Dead Man's Curves

Road sign found along Highway 49 in California, just west of Sattley...




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The photo found on my "About Me" page was taken along the same road.

Posted:   Wednesday, May 14, 2008
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Motorcycle Group Riding Differences

Last Sunday I couldn't find anyone who wanted to ride as it was Mother's Day, and I guess they were all busy. So, I rode south and hooked up with another riding club.

This club was relatively new. They're actually a sportbike club. But this particular chapter has an even mix of sportbikes and cruisers. I met some of them when they came up to ride with us months ago.

I hadn't tagged along with another club in a long time. I got to witness the whole group riding experience from the viewpoint of a hang-around, and see how they did everything differently from the way our club does things.

First, they spend a lot of time at the staging area, about an hour. Our club usually spends between 15 to 30 minutes.

This club was actually quite loose, similar to our club. They all seemingly knew each other well, and knew their place in the group.

Along the ride, the road captain, who was the VP of the club, often pointed at road signs to remind riders of road conditions. That's something our club rarely does.

They rode quite a bit slower than our club usually rides. I don't know if the speed they rode at is the same speed they usually ride at, or if it was just the guy who was leading them. I don't know if that guy always leads their rides or not.

They also seem to make more stops than our clubs does. The destination, which was Idyllwild, CA, was only 100 miles away. Yet they took a gas stop at only 42 miles into the ride, and then a butt break at another 35 miles after that. I couldn't figure out why they needed to make that first gas stop. Our club would probably have done the second stop however.

Because this club is a mixture of sportbikes and cruisers, the members all have varied riding styles. The sportbikes wanted to take a slightly a different route that involved more twisties, so that they could rip up some pavement and ride at a fast pace. The cruisers, however, wanted to take a more relaxed ride. Both routes would end up at the same destination. When we reached the point in the ride where the sportbikes wanted to take the alternate route, I decided to try my luck with them, but stayed in the back.

Splitting the group into two, and then having each group take different routes, is something our club hasn't done. For the most part, we all want to ride the twistiest roads, and we all seem to enjoy riding the same speeds, so we never seem to come to that. However, on any one of our group rides, someone will want to break away and crank the throttle. Blowing out the cobwebs and tearing up some asphalt is part of the enjoyment of motorcycling.

They didn't seem to pass any slower cars. When they encountered a slow-moving car in front of them, they just dropped their speed and waited it out. It's not like they had an awful lot of bikes, I'd say about 10 bikes. There were some stretches of straight road where they could have done it. But for all I know, these guys might pass up cars everytime with a smaller group.

As far as hand signals are concerned, I didn't see much aside for the usual turn signals. It's not like our club uses a lot of hand signals either. I tend to think that their club members have become quite accustomed to riding with each other, that they can anticipate what's about to happen. The same is true with ours.

Interestingly, everyone in their club wore full face helmets, even the cruiser riders. In our club most of us wear DOT half-helmets, or novelty helmets. In fact, after the second stop, once the temperature warmed up, I took off my sweater and rode with just my t-shirt. The folks in their club kept their jackets on. I certainly don't knock this at all. It's a contrast in riding philosophies.

In fact, a while back I read their club charter, which outlines all their rules and practices. Like any club, safety is an important issue, and they make safety a big part of their charter. So I think it all stems from that.

It's probably good to hook up with other clubs, and witness how they execute a group ride, just to show you things you didn't think about, or perhaps shed light on things you may be doing wrong. It's like what the Road Captain said about there being no book on group riding.

Oh, going back to where I said I rode with the sportbikes on the alternate route. Towards the end of the day, a couple of those riders gave me thumbs up for actually keeping pace with them. I was on my Ultra Classic, and I wanted to prove something to those rice burners. One of them said, "Man, you were really throwing that bagger around! I kept looking in my mirror and you were on my tail the whole way". While they were riding hot through the twisties, it wasn't like they were riding like professional racers or anything. They're just regular guys, with average skill, but with the benefit of bikes designed for speed and maneuverability. I just wanted them to know that they can't predispose a Harley rider.

Posted:   Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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Learning to Ride the Hard Way

A popular saying among motorcycle riders is, "ride within in your abilities". Meaning, don't push yourself beyond what you're comfortable with.

That statement became a point of discussion yesterday.

Five of us were sitting down eating hamburgers at Nessie's in Bonsall, CA, after a ride around the back country. One of the guys had crashed his bike during the same ride.

I had said that you can't look at it as having damaged your bike, or having injured yourself. But rather, look at it as gaining knowledge. Besides, he needed to come up with an explanation for his wife, who he felt certain was going to give him an "I told you so". And what better explanation than to say, "Well Honey, I'm a better rider now"?

We were on a stretch of road here in SoCal known as "Mesa Grande", in northern San Diego County, and popular with motorcycler riders. The first few miles of this road is straight, with almost no traffic, encouraging people to crank the throttle. Then it takes a hard turn to the left in a 20mph switchback. Many riders have gone down here, with yesterday being the latest.

The bike got the worst of it, but it turned out to be rideable. He suffered only some scrapes and bruises. And despite the CHP, the Sheriff, and the ambulance, we pulled the bike out of the ditch, and he continued on with the ride.

One of the coincidences, is that another guy riding with us made the same statement I made on this blog last month, "There are riders who have crashed, and there are riders who will crash."

The guy who crashed responded back with, "I always wondered what it would feel like, going down." Well, he knows what it feels like to go down easy into a ditch, around 35mph, even though it was still a painful experience. Hopefully he won't experience a more worse accident.

But let's get back to the conversation at Nessie's.

He said "While I should definitely ride within my ability, how am I supposed to improve if I don't try pushing myself?"

This guy had been riding for about a year. I had ridden with him several times, mostly in the past couple of months, but I've known him for about a year. He's witnessed how most of us in our riding club ride, and used us to measure his skill level.

He's always been a cautious rider, riding slower than most people I normally ride with. I can't fault any of that. But I was in the same place he had been in, riding slowly and cautiously, until I started riding with a group. I noticed most of the riders possessed quite a bit more skill than I. I would push myself beyond the comfort level because I wanted to improve.

To answer his question, he certainly should push himself. Part of the benefit of group riding is to improve your riding skills. He simply went into the switchback faster than he was accustomed to handling, and scraped his floorboard. Hearing the sound of the scrape jarred his conscience and caused him to straighten up, and into the path of the ditch. He just needs to spend more time scraping his floorboard and getting used to the sound.

You could also argue that Mesa Grande is not the place to scrape your floorboards if you're not used to the sound. Maybe. But then again, I'd argue that roads in and of themselves are not dangerous; it's how hard or soft you ride that makes it dangerous. I think pushing himself on Mesa Grande is fine, he just pushed himself too hard than what he was prepared to handle.

One thing that some of us in our riding club have said, is that we want to spend time doing practices. That's something we didn't do in the other clubs we've been in. Brian and I actually spent some time doing this about a couple of months ago, riding up and down Wilson Valley about three times in each direction, each time practicing how we approached the curves, and each time discussing what we could do to improve.

I'm going to start doing more of those practices in this club.

Posted:   Thursday, May 08, 2008
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The Myth of Fuel Efficiency

Last week I reported on Biker News Online that DOT Secretary Mary Peters launched her own blog to talk about the business of adminstering the nation's thoroughfares.

Since then, I've been reading it.

While I don't respect Peters' quest to get every state to mandate helmets, I still find her writings enlightening regarding the thought processes of our country's highway planning.

Here, she talks about gasoline taxes, why they are so high, and why they can't be repealed...

The gas tax was originally intended to be a form of highway use tax. Unfortunately, due to the growing influence of special interests, gas tax revenues have increasingly been converted into a political slush fund. When the gas tax was instituted, it was only done so because more direct charging mechanisms were not administratively or technologically feasible.

In other words, gasoline taxes were meant to pay for highway maintenance, but are no longer being used for that purpose, and instead is being raided by our elected officials and lawmakers for political leverage.

The other thing is that she said the reason why taxes were instituted back then, is because at the time, they didn't have the technological know-how to charge highway users in an efficient way.

But even though we could address the technological part now, there's basically no hope in lowering or eliminating gas taxes.

It reinforced the notion that once a tax get instituted it can never be repealed.

The other thing she says is this...

The objective should be to develop an economic model that charges users the true cost of travel.

What exactly IS the true cost of travel? Well, I believe what she's implying is that some people get 80 MPG on their scooters, while others get 15 MPG in their pickup trucks. If they all travelled 100 miles, the pickup trucks would pay far more in taxes.

And that brings up another point.

If Americans as a whole gravitated towards scooters and small displacement motorcycles for their commuting, what effect will that have on local, state, and federal gasoline taxes? Will the slush fund get smaller?

As we decrease our dependence on gasoline, government will have to find another way to make up that loss in tax revenue.

In other words, there really isn't any such thing as "fuel efficiency". In the end, lawmakers will ensure that driving a gasoline powered car for 100 miles will cost us the same as driving a solar-powered one the same distance.

Posted:   Wednesday, May 07, 2008
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Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid

US191, Arizona, somewhere between Morenci and Alpine

Posted:   Tuesday, May 06, 2008
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Joining a HOG Chapter

I guess I'm gonna have to join HOG.

According to Jake Zinsli, who writes for Royal Purple, the campus newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, HOG members get treated like royalty...

The purchase of a Harley is also the membership to an exclusive club. I know that sounds like buying friends, but some college kids are more used to that than other. When you're a H.O.G. member, (Harley Owners Group), you get all the treatments of royalty. There are no VIP members, everyone get the same benefits.

And to think that all these years, I've been getted treated like shit.

Posted:   Tuesday, May 06, 2008
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Motorcycle Blogging & Making Money

I just wanted to tell you about a new blog I launched last month...

http://www.motorcycleblogging.com

A month ago, I noticed that Motorcycle Bloggers International has compiled many more bloggers than when I first looked at it a couple years ago. And I know I've seen many other motorcycle bloggers not on there. Blogging about motorcycles is growing at a fast pace.

And since blogging and website publishing is my business and sole source of income, I figured there's probably an untapped demand here that I can get a foothold on. I'm guessing many moto-bloggers are interested in learning how to make some money from their blogs, or at least get some tips on how to increase their audience.

I actually looked around the motorcycle blogging community, and I didn't really see anyone providing a central location for blogging topics, ranging from building an income, building traffic, and blogging ethics. So I started it.

Much of what I've written there thus far isn't necessarily unique to the motorcycle blogging community; it can apply to any blogging niche. But I'll be using motorcycle examples, and will eventually share some tips on what I do with my motorcycle blogs that may be different than what I do with my other blogs.

I've been publishing websites professionally since 1997, and have all that experience to share with you for free on Motorcycle Blogging. If you find it helpful, I'd appreciate you returning the favor by linking to it from your blogrolls.

Posted:   Tuesday, May 06, 2008
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The Changing Face of the Motorcycle Community

Was reading KT DID's post about the Laughlin River Run, that just came and went last week, and about how the crowd was a lot smaller this year than in previous years.

I've said before that I've gotten tired of rallies and runs, and just don't go to them anymore. And I didn't go to Laughlin. But I don't suspect that people are bored of rallies as I am.

In talking to other riders who went there, and some vendors that went there, police presence was really high, and they were harrassing the folks as often as they could. And there was also the heat. I understand it got pretty hot there.

But then again, Laughlin is always hot, and ever since 2002, the cops are always bothering the rally-goers. That didn't stop people last year, or the year before.

You might say it was the high price of gasoline. Maybe. But when you're riding your motorcycle, it really isn't that much more in cost. A car definitely.

I started noticing last year that crowds were thinning down at the smaller events, like poker runs, benefit rides, and bike shows. I was wondering if we had already seen the highpoint of the biker craze, and that now we're on a downward trend.

The news reports suggest that more people than ever are buying motorcycles and scooters. But that's for economic reasons; they're buying the smaller displacement bikes because they're cheaper and get higher gas mileage.

But then, maybe that's what going on.

We're seeing a different breed of biker emerging, the commuter.

The popularity of motorcycles that we saw in the early 2000s was perhaps a fad. And fads are meant to fade away. The smaller percentage of us who found something that connected with our souls have held on to discover our true niches, be it in a riding club, a motorcycle club or just hanging out at the biker bars. The rest of them may have decided to hang up their $300.00 Harley jackets in exchange for some other fashion statement.

In December of 2006, some friends and I took a ride to Long Beach, CA, to visit the International Motorcycle Show, that showcases the newest models in factory motorcycles. Not choppers, not customs, but all the "regular" bikes.

Maybe that's the kind of show that will replace the chopper shows. Instead of bikini-clad hoochies straddling $50,000 choppers, we'll be seeing more conservatively appointed models standing next to cheaper, smaller, commuter bikes.

Posted:   Friday, May 02, 2008
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Weekday Afternoon Motorcycle Ride

Four of us met this afternoon for a motorcycle ride into San Clemente, for some lunch at Pizza Port.

Thursday afternoon rides have been a regular occurrence for us for the past several weeks. While traffic is still heavy during the week, there's always a sense that we're taking advantage of something unique.

For one thing, the weather always seems to be at its best between Monday and Friday. Maybe that's what we're taking advantage of.

The popular biker hangouts are not as crowded at this time. You get quicker service, and a pick of the best seating. Maybe that's what we're taking advantage of.

There's also a sense of gratitude, that we have the freedom to get away during a weekday afternoon, and not put our careers in jeopardy. Maybe it's that freedom we're taking advantage of.

Everytime I take a joy ride during the week, there's always someone out there who tells me that they're envious of me, or that they hate me for this freedom. But the fact is that I once worked "for the man", in an office building, from morning to evening, and had to commute along freeways of SoCal. I was like everyone else.

I remember an episode of "Moonlighting" where Bruce Willis said, "your job will never love you back". That statement struck me, and I kept it filed away in the back of my mind. Then during a really bad day at work, I pulled that statement out of the file cabinet, and made the connection, that no matter how I hard work, I'll never get anything more than just a paycheck, and that paycheck will never let me get ahead in life.

At the time, I was dabbling with the Internet, learning how to make websites. I decided I would make a website that folks would find useful and interesting. That was in 1997. I worked two full-time jobs, my "day job", and the other working from about 5:00pm to 2:00am, building this website, and learning how to make money from it.

My wife will attest to the many years of frustration she had with me for not spending enough time with her. For awhile, the only way I knew I was married was by the dinner she had ready for me when I returned home from the office.

But in 2003, at the age of 37, I quit that day job. I tell people that I retired at 37, because I could work at home, and be my own boss.

But the truth is that this wasn't handed to me on a silver platter. I worked my ass off to make this happen. My wife sacrificed several years of happiness to let me get to this point. And now, we can spend all kinds of time together.

I guess if I'm taking advantage of anything, it's the freedom that this country gives us. No one has to be unhappy in this country if they put their mind to it. I wasn't lucky either. And I wasn't born rich. I was just tired of waiting for something to happen.

Posted:   Thursday, May 01, 2008
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