Good call on the helmet, however I wish you'd re-think your choice to bail on the leather

I've been riding for quite sometime, and while I'm no expert, I know firsthand that NOTHING will protect you as good as leather will should you go down. There's a reason you see racers wearing leather !! Living in a climate that seems to be constantly wet unfortunately increases your chances of going down. I am in NO WAY tryingto scare you, I'm simply trying to inform you. Don't worry one bit about being seen. Concentrate more on keeping your eyes peeled for other drivers. Drive as though they can't see you and you'll be fine.

One more tip ...

Since you live in a wet climate, go EXTREMELY slow into a toll booth and stay away from the center of the booth. Cars / truck leak antifreeze ect on the ground and it accumulates there. It's bad enough when it's nice and sunny outside, but when it's wet out is like driving on ice. PLEASE be carefull !!

Any questions freel free to ask.

Best of luck to ya !!

 

Check outhttp://www.seebak.com/mcycle.htm for reflective vests. They won't win you any awards in the "cool" category, but they aren't bad during the day and light uplike mad at night. They run about 30 bucks plus shipping...

 

Mayfair -- thanks for your two cents!! I've been waiting on it ever since I posted this

I have no problem w/ leather...just wanted the color for the visibility. I tend to miss guys in all black when I'm driving. But you always see those goofy yellow jackets . Thought w/ the new style nylons and Kevlar that they held up as well in a slide as leather? I have always wondered what was the best place in the lane to be. You see guys always hugging the lines....the oil / anti-freeze thing makes perfect since now that it was said. (psst we don't have toll-booths here..that is an east coast thing )

One thing that was said to me that I don't think I will ever forget is 'It isn't IF your going to dump the bike it is WHEN and how bad'.

Tampa -- I gave up on "cool" a long time ago [8D] ....thanks for the link

 

I wouldn't dwell on that one too much if I was you.

Just keep the antifreeze thing in mind when riding. When it starts raining and it hasn't rained in a while ( again, and east coast thing ) the roads are going to be their slickest because of the antifreeze / oil thing. If you can't pull over and at least wait until the antifreeze / oil works it's way to the shoulder, at least ride in the highest part of the road, but stay away from the very center of the lane for obvious reasons.

I know there is kevelar and such that has come a long way, but honestly I don't think you are going to beat the protection of leather. Don't worry as much about being seen. Ride as though you aren't. The minute you start relying on a bright yellow outfit is the minute you'll get whacked and then bitch because he didn't see you. People texting while driving aren't looking !!! You need to concentrate on being the OFFENSIVE driver, not the defensive driver.

 

We don't every have that problem...it's illegal here and everyone always follows the letter of the law perfectly [8D]

Thanks for the words of wisdom....it does make me feel better.

I know it my ability to handle the vehicle (any vehicle for that matter) that is going to get him home every night. I doubt highly that you will ever see me doing hand stands or 120

 

Lilfroger, I wish you the best on your new adventures of riding. I started on a Sears Moped in 1961 and have over 300,000+ miles of riding on motorcycles. I was a MSF Certified Instructor for over 17 years and a Chief Instructor (I trained the Instructors) for over 10 years. I still have my 1977 BMW R100/7 with 89,000 miles on "Fred". I pickled him and stored him in my RR boxcar. I had one woman that was almost 80 years young that wanted to learn how to ride. She did quite well. I started going to the Black Hill Motorcycle Rally in 1972 when there were 3,000 people attending and after 22 different years of attending my last in 1996 there were over 900,000 people. Have fun.

 

Dang Bill 300K on a BIKE ?!?!? [:-]

When the heck did you ever find the time to work?

It's funny about two or three weeks ago I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and I asked him how many miles he thinks we've driven ( all veichles ) since turning 16. If I averaged about 20K a year, I still wouldn't have 500K. I'd be close, but not yet.

 

I went and looked at it today...couldn't ride it due to the weather though....currently working on some financing. Has anybody ever owned one of these?

http://www.completecycles.net/autodi...s/pics/534.jpg

 

A Nighthawk eh? I never owned one, but I think I've ridden one. I think my friend had one a long time ago. I don't have one bad thing to say about Honda's. They are great bikes !!

 

Mayfair, a few years ago I counted 27 different motorcycles I had owned. Some of them included a Yamaha 350, Honda 160 Dream, 1966 Bridgstone 175, HondaSL450, CB500/4. A 1981 Suzuki GS1100E bored to 1530cc with turbo and Nitros, wheeley bars and it turned the quarter mile at 9.6 at 167 mph. It was still street legal. I also had a 1983 Kawasaki GPZ 1100 and when I had 6500 miles on we gave it to my younger brother. I also bought a1984 HD Low Rider and sold it it 1998. I still have my 77 BMW R100. At one timeI had 5 motorcycles in my garage all licensed and insured. The mother of my girlfriend asked why I had so many, I asked her how many pairs of shoes she had. End of discussion!!!