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camos

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Everything posted by camos

  1. It's such a bonus when an occasional day with dry roads happens so I can accelerate in the twisties without a pucker. Small minds can enjoy small things.
  2. I don't know where your commute is but in downtown Victoria cyclists are on the sidewalks about as often as they are on the road. I am so tempted to clothesline them when they go by me. There is a bylaw against riding on the sidewalk but I have never seen it being enforced. Bicycles are considered vehicles and have the right to be on the road and are required to follow the same rules of the road as all other vehicles. There are lots of really stupid, self centered people on the roads and cyclists are probably no worse than the rest of them. Many of our roads have cycle lanes but not all do and I don't mind cyclists riding in a sensible manner. I don't like cyclists that can't seem to decide whether they are a vehicle or a pedestrian. My personal opinion is that bicycles should have to be registered and licensed in the same manner as motor vehicles. It is not about using the road but rather to enable fines and suspensions for stupid cyclists just like we have for stupid motorists.
  3. On occasion I have ridden my bike around the driveway without a helmet but I always wear one on the street. It's probably just as well since last week I was on my scoot, (Honda Jazz) came around a parked car heading into a gated compound, saw the gate 3/4 open but thought it was closing and grabbed for the only brake available. I'm in this 90 degree turn doing about 20 kph, and panicked, I guess. Unfortunately my right hand was holding the swipe card folder so the only brake available was the front one. Pretty much came to a stop before the front wheel locked up and popped out from under us. That would be me and the scoot. Didn't slide but whacked my helmet on the concrete pretty good so it has some nice scars. Hate to think what would have happened if my head had been naked. This morning I'm off to work and there is a skiff of snow on the ground from last night but the roads were clear so I rode the Virago as usual. Half way into town and within about half a kilometer the conditions changed from our usual ho-hum winter weather to full blown back east style weather. There was about 5 inches of snow on the side of road and packed snow and ice on the road. Anyway, long story short, I dumped the bike at about 40 kph. Kinda like that video of the Vision on here recently except I didn't touch the front brake and I was properly dressed. No damage to me or the helmet this time but the potential was there. I was very stupid to have continued and very lucky I did not get run over by the following traffic. I suspect most of you won't be doing really dumb things such as I have just related but to me, a helmet is just as important as good tires, perhaps more so.
  4. The 45Magna may be a 750 but its 4 cylinders and 80 hp make it about equal to a 1200 V-twin. My 1100 Virago has only about 60 hp. The first bike I bought when getting back into riding was a Virago 500. It was good to learn on because it is light but too small once I got proficient. If your son is already riding and is happy with a cruiser the xv1100 is a better choice than the xv500. Keep in mind 4 cylinder 750s are way more powerful than the 750 V-twins.
  5. If you are still using that Dr. you really should consider getting a different one who is more knowledgeable about the Human body structure. If you care to look in daily life, you will see people who have very narrow wrists and people who have very thick wrists without being under weight or overweight. Wrists are generally an easy place to see bone structure as there is not much muscle in that area. Then of course there is the description that SilverT gave which is also quite noticeable. Not casting any stones here but some people hardly notice anything.
  6. That weight might be OK for your frame or not but it mostly depends on how your doctor calculates obesity. Some doctors have been using a faulty method of calculation. Here is a snippet from Wikipedia about the Body Mass Index often used by some, even doctors, to judge possible obesity: BMI provided a simple numeric measure of a person's "fatness" or "thinness", allowing health professionals to discuss over- and under-weight problems more objectively with their patients. However, BMI has become controversial because many people, including physicians, have come to rely on its apparent numerical authority for medical diagnosis, but that was never the BMI's purpose; it is meant to be used as a simple means of classifying sedentary (physically inactive) individuals with an average body composition. For these individuals, the current value settings are as follows: a BMI of 20 to 25 may indicate optimal weight; a BMI lower than 20 suggests the person is underweight while a number above 25 may indicate the person is overweight; a person may have a BMI below 20 due to disease; a number above 30 suggests the person is obese (Al C) (over 40, morbidly obese). For a given height, BMI is proportional to weight. However, for a given weight, BMI is inversely proportional to the square of the height. So, if all body dimensions double, and weight scales naturally with the cube of the height, then BMI doubles instead of remaining the same. This results in taller people having a reported BMI that is uncharacteristically high compared to their actual body fat levels. In comparison, the Ponderal index is based on this natural scaling of weight with the third power of the height. However, many taller people are not just "scaled up" short people, but tend to have narrower frames in proportion to their height. It has been suggested that instead of squaring the body height (as the BMI does) or cubing the body height (as the Ponderal index does), it would be more appropriate to use an exponent of between 2.3 and 2.7. [/url]
  7. When I tested it I did just what you suggested DanC. Turned out to be the bulb. The filament appeard sound but there was discoloration around the base that indicated heat. Must have been just a coincidence that two lights on the same side went out in the same manner. Thanks for the suggestions. Help is always appreciated.
  8. I'm going to assume there was a real question in there and accept the challenge. Using 1700 works to clearly identify the hour with no minutes and also, 17:00 looks like seventeen hundred even though there are only 60 of those hundred being used as minutes. Using 17 could mean either 1700 or 0017. That explanation works for me, does it work for you? What I have never been able to figure out is why "they" say niner instead of nine. Nine is as unique sounding as any of the other numbers. On another note. No PMS across the ditch from you. I ride to work every day on my bike and then ride a scooter all day at work. Missed riding 2 days so far this winter due to snow or ice.
  9. Don't know how long, but for quite a while. Their price was only marginally better (about $15) than Victoria Motorcycle. Buying local is OK if you are in a rush or have no time to arrange a delivery/pickup in the US. Seems many/most of the local shops still figure we islanders are stuck with whatever they want to charge. I'm ready, I get some Saturdays off and all Sundays. Haven't had a fun ride since last fall. Bit depressed tonight as I lost the right side cover on my way to work this morning. It's hard to find replacements. They handle great. Can't remember exactly what I've got on them but somewhere around 15000 Km (about 9000 miles) and they hardly look worn. Seems like they will last a reasonably long time.
  10. No doubt that it is but a headlight kit and one for two driving lights plus a spare bulb for each is mucho dinero...close to 300 Canuck Bucks which makes me itch.
  11. I bought the rear tire at Adrenalin on Pembroke Street. Unfortunately I don't recall what I paid but it was the best price I could find in Victoria. I bought the front tire from Motorcycle Superstore and had it shipped to Washington, picked it up and installed it there. The shipping was a lot, lot cheaper. At the same time I ordered a set of fog lights and a horn. Picking everything up at the same time, the savings paid for my trip plus a bit.
  12. I don't have any experience with the D404 but I did run Bridgestone S11's on my xv1100. They came with the bike and lasted very well. I put a little over 18000 miles on them and they weren't new when I got the bike. The tires would track on bridge decks and skitter on tar snakes, particularly in the rain. I didn't hate them but I didn't like them. The Bridgestones were replaced by E3's and I absolutely love the difference in handling. There is no tracking on bridge decks and tar snakes are rarely felt in the rain. My Virago gets ridden every day to work rain or shine. There have been only two days that we had snow on the road so my car got some exercise but lots of rainy wet road days. I used to dread rainy trips on the Bridgestones but with the E3's they are a piece of cake. I should think the MR90-18 and the MU90B16 E3's would work just fine on a gen1. I sure hope so as those are the ones I was planning on getting for my 90 VR when I eventually get it on the road.
  13. Yes but unfortunately, nothing on sale that I am interested in. Oh well my request for a promotion code was a long shot. Putting in a switch isn't such a big deal other than that, I sure hope they work out since it seems like a lot of $$ just to see where I'm going.
  14. Does anyone have a promotion code from HID Country for their HID kits? I need to get enough for 3 lights soon. I'm tired of riding in the dark.
  15. Great idea, I'll hook the light up directly to the battery and see if it works then go from there. It is not just common to two lights but to two sets of lights. The original set did the same as the set that replaced it. The same side went out on both which would indicate the problem is likely in the wiring or connectors on the same side. The first check though will be the direct hookup as mentioned above. If the direct hookup works then I expect I will have to trace the bad side back to where it connects to the other side before connecting to the relay. Very simple when it all gets sorted out logically. Thanks a bunch for your input.
  16. I had considered that a problem with the ground could cause the light to not light. Since the other light was working it did not seem certain that was the cause. I can't think of any other cause than what you suggested though. The lights are powered through a relay with a two wire circuit to the battery. If there is a ground problem it would likely have to be where they connect before running back to the neg bus at the battery.
  17. Got a strange one here, at least to me anyway. A few of months ago one of the fog lights on my bike would be slow to start when turned on while the other one lit immediately. After a few weeks the slow light stopped working. As a test I replaced it with a spare light and it worked. Assumed it was just a faulty bulb and began using the spare rather than find the problem with the original one. Fast forward a couple of months and that spare light started getting slow to start too and after a week or so it also stopped working. Today I checked the voltage across the two supply connections which was about 13.5 at an idle. Plugged one of the connections back into the light and checked the voltage across the supply line and the light line and it was the same 13.5. Seems to me power at the supply line but no light would indicate a burnt out bulb or some other internal circuit issue. If the bulb were burnt out there should have been no voltage indicated with the second test. Didn't have time to open the light up to check further. What am I missing? The bulbs used are yellow H3's which are not readily available around here. I could try a white H3 but I'm going to order a set of HD H3 bulbs and give them a try so I didn't want to pay for a bulb that would not see much use.
  18. Beware of a link to google images of the Honda Pacific as they contain bad stuff that will not allow the window to be closed and will infect your computer's cache with a virus. I had to shut down to get out of that situation. After restarting then clearing the cache no other virus was detected. The wikipedia link is safe though. As for the bike, it's small and doesn't look like a very good deal when compared to a Venture of the same year.
  19. Me too. We had a little snow a few weeks ago so I insured my car for 3 months just in case but drove it to work only twice so far.
  20. So the only time these things will add bling is when the bike is not running. Hmmm... seems more suited to those who Hardly ever ride their iron horse.
  21. With any street bike a convenient switched power source is the front running lights which almost always can be accessed relatively easily. The down side to using the basic high beam relay method is the headlight won't go off while starting. I'm not sure how much of a problem that is though. For what it is worth, there have been occasions that I have forgotten to turn off the two 55w fog lights on my Virago prior to starting with no apparent ill affects. I don't normally run the fog lights during the day due to the Virago's weak charging system which is probably more pathetic than the one on the Venture.
  22. I second that one. My favourite motto is "cook once, eat many." Leftovers also make a great lunch for work. Sure get some envious comments from the sandwich brigade and the pizza by the slice bunch.
  23. It's good that you got it even though your question was never answered. Terminals 86 and 87 are two ends of the circuit through the electromagnetic coil that operates the switch represented by 30 and 87. One end connects to the switched power from the ignition and the other end connects to ground. It doesn't matter whether 86 is powered or 87 is as long as one is powered and one is grounded. Don't bother getting cheap relays because they usually don't last very long and there isn't much difference in cost between good ones and cheap ones.
  24. Yah!! Many people in Ontario think they are Canada. Many people in Quebec think they should be Canada. Many people in the West wish either one were true. B.C. keeps the Peace Arch open to the US all year every year.
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