Hatrack River Forum: First ride of the "season"

This is topic First ride of the "season" in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

I got the motorcycle out today. I was trying to go for a ride last week, but I found out that I'd done a very bad thing to my battery by letting it just decharge all winter and then trying to trickle charge it with a charger intended for car/truck batteries.

Apparently, as I have now learned, motorcycle batteries need a different kind of battery maintenance charging system. I'll have to get one.

Drat.

At any rate, I found a great online store for bike batteries. Ordered a battery on Saturday. It was here via UPS on Monday!!! Free shipping too. And the battery was at least $20 less than from the dealer.

Holy cow!

So, took my bike out. Let it warm up real slow. Then headed out on the local highway.

I was so worried. The poor bike was struggling to stay at the speed limit of 55 mph Anyway, it would get there...but it seemed sort of sluggish. It was riding smoothly, no real hesitation, just seemed like maybe the engine was a bit starved or something.

So, I turned around, suddenly the bike was shooting down the road at 70+ mph and I was barely hitting the throttle!!!

Um...

Physics less for today:

Iowa

Windy

Heading into the wind...bike slows down

Heading with the wind...bike speeds up.

It was great to get out again. dkw and I are going to try for a nice ride tomorrow. I came home saying "I think it's a bit chilly and the wind is bad right now..." So we waited and it finally got better at like 9 pm. Too late for tonight.

So... tomorrow, we hope.

Posted by gnixing (Member # 768) on :

*I always had the impression that Bob was a biker -- I don't recall if I just thought it, or if he's posted about it in the past
/musing

Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :

Pretty much everyone here with a postcount over 10k is a biker. This was originally a biker forum, didn't you know?

--Enigmatic
(not quite Minnesotan enough to type "dohntcha know?")

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

[ROFL]

Apparently that song that talks about the "wind goes whipping down the plain" is true.

I don't know what the wind speed was this afternoon, but I'm guessing it must've been around 15 - 20 mph given the bike's reaction to it. Although that doesn't seem like much, it's noticeable on a two-wheeler.

Interestingly, I didn't really have any problem with buffeting. I think it must be either that the wind was completely steady the whole time (which is possible here) or the bike is just heavy enough to not react that much to cross winds. It is a lot more stable than my first bike (a 750) and it has farings that help compared to my second bike ( really just a less dressed version of the one I have now).

Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :

quote:
"wind goes whipping down the plain"

That's Oklahoma. [Razz]

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

Well...I know that's the name of the musical, but really, we're in the plains states, right? The wind in Oklahoma had to come from somewhere. I think I found out where.

<whoosh>

Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Bob_Scopatz:
Physics less for today:

Iowa

Windy

Heading into the wind...bike slows down

Heading with the wind...bike speeds up.

Gotta love it!

Posted by Tater (Member # 7035) on :

Motorcycles on the road always scare me.

me: "Crazy motorcycle riders!" [Grumble]

but i'm sure you're safe and don't weave in and out of lanes just to stress out everyone else on the road, right?

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

No, I do it to get away from the crazy 4 wheel vehicle drivers who don't notice motorcycles and have this nasty habit of driving well beyond their skill level.