

Was trying to remember what I was doing exactly. And per previous times going through, I usually just coast at that part. I'm not through the turn yet, so I don't really give it any gas until I straighten up, and I'm down in 2nd gear entering the round about and already slow enough that I don't need to use the brakes.

The ONLY thing I can think of is that maybe I was just going too slow, and that I laid the bike over just a tad too much while taking the turn? No idea.

But I'm safe, that's all the matters. Just a bruise on my right knee.

Yeah, cul de sac would probably have been similar to this roundabout. It's just fast enough to where you need to lean into it, but just slow enough that I guess you can lean too much. I've taken turns in the rain like I would if I was doing the "parking space" turn. Pretty much upright. Probably what I should have done here.

I'm about 80% sure that's what happened here + the cold tires (looking up info last night on what could have gone wrong, I guess a lot of people blame cold tires, but only because they didn't know they needed to change their riding style.)

This won't stop me from riding though. I know it was a fluke and wasn't enough to scare the $hit of me. Maybe if it was a close call on my life, maybe I'd quit while I was ahead. The thing I was most pissed about was that I wasn't able to continue and get my lunch pizza.

While the tow was picking me up, he was asking what happened. The roundabout happens to be right next to the high school, and he pointed out that a lot of the kids drive older cars that most likely drip oil and all of them drive through that roundabout. Which could also be the reason I have no problem with it during the summer, because school's out.

I kinda feel riding is like those F1 cars. Where if they go too slow, the fly off the corner. So in order to take turns, they have to be going fast.

I think I've hit some gravel going at least 40. The bike slides, but slides enough that it can still eventually find grip while you're maintaining the balance. But I feel if you go too slow, it's like slipping on gravel on your feet when you start to walk, you don't really have your balance under you.

Just need to go out and be confident with it. Thing I always try to keep in my mind when I ride is, the bike is able to do a lot, trust it.

Took mine out a couple times already, and man, I really wished I hadn't taken the spill I took my last ride of last year. Bike slid out from under me while doing 10mph+/- around a roundabout. Went around it the same way I had always done before. It was around 55 degrees outside and I've ridden in colder. So I really had no explanation as to why it went down. The only thing that could explain it was that I was only 5 minutes away from the house, so the tires may not have been warmed up, and I might have leaned just a tad too far for the speed.

But because of that, I've been extra cautious, and I hate it. Taking turns slower than normal, and making turns straighter. Cutting in tight and going out wide. i KNOW that with more speed I can lean into it, but it's just in my head. Hoping these short quick rides will get me feeling better and soon I'll forget all about it.

I really meant new as in not bald. They're about 3 years old now. I put about 1000-2000 miles on the bike every year. So basically like new. Also the point where I slid, I was still coasting, wasn't giving any throttle from what I remember. If I was, i wasn't in a point that i was ready to straighten out (meaning, gun it. Very controlled.). Was about 1/3 the way around the turn. Just think that I leaned into it too much with not enough speed on cold tires.

EDIT. because I kinda wanted to see for myself, here's a diagram of where I spilled. Green is the path and the path I was planning on taking. Red is where I started to notice it slipping and where the bike ended up.

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