Wednesday Evening Cruises 2008-09

[stevewederell]

That's easy. Attend a first aid course, that'll give you all the answers you need as a layman. But baring that, the most important thing is to keep a cool head and act in a rational manner.

And if you hope that someone with a clue about first aid is around if you come off, then it would only be courteous to attend such a course yourself.

And in conclusion - there's a huge difference between being trained in something and being an instructor.

All good and well but none of the courses I have attended really talked about some of the specific problems that you may encounter on the road, like a semi concous rider with a helmet on - sorry. This should be about Wed' rides not survival,as you were

[imdying]

What did they say when you asked about it Steve?

[McWild]

Cheers for the ride last night everyone, despite the usual mayhem.
Damn shame about the accident but I suppose all to be done now is give the best wishes for a quick recovery.
Good to meet some more people and see all the 250s out. Also cool to see some wheelies at the night's end, haven't seen them in person yet so yeah.
And also sorry to anyone I held up on the way home, I was travelling at 75ish for a number of reasons - being sobered up by the accident, it being night, and probably most strongly... my bike being fucked
So may or may not be there next week. If the bike isn't in shape I might just have to bring the 50cc powerhouse and unleash it upon the carpark to relieve the emptiness.

[Bren_chch]

Cheers for the ride last night everyone, despite the usual mayhem.
Damn shame about the accident but I suppose all to be done now is give the best wishes for a quick recovery.
Good to meet some more people and see all the 250s out. Also cool to see some wheelies at the night's end, haven't seen them in person yet so yeah.
And also sorry to anyone I held up on the way home, I was travelling at 75ish for a number of reasons - being sobered up by the accident, it being night, and probably most strongly... my bike being fucked
So may or may not be there next week. If the bike isn't in shape I might just have to bring the 50cc powerhouse and unleash it upon the carpark to relieve the emptiness.

what happened to your bike?

[stevewederell]

What did they say when you asked about it Steve?

None of the instructors really have said much, but it was in a class situation at work so they would not have been wanting to spend too much time off their own schedule. I do have another one coming up next week just by chance, so I'll see if I can grab the instructor over lunch. I am just weary of "chinese whispers" and I wouldn't want to pass on incorrect info

again sorry

[McWild]

I don't honestly know it's just the least entertaining thing in the world to ride right now. The revs were messing up all over the show, sort of slipping up and down of the powerband and not really giving the right power at the right time.
For all I know it's common and easy to fix, but with my (lack of) mechanical intuition I'll just let the workshop at Trevor Pierce figure it out. Should really do a mechanics course or something sometime.
Anybody have any suggestions for courses, ways etc to learn more about that side of things?

[Xsannz]

i am by no means a mechanic but i have rebuilt 7 or so bikes.

what symtems is your bike having ie when on the gas it just wont rev or feels like it is bogging etc.

could be time to have the carbs balanced and flushed danm nz fuels for being so shitty

[El Stevo]

None of the instructors really have said much, but it was in a class situation at work so they would not have been wanting to spend too much time off their own schedule. I do have another one coming up next week just by chance, so I'll see if I can grab the instructor over lunch. I am just weary of "chinese whispers" and I wouldn't want to pass on incorrect info

again sorry

St Johns comprehensive first course covers this and even uses a real helmet to practice with on other students...

[Blackbox]

Just put your left hand up to shade your eyes people.

The first thing the instructors got us to do on a mainland training/track day was to do the whole circuit (Levels) with just the finger and thumb of your right hand... ie just enough to keep the throttle on. It gave everyone more confidence in their machines.

I've since learned that bikes are kept stable (even on a lean) mainly by the gyroscopic effect of the rear wheel (which is why you can lift the front wheel coming out of a corner and the bike continues along fine with the same lean angle.. it's all the back wheel).

So yeah, I agree, better to see where you're going, especially since both hands on the bars aren't crucial.

At the same time, I've never experienced sun strike like last night. I found it kind of hypnotic... it was just so damn bright, and right in the very worst spot... I totally understand how this accident happened.

And also, I don't know your names, but Roger(?)'s mate, and the girl... you were doing such a good job looking after him!

[BigOne]

I left a bit earlier, and the sun was about 3 fingers above the horizon then.
Ive found that you can do two things about sun strike. Slow down, like the guys in front of me did, just take it easy, and second, install a strip of tape across the top of your visor, on the inside, like a sunshade on a car. You look out underneath the tape. When the sun is really low, you can tilt your head down just a bit, to hide the sun behind the tape. I have this band of tape on all my visors, and it really works well.
I hope someone can tell how the injured person is doing.

[Lil'M]

We were a couple of minutes behind the accident and even with a hand up, head tilted down and a tinted visor it was impossible to see any further than afew metres in front. All it takes is a momentary lapse in judgement!

Apart from that, was good to get out on the ride again and catch up with afew faces, having worked wednesday nights for the last year!

[Ducky848]

Anybody have any suggestions for courses, ways etc to learn more about that side of things?

Yup. Start taking it apart, being a two stroke there really aint much to them.

I would be VERY suspicious of the power valves. They may be stuck closed which would have a serious impact on top end performance....check them first.
Then....

Fuel: Check basic shit like filters (inc air), fuel lines and carbs. Carbs are not scary, pull them apart and give em a clean (check any online carb how-to). Check the condition of the needle and seat..it is possibly worn and causing grief.

Electrics: Get a new spark plug and gap it correctly (or get the shop to do it to your specs) Check battery charge and condition of connections and check the earth cable connection.

Compression: not generally a difficult problem to spot with two strokes, they just plain wont start (but are reeeeally easy to kick over ).

[Ducky848]

I've since learned that bikes are kept stable (even on a lean) mainly by the gyroscopic effect of the rear wheel (which is why you can lift the front wheel coming out of a corner and the bike continues along fine with the same lean angle.. it's all the back wheel).

Errr no, both wheels are gyroscopes, so is your crankshaft for that matter.
For instance, countersteering a bike at speed to turn it in Any force applied to a gyroscope (front wheel) will occur 90degs later in the plane of rotation.

[MotoRad-ical]

I blame Motorad-ical....when hes around I get into trouble!!

The blame game won't get you out of this one HOT! I was parked up making a B line for the bar. You just need to remember what bike your on when you hit the gravel

[Richi]

Errr no, both wheels are gyroscopes, so is your crankshaft for that matter.
For instance, countersteering a bike at speed to turn it in Any force applied to a gyroscope (front wheel) will occur 90degs later in the plane of rotation.

Didnt mr garrison from south park "invent" the gyroscope: I machine that will travel faster than an aeroplane and over water? Also to drive it u need a dildo up the bum and 2 dildo-like controls....anyone else see that episode hehehe

Anybody have any suggestions for courses, ways etc to learn more about that side of things?

Wouldnt hurt to splash ot a hundred bux for a service manual. Coz i know everyone has spare money at times like this! or look for it on the net it helps a lot