SuzukiSavage.com - Riding in MS

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Riding in MS
10/16/12 at 11:21:38

So riding in MS.. I am really starting to become more comfortable in how I ride. Little things I catch my self doing:

On roads that are Blacktop but were concrete: You MUST ride to the side in one wheel track or the other. This is because the blacktop bulges up in the middle where the concrete slabs joined.

On roads that are only blacktop: Safe to ride in the middle, and preferable to avoid long grooves that make you wobble.

Riding at noon: streetlights (downtown)) will cast a shadow that looks like a pothole. ... There is no need to dodge these.

It is safe to warm your fingers on the chrome parts above the heads... DONT touch the heads!

Pulling out the "choke" after your ride will reduce the engine RPM... do this for a second or two then shut the engine down to reduce the anoying after-fire pop.

Most HD riders wearing a half-helmet will NOT acknowledge you with a return wave. It goes down to near zero if they also have tattoos and sleeveless shirts.

A dragonfly @ 50 mph really hurts in the chest!

Older car drivers that nearly run you over, will often apologize at the next light. Young drivers never do.

Kids in the back seat like to wave to "the guy on the bike".

Avoid intersections that are bumpy, or be prepared to shift to neutral sooner that normal. Otherwise the bumps make it hard to hit neutral.

Never ride with your jacket partly zipped. It becomes a parachute and makes turning your head difficult.. not to mention steering.

Never ride with anything ( cell phone) in your shirt pocket.

keep a wrench for tightening the mirrors after going 70MPH.

Keep a flashlight for looking in the gas tank.

Birds really are that stupid.

Never put your helmet on while storing your sunglasses on top of your head.

It is prefectly acceptable to rev your engine at the stop light to avoid listening to someone elses hiphop.

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Riding in MS Reply #1 - 10/16/12 at 11:32:15 It is prefectly acceptable to rev your engine at the stop light to avoid listening to someone elses hiphop. Its okay to wind it up & flick the kill switch & give them a coupla rifle cracks. It can be done very sneakily by putting a heel on the sidestand,
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SALB Serious Thumper Offline FSO Posts: 668 Whittier, AK Gender:	Re: Riding in MS Reply #2 - 10/16/12 at 12:01:55 A dragonfly @ 50 mph really hurts in the chest! And a swarm of June bugs will draw blood and make you cry! Mormon Crickets are slick as snot!
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Serowbot

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OK.... so what's the
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Re: Riding in MS
Reply #3 - 10/16/12 at 12:02:26

Good list...

- aim for animals,... if you try to dodge, they'll dodge the same direction...
- if you have hair, carry a beanie... helmethair terrifies old people and small children...
- if you loose your gum inside your helmet,.. it's in your hair...
- sneezing in your helmet is an art...
- anti-freeze is slicker than snot...
- gas caps will jump off your seat...
- keys first, then gloves...
- fear the Palo Verde Beetle...
Huh

...

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Ludicrous Speed !... ... Huh

...

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Dave YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 18101 Camp Springs, Kentucky Gender:	Re: Riding in MS Reply #4 - 10/16/12 at 13:05:28 When going out for a ride near dusk.....avoid the road that runs parallels with the river. It is really hard to get bugs out of a mesh jacket!
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WD

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Re: Riding in MS
Reply #5 - 10/16/12 at 13:13:19

Pecans are like large rocks under your tire. A falling black walnut can crack your helmet. Stay away from swarms of "love bugs", they'll peel the paint off your gas tank.

Specific to riding in coastal MS... avoid casino areas, old people can't see. That "tire gator" and/or "tar snake" may just be the real live reptilian version. Don't ride the beach road when the terns are in town. Don't go to the Gulfport Blow Out w/o a BUNCH of money (nothing's cheap, especially bail in Harrison County). The big Halloween car and bike show is worth the ride, so is Cruisin' the Coast.

Mardis Gras should be at my vacation place in Bay St Louis... Cool

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On 2 wheels since 7/87

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Riding in MS Reply #6 - 10/16/12 at 14:55:49 I used to really enjoy the drive from G/port back to base. That was a pretty stretch thru there,
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raydawg

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Re: Riding in MS
Reply #7 - 10/16/12 at 19:53:13

When casting a glance down your intended pathway you spy a dog who has seemingly picked you up on his radar, do not speed up. They have a very unique talent at triangulating....forcing you to try kicking him off.
Instead, slow down, and when you get close to his projected intercept zone, you then gun it.....running faster than he can adjust. And too, as you pass him by laugh loudly and say, "Look, I got thumbs too!"

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“The biggest big business in America is not steel, automobiles, or television. It is the manufacture, refinement and distribution of anxiety.”—Eric Sevareid (1964)

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Serowbot YaBB Moderator ModSquad Offline OK.... so what's the speed of dark? Posts: 28668 Tucson Az Gender:	Re: Riding in MS Reply #8 - 10/17/12 at 11:01:15 raydawg wrote on 10/16/12 at 19:53:13: ... laugh loudly and say, "Look, I got thumbs too!" Rub it in,.. rub it in... ...
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justin_o_guy2

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What happened?

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East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.

Re: Riding in MS
Reply #9 - 10/17/12 at 11:27:08

Dogs & 2 wheelers,, whats their problem, man?

There were 2 up the street from us, in Houston. I had a good bicycle, 26", 3 speed, but they would work as a team & I had a bad time getting by. Often, I would ride one of the other 2 ways out, about 3 more blocks. One day, when I decided I was goin straight thru, while I was watching one ahead of me, I realized the other was coming in from behind. I looked down just as it was about to chomp my foot & I lifted it off the pedal & its mouth was suddenly Full of pedal,,, I STOMPED the other pedal,,, that one didnt mess with me much after that,,

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The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.- Edmund Burke.

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misterbbq Full Member Offline newbie Posts: 157 Acworth, GA Gender:	Re: Riding in MS Reply #10 - 10/17/12 at 11:51:35 do NOT set anything you don't want on the ground on the seat of your idling savage. especially glasses. they're hard to find when you need them to see and they've bounced several feet away.
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Re: Riding in MS
Reply #11 - 10/17/12 at 18:18:59

raydawg wrote on 10/16/12 at 19:53:13:

When casting a glance down your intended pathway you spy a dog who has seemingly picked you up on his radar, do not speed up. They have a very unique talent at triangulating....forcing you to try kicking him off.
Instead, slow down, and when you get close to his projected intercept zone, you then gun it.....running faster than he can adjust.

The same is true for boar razorbacks, who are protecting their brood. In fact, near the point of intersection, you may want to raise your legs up as high under the handlebars as you can muster.

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The JOURNEY is the reward!

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stewmills

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Re: Riding in MS
Reply #12 - 10/19/12 at 10:31:10

...a few things i have learned...

- never put your sunglasses on your neck backwards inside your shirt collar if you are sriving as the sun starts going down...a) they will blow off your neck and b) your eyes get really dry so make sure you have your clear goggles/glasses handy.

- as much as some harley riders may snuff at our little bikes, they really love you when they are broken down in heavy traffic and you park and go back to push their bike while they sit on it and jump start it (dead battery). yeah, i did this on may way home from lunch today.

- little bugs hitting your leg in cold weather at moderate speeds might as well be a porcupine...it hurts just the same.

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stewmills

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Imagination is more
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Re: Riding in MS
Reply #13 - 10/19/12 at 15:52:36

Oh...

- and don't ride too close behind big trucks on a tree covered city thru-street..the big trucks will clip the limbs out of the trees and drop them right down in front of you...if not on you.

- WATCH your rear view mirrors when turning. i clearly had my right blinker on, but eased to the left-hand side of the lane to widen my position for the right turn, and the freak behind me started to sneak up and get on the right edge of the road as if to overtake me in the shoulder as if I were taking a left turn into the turning lane.

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