I also find that motorcycle riding has a lot more mental work than driving a car, sort of constant 'vector analysis', contingency planning, road surface and traffic monitoring at triple or quadruple the level done in a car. Part of the attraction is that extra level of being one with the road and environment and that extra mental work....perhaps an academic study will investigate and deem motorcycle riding a great inhibitor of the onset of dementia and Alzheimers.
With each of my two 1985 CB-650SCs (regards touring, which I only do a bit of, being more a daily commuter sort), I have an aftermarket Sargent seat and the notoriously short range (I fill up at about 120 miles on the odo). Absolutely not a problem in my commuting, and even in my Washington DC centric touring....I like to stretch every 120 miles or so anyways and hydrate. It would be more of an issue in the West where I used to ride (and sometimes do with my brother NoCal or son SoCal...we each keep two bikes running so we can ride as a duo when one flies in for a visit). My daily commute (Spring, Summer, Fall....I wimp out in winter circa Nov/Dec till about Mar/Apr when the 0600 temperature is below 36-38 degrees....I just ride winter on the weekend in the middle of the day) is 19 miles each direction, made up of about 10 miles of stop and go, about 8 miles of riverside parkway, and a mile of freeway. The parkway makes it pretty fun ride, for a commute. I save quite a bit of money commuting by motorcycle three quarters of the year, vice by automobile....not so much in the gas though there is that....more in the free parking, the reduced insurance, the cheaper (mostly self) maintenance and greatly reduced number of cold starts and warmups on the more expensive sedan (and thus extended life of the sedan). After paying for the motorcycles and their maintenance, I compute I save between $2,000 and $3,000 per year in commuting costs per year (including buydown of the acquisition costs...fairly minimal at a average of $900 each...). I spend that windfall in taking care of my horse....another fun ride, but in the red ink, vice the black ink of the motorcycles. I somewhat got the 2nd Nighthawk as a 'running parts bike' but the durned machines are so reliable it seems a bit of overkill....it is however convenient to be able to have one down for a while awaiting a convenient time to do maintenance or repair. But I'm basically keeping two for now for the brother or son visit. Maybe someday I'll have to cannibalize one to keep the other rolling, but so far....two in good shape (if not cosmetically perfect....in particular I'd love to find an affordable source for the rear brake light red plastic....both of mine are cracked and glued back together). My main regrets with the Nighthawks I have are no ABS and insufficient electric generating power for grip heaters....and perhaps the lack of a lockable box sufficient for a full face helmet. Someday that may take me to a box add-on on one or perhaps another model, but not envisioned for any time soon. But for now, I warm my hands on clod mornings on the engine at a stoplight, avoid the deepest cold, and a tad more conservatively than I might with ABS, and helmet lock, bungies and cord net are my friends for cargo. Regards, Mike Vienna VA (work in Washington DC) 1985 Blue CB-650SC 1985 Black CB-650SC Shiloh Chestnut 14yo 15.3hh quarterhorse gelding On Apr 29, 2011, at 6:03 AM, [email protected] wrote: > Today's Topic Summary > Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers/topics > > Options for carrying extra gas? [1 Update] > Trail, gyroscopic torque, and countersteering [1 Update] > Topic: Options for carrying extra gas? > Lie Njie <[email protected]> Apr 28 09:37PM -0700 ^ > > I've done several 4-6 hour rides so far, with stops along the way, which is > my > plan. I'm figuring about 200 mi / day on average, with some days longer and > some much shorter (or no riding at all). > > I *definitely* have felt the difference between the bike and a car -- I can > do > 8-14 hours in a car no problem, but there's so much more mental work on the > bike > that I have to stop and clear my head every 100 miles or so. > > My fear with the gas is being stuck on a long stretch in Kansas or South > Dakota > where there's 100+ miles between towns. But I'm sure with planning, I'll be > ok. > > I've got two GPS's, one on my iPhone that has stored (and updated) maps, one > on > my Android which downloads real-time from Google, so I think I'm set there. I > occasionally turn on turn-by-turn directions and have that play on the > bluetooth > in my helmet. > > But yeah, I totally understand this isn't like any of my previous > cross-country > car trips. That's one of the main attractions of this kind of adventure. ;) > > Peace, > +Lie > > On 11-04-28 20:52, Joey Kelley wrote: > > Topic: Trail, gyroscopic torque, and countersteering > Kurt Nolte <[email protected]> Apr 28 09:08PM -0400 ^ > > Seriously. One of the comments also pointed out that their bike still had a > caster angle, just a negative one instead of a positive one. > > Also, look at kid's foot-powered scooters. They have some pretty minuscule > caster angles on the steering shaft, and they don't stay upright very well > at all without a person at the controls. Now, some of that is undoubtedly > the effect of very tiny wheels and slow speeds resulting in low gyroscopic > effect, but the caster angle likely plays some part in it as well. > > -Kurt > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
