LilBeaver

Thoughts and prayers sent wherever needed. Gdspeed.

Okay - so you say you haven't liked the E3s since day 1. Have you taken the time to carefully inspect the bead and the tires them selves to see if it is, in fact, an issue with not being mounted properly? Have you checked to make sure that the rear axle spacer is in the correct place? (as suggested)

:think: What? Is it something I said? :confused24: :stickpoke::rasberry:

Welcome to the site! I think we have another member down under that goes by the name aus... OH, wait a minute :rasberry:

This is clearly not an issue with tires. Obviously it is a direct result of switching to a heavier weight oil.

except my name isn't ken.

Hey hey, that's some good news! Thanks Mike! By the way I got a good laugh out of your first post beacause that described me to a 'Tee'

Bump. This is pretty awesome, EVEN THOUGH it was done by the buckeyes... http://collegefabricstore.com/images/MICHIGAN-Wolverines-LOGO.gif :smile5:

I know that Friesman commented on this already but I'll provide a little more info here on the cellular phone services. The cellphone locators use a combination of GPS and the cellular towers. That is, the handset itself has GPS chip in it that uses the GPS satellites to determine the coordinates/location of the handset, then those coordinates are transferred to the host service via the cell towers/data network. Spot does not use the actual GPS satellites for communication purposes, it is another network but that is really beyond the scope of this thread. Point of story, yes SPOT seems to be a great tool - especially in the case of the off road applications or a few weeks ago the story posted about the 3 professional riders on their way to sturgis; one ended up needing serious medical attention. --- What turns me off to it is the $$$$. But hey, maybe I'm just a cheapskate.

I guess I could have been more clear in my original post. I was fishing for more information; all else in terms of a direct response to that have been said so I'll can it for now. I am very curious as to what caused this unusual wear though, hopefully we'll find out.

Thoughts and prayers headed your way.

First and foremost thank you ALL for your generocity and kindness. Especailly: - Eck for taking charge and doing the driving/real work - Buddy for suggesting this and getting the donation ball rolling - last but not least Lowell for being such a fantastic guy! Now, just get yourself back healthy again!!! Now for the business end. I was planning to ride these generous donations out to WildHair within the next couple of days, and really liked the idea of a mini-meet and eat to present the donations to him - but it looks like I'm just not going to be able to swing it until late next week (at the earliest). So, unless others have suggestions, I'll be putting it in the mail tomorrow afternoon with a card and a note. Thanks again for all of your donations, I'm sure Lowell will really appreciate it!! :thumbsup2:

http://www.naute.com/funimages/cowasaki.jpg I'm just sayin'

Fixed the order...

LOL. I appreciate the thought; since we are 'going there' I guess I should go ahead and speak the rest of my mind on this 'issue' here and now to really clarify the situation for anyone who might be following along. First and foremost our (mine and her) friendship started because we shared an office and work in the same field. The catalyst for the friendship, or the medium that seemed to inspire conversation and a connection beyond work was a common interest in bikes. Her interest in bikes stems from her childhood (and I will give her the benefit of the doubt on being honest with me about why she was interested in bikes). Perhaps I am just a 'tool' to 'test' her current b.f. but I cannot ignore the possibility that extension of my excitement and enjoyment of bikes was a medium for us to develop a platonic friendship. Now, I will admit that the additional 'drama' with the other guy in the picture does add an 'interesting' element as to potential motivations for our interactions, but, she does have many other friends that happen to be guys as well. Therefore, I have limited reason to see why I would stick out any differently than anyone else. Well, other than the fact that I was the only one with a bike. Your insight as to the 'competition' aspect or 'jealousy' aspect is a rather intriguing aspect though and from a purely 'outsider' standpoint, I can definitely see some validity to that perspective and certainly note the implications that ensue. While I may be dense at times, some have even likened my ability to see and appropriately respond to members of the opposite gender's attempts at courtship or flirting to the intelligence of a sack of sh.. well shall we say potatoes or rocks? And maybe I have demonstrated that throughout this situation as well. Given this circumstances that make up this particular situation I do think that a much less Freudian approach to human nature is necessary to get a true and accurate overall picture. If we were talking about a nightclub, singles bar, or other type of social gathering type scene/encounter; or quite frankly if it started anyway OTHER than how it did, I would have definitely been much quicker to hop on that bandwagon. I do realize that the blood to the head theory holds a lot of merit and I do have a large tendency to over think things which leads me to the fact that there is certainly a distinct possibility that I am simply a 'tool' (save the smart @$$ comments for later because I do mean it in both senses of the word) -- It wouldn't be the first time. However, given the circumstances and personality of my friend (much of which I may NOT have represented very fairly in this thread since I have focused primarily on the excitement of riding, sharing motorcycling with someone else and my poking fun at the behavior of the other male associated with this particular situation), I am leaning towards the explanation of her behavior as a notion of competitiveness, attempt at jealousy or supremacy, in this particular situation, is not intended to be harmful or a 'test' in any way. I certainly do not have much of a feel for the other guy involved since my interactions with him have been limited to a voice message, verbal exchange, then what was outlined in my last post. In my book, chivalry isn't dead. Make your 'Forrest Gump' jokes if you'd like; I have had my share of relationships. Some were over very quickly, some not so quickly and one that lasted several years. Maybe that is why I'm not in a hurry to let a woman get in between me and my life goals again, or maybe it is the fact that I'm all about developing real connections with the people I spend time with and get to know them very well before proceeding down a path of pursuing a closer personal relationship. One thing I DO know for sure is that when I get out on the bike, out in the open and cruise along - I can truly relax and enjoy myself. I guess that is why I get so excited for the people around me when they take an interest in riding. With the peace of mind and sense of personal freedom that my bike has brought and continues to bring me I guess I just get caught up in it when someone else takes an interest in it as well since I have the hope it will bring them a similar peace. At any rate, I feel like dropping the friendship entirely now would be a mistake; however, pretending like there is nothing going on is certainly NOT wise either (since that could mean un-necessarily giving up a friendship). So, all of this being said, some more careful observation and a direct (but tactful) conversation or two will be able to answer some more questions before anything too dramatic (and likely leading to unnecessary drama) happens. With all of this said, I have a hard time going with what someone writes in their blog or some writer scribbles down in 'cosmo'. While some of them may have made some good observations and have a particular perspective on aspects of human behavior that can be generalized enough to sound reasonable; and I will acknowledge that sometimes magazine writers are qualified in whatever they write about or they do their own research (based on, for example, actual published research in the some of the Psychology or sociology journals) I personally will stick to what I read in the credible sources that are out for the sake of science instead of entertainment. What might appear as skepticism or hard hardheadedness stems from the fact that one of my degrees happens to be in Psychology, followed by a minor in sociology. I am obviously no expert in my own personal human interactions, but I think I'll still stick with what I have studied, observed and learned from folks doing 'real' research over some blog or entertainment magazine. I have to be careful because I certainly know that some of the 'real' research being conducted by some quacks and sociologists out there is complete hokum, there are some really nice theories that have been tested many different ways and have been continually refined over decades of work. Okay mini-lecture over . Sorry about the long post, but, I guess I felt like I needed to 'paint' a better picture of where I stand and why I am where I am at. I do really appreciate the input and concern that some of you have expressed both publicly and privately and bottom line: no worries folks, as I have stated all along - my intentions are and have been pure and if it turns out that there are some shenanigans going on that I am missing, then I'll ride on and not look back. I call it being dense but I guess really it only took one or two go arounds for me to decide/learn that life is too short for the b.s. With that said, maybe a weekend in Amarillo to kick back and make some new friends ought to be in order anyways . Until next time...

I'll admit that it is a good lookin bike. Hope you get lots of miles and enjoyment out of it!!

So THAT's my problem. I spend ALL day (and most nights) researching, calculating, working out problems, analyzing data etc and when I get on the bike I let all that go and focus on riding and relaxing INSTEAD of using my head. Maybe I should make a shirt that says "Slow down and explain it to me, I'm just a guy"

Okay so what pressure were you running at? Last month I put 6500 miles on my brand new set and they still look fine... I maintained ~40 PSI front and rear. Maybe its just me but in Pic 3 it looks like you've got no tread on the right side but some left on the left side. You make a lot of right turns or what?

I burned through a set of Venoms and am working on E3s now. Oddly enough I've had problems with both. The E3 was an issue with the dingus that installed it, so that doesn't really count. The issues with the Venoms were the sidewall cracking (1st set) and tread separation (2nd set) that others have mentioned. Because of my experience with the Venoms I am done with Avon for a while. I'm not enough of a gambler to try the Meltzers though. Good luck to those of you that are running them. http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-basic/popcorn.gif

I guess I hadn't really considered any of that... I got caught up in the excitement of bikes, riding, and I am apparently quite dense . hmm....

Son of a B! How in the world did I miss this :think: Looks like a good MD though. I guess I need to pay closer attention to the dates and stuff going on here...

Alright folks, since there seems to be some interest I suppose I can update about today's ~250 mile ride. It was an interesting day to say the least; I guess it'll be easiest to just walk through it. As a warning, it is going to be pretty boring. Yesterday she called and asked if I would have time to take her for a ride today (no surprise as we had tentatively set it up for this weekend anyways - I had mentioned this a few posts ago too, so bare with me here.) so, of course, I said sure - when and where. We chatted a little about her getting her license, the MSF course and what gear she has now. Point of sharing this is she asked if she could use my extra helmet, even though she has one of her own, so that we could talk while we rode. I rolled out of my driveway around 715 this morning to a beautiful cloudless sky, 65 F, and a beautiful sunrise. Rolled up to her place around 730, she came out immediately and a few minutes later the bf came out too. I said good morning to him and he just sort of looked and grumbled something at me. As hard as it was, I did make a point of being very pleasant with him to make sure to not insert any unecessary tension in their relationship. I asked him how long he had had his bike and how long he had been riding, etc etc, then followed up with how long we all wanted to be out. He had said that he didn't have any particular destination in mind and didn't care how long we would be out; (this is my favorite part) at this point she laughed at him and said "That is a dangerous thing to say around [Rick]... That could mean a 10 or 12 hour ride". His response in a nutshell: Some more follow up ensued and I suggested a route that would keep us out for 150-175 miles and take about 3.25 hours to complete. As [her and I] saddled up, he had made some comment to her about riding with me instead of him - but I didn't really hear all of it, but she hopped on and was ready to go so I didn't acknowledge whatever he had said (mostly because I honestly couldn't make it out). So, side-stands went up around 745 or so and we were off. We (her and I) had some time to catch up and she had shared that he had adjusted his attitude tremendously and things were now back on track and going very well for them - so, that was good to hear. Among this conversation she had mentioned that she was completely shocked when he said he wanted to take an MSF course and get a bike too. Especially since he was so opposed to motorcycles a few months ago - this made me snicker to myself, but quietly enough so that she would continue... He led out of town and for most of the first half of the ride (I wanted him to so that we would go at a comfortable pace for him, etc etc) He pulled off for our first stop around 60 miles or so. He needed to stretch out and was already getting a little sore (his seat is quite hard, apparently). There was some minor chit-chat among them, and he was reasonably pleasant, although there was very limited exchange between him and myself. We continued on for another 70 miles or so, where we stopped for fuel and to decide which way to go. We had 3 options, a very direct way back, a moderately direct way back or 'keep riding'. He opted for the very direct way back - so, no big deal we took off that direction (at this point we were still 60 miles away so there was plenty of time for a certain passenger to call an audible). Surprisingly enough, not long after getting going again she had expressed her disappointment about heading back so soon and mentioned that she wanted to stay out a bit longer ('. So, I waited until we got considerably closer to town then pulled off to chat with him and share the plans. Upon our stop, she asked how he was doing and with a few grimaces, he said he was fine. I mentioned that we were going to keep riding and he was welcome to come along or head back. He decided to continue along. So, we rode some more and ended up back at her house around 130 or so and totaling about 250 miles for the day. It was a short day but her and I had a great time. While I was stowing the helmet that I let her use and whatnot he came over and we all 3 chatted a little bit before I left. I can say that watching him get off of his bike was QUITE entertaining; I am all too familiar with those expressions (as I have my share of long days on uncomfortable bikes). HOWEVER, watching was not nearly as entertaining as asking how he was doing and listening him say that he was 'okay', followed by HER immediately telling him how comfortable WE had been the entire time. I will say that dealing with him today he seemed like a completely different person than the last couple times I have dealt with him... But different circumstances, I suppose. Whatever - we rode bikes today, so its all good. While out riding, her and I talked quite a bit more about what kind of bike she is interested in and she still wants to go bike shopping - she seems to be seriously looking for a small cruiser (as I posted a while back). Incidentally, I may be in contact with a few of you on here for pictures, more information, etc. As of right now she is 1-3 months away from actually making a purchase as she had some car trouble that cost her a pretty penny. But we'll see. I know I know, this was a pretty boring read, but hey - I had a great ride with some great company (and she mentioned the same thing before we got back, that made me feel good) and she seems happy with where she is at. So, who knows - maybe I'll have a 3rd riding 'friend' too... Anyways, I hope I didn't let any of you 'followers' down with the boring-ness of today's ride/post . By the way, we've already got the next ride planned , but shhhhhhhhh not everyone knows yet. She seems happy, and that is really all I care about. So, until next time:

I know it is a little late, but for what it is worth I have ~19k+ Miles on my rear pads. I am using the EBC organic (NOT the HH sintered ones) and I'm on the rear brake A LOT (it is a must for low speed maneuvering). I switched the inner/outers maybe around 12k (I'd have to go look it up - that info is on my other computer...) but I have relatively even wear on my pads. I opted to NOT go with the HH sintered ones because I would rather replace my brake pads than a rotor and I feel that I have adequate stopping power without locking up the rear wheel with these pads the way they are. Like I said, I know I'm a day late and a dollar short, but I figured I'd throw my in.

He did a few weeks ago. I wonder how he'll do on a 5-600 mile day riding beside me and her