Toshi's ride pics thread

[Toshi]

here's a nice 47 minute feature from National Geographic on the creation of the Nissan GT-R.

http://www.streetdrift.net/2008/10/national-geographic-video-nissan-gt-r.html

i'm not sure how i'm going to reconcile conflicting forces in my life with regard to cars. one, immature part of me wants a GT-R some day: for its heritage; for its unabashed Japanese origin and inspiration; because it's a very impressive piece of machinery.

the other, more rational side says i should go carless, go electric, go Aptera, ride the train exclusively, or at least do as narlus does and choose eminently efficient and frugal conveyances.

assuming i pass the rigors of both this surgery year and my upcoming years in radiology i'll have the freedom to choose in the future. i'm not sure what i'll choose, however. it's a shame almost that overriding rationality might internally quash one of the relatively few things i truly get excited about.

[Skookum]

Hey doc.

Do you own a trail bike still?

Last time we rode together i broke my leg, now years down the road sitting here with a broken wrist i wonder why you don't take advantage of all the great riding around here.

You sir are missing out, and being how i am incapacitated i have no avenue of recourse other than sitting on my ass, encouraging you to get off of yours.:monkey:

i harp only because i care.:biggrin:

[Toshi]

Hi tim

These days I have neither a car nor a trailbike. I just have the roadie and the electric commuter bike. As I have one day off a week on average I just can't justify dedicating entire days to riding.

[WTGPhoben]

Hi tim

These days I have neither a car nor a trailbike. I just have the roadie and the electric commuter bike. As I have one day off a week on average I just can't justify dedicating entire days to riding.

Geez, it's like you have a girl to come home to or something ;)

[stevew]

here's a nice 47 minute feature from National Geographic on the creation of the Nissan GT-R.

http://www.streetdrift.net/2008/10/national-geographic-video-nissan-gt-r.html


I would have preferred this body style

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/1948/skylinerockyautoru2.jpg

have more of an influence than this....

http://images.superstreetonline.com/eventcoverage/130_0705_061_z+tokyo_auto_salon+nissan_skyline_gtr _replica.jpg

but seeing as how they wanted to out perform the 911......

the front of the new skyline is horrible....

[Skookum]

Hi tim

These days I have neither a car nor a trailbike. I just have the roadie and the electric commuter bike. As I have one day off a week on average I just can't justify dedicating entire days to riding.
Sounds like your life would be easier if you were in prison.
i know you'll find more time eventually and be far better off for your current sacrifice, just hope to see ya on the trails in the upcoming seasons.:)

[WTGPhoben]

Toshi, I know you have the answer to this locked down, so:

I need a P+S digicam. Something I won't care if I break (having it be hard to break would also be a plus), but I need to be able to take reasonable photos, especially of stuff that's moving (read: bikes). Have any suggestions?

[Toshi]

Toshi, I know you have the answer to this locked down, so:

I need a P+S digicam. Something I won't care if I break (having it be hard to break would also be a plus), but I need to be able to take reasonable photos, especially of stuff that's moving (read: bikes). Have any suggestions?

i actually don't have specific suggestions, but i did think the canon SX IS series looks sweet... kind of mini-DSLR styling, built in IS, good range zooms. you're never going to get really fast lenses and clean sensors in a pocket cam so you might as well get something else out of it, i figure. on the other hand its shape is like a little cube essentially. the elphs would be much slimmer but then you're back to a 3x zoom, etc.

[WTGPhoben]

i actually don't have specific suggestions, but i did think the canon SX IS series looks sweet... kind of mini-DSLR styling, built in IS, good range zooms. you're never going to get really fast lenses and clean sensors in a pocket cam so you might as well get something else out of it, i figure. on the other hand its shape is like a little cube essentially. the elphs would be much slimmer but then you're back to a 3x zoom, etc.

The P+S dilemma is temporarily solved as I found one of my roommate's half-discarded old digicams (a Fuji FinePix Z1) in a drawer. I took it out today on a ride and it did nicely.

[WTGPhoben]

So I don't think I've mentioned this here yet, but my buddy Eric and I are gearing up for a go at a big MTB stage race next year (exact race TBD), and we're blogging about the journey from here to there, with interesting factoids and half-baked humor along the way. Check it out:

http://blog.pedalandwrench.com

If you find it even a little entertaining, I'de be psyched if you subscribed via your digital annoyance of choice (email, RSS, blogspot follower page) and kept up.

[Toshi]

So I don't think I've mentioned this here yet, but my buddy Eric and I are gearing up for a go at a big MTB stage race next year (exact race TBD), and we're blogging about the journey from here to there, with interesting factoids and half-baked humor along the way. Check it out:

http://blog.pedalandwrench.com

If you find it even a little entertaining, I'de be psyched if you subscribed via your digital annoyance of choice (email, RSS, blogspot follower page) and kept up.

http://www.phoben.com/handlers/ImageHandler.ashx?RSMode=max&Width=323&Height=323&PhotoID=3651

i miss that curb!

:thumb:

[Toshi]

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/sunday%20with%20dre%20-%20november%202,%202008/Images/DSC_0933.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/sunday%20with%20dre%20-%20november%202,%202008/Images/DSC_0927.jpg

sunday with dre (http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/sunday%20with%20dre%20-%20november%202,%202008/) (no, i still don't have a camera yet. a visiting undergrad buddy who is a 4th year med student interviewing at uw and staying with me brought her nikon D100)

[Toshi]

UbJ1sseQVbY

whoa. urban trials with some newfangled tricks and good fluidity.

[WTGPhoben]

whoa. urban trials with some newfangled tricks and good fluidity.

awesome.

[WTGPhoben]

carbon composites are still plastic...

http://www.phoben.com/tidbits/ridemonkey/3RDEyeFail_sm.jpg

...and more brittle when it's 23 degrees. Harold Parker SF rocks my world, however. Full blather here: http://blog.pedalandwrench.com/2008/11/high-energy-metaphysics.html

Also raced some 'cross today, which was awesome until Eric ate sand in the pit 1/4mi from the finish with me right on his wheel. I've never tossed over the handlebars so fast...

[Toshi]

i think i'd break my leg for sure if i got one of these :D

iqORCXgrTMM

http://www.flybar.com/pages/home.html

(on call tonight, killing time after seeing a consult in the ER)

[Toshi]

an image that sums up why we're not going to spend our way out of this recession...

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/11/29/business/1129-biz-CHARTSweb.gif

[jonKranked]

i think i'd break my leg for sure if i got one of these :D

or at least your dignity

[Toshi]

as of today i have 193 days left in my surgical internship, the first year of my residency training. even after this year i'll have at least four more, probably with a fifth year of fellowship, but it'll be in radiology rather than general surgery, enough said.

i rode to west seattle and back to celebrate both being at the halfway point of the year and the occasion of being out of the hospital during daylight hours after logging my 85th hour this week. i had futzed around with my battery last week, breaking out the soldering iron to install a new cell-balancing circuit board that should theoretically allow me to eke more charge out of it before it dies, and this ride provided a chance to test out the battery's capacity. it passed: out of a nominal 12 Ah capacity i used 10.11 Ah and still had plenty of headroom over my low voltage cutoff when i rolled back into my doorway.

afterwards i gave my bike a well-deserved once over. i've now logged 594 miles on it, and it's looking a bit worse for wear here and there. in particular the panniers have developed a habit of trying to escape from the rear rack by sliding backwards, the brake pads have almost given up the ghost, and the wheels are in need of some attention.

unfortunately the ginormous 13 gauge (?) spokes on my front (hub motor) wheel don't lend themselves to fitting in the red, green, or black Park spoke wrenches in my toolbox. hmph. failure. at least i was able to true up the rear wheel and strike a tenuous balance between the brake pads rubbing on the tire or rim and the brake lever from bottoming out on the handlebars. as jessica said, it's a good thing i've worked on bikes for the majority of my life, since this contraption certainly hasn't been maintenance- or headache-free.

this brings me to the question of what's next for me in terms of transportation, especially once i finish this year and head out east with jessica in tow? she'll have her Toyota Corolla, which should continue to putter on for many a year with any luck. i might not have a commute longer than a few minutes' walk to deal with as there's a non-negligible chance we'll land subsidized housing on the campus of the hospital. there's a greater chance that we'll be living off-campus, however, both because of availability and because jessica's cats wouldn't be able to make the move with us otherwise.

but i digress: how will i jet myself around town in the future, especially in some place where it gets legitimately cold in the winter? i'd totally drive an Aptera (http://www.aptera.com/) were it not for the fact that it's not out yet; will only be available in California to start; and is not cheap in the context of a huge student loan burden and a meager resident's salary. minor things, these. i really don't want a "normal" car, on the other hand.

i don't think i'll be able to ride the electric bike in its current incarnation forever: i designed and built it with the purpose of getting me to and from work while avoiding paying for a car or motorcycle as both would have required expensive parking permits. although it serves its purpose well enough it's not the most reliable thing, its brakes frankly suck, it doesn't have sufficient lighting, and its high weight, 75 psi commuter tires, high unsprung weight of the hub motor, and rigid fork and frame really beat me up.

essentially its shortcomings are that it's not an electric motorcycle. so who will answer my pleas and bring to market a reasonably priced, street legal/registerable, reliable, supported, quick, efficient, and practical electric motorcycle or scooter? the contenders are many but most are still vaporware except for Vectrix (http://www.vectrix.com/), which has the problems of price, proprietary battery technology, and not living up to its claims. other ones on the horizon include Zero Motorcycles (http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/)' eponymous offering, Brammo's Enertia (http://enertiabike.com/), Piaggio's plug-in hybrid MP3 scooter, and sundry hobby shop specials whose creators have made websites and optimistically project that they'll produce their frankenstein-ish creations for widespread sale.

i kind of have the sneaking suspicion that i may be alone in my pleas for such a beast, unfortunately, and that offerings may continue to be scant as investors realize that a market as small as mine is not worth pursuing. they'll probably be investing in companies making hobo stew not conveyances for yuppies with an environmental conscience, after all...

[WTGPhoben]

but i digress: how will i jet myself around town in the future, especially in some place where it gets legitimately cold in the winter?

Congratulations on your halfway. You know how to celebrate in style. As far as the cold, a good pair of booties (and a fixed gear with fenders) goes a long way. This is from our trail ride today (27 deg):

http://www.phoben.com/tidbits/ridemonkey/iceboot.jpg

These guys even got dunked briefly in a river halfway up the shin and kept the feet passably warm for 4hrs outside. (go performancebike.com)

This, on the other hand, is a crappy bootie. The fact that it became rigid with ice was fairly amusing, however.

http://www.phoben.com/tidbits/ridemonkey/iceboot2.jpg

[Toshi]

thanks for the bootie tip, keith. i used to rock some neoprene performance booties back in the pre-cambridge days, in fact. it's not so much that my feet get cold on my commute but that it's 5 in the morning, it's sub-40 degrees, and it's often really, really wet outside. even with full goretex and a few layers it's just not a pleasant experience.

in the future i'll be free of the requirements of legal parking at bike racks and ability to fit on the buses' bike racks as is the case this year. i think the next iteration of toshi-transport (hyphened due to swear filter, heh) will have motor vehicle-class lighting and suspension, thus necessitating something other than a bike for a platform, and in turn requiring a powertrain sufficiently ambitious in terms of wattage that i wouldn't feel comfortable working on it myself... as it is 48V and a potential 40A (currently, har har, limited to 20A) is enough to give oneself a powerful jolt if the wires were crossed, so to speak.

[Toshi]

an entertaining puzzle from a harvard prof's blog:

Suppose you are trying to get from one end A of a terminal to the other end B. (For simplicity, assume the terminal is a one-dimensional line segment.) Some portions of the terminal have moving walkways (in both directions); other portions do not. Your walking speed is a constant v, but while on a walkway, it is boosted by the speed u of the walkway for a net speed of v+u. (Obviously, given a choice, one would only take those walkways that are going in the direction one wishes to travel in.) Your objective is to get from A to B in the shortest time possible.

1. Suppose you need to pause for some period of time, say to tie your shoe. Is it more efficient to do so while on a walkway, or off the walkway? Assume the period of time required is the same in both cases.

2. Suppose you have a limited amount of energy available to run and increase your speed to a higher quantity v' (or v'+u, if you are on a walkway). Is it more efficient to run while on a walkway, or off the walkway? Assume that the energy expenditure is the same in both cases.

3. Do the answers to the above questions change if one takes into account the various effects of special relativity? (This is of course an academic question rather than a practical one. But presumably it should be the time in the airport frame that one wants to minimise, not time in one’s personal frame.)

[Toshi]

it was so cold this morning that i broke my U-lock: the key and mechanism iced up (not to mention the drawbridge on the way to the hospital! yikes), proceeded to not turn freely, and then i broke the key trying to force the innards to do my bidding.

luckily the emergency department has a U-lock to check out to hapless employees in just this situation so my bike was safely locked all day. i swung by REI on my way back and made the discovery that they've dropped the Kryptonite brand. thus my Kryptonite Evolution U-lock is now replaced with some random brand, an OnGuard Brute STD. mmm, STDs.

that particular Evolution was a warrantee replacement for a 1999-era Kryptonite Evolution 2000 U-lock what with the round key/Bic exploit, so this marks an end of an era.

http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/images/9659990566610756.JPG?0.6182831830809845

to

http://bicyclewarehouse.com/images/library/large/krypt_999348_evs4_07_m.jpg

to

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/08/02/fashion/02gear.2.jpg

[Toshi]

i just signed up to make 100% of my electricity sourced from renewable sources.

:thumb:

http://www.seattle.gov/light/Green/greenPower/greenup.asp

(on the downside the extra $12/mo flat fee for this privilege is as much as my entire electric bill -- the flat rate really penalizes low users like me but such is life.)

[Toshi]

how nasty was my commute? keep in mind that it was at 4:15 AM. also be mindful that the road in front of my house is and remains closed because it's about a 10 percent grade and is sheer ice. i slid down the sidewalk for a solid block on my ass, holding the handlebars of my also-sliding bike so that it didn't escape.

some other drivers found out that steep neighborhood roads + ice = bad. 3 blocks from my house today:

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_121908WXB_bus_hangs_over_I-5_TP.7ba7cab9.html

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20081219/450bus20_235_dd.jpg

yeah, that's two charter buses that went through the guardrail after attempting to descend a street parallel to the one upon which i slid this morning. (the rest of my commute was only marginally better, all ice and hills. ugh.)

[Toshi]

http://www.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/posts/MIRwallthruhole.jpg

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/the-truth-about-peking-duck-and-other-beijing-reflections-a-guest-post/

[narlus]

^^

good stuff.

[Toshi]

it was so cold this morning that i broke my U-lock: the key and mechanism iced up (not to mention the drawbridge on the way to the hospital! yikes), proceeded to not turn freely, and then i broke the key trying to force the innards to do my bidding.

luckily the emergency department has a U-lock to check out to hapless employees in just this situation so my bike was safely locked all day. i swung by REI on my way back and made the discovery that they've dropped the Kryptonite brand. thus my Kryptonite Evolution U-lock is now replaced with some random brand, an OnGuard Brute STD. mmm, STDs.

that particular Evolution was a warrantee replacement for a 1999-era Kryptonite Evolution 2000 U-lock what with the round key/Bic exploit, so this marks an end of an era.

kryptonite wrote back and will replace my lock if i get it cut off and send them the broken key + lock! score.

(also, my 5D Mk II + 24-105 f/4L IS kit has shipped from amazon. yikes.)

[WTGPhoben]

kryptonite wrote back and will replace my lock if i get it cut off and send them the broken key + lock! score.

(also, my 5D Mk II + 24-105 f/4L IS kit has shipped from amazon. yikes.)

Merry x-mas to you! (That lens is quite excellent...)

I just received this x-mas present for my bike (Tune BOBO):
http://www.phoben.com/tidbits/ridemonkey/tuneBOBOjpg.jpg

http://www.phoben.com/tidbits/ridemonkey/08_12_24_tuneGum.jpg

The Ti compression bolt and the elegantly simple gummy starfangled replacer are both nifty. The plastic compression ring and aluminum crown race sketch me out a little tho...

[Toshi]

ooh carbon!

keith, what are your thoughts about year-round motorcycle riding in new york/long island climes? insane? doable? i'm doing a sanity check on my electric motorcycle idea...

http://www.twowheelforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1548&d=1102332169

xD4cgDV8Q8o

[Toshi]

CLKnliJC9RU

[Toshi]

the plan for continued car-free commuting over the range/comfort afforded by my electric bike:

1) Piaggio MP3

probably the 400 cc model, but not the 500 as it has less storage, which is kind of the point of a scooter, and has fewer windshield options.

$6-9k depending on new/used (http://www.piaggiousa.com/pScooters/MP3400.cfm) -- i'm not sure how much scooter dealers can be argued down from MSRP as they often seem quite financially tenuous themselves. around 55-65 mpg. Euro 3 emissions compliant, so like a modern but not brand-new car.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/GeekAustin/RP-YpyoEABI/AAAAAAAAAMg/2kxbNVXP8ZE/MP3+Stoppie.JPG

2) Piaggio "large comfort" windscreen

insanely tall and curves back over the rider's head even! with no wiper one must keep it clean so that visibility during rain doesn't suffer too much but this would be the ticket to keep relatively warm and dry.

$495 new through Piaggio dealers.

http://thekneeslider.com/images/piaggiomp3winter2.jpg

3) Piaggio MP3 Heated Leg Cover

also seen in the above photo is the winter skirt. it's electrically heated and stays attached to the scooter. i'm not sure if it'd actually be necessary.

about $300 new (http://www.scootercrazy.com/acatalog/Piaggio_Leg_Covers___Scooter_Covers.html) +/- currency conversion.

4) Schwalbe winter tires

another not-sure-if-strictly necessary thing is winter tires. turns out Schwalbe makes 'em in scooter sizes. studded proper-winter tires are available for the front but i'd have to settle for a 4-season tire for the rear as it's a larger diameter that's not so common.

$160/tire for the front studded ones (times two tires!) and $120 for the rear non-studded (http://www.schwalbetires.com/scooter_tires). lots cheaper than RX-8 tires for sure!

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3166/wpicemanspikesll0.jpg

5) AGV S-4 helmet

all the (protective) gear all the time: or ATGATT in the 2-wheeled nerdspeak. this starts at the top with a helmet, and in the US the relevant ratings are Snell 2005 and DOT. assuming it fits my big melon i'd go with the AGV S-4 helmet as it garnered top ratings in the SHARP UK helmet rating trials (http://sharp.direct.gov.uk/) and is reasonably priced.

$160-200, easily available including at a local scooter store/art gallery (http://scootergalleryseattle.com/) (yeah, wtf?!).

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/productimages/OG/2007_AGV_S-4_Helmet.jpg

6) Scala Rider Q2

possibly superfluous item but worthy of mention since it's cool and techy: the Scala Rider Q2. it's a bluetooth headset for phones that has a helmet-mounted mic, speaker, and handsfree answering/calling functionality. it also streams audio from MP3 players or a built-in FM radio; streams the voice commands from GPS navi units; lets you talk in full duplex with your pillion (passenger) if they have a similar headset; and lets you talk with other people using Q2 units on other bikes within 500m. cool, eh? here's a youtube review of an older unit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giSyGYnmc08&feature=channel_page) that only did phone functions + FM, but did those functions well.

around $220 (http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/4/62/13171/ITEM/Cardo-Systems-Scala-Rider-Q2.aspx?SiteID=SLI%7CBluetooth%20Helmet&WT.MC_ID=10010), or $400 for two (so that your passenger's helmet can have one). somewhat unclear whether an add-on is necessary for music.

http://assets3.revzilla.com/product_images/0022/6914/21-0138RiderQ2_zoom.jpg

7) Power Trip Bravo gloves

more protective gear: gloves. these are similar to bike offerings except more durable so as to not abrade immediately upon impact. just as i and probably you use winter and summer gloves there are similar options. i found a decent looking set on clearance because consumers apparently had little interest in buying US Army-branded product: Power Trip US Army branded Bravo motorcycle gloves.

$18 + shipping = $26 to my door (http://www.newenough.com/closeouts/gloves/power_trip_us_army_branded_gear/bravo_motorcycle_gloves.html), which is about 60% of my on-sale waterproof/winter bike riding gloves, mind you!

http://www.newenough.com/image/path/6246/Default.jpg

8) FirstGear Kilimanjaro 5.0

jackets seem similar to ski or biking gear but they really aren't: motorcycle jackets have thicker and more abrasion-resistant materials (traditionally leather, or Cordura for those inclined to the newfangled) and often have armor in the shoulders and elbows. since i'm going to be horribly unstylish on a _scooter_ anyway i figured i might as well go for high-vis as well. one that i found recommended and looks good on paper is the FirstGear Kilimanjaro 5.0.

$270 (http://www.newenough.com/protective_apparel/textile_jackets_and_pants/first_gear/firstgear_kilimanjaro_5_textile_motorcycle_jacket. html), which is about on par with ski shells, sadly. things are expensive!

http://www.newenough.com/image/path/18351/kilimanjaro_yellow.jpg

9) FieldSheer Adventure pants

the lower half needs coverage, too. it's kind of a shame since i have really nice GoreTex pants from biking but knees need scrape protection as well. i'm not sold on the above pants by any means but my criteria will basically be: Cordura; armored; fits me.

$175 (http://www.motorcyclecloseouts.com/sport/textile+motorcycle+jackets/fieldsheer_adventure+pants), seems a bit steep for "just pants".

http://www.motorcyclecloseouts.com/dir/image.php?id=24443

10) Gerbing heated vest or jacket liner

finally, if the NYC winter proves to be really cold, my commute on the longer side, and i don't go for something as radical as the skirt above (see item #3) i may well look into electrically heated clothing. sounds toasty! Gerbing's is an outfit that makes such things, and in the US to boot if i'm correct! they also have an outlet store of sorts for older models.

$89 for an old-new stock jacket liner (http://www.heatedclothingoutlet.com/jacketLiner.shtml), marked down from $149 normally. plugs into the 12V accessory power outlet.

http://www.gerbings.co.uk/images/interconnection.jpg

[Toshi]

my thoughts on the above:

2 wheels requires a lot of extra protective equipment if one is to do it properly and in inclement weather! but in my mind there is no substitute for protective gear. my continued health, not to mention my full complement of autologous skin, is worth a paycheck imo.

even with the price of gas apt to rise the scooter is not likely to be a contender for the cheapest mode of transportation. that title will continue to go to walking; biking; taking the bus or train; electric biking; and driving a beater car into the ground.

jessica and i are thinking of buying a house or condo out on long island given the interest rates and general low prices in the housing market, and as such my commute probably will be longer than walking distance, and possibly up to 15ish miles (hopefully less). my time spent bike- and now electric bike-commuting has taught me that i have limits. i want to have the option to have suspension, real automotive-style lighting, and higher speeds than my legs + electric motor can push me to, at least on days when i have to be in early or stay late.

i'm still opposed to the beater car option as i was when i decided to sell my RX-8 and build the electric bike because of the smog-forming emissions, safety, and reliability aspects. initially i was opposed to motorcycles for the same reason (emissions) but the advent of Euro 3-compliant motorcycles such as this Piaggio MP3 means realistically that they're as clean as the average newish automobile on the road. see my post in the alternative personal transportation thread for more details on this. basically, what i would want to spend and what i would want out of a car (mileage, emissions, safety) are not compatible with 4 wheels. besides, i wouldn't want to drive a car except in the winter, and the economics of cars do not favor buying a vehicle but only driving it sparingly except for through Zipcar or other car sharing services. Zipcar is sadly not available out on Long Island, and their pricing model makes more sense for errands than for commuting into a workplace, in any case.

finally, a lot of this safety gear will be good for years and years (besides providing lots of fodder for birthday and christmas lists! heh), and hopefully i can continue riding two wheels of some variety for many a decade. there probably will come a time when i can afford the latest Prius or other nonsense with proper snow tires and will commute safely in it throughout the winter instead of shivering on a scooter, but that time isn't now.

[DaveW]

Nice choice of scooter Toshi. :)

Points that I'd make are:
Helmet..... wouldn't worry about getting one with funky graphics as it will probably just end up scuffed to hell, But DON'T skimp on it as it could save your life.

Jacket and pants, Don't bother with leather. Get Cordura far better comfort in the cold and in the wet, and in mine and my friends experience Cordura is better in crashes.
2 months ago I crashed @ 70kmph and not a mark or bruise on me and the pants/Jacket didn't have even the slightest mark on them (pity the bike wasn't like that). The same crash in leather would have given your skin the same level of abrasion resistance but the leather itself would have been trashed.
Personally I highly rate Polo's Stratos pants (http://www.polo-motorrad.de/shop/Bekleidung-Herren-Hosen-Stratos-Hose/product/139669/group/1032/dmc_mb3_search_pi1.searchstring/stratos/dmc_mb3_search_pi1.page/1/Produktdetail.productdetails.0.html) with the zip out winter liner and insert pockets for CE armour. I've been riding in them in temp ranges from zero deg C to approx 30degC (liner removed) and they have been awesome!
oh yeah.... English translation of that webpage. (http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.polo-motorrad.de%2Fshop%2FBekleidung-Herren-Hosen-Stratos-Hose%2Fproduct%2F139669%2Fgroup%2F1032%2Fdmc_mb3_s earch_pi1.searchstring%2Fstratos%2Fdmc_mb3_search_ pi1.page%2F1%2FProduktdetail.productdetails.0.html&lp=de_en&btnTrUrl=Translate)
The Jacket? well bits to look for are crash padding/armour on shoulders spine and elbows and it's good if it has a zip out liner to extend the range of temps it is comfortable in..... oh and buy fairly large so you can wear it over several layers, as odds on you will end up at some point wearing heavy clothes under it, or clothes more suitable for what ever your doing at the destination.

Get 2 pair of gloves one winter weight and one summer weight.... And again I highly recommend heated grips on the bike. ;)
Your hands are the most exposed and most easily chilled part of your bod on the bike, I've had my hands get so cold I couldn't operate the handle bar controls before and it ain't fun trust me.
A pro enduro rider (KTM on the European circut) friend of mine also recommends using latex examination gloves under his riding gloves to help keep them warm with out losing sensitivity, it's not a perfect fix but it def helped me riding in the French and Swiss alps this year (was snowing around me as I rode over the mountain pass out of the valley Damo lives in).

And lastly I do recommend dri rider water proof motorbike boots (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Helmets-clothing-footwear/Boots/auction-195172731.htm) These are the ones I use Uber comfy good crash protection (shins and ankles) and have Never let any water in.... oh and a Rain suit!!!!!! They are ugly but man they work! :D

Ok I'll shut up now. :blah::poster_oops:

[Toshi]

so it looks like motorcycles generally aren't financed at non-usurious rates by banks, unlike cars. this means i'll be paying cash, which realistically means that this won't happen until i'm solidly in new york after july of this year. until then i just have too much on the plate:

- that fancypants camera that i sprung for (Canon 5D Mk II)
- wedding band for the girl before the april 11 big day. i want titanium, she wants platinum to match her engagement ring. i think she's getting the better deal! heh
- moving costs from seattle to new york
- "little things" here and there, like a GPS unit for the soon-to-be-shared Corolla before we make the trek eastward

in the meantime i will collect bits and pieces of gear. the gloves are already on their way... :)

[Toshi]

dude. sooo awesome (http://i.gizmodo.com/5124265/helicopters-used-to-fix-giant-wind-turbines).

fndv4qDfKcc

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/01/windmill-eurocopter.jpg

[Westy]

Have you ridden moto's on the road yet? If not I strongly recommend the MSF course. Actually I recommend it to auto drivers as well. I would also recommend trying to hook up with an experienced safety related rider and spend some time following them. There is so much to be learned, most of it is getting in the proper mind set.

[Toshi]

Have you ridden moto's on the road yet? If not I strongly recommend the MSF course. Actually I recommend it to auto drivers as well. I would also recommend trying to hook up with an experienced safety related rider and spend some time following them. There is so much to be learned, most of it is getting in the proper mind set.

i've taken a ridercourse in the past, got my endorsement and all. i'm signed up for another one in april. with how things are going it probably won't be until the fall until i scrape together enough cash anyway -- guess it'll be the electric bike for a bit longer. :D

[Westy]

i've taken a ridercourse in the past, got my endorsement and all. i'm signed up for another one in april. with how things are going it probably won't be until the fall until i scrape together enough cash anyway -- guess it'll be the electric bike for a bit longer. :D

It will give you time to find a scooter gang to join.

[Toshi]

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/01/cadillac-one_01.jpg

this is all well and good... but then i got to the part "bottles of the president's blood kept on board in case he needs an emergency transfusion".

sweet jeebus.

[Toshi]

i just sold my klein for $200 over craigslist. it had been totally neglected since i built up the electric bike save for the period when i was waiting for a replacement motor controller. i'm trying to pare down my goods in anticipation of the impending eastward migration...

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/9454/klein2ll4.jpg

[Toshi]

http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/3972/img0052hf8.jpg

it's here. along with a big bill to pay off at the end of the month! :D

first shots with new camera (http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3137243&postcount=115) found at the linked post

[Toshi]

starting last wednesday i'm on call (as in in house from 6 AM one day until 8 AM-noon the next day) every third day for the next 8 weeks.

while this sucks in some respects, it also means that i have "post-call days" every third day where i get to go home really early after spending the day/night on call. if i forgo sleep then i can make use of this day. today i felt motivated and went on a 3+ hour stroll from my neighborhood, capitol hill, to downtown, pike's place market, the waterfront, and back. today's assignment was to shoot at both 12mm and 135mm. oddly enough i had more inspiration shooting wide than long.

urban color - january 12, 2009 (http://tinyurl.com/97utch)

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/urban%20color%20-%20january%2012,%202009/Images/IMG_5087.jpg

(hit the link for 14 more)

[WTGPhoben]

starting last wednesday i'm on call (as in in house from 6 AM one day until 8 AM-noon the next day) every third day for the next 8 weeks.

while this sucks in some respects, it also means that i have "post-call days" every third day where i get to go home really early after spending the day/night on call. if i forgo sleep then i can make use of this day. today i felt motivated and went on a 3+ hour stroll from my neighborhood, capitol hill, to downtown, pike's place market, the waterfront, and back. today's assignment was to shoot at both 12mm and 135mm. oddly enough i had more inspiration shooting wide than long.

urban color - january 12, 2009 (http://tinyurl.com/97utch)

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/urban%20color%20-%20january%2012,%202009/Images/IMG_5087.jpg

(hit the link for 14 more)

Cool shots. Was the 100% crop of the chocolate straight out of the camera? (as in nothing that couldn't be tweaked in the RAW file)

[Toshi]

i don't shoot RAW + JPEG, only RAW, so those were straight out of Lightroom. i didn't do any sharpening after the fact/conversion or other trickery.

[Fool]

Toshi, do you know what kind of roads your commute will involve? Parkways? The dreaded LIE? Surface roads? I like the idea of the scooter -- totally doable year-round here, winter doesn't get *that* cold (will hit the teens - 20s as highs for the first time this winter at the end of this week). Your biggest concern will be the fine, courteous LI drivers who are only happy to share the road with you. I've seen a big increase in scooters in NYC/the boroughs. Vespa has (had?) a big promotion going for free parking in a number of garages around the city if you bought one.

[Toshi]

Toshi, do you know what kind of roads your commute will involve? Parkways? The dreaded LIE? Surface roads? I like the idea of the scooter -- totally doable year-round here, winter doesn't get *that* cold (will hit the teens - 20s as highs for the first time this winter at the end of this week). Your biggest concern will be the fine, courteous LI drivers who are only happy to share the road with you. I've seen a big increase in scooters in NYC/the boroughs. Vespa has (had?) a big promotion going for free parking in a number of garages around the city if you bought one.

thanks for the local input. i'm not sure of what my commute will entail just yet because i'm not sure where we'll be living. it could be on the hospital campus, so my commute would be entirely by foot. the buying a place option is kind of out the door due to my pessimism about the economy's prospects for recovery in 4 years. thus i'll probably be coming from one of the local towns on surface streets, ideally less than 5 miles so as to make a bike commute pleasant in warmer months, too.

[Toshi]

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7885/movinonupuw1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/movinonupuw1.jpg/1/w512.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img99/movinonupuw1.jpg/1/)

courtesy of the ever-hilarious Bike Snob NYC blog.

[Toshi]

my PS2/DF/GT4 setup is now on eBay. no one bit on craigslist:

http://cgi.ebay.com/PlayStation-2-Logitech-Driving-Force-Gran-Turismo-4_W0QQitemZ110338690284QQihZ001QQcategoryZ139971QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/5350/playstationgm9.jpg

[Toshi]

sobering.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/sgs-emp.gif

[Toshi]

1) for those not following along, Keith is in Afghanistan. he's posting some interesting musings and photos on his blog: http://blog.pedalandwrench.com/

2) i just listed jessica's commuter bike on craiglist since she wasn't using it. i'll build her something that she likes better +/- electric bits once we're in new york.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/bik/998386909.html

probably worth it to someone just for the XTR, Chris King, and Thomson bits!

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/2353/img5156zr2.jpg
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7320/img5157pt2.jpg
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/387/img5159pr9.jpg

[Toshi]

2) i just listed jessica's commuter bike on craiglist since she wasn't using it. i'll build her something that she likes better +/- electric bits once we're in new york.

and it's sold and out of my hands in one hour. this time i only had 3 people reply within the hour (one of whom drove right over and bought it for $250 cash) so i think it was priced right. the klein was probably too low. c'est la vie. :D

[Toshi]

more fodder from the new camera:

fog over alki [beach, west seattle] (http://tinyurl.com/98r9u5)

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/fog%20over%20alki%20-%20january%2019,%202009/Images/IMG_5165.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/fog%20over%20alki%20-%20january%2019,%202009/Images/IMG_5164.jpg

[Toshi]

unsold cars piling up on Nissan UK's test track:

http://static.guim.co.uk/Guardian/business/gallery/2009/jan/16/automotive/xnissan-6163.jpg

the meltdown continues...

[Toshi]

i'm not sure if this is accessible as a general link, but here's a video hosted on facebook of me skiing:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=858691383441

[Toshi]

http://gawker.com/assets/images/gawker/2009/01/Obama_fronts.jpg

[Toshi]

japanese riding instructors putting on a demonstration:

gs2RnbvHSuU

gets interesting about 1:30 in. :D


and here the rare sport of synchronized high-siding:

G0k3jid2tTk

[DaveW]

That instructors vid is pretty cool, wonder how long it took to get the timing right? :D

[Toshi]

That instructors vid is pretty cool, wonder how long it took to get the timing right? :D

the japanese are obsessive about their routines, e.g. morning calisthenics ("rajio taiso") (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_taiso)...

[Barbaton]

thanks for the local input. i'm not sure of what my commute will entail just yet because i'm not sure where we'll be living. it could be on the hospital campus, so my commute would be entirely by foot. the buying a place option is kind of out the door due to my pessimism about the economy's prospects for recovery in 4 years. thus i'll probably be coming from one of the local towns on surface streets, ideally less than 5 miles so as to make a bike commute pleasant in warmer months, too.

Long time no post, but late night procrastinating writing an OSCE + vintage port = check what's going on on RM for the first time in a few months.

WRT LI, as a relatively recent transplant I will tell you this is by far the least bike friendly place I have ever lived, including among the drunktards of Northern New Mexico. Even in cars, we were independently subjected to the receiving end of two unsolicited major road rage incidents within the first week of living here (in the second K was a passenger in a Town Car). These involved baseball bats, lots of Suffolk County police cars, etc. Long Islanders are mean, and frustrated with living in this suburban hell where it takes you 40 mins to get anywhere. Must be because the only place to eat here is Friendlys (seriously, there are 4 of them within a 5 min drive from my house). I almost got run down by a BMW 750Li because I somehow beat him off the line at a red light on my fixie, which apparently was unacceptable. Lots of honking.

Absolutely find a place with a route that can use small roads, and don't get stuck somewhere where you have to use one of the county roads. They look friendly enough on the map but if there's more than one lane people will treat them like the Interstate. You may end up like me and having to drive to places for riding, like MTB or dedicated road routes that have been set up if you want to get any riding in at all. That said, in the spring I'll probably take my chances and start commuting again, since with my hours I kind of avoid rush hour and I don't mind riding an extra 5 miles just to stay off the major streets.

Oh, and you can forget about Craigslist utility here. The bike section is barren and utterly useless...

[Toshi]

dude. i had completely forgotten that you were out there now. stony brook? you should PM ska todd and go riding.

[Barbaton]

dude. i had completely forgotten that you were out there now. stony brook? you should PM ska todd and go riding.

Yah. I've been meaning to find out if there were any monkeys here who could show me something non-sucky. Seriously if I weren't having so much fun at school this would be really be depressing.

btw, i forgot something in the original post that i went back and added. basically craigslist is useless here...

[Toshi]

new glamour shots from january on a rare sunny winter day. the columns are part of an overlook/mini-park near downtown and nearby to where i live up on capitol hill.

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/january%202009%20e-bike%20glamour%20shots%20-%20january%2031,%202009/Images/IMG_5194.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/january%202009%20e-bike%20glamour%20shots%20-%20january%2031,%202009/Images/IMG_5202.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/january%202009%20e-bike%20glamour%20shots%20-%20january%2031,%202009/Images/IMG_5179.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/january%202009%20e-bike%20glamour%20shots%20-%20january%2031,%202009/Images/IMG_5200.jpg

[Barbaton]

I see you upgraded your torque arm from the ziptie wrench version :)

new glamour shots from january on a rare sunny winter day. the columns are part of an overlook/mini-park near downtown and nearby to where i live up on capitol hill.

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/january%202009%20e-bike%20glamour%20shots%20-%20january%2031,%202009/Images/IMG_5194.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/january%202009%20e-bike%20glamour%20shots%20-%20january%2031,%202009/Images/IMG_5202.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/january%202009%20e-bike%20glamour%20shots%20-%20january%2031,%202009/Images/IMG_5179.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/january%202009%20e-bike%20glamour%20shots%20-%20january%2031,%202009/Images/IMG_5200.jpg

[Toshi]

I see you upgraded your torque arm from the ziptie wrench version :)
yeah, that ghetto torque arm kind of failed. at 30+ mph. it scared me, even though i managed to avoid crashing. buildyourown of RM fame built me my own torque arms as depicted. :D

[Toshi]

a wide-aperture night (http://tinyurl.com/cqxh58). 5 photos from tonight with the 50/1.4. first 4 at f/1.4, the portrait is at f/2.

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/a%20wide-aperture%20night%20-%20february%202,%202009/Images/IMG_5203.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/a%20wide-aperture%20night%20-%20february%202,%202009/Images/IMG_5204.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/a%20wide-aperture%20night%20-%20february%202,%202009/Images/IMG_5205.jpg

[Toshi]

i took a Ducati home last night...

... a Sandisk Extreme Ducati Corse 8 GB CF card, that is. the Ducati-branded one is actually the fastest in terms of write speed on robgalbraith.com's CF database for the 5D Mk II. the difference is actually quite noticeable compared to my prior Sandisk Extreme III 1 GB CF cards.

with the Extreme III 1 GB i could pop out 13 RAW shots in sequence and then the camera would stop shooting and would furiously write to the card for 10-15 seconds.

with the Ducati 8 GB i can pop out 19 RAW shots in (3.9 fps) sequence and then the camera continues to shoot in sequence at about 2 fps as it writes, and once stopped shooting it catches up with the writing very quickly. i approve.


in other news, the replacement U-lock from Kryptonite arrived, a few weeks after i sent in the one whose mechanism froze in the freak winter storm we had in december. in turn, i returned the giant and heavy OnGuard Brute U-lock to REI. the sales guy had actually suggested i do this! (buy a lock, return it when the kryptonite came in.) still feel a smidge guilty. the Kryptonite is quite a bit wimpier than the massive Brute, but its shackle also promises to be large enough to accommodate the downtube, front wheel, and a bike rack's pole. the Brute was just small enough that it'd take two out of the three above-listed things but not all unless extremely lucky and persistent.

[Toshi]

high ISO shots from roaming around puget sound yesterday post-call:

http://tinyurl.com/ccremt

yours truly, very tired. that's ISO 6400, 50mm, 1/5s, wide open at f/4

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/post-call%20friday%20-%20february%207,%202009/Images/IMG_5274.jpg

a theater from my old hometown (for the high school years) where my orchestra would occasionally perform, the Pantages in Tacoma. ISO 3200, 0.3s, f/5.6, 24mm:

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/post-call%20friday%20-%20february%207,%202009/Images/IMG_5247.jpg

more at the gallery. all the stuff from the bar was ISO 6400 -- really, really bad light.

[DaveW]

Go and shave ya scruffy bugger! :D

[Toshi]

oh, i did, finally. but not before going to clinic earlier this week looking that way! the good news is that it's orthopedic surgery clinic, we're all wearing scrubs anyway, and no one cared a whit.

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn85/SRPGC8/mlsyKxOF8f0v9i3o2ELXg6nZo1_500.jpg

[Toshi]

back to my roots: wandering about the city. i walked nearly 6 miles around town today with camera in hand, for the sunlight, exercise, and chance to see interesting juxtapositions of buildings.

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/looking%20up%20-%20february%207,%202009/Images/IMG_5302.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/looking%20up%20-%20february%207,%202009/Images/IMG_5303.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/looking%20up%20-%20february%207,%202009/Images/IMG_5304.jpg

[Toshi]

if you thought the above were a little geometry-mad, check out these:

http://i.gizmodo.com/5150360/monster-japanese-factories-are-the-stuff-nightmares-are-made-of

a sample, more at the link:

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2009/02/custom_1234268429821_3165915127_08ac4ba4c7_b.jpg

[Toshi]

http://www.modernvespa.com/pix/uploads/holy_mother_of_god_trik_126.jpg

[Toshi]

shots from a skybridge at one of the two hospitals at which i spend the majority of my time (and the last 6 weeks in particular, with 6 more before i head elsewhere again). unedited from the iPhone. just supposed to show the wide variety of times of day and weather that i see when walking by the same place while performing my duties.

http://tinyurl.com/cmpggh

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/lo-fi%20harborview%20-%20february%2015,%202009/Thumbs/IMG_0055.jpghttp://toshiclark.com/images/daily/lo-fi%20harborview%20-%20february%2015,%202009/Thumbs/IMG_0056.jpghttp://toshiclark.com/images/daily/lo-fi%20harborview%20-%20february%2015,%202009/Thumbs/IMG_0054.jpghttp://toshiclark.com/images/daily/lo-fi%20harborview%20-%20february%2015,%202009/Thumbs/IMG_0059.jpghttp://toshiclark.com/images/daily/lo-fi%20harborview%20-%20february%2015,%202009/Thumbs/IMG_0061.jpg

[Toshi]

i had a day off so took a ride this afternoon. was nippy and windy, but was still the first ride in a long time where i wore sunglasses; didn't have my hood under my helmet for wind protection; didn't have a fleece on under my shell; and didn't don the rainpants over my normal gear. spring is coming but definitely not here, heh.

anyway, i headed along the waterfront away from downtown down by the seattle art museum sculpture park, for those familiar with the area. getting there is a slog, racing traffic up and down Denny and then Elliot, but the path itself is nice once reached, if a little crowded. once you get to the magnolia bridge area it gets really weird: the bike trail goes through a BNSF railroad yard, and it is bordered on both sides by fences topped with barbed wire. what's more, it narrows down to about 4 ft. in width -- and this is a two way path! -- and heads over some funky fenced-in pedestrian bridges over the railyard. very industrial and foreign.

on the way back i went along the waterfront, in fact passing by the venue for jessica and my upcoming wedding. getting from the waterfront back to downtown, and from downtown to capitol hill, where i live, is kind of a pain. my favored route involves taking an elevator to a skybridge that crosses over railroad tracks, climbing a few blocks up a very steep hill, racing the cars along 2nd avenue, then slogging up pike, dodging taxis, buses, and pedestrians alike. how steep is this steep hill? look at the elevation profile right after mile 8 on the route map below...

route map:

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/9441/picture2dl8.png

my lifetime energy usage/mile is below units are Watt-hours per mile, a commonly used unit for measuring the efficiency of electric vehicles. Tesla claims anywhere from 115-300 Wh/mile for their Roadster depending on the car's speed, for reference, confirming the common sense truism that cars indeed use much more energy than bikes, even when both are electric. the scattering of low values at the beginning is from when i used to ride it like a normal bike, only adding electric assist on hills. nowadays i'm more or less full throttle all the time, pedaling as well, of course.

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/8589/picture1tl5hp5.png

[Toshi]

http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/manuf_02_20/m02_17957747.jpg

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/02/at_work.html

the big picture has consistently impressive shots.

[Toshi]

http://www.besportier.com/archives/piaggio-mp3-hybrid-scooter.jpg

the obsession lives on

[Toshi]

two sweet M3 videos:

NkQBD3eYADA

8iy4YDe8hWc

[Toshi]

found while idly looking for a bike for jessica. i really like the look of this. too bad all of the electra models have quill stems. the headset could be swapped but then that sweet front fork with the built in fender and rack would go to waste.

whatever jessica ends up getting has to have 1.125" threadless so that it can take the fork/torque arm/electric setup off of my current commuter. (i'll move to newer/faster parts at that time.)

http://media.rei.com/media/aa/4d6f8779-b5bb-4933-97dd-7a2d7f266aac.jpg

[Toshi]

i changed all four brake pads on the commuter bike today at about the 790 mile point. i think i should try to change them much closer to every 500 miles: all four were worn down to the metal backing.

the OEM rear rim still was holding up ok under this unnatural stress even though braking power was a bit down. it didn't make any noise and still felt smooth. the chinese generic/Crystalyte rim that came with my hub motor kit is a bit worse for wear, however. the metal backing on the brake pad managed to pit and basically flake off half of the braking surface on one side. whoops.

a bit of time with a scotchbrite pad to remove large burrs and 4 new pads later and she's good to go again.

the amusing part in all of this: $13 for 4 new brake pads post-tax over 800 miles is about 1.6 cents per mile. that's 16 times more expensive than the electricity used to run the thing...

also/randomly, an Piaggio MP3 500/Gilera Fuoco 500 in the snow in Kiev:

http://i.piccy.info/i3/04/d1/b09e54a5fbea8fd16975821a2007.jpeg

[Toshi]

bikes that i find interesting or attractive from the NAHBS (pseudo-track-bike hipster fixies need not apply):

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/SahggUNopYI/AAAAAAAAB3w/pr6rLZok1Ek/s800/DSCN0240.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/SahgsQlN5MI/AAAAAAAAB5k/TqletWm0aKw/s720/DSCN0255.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/SahgtYX23yI/AAAAAAAAB5s/tGBv-8HPjyk/s800/DSCN0256.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/SahgvKOhwgI/AAAAAAAAB58/mNJwiS6BM_A/s720/DSCN0258.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/Sahgw35VR2I/AAAAAAAAB6M/FkZIzdNEbYw/s720/DSCN0260.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/Sar2cw_ITDI/AAAAAAAAD-o/UpASu_8QIP8/s720/DSCN0699.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/Sar2w0WiFZI/AAAAAAAAEBE/U190Om2GvuE/s720/DSCN0645.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/Sar243M8vtI/AAAAAAAAECU/_hDWSM-Ak5o/s800/DSCN0655.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/Sar3IS5POwI/AAAAAAAAEEQ/8h0cX3VbuJ8/s800/DSCN0670.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/SanNz5uyElI/AAAAAAAACUc/XZd7fy0BaiU/s720/DSCN0431.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/SanN4619tzI/AAAAAAAACVE/xcUqiCijeaU/s720/DSCN0436.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/SanOKdoA3uI/AAAAAAAACXo/dpLpPYuhxfc/s800/DSCN0457.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_DQ4huHVgTkI/SanORu2hW7I/AAAAAAAACYs/ErjW36KT4so/s720/DSCN0471.JPG

[DaveW]

Vanilla *sigh* I so want one of those :drool:

[Toshi]

here's a photo of a "ride" and a half:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3576/3324078288_710bfc6458_o.jpg

the cockpit of a B-1? no: a Concorde.

[Toshi]

one of the reasons i built my electric bike (http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=201960) was the ride to the VA hospital, which is located on a hill south of downtown. the VA is clearly car-centric, as it was built with huge parking lots and has limited bus service -- not that buses would have helped me given the hours at which surgeons round!

from where i lived last year it would have been a ride of about 11 miles each way, and with stoplights and all the elevation change involved it was about an hour-long on the road bike. given that we typically round around 6 AM, which means that the intern (ie, me) is in the hospital by 5:15 AM to pre-round an hour on the road bike each and every day wasn't going to happen, realistically, thus the electric bike.

as it turns out i wasn't assigned any rotations this year at either the VA or at Children's Hospital. my commute instead is mostly to Harborview and occasionally to UW, and both of these hospitals are much closer. indeed, i haven't been to the VA at all since medical school. nevertheless, as a nod to my original design goals and boredom while waiting for a night shift i rode to the VA today.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/4941/picture1gm6.png
(i live at the top of the map. the VA is the pink thing at the bottom. the blue and white bar at the bottom is the elevation profile, with the X axis being distance traveled. stats: 10.5 miles via my weird loopy route with quite a lot of elevation change. 289 Watt-hours used, 27.6 Wh/mile.)

the ride itself exposed me to some of the seedier parts of seattle. to start with, the VA isn't in the nicest area. furthermore, it's a neighborhood that's very unfriendly to bikers. if you look at the map between miles 5 and 6 (near the bottom) then you'll see a section in which i appear to be riding along the west seattle freeway. in reality i was riding along a sidewalk, shielded from oncoming 60 mph traffic by a mere 6 inch curb. add to that multiple steep sets of concrete stairs that lead to sketchy underworld paths that cross beneath the freeway and you have a place that i hope to never visit again. it's clear to me that the designers of that interchange only made the bare minimum of concessions to allow for pedestrians to get from one side of the freeway to the other without physically running across the road surface.

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/737/img0066il1.jpg
(the last set of stairs taking one from the level of the roadway surface above down to Airport Way. carrying a ~75 lb. electric bike down these stairs was challenging.)

in any case i made it home fine without getting mugged, which these days is a non-negligible risk for seattle bikers (http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=337677&shu=1), and am thankful that i don't have to ride this route every day.

[DaveW]

Those stairs would be fun for ya if they got covered in ice during winter!

[Toshi]

Those stairs would be fun for ya if they got covered in ice during winter!

no doubt. all in all a poor piece of urban planning. the interchange in question is perpetually plugged up with automobile traffic and, as i found out, is quite terrifying for those on foot or a bicycle.

[Toshi]

for auction: one copy of Windows Vista Business edition. new in box, retail version (not the upgrade). i'm selling it since it was my payment for doing a usability study for Microsoft today -- i do studies for them every once in a while. :)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110360677170

buy it! now!

http://toshiclark.com/forsale/Vista1.jpg

[DaveW]

Vista........ *shudder*

[Toshi]

Vista........ *shudder*

selling it is a good way to get "free" money tho in exchange for my time and input on one of my days off. it's not like i'm installing it... :D

[Toshi]

my sister visited me, in town to interview for a heme/onc fellowship at the fred hutchinson cancer institute/seattle cancer care alliance. we visited what perhaps is my favorite thai joint in town, no mean feat given the number and quality of the same in seattle.

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/a%20visiting%20sister%20-%20march%206,%202009/Images/IMG_5321.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/a%20visiting%20sister%20-%20march%206,%202009/Images/IMG_5323.jpg
jessica has big eyes, it's true

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/a%20visiting%20sister%20-%20march%206,%202009/Images/IMG_5324.jpg
i often look scruffy, also true

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/a%20visiting%20sister%20-%20march%206,%202009/Images/IMG_5330.jpg
all of us lined up for a mugshot. eiko, my sister, is 24 weeks pregnant.

[Toshi]

http://vimeo.com/3611839 <-- just a dumb video i made of jessica and me playing around on her mom's wii fit. editing, titles, transitions: all of these things so foreign!

[Toshi]

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x38/imprezzed/1196541643442.jpg

[Toshi]

http://xs537.xs.to/xs537/09123/256980_use_the_eggos__luke_644.jpg

[Toshi]

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7404/08piaggiomp3400parked.jpg

things are winding down very, very quickly:

- getting married in 19 days (followed by two weeks of blissful vacation. i need it.)
- retaking the MSF ridercourse in 24 days
- finishing up here at UW in 92 days, and then starting radiology residency in new york on the 93rd day (yikes)

[Toshi]

i'm going to head up to a semi-local motorcycle shop tomorrow to test fit some gear. in particular i'm looking for a helmet, as i need one prior to taking the ridercourse according to the paperwork that came in the mail this week. this is kind of lame since my previous ridercourse (and all auto racing events i've been to) had loaner helmets. not that i relish having other peoples' scalpsweat against my brow, mind you.

the astute reader will note that i used to have a snell and DOT-approved motorcycle helmet that i used to rock while on the downhill bike. i threw that away last year after one too many crashes, and because it was nearing the end of its eligibility for even local/amateur auto racing, being a M95 rated model.

in any case, i need a new helmet. most of the seattle shops have pretty horrendous reviews on yelp. one, however, doesn't: seattle cycle center. www.seattlecycle.com . plus they have the Scorpion EXO-700 Solid in high-vis yellow. it's the nerd choice, for sure, but i really like the concept of having a high-vis helmet.

http://seattlecycle.com/images/products/detail/exo700_solid_neonyellow.jpg

let's hope it fits my huge melon.

[DaveW]

Yeah I'm with ya on the his vis..... it always iritates me that without resorting to racing leathers there really is bugger all decent riding gear out there that isn't black or dark. :(

[Toshi]

riding apparel has been bought or ordered:

Scorpion EXO-700 Neon helmet, size XL for my big melon, ordered through amazon.com today.
Olympia Gloves Cold Throttle gloves, size L, bought at Seattle Cycle Center today.
Power Trip Bravo gloves, via a past newenough.com closeout, a little small at a nominal size L.
Tour Master Transition Series 2 armored textile jacket, size L in high-viz yellow, ordered through newenough.com today
Joe Rocket Ballistic armored textile pants, size XL-short as they go over street clothes, bought at Seattle Cycle Center today.
Alpinestars Ridge waterproof riding boots with ankle protection, size 10.0, ordered through amazon.com today.

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/5365/picture3ves.jpghttp://img187.imageshack.us/img187/315/picture1p.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/7533/4370blkhighresjpg.jpghttp://img7.imageshack.us/img7/1342/picture1pky.png
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/9437/picture4fnh.jpghttp://img520.imageshack.us/img520/544/picture2i.jpg

[Toshi]

http://somuchdamage.com/stuff/lolwut.jpg

i'm getting antsy. and piaggio has their 6 month/0% apr promotion through 4/30/09! it's going to be hard to not pull the trigger for a new one with that promotion vs. a used one that's paid off in full right now.

http://piaggiousa.com/promotions.php?pid=3

(yes, the APR is HORRIBLE after 6 months but i could pay it off right now. 6 months "free financing" is just icing on the cake.)

[Toshi]

i'm getting antsy. and piaggio has their 6 month/0% apr promotion through 4/30/09! it's going to be hard to not pull the trigger for a new one with that promotion vs. a used one that's paid off in full right now.

http://piaggiousa.com/promotions.php?pid=3

(yes, the APR is HORRIBLE after 6 months but i could pay it off right now. 6 months "free financing" is just icing on the cake.)

more on the above. crossposted from my blog ( www.xanga.com/toshiclark ), as today's post is on this very topic:

new or used?

as the astute reader will note i have no car. this has worked out fine this year, as my seattle apartment is within easy biking distance from both of the hospitals at which i work, and seattle has both zipcar and a pretty good bus system as backups.

to wit, the zipcars that live around my apartment:

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/2540/picture1otz.png

the astute reader will also note that i'm not sticking around in seattle. in the end of june i, along with my soon-to-be bride, will be moving to long island, new york. this move is non-negotiable, as it's part of my residency training process and, as such, is basically the most important thing for my career.

long island has many desirable attributes, including its proximity to new york without the problems associated with actually living in new york city, as well as its peace and relative solitude. however, what it doesn't have is zipcar: the closest zipcars will be in queens, far beyond the realm of practicality. (right now i rarely walk more then 0.3 mile to get a zipcar.)

so i'll need a car, right? wrong. i'll need something motorized, that's what. as you probably guessed from the barrage of prior posts on emissions, and, lately, safety gear, i'm planning on riding around on something with less than 4 wheels. in particular, i've settled on a three-wheeled Piaggio MP3 250. it's commercially available with a warranty and local/nationwide support, is arguably marginally safer than a 2-wheeler, and, most importantly, has the stamp of approval from the fiancée.

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8707/piaggiomp3scooter2bige.jpg

the question then becomes: new or used?

in the car arena this is a relatively straightforward question, with the sane answer usually being to buy a 2-3 year old mainstream used model, possibly under a certified pre-owned plan through the manufacturer. this decision is enabled by the stable used car market with plentiful supply and the availability of sane financing for both used and new car purchases.

these assumptions don't hold true in the motorcycle/scooter market. in particular, scooters are rarer, are seemingly bought and sold impulsively, and financing is a minefield: used motorcycles are basically impossible to finance at non-usurious rates. in other words, there aren't many bikes out there, people don't know their true worth due to the scarcity of transactions and the flakiness/irrationality of buyers and sellers alike, and financing is much easier to come by for new purchases. add to this the relative cheapness of both new and used machines and you have the dilemma at hand.

scenario 1: the used case

there's all of one used MP3 250 listed on the greater seattle area craigslist at the moment. Kelley Blue Book says it should be worth between $4275 trade-in and $6205 retail, yet the seller has it listed for $6750. keep in mind that it's used, a year old, and a new one runs for $7199 + TTD. basically the seller is insane yet no one has called her bluff due to the factors that i've mentioned.

assuming i could get it for $5500—and that's a big assumption there—i then have a year-old scooter that needs registration and insurance, and, as i mentioned, there's no financing available. basically i'll be out a solid $6000 chunk of change, but, in exchange, everything is paid off and squared away from the beginning.

scenario 2: the new case

there are two Vespa dealers around seattle: Vespa Seattle/Eastside/Big People Scooters, and Steel Dreams/Lifestyles Honda up in mount vernon, north of everett. thus there should be no availability problems, and i can be pretty sure i'd be able to get a scooter for MSRP if not a bit less.

thus we're already at $7199 MSRP, plus tax and title. however, obama's stimulus package helps me out here by allowing new scooter, motorcycle, and car sales tax to be deducted from my 2009 federal tax return.

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1246/picture2rog.png

he story's not over yet, though: piaggio has a (recurrent) promotion for 0 down, 0% APR x 6 months on new scooter purchases. i realize that the APR is absolutely loony after 6 months, but if we assume i'll responsibly pay it off in 6 months it's basically a free 6 month loan.

so there we have it: $6000 at once for something used vs. ~$1250 x 6 months for something new. the straight arithmetic says going with the used machine is the prudent choice, but the reality of month to month cashflow and the relative scarcity of used models suggests that going for the new bike makes sense.

what say the peanut gallery?

[WTGPhoben]

$6000 now vs $7500 in 6mo + more warranty, ease of transaction, no risk. No brainer. Buy new. One never knows where those used three wheels have been or how they've been treated.

[dump]

congrats on the wedding & residency! Where will you be in NYC?

[Toshi]

$6000 now vs $7500 in 6mo + more warranty, ease of transaction, no risk. No brainer. Buy new. One never knows where those used three wheels have been or how they've been treated.
that's what i figured. thanks for the sanity check. GE credit rejected me btw! that's who piaggio had been using for their promo financing deal. now they're using sheffield, with whom i just put in an application. if they're rejecting me i'm not sure who they're approving.
congrats on the wedding & residency! Where will you be in NYC?
thanks! i'll be out in east meadow on long island.

:monkeydance:

[Toshi]

MSRP on the bike: $7199.
price quoted by Vespa Seattle: $7349 - $150 "discount" to bring it to MSRP… + 350 destination + 95 setup/prep + 72.50 plates/tabs + 50 document fee == $7766.50 OTD.
price quoted by Vespa Salem: $7000 OTD.


(tax, registration, and insurance would be identical irrespective of purchase locale.)

is the prospect of $766.50 worth a trip of 218 miles each way? well, i'm on vacation in the middle of this month post-MSF ridercourse and could make this trip in a day. it'd be about 6h and a $36 ticket on the amtrak + a 3.1 mile walk or rollerblade trip across town to make it to the dealer. and, finally, it'd be about 4 hours and $7.50 in gas on an unfamiliar scooter to get home. all this looks up my alley so far, however. :D

at first glance i'd say the answer to that question would be "yes". if vespa seattle can do $7200 OTD then i'd go with them, but for a $766.50 difference in price i might just have to take a road trip.

[WTGPhoben]

MSRP on the bike: $7199.
price quoted by Vespa Seattle: $7349 - $150 "discount" to bring it to MSRP… + 350 destination + 95 setup/prep + 72.50 plates/tabs + 50 document fee == $7766.50 OTD.
price quoted by Vespa Salem: $7000 OTD.


(tax, registration, and insurance would be identical irrespective of purchase locale.)

is the prospect of $766.50 worth a trip of 218 miles each way? well, i'm on vacation in the middle of this month post-MSF ridercourse and could make this trip in a day. it'd be about 6h and a $36 ticket on the amtrak + a 3.1 mile walk or rollerblade trip across town to make it to the dealer. and, finally, it'd be about 4 hours and $7.50 in gas on an unfamiliar scooter to get home. all this looks up my alley so far, however. :D

at first glance i'd say the answer to that question would be "yes". if vespa seattle can do $7200 OTD then i'd go with them, but for a $766.50 difference in price i might just have to take a road trip.

I say borrow a folding bike and ride the double century the old fashioned way!

[Toshi]

I say borrow a folding bike and ride the double century the old fashioned way!

har. :pirate2:

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/7629/picture1gmf.png

A. Salem. $7000 + tax OTD, but they don't participate in the 6 month/0% financing promotion. easy to get to on amtrak ($36, 5h50m). straight shot back up I-5 on the way back, 218 miles.

B. Seattle. still awaiting their counteroffer. 2 miles down the street i live on.

C. Kennewick. $7000 + tax OTD, and they participate in the financing promotion. not so easy to get to: amtrak would be $65, two trains, 9 pm arrival so would need an overnight stay. flying would be $100, doable round trip in a single day, and probably the better option. once there it'd be a relatively straightforward ride back, 226 miles.

tomorrow i'll press the more local dealers to see if they can match these remote dealers' deals.

[WTGPhoben]

har. :pirate2:

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/7629/picture1gmf.png

A. Salem. $7000 + tax OTD, but they don't participate in the 6 month/0% financing promotion. easy to get to on amtrak ($36, 5h50m). straight shot back up I-5 on the way back, 218 miles.

B. Seattle. still awaiting their counteroffer. 2 miles down the street i live on.

C. Kennewick. $7000 + tax OTD, and they participate in the financing promotion. not so easy to get to: amtrak would be $65, two trains, 9 pm arrival so would need an overnight stay. flying would be $100, doable round trip in a single day, and probably the better option. once there it'd be a relatively straightforward ride back, 226 miles.

tomorrow i'll press the more local dealers to see if they can match these remote dealers' deals.

Call me devil's advocate, but if you can't get the locals to match these other places, doesn't Jessica have a car?

[Toshi]

Call me devil's advocate, but if you can't get the locals to match these other places, doesn't Jessica have a car?

she has to work during the time at which i'd pick up the scooter. i could borrow her car, but then how would i get back with both the car and the scooter? it's not going to fit inside a corolla, heh

[Toshi]

1) tomorrow's planned route: to the department of licensing to obtain a motorcycle learner's permit, and to les schwab to return unused tire chains. it's just under 15 miles with some elevation changes. in a car one wouldn't think twice about this route, but that's kind of the point and the reason why i ditched my car.

with all this pre-planning i must do due to my limited range and endurance i'll be all ready for an electric car with its similar limitations once it arrives! (for the record, i do hope that an electric car that i'd purchase would have more like 100-120 miles of range vs. the 15-30 that i eke out of my pack depending on pace.)

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/3729/picture1qts.png

2) i bought all of my electric gear from justin le up at www.ebikes.ca. i highly recommend his outfit for its support and professionalism. furthermore, justin is a talented electrical engineer: he designed and manufacturers the "brains" behind my bike, the dashboard display that shows speed, energy usage, and is basically the all singing and dancing solution for lightweight electrical vehicle data display needs. (in particular it's invaluable as a "fuel gauge", showing how many Ah i've used.)

in addition to building this display, the Cycle Analyst, he designs and builds motor controllers, battery packs, and lighting systems. he rode across canada on an e-bike of his own creation last summer to demonstrate the feasibility of doing so on less than $10 CAD of electricity, to demonstrate the durability of his wares, and to meet up with the wacky people in the canadian e-bike community.

one of the novel things about his journey was that he had a camera on his handlebars set to automatically snap a photo every minute while he was on the road. these photos were compiled into a time-lapse video, and his presentation (to a group of old, white hippies in vancouver :D) along with the time-lapse video is mildly interesting if you're excited by the prospect of e-bikes and EVs. ok, i found it interesting. heh.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7678925878624577581

here's the bike he used. the parts changed a bit between this photo and his actual, final setup, but this demonstrates its ingenuity/insanity :D

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/973/crosscanadaebike3.gif

[Toshi]

tomorrow's planned route: to the department of licensing to obtain a motorcycle learner's permit, and to les schwab to return unused tire chains. it's just under 15 miles with some elevation changes. in a car one wouldn't think twice about this route, but that's kind of the point and the reason why i ditched my car.

with all this pre-planning i must do due to my limited range and endurance i'll be all ready for an electric car with its similar limitations once it arrives! (for the record, i do hope that an electric car that i'd purchase would have more like 100-120 miles of range vs. the 15-30 that i eke out of my pack depending on pace.)
i altered my riding style from my youthful, aggressive, all-out war on cars normal stance to the lines of "cruise along at 14-20 mph while pedaling briskly". in other words, i went from riding like a 27 year old to riding more akin to a 72 year old.

this change in riding style greatly affected energy usage. while still averaging 14.5 mph including time spent at stoplights, etc., i managed to halve my normal Wh/mile figure:

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/6361/picture1buu.png

stats for this ride:
16.99 miles
6.01 Ah
16.2 Wh/mile

thanks to this more "conventional bike"-type style, i got a good workout out of it, too. however, it wasn't a wash as compared to the road bike: i pedaled less rigorously than on a road bike, i carried around some weighty cargo in my panniers, and i averaged a higher speed than i would have on a road bike to boot—it's a hilly route and i'd expect to average 10-11 mph from past experience on similar routes. score one for the e-bike.

that said, i don't think it's safe to expect an average american (or even my fiancée) to run 17 miles worth of errands on an e-bike. it was over an hour in the saddle, it was quite cold and very wet, and riding with the cars takes a bit of nerve that only a hardened young male bike commuter typically possesses.

one might note that i ended up with a few extra miles, at 17 vs. my 14.5 estimate. the reasons: i veered off my route by mistake for a short while and i added in an extra trip to the local vespa dealer after noting that i was nowhere near the capacity of the battery.

the route, with elevation at the bottom per my usual routine (albeit with the elevation data ending abruptly at 16 miles since gmaps-pedometer spazzed out):

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/3024/apr2ride.png

(sorry for the crappy image quality of the map above. i used the GIMP to stitch together the above map and elevation profile and its resizing/sharpening algorithms apparently suck major ass.)

[Toshi]

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/four%20perspectives%20of%20jessica%20-%20april%203,%202009/Thumbs/IMG_5354.jpg http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/four%20perspectives%20of%20jessica%20-%20april%203,%202009/Thumbs/IMG_5355.jpg http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/four%20perspectives%20of%20jessica%20-%20april%203,%202009/Thumbs/IMG_5357.jpg http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/four%20perspectives%20of%20jessica%20-%20april%203,%202009/Thumbs/IMG_5359.jpg

four perspectives of jessica - april 3, 2009 (http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/four%20perspectives%20of%20jessica%20-%20april%203,%202009/)

all with the Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM. stupid lens has a sticky focusing mechanism even after a rebuild at photo-tronics, causing it to not want to focus unless prefocused to near the desired subject distance. grr.

[Toshi]

woodland park zoo (http://tinyurl.com/cprjjb) - april 5, 2009.

highlights:

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/woodland%20park%20zoo%20-%20april%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5368.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/woodland%20park%20zoo%20-%20april%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5382.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/woodland%20park%20zoo%20-%20april%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5388.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/woodland%20park%20zoo%20-%20april%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5391.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/woodland%20park%20zoo%20-%20april%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5400.jpg

[Toshi]

iUEyWgyQOKg

[Toshi]

today's my wedding day. already had the rehearsal + rehearsal dinner yesterday, and my bachelor's party was the day before after ducking out of work a few hours early (dinner + drinks, gokarting, gameworks, ghetto irish pub, late night food). derek pearson, aka BAH on RM, will be shooting photos, and there should be a crowd of about 100.

yikes.

:homer:

[Toshi]

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/7994/onionimagearticle1180.jpg

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/37014

strangely prescient in response to this (real) article: http://voices.kansascity.com/node/4230

From Texas comes word of a state legislator suggesting that Asian-Americans might want to change their names to something a little easier to pronounce.

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” the Republican lawmaker said, as the House was debating a voter ID bill.

Her name? Betty Brown.

[Toshi]

1) got married. see thread in lounge.

2) updated code and css for toshiclark.com ever so slightly. well, the font color change isn't "ever so slight", i guess, but the spacing of the header is.

3) some of the more visually interesting shots from this past week:

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/cannon%20beach%20mini-honeymoon%20-%20april%2014,%202009/Images/IMG_5670.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/cannon%20beach%20mini-honeymoon%20-%20april%2014,%202009/Images/IMG_5663.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/cannon%20beach%20mini-honeymoon%20-%20april%2014,%202009/Images/IMG_5676.jpg
long bridge is long

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/cannon%20beach%20mini-honeymoon%20-%20april%2014,%202009/Images/IMG_5682.jpg

[DaveW]

heh that last pic makes you look quite chubby. ;)

[Westy]

heh that last pic makes you look quite chubby. ;)

That shot, his "my fat neck" picture, and the others make him look like 3 entirely different people. Master of disguise?

[Toshi]

heh that last pic makes you look quite chubby. ;)That shot, his "my fat neck" picture, and the others make him look like 3 entirely different people. Master of disguise?

the 12mm lens does weird things at the periphery on full-frame cameras! plus i do have a fat neck. and a fat head. i think my XL moto helmet is a bit small, actually.

:twitch: :D

[Westy]

the 12mm lens does weird things at the periphery on full-frame cameras! plus i do have a fat neck. and a fat head. i think my XL moto helmet is a bit small, actually.

:twitch: :D

That and you look like a dorky white guy from the side. You are lucky though, I look like a dorky white guy from all angles.

[Toshi]

my video experiments continue:

old:
wii fit antics (http://vimeo.com/3611839)
woodland park zoo (http://vimeo.com/4173329)

new:
electric bike test ride (http://vimeo.com/4188263) <-- probably the best edited of the bunch
bachelor party (http://vimeo.com/4189175) <-- rather mediocre
random wedding clips (http://vimeo.com/4189522) <-- poor quality
cannon beach mini-honeymoon clips (http://vimeo.com/4193764) <-- a close second to the e-bike test ride video in editing and much more picturesque to boot

and a video of an entirely different sort:

7EYAUazLI9k

[Toshi]

woot. passed the MSF course yesterday and picked up my motorcycle endorsement today. i'm officially legal to ride in all conditions now. (and the instructors said i should consider instructing myself once i get some saddle time!)

d-day for the scoot should be tomorrow, assuming it checks out on the test ride.

to revisit an earlier theme of this thread here is an absolutely amazing urban trials video. the guy must be a former bmxer. the filming is quite professional as well. good work on all fronts here.

direct link, as it is a bit larger + HQ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o

embedded:
Z19zFlPah-o


not mine but amusing:
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/2538/funnywheelwritingjpg.jpg

[Toshi]

american motorcycle cops:
N2i9JuMlzpg

japanese motorcycle cops:
bWaq0zOaAVU

日本 >> アメリカ

[Toshi]

i bought it and took it home! its parking space is, uh, my living room. it fits through the front door just barely, but fit it does. (a door that opens to the street/alley is one of the reasons i chose my apartment.)

domesticated scooter - april 21, 2009 (http://tinyurl.com/dlh4hr)

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/domesticated%20scooter%20-%20april%2021,%202009/Images/IMG_5691.jpg

[Toshi]

full gallery here for the curious: 177 miles by land and sea - april 24, 2009 (http://tinyurl.com/d6dln7)

i took my first real road trip on the scooter today, visiting my parents up in port angeles.

port angeles is on the olympic peninsula and is most easily accessed from seattle via the washington state ferry system. the ferries, in turn, are very friendly to motorcyclists (and scooter riders): riders may cut in front of the line of cars waiting to purchase tickets, pay less than half fare, queue up for loading in front of and independent of the cars, and embark and debark first.

me on the ferry bright and early:
http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/177%20miles%20over%20land%20and%20sea%20-%20april%2024,%202009/Images/IMG_5714.jpg

the scooter at the front of the lane on the mv puyallup. yes, i got to unload before that big work truck and everyone else, for that matter:
http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/177%20miles%20over%20land%20and%20sea%20-%20april%2024,%202009/Images/IMG_5706.jpg

riding to port angeles was notable for a few things. first, it was cold. very, very cold. just a few minutes before i snapped the below photo the indicated temperature was 39 degrees fahrenheit! although i brought enough layers i wasn't wearing enough of them at the start, and i was none too pleased about this. my hands, face, and torso were all freezing until i put on a balaclava, winter gloves, and an extra layer or two.

note the temperature! the orange icon shows that tilt-lock is engaged:
http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/177%20miles%20over%20land%20and%20sea%20-%20april%2024,%202009/Images/IMG_5715.jpg

second, i crossed the hood canal bridge. luckily, it wasn't closed to allow tall boats to pass through, and its metal gratings were entirely dry. i've yet to ride over wet gratings but do not relish the thought of them.

route map, showing the hood canal bridge and the olympic mountain range/national park:
http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/177%20miles%20over%20land%20and%20sea%20-%20april%2024,%202009/Images/map.jpg

third, motorcyclists in small towns apparently aren't as friendly as the crowd around seattle: all of the people i passed on the road within 20 miles of port angeles were white men around age 40 on harley cruisers, in black leather, with a black beanie helmet and black sunglasses. it was as if they were in uniform! none of them returned my wave, whereas most everyone in my neck of the woods does so, even to a goofy-looking high-viz scooter rider.

one somewhat interesting part of this trip was my detour to olympic national park's boundary. not wanting to pay the entry fee and risk the frigid, possibly icy roads of deception ridge, i took a county road up into the mountains as far as i could go. the road turned into a dirt road and terminated at a gate right after crossing into the park, yielding both the photo below and a chance to practice braking on loose surfaces. feeling emboldened, i practiced locking up both the front wheels and the rear wheel in turn. it is a virtue of the MP3's design that locking up the front doesn't lead to immediate loss of stability.

as far as i could go:
http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/177%20miles%20over%20land%20and%20sea%20-%20april%2024,%202009/Images/IMG_5729.jpg

lessons learned from today's road trip:

1) dress warmly when the temperature dips into the 30s and 40s! bringing extra layers is always good, and the layers that i brought weren't always ideal for layering under my snug armored jacket.
2) don't neglect the face: even with closed vents one's face can get very cold just from the air being force through the vents and through the neck. a balaclava does the trick nicely.
3) most other motorcyclists are quite friendly, except possibly those in small towns. it's amusing but not surprising to me that hayabusa riders were much more curious about my bike than those on sportsters.
4) i need a taller, wider windscreen that provides protection for my torso, head, and especially my hands. now the question becomes to go mid, high, or ridiculously high in height…
5) finally, i do look like a goof, and now have photographic evidence. that's quite ok with me, however, as being noticed as a goofy looking rider is much better than not being noticed at all by an inattentive driver.

"my eyes, they burn!"
http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/177%20miles%20over%20land%20and%20sea%20-%20april%2024,%202009/Images/IMG_5726.jpg

[DaveW]

Nice ride report. :D
I'm not surprised that the Harley riders have an attitude..... I've ridden in 6 different countries from Europe to Asia to NZ and Harley riders all had the same crappy attitude for some reason??
I'd be guessing that with the twin front wheels wet gratings won't be much of a problem for ya. :D

[DaveW]

heh What a perfect day.....
It's raining
It's windy
I'm hungover as hell from the gig last night (mates band had an album release party last night)
And now I have a 2 hour road trip to go see/test ride a bike I'm thinking of buying.....
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=213797039

lol optimum conditions for such a trip!!!

[Toshi]

heh What a perfect day.....
It's raining
It's windy
I'm hungover as hell from the gig last night (mates band had an album release party last night)
And now I have a 2 hour road trip to go see/test ride a bike I'm thinking of buying.....
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=213797039

lol optimum conditions for such a trip!!!

ooh, i do like the old bmws. and new ones, for that matter. why a 4 vs. the twin?

[DaveW]

Well the K series bikes are utterly bombproof (esp the gearbox)
Fast as all hell (factory new the 0-60mph was in the 3-4 second range), it's kind of like comparing a 1000cc car to a V8.
Shaft drive for low maintainence
A lot smoother, the 2pot ones have a lot more vibration.
They are a lot heavier but I can live with that.
The shaft drive, reliability and lower vibration make it a better bike for longer trips and I want a bike I can go touring on.

I'll also have a look at this one on the way back
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=213205851

[Toshi]

sometimes the direct route on the freeway isn't the best route…

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/4635/picture1cey.png

A is me. B is costco. :D

[DaveW]

Where's "C" collapsed on the sidewalk from exhaustion?

[Toshi]

Where's "C" collapsed on the sidewalk from exhaustion?

exhaustion? this thing has a motor! doing it on a road bike would be a solid ride what with the hills and traffic, but on the scooter it was a piece of cake. it's really nice to be able to carve corners while going uphill. :D

[DaveW]

heh I thought as it was in here and not the "Alternative transport" thread that you'd be on the pushbike.
My bad.

[Toshi]

heh I thought as it was in here and not the "Alternative transport" thread that you'd be on the pushbike.
My bad.

ah, i try to not fill that thread with too many of my own personal travels since it's in the lounge and all vs. tucked away in the forgotten northeast forum. for those who use "view new posts" it doesn't matter much but there are a fair number of people out there who only read the lounge or the downhill forum.

[Toshi]

i've now had my scooter for a week. keep in mind that i spent the last year without a car, instead jetting around town on foot, on the bus, and on my electric bicycle. as you might guess, this meant that i didn't do much at all in the way of recreational driving. thus, once i got the scooter i was off and running, riding on curvy roads and in parking lots alike for fun: all in all i've put 377 miles on it in the first 7 days.

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/domesticated%20scooter%20-%20april%2021,%202009/Images/IMG_5693.jpg

let's start off with what i like about it:

- it's genuinely fun to ride even at "around town" speeds. it's much more fun to lean into turns around town than drive around in a car, and riding is sublime when the temperature is just right, the sun is out, and there's just a hint of fresh air across one's face from a slightly cracked-open faceshield.
- having a range of 150+ miles at freeway speeds with refueling only limited by my credit limit offers tremendously more freedom than the electric bike, which travels 15-25 miles at around 20 mph with a multi-hour recharging time. practically, this means that i can visit jessica during the week!
- it's just small enough to fit through my apartment's doorway with the mirrors folded inward
- the seating position is basically bolt upright, which is good for one's posture and is pretty comfortable around town
- i can legally take the express lanes and ride solo in HOV lanes
- filling it up usually takes less than $5 of gasoline
- lots of people from pedestrians to hayabusa riders come up to me and ask questions about it
- about half of the motorcyclists to whom i "biker wave" wave back

not all is perfect, however:

- temperature control is much more involved than cranking up the heat in a car. in particular, when the temperatures hit the upper 30s it's really unpleasant without the proper gear on, and getting the proper gear on once started involves changing clothes on the side of the frigid road.
- riding in the rain involves wiping mist off of my helmet's faceshield with a rubber mini-squeegee on the thumb of my gloves. this means that i periodically must ride one handed in the rain on the freeway, exactly the place where i wouldn't want to be doing that. windshield wipers far outclass this system!
- while it's zippy around town it's out of breath on hills on the freeway, with it only maintaining 60 mph up some grades when ridden flat out
- i think it might be too large and heavy at ~31" seat height and 450 lbs for jessica to manage comfortably on her own, or at least for her to desire to ride it on her own
- that bolt upright seating position leads to a ton of wind noise and buffeting at freeway speeds even with a full-face helmet with faceshield and -15 dB earplugs. i have already ordered a (much) larger windscreen that will hopefully alleviate this problem and make temperature regulation an easier task.
- it is mildly unnerving to zip by stopped traffic while going 45 mph in the HOV lane, checking every car for a signal, head turn, or angled front wheels that might indicate that it is going to pop out in front of me imminently
- fuel economy, while good in the grand sense at 52-65 mpg observed, is not so great when compared to a prius. for comparison i wrung 57.9 mpg out of a (zipcar-ed) prius today over 90 miles, and that's on regular fuel as opposed to the premium that the scooter drinks. when you consider the relative size, weight, and utility of each vehicle it makes the prius's feat even more incredible. (that said, this has its perks and is about a quarter of the price.)
- about half the motorcyclists to whom i "biker wave" ignore me, probably because i'm on a decidedly non-harley looking beastie and am wearing all high-viz gear instead of pseudo-bondage black leather

in an ideal world i'd commute in a prius on roads free of traffic, and would have enough free time and money to indulge in hobbies that would satisfy my need for fresh air and adrenaline independent of my commute. in this real world this isn't possible for many a reason, and zipping along on my scooter in the HOV lanes, on twisty roads, and to work will just have to do.

[WTGPhoben]

in an ideal world i'd commute in a prius on roads free of traffic, and would have enough free time and money to indulge in hobbies that would satisfy my need for fresh air and adrenaline independent of my commute. in this real world this isn't possible for many a reason, and zipping along on my scooter in the HOV lanes, on twisty roads, and to work will just have to do.

Simple pleasures, right?

Speaking of simple pleasures, and getting rid of them when they start to accumulate in your basement, I'm selling my old superlight frame. Forward widely: Ebay Listing (http://cgi.ebay.com/2006-Santa-Cruz-Superlight-frame-Fox-Float-RC_W0QQitemZ230340025290QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMountai n_Bikes?hash=item230340025290)

[Toshi]

Simple pleasures, right?

Speaking of simple pleasures, and getting rid of them when they start to accumulate in your basement, I'm selling my old superlight frame. Forward widely: Ebay Listing (http://cgi.ebay.com/2006-Santa-Cruz-Superlight-frame-Fox-Float-RC_W0QQitemZ230340025290QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMountai n_Bikes?hash=item230340025290&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A13 18|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50)

good luck on the sale. i'd bid on it but i'd have to put 20" wheels on it to get enough standover clearance. ;) hmm… 20" electric hub motors? :busted:

in all seriousness, however, my interest in things electric that was once piqued has now peaked and is on the decline. electric cars still aren't a practical reality. electric motorcycles aren't very useful with 45 mile ranges. my electric bike works fine but i have no desire to tinker with it more now that it is working reliably. instead my obsession has turned towards powered two wheelers now that my conscience is clear with regard to emissions standards (http://toshiclark.xanga.com/687836075/on-motorcycles-3-wheeled-things-and-emissions-standards/).

the next purchase, a giant windshield. it's absurdly large. i think it is awesome. :D

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/8753/mp3andgarmin003122jpg.jpg

[Toshi]

today was my last day of vacation for this year. i took advantage of it by hunting down the windy roads of suburbia. my route of just over 100 miles including some side jaunts, starting and ending at point J (A is hidden), traveling clockwise:

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/windy%20roads%20of%20suburbia%20-%20april%2028,%202009/Images/route.jpg

after crossing the SR-520 floating bridge i headed up through Kirkland. Kirkland (which you may recognize as the name of the Costco house brand as Costco started in Seattle) is suburban hell, in my opinion. it's a very image conscious neighborhood and the roads are filled with people in mercs, audis, and range rovers talking on their cell phones. i personally would love to see all those cars repossessed, but i suppose i'll have to wait at least a few more weeks for that. ;)

a random monument of sorts found along the shores of Lake Washington in Kirkland:
http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/windy%20roads%20of%20suburbia%20-%20april%2028,%202009/Images/IMG_5733.jpg

next up was a cruise through the Juanita area, south of Kenmore between A and B on the map. Juanita has several parks with mountain bike trails, and the mildly curvy road would have been quite pleasant without the steady commuter traffic. point B is a store in Woodinville, an otherwise unremarkable place that happens to stock Brillianize, a plastic cleaner that i plan to use on the ginormous windshield that i have ordered.

looking downwards at my unshaven mug:
http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/windy%20roads%20of%20suburbia%20-%20april%2028,%202009/Images/IMG_5736.jpg

point C is where things get fun: that's the Old High Bridge Road. it's well known to sports car and sportbike pilots alike, and i used to cruise down it in my car at 1 AM to clear my head. on a (slow) bike it's a different experience, with its twists and turns are much more visceral and rewarding and the straights less important.

fast forward to E and we've reached Lake Sammamish. it's another sedate cruise that's favored by some local riders for a few miles of relaxation. unfortunately most of the good views of the water are on private property. i did manage to get to the beach, albeit only at that green segment on the map at the very southeast corner.

a glamour shot of the MP3 with Lake Sammamish peeking through the trees in the background:
http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/windy%20roads%20of%20suburbia%20-%20april%2028,%202009/Images/IMG_5737.jpg

finally, G, H, and I map out the boundary of E and W Mercer Way on Mercer Island. Mercer Way is a fun, very twisty road that is much more suitable for a reasonably sedate cruise on two (er, three) wheels than four as it is densely populated with road bicyclists.

a shot of the I-90 bridge looking towards Seattle from Mercer Island at the end of my day:
http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/windy%20roads%20of%20suburbia%20-%20april%2028,%202009/Images/IMG_5740.jpg

you all can breathe a sigh of relief now: there will be no more ride reports for a bit as i'm headed back to the daily grind then moving to new york at the end of june.

[Toshi]

i rode my scooter into the hospital yesterday since my apartment was being inspected by my landlord, and, uh, i don't think my indoor parking job would be too kosher in his mind. this meant i had to scrounge for parking: the pay lots don't allow motorcycle parking at the medical center unless one wants to pay $12/day (!), and almost all street parking is limited to 2 hours.

there is one pull-out area that is unmarked, however, so it's almost always full of cars. i snuck the scooter in at the end of the row early on thursday morning, and was a bit worried that it'd still be there, upright and unmolested when i returned to it at 11 am on friday post-call. it turns out i had nothing to be worried about: when i left it it was the sole powered two-wheeler (er, three-wheeler) at the end of a 50 foot long string of tightly packed cars. when i returned it had made friends, and this doesn't include the 2 motorcycles parked 20 feet farther forward!

http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/7049/img0079.jpg

heh:

1C-Bxifv2Pk

[Toshi]

3ZFzwd-jHfY

i do not condone "stunters" but that's impressive riding when done in a proper setting, whether on a bmx bike, a dj bike, or a 400 lb. honda CBR, as in this case... whoa.

[berkshire_rider]

this meant i had to scrounge for parking: the pay lots don't allow motorcycle parking at the medical center unless one wants to pay $12/day (!), and almost all street parking is limited to 2 hours.

Is $12/day expensive for parking in Seattle? It sounds very reasonable to me.

It would cost a lot more than that in Boston, depending on the garage.

[Toshi]

Is $12/day expensive for parking in Seattle? It sounds very reasonable to me.

It would cost a lot more than that in Boston, depending on the garage.

it's not expensive if one was parking in downtown... but this would be a six days per week expense at my place of work. that's real money! parking the bike on the bike rack for free (and much, much closer to the building itself than the garages!) or even parking the scooter in free street parking that's about a 5 minute walk away is preferable to me since i'm nothing if not cheap in things like this.

[Toshi]

when i installed this ginormous windscreen on my MP3 (http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/piaggio%20large%20comfort%20windscreen%20installat ion%20-%20may%209,%202009/) people said that it'd be a handful in the rain, as it has no windshield wiper.

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/piaggio%20large%20comfort%20windscreen%20installat ion%20-%20may%209,%202009/Images/IMG_5791.jpg

the astute reader will also note that i currently live in seattle. thus, by freak occurrence :D i was able to test out my new windscreen in everything from brisk, freezing rain to light mist tonight, at speeds ranging from stop and go and stoplights to 115 kph on the interstate.

what did i do to prepare for this? first, the windscreen was clean, and i had cleaned and polished it further with Brillianize (http://www.brillianize.com/). Brillianize is a plastic and glass cleaner that's reputed to be superior to Plexus, which in turn is reputed to be superior to the standby, Lemon Pledge. i also have RainCoat Water Repellent (http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-helmets/visors/raincoat-water-repellent/) around but haven't applied it yet. furthermore, i'm a bicycle commuter 95% of the time so am used to riding in the rain with poor visibility (no faceshield, no windscreen, and rain on my sunglasses or eyeglasses). with that said, let's get on to how the windscreen performed:

situation 1, freeway speeds in light mist: when treated as above (Brillianize, no RainCoat) mist forms small beads of water that streak to the side thanks to the wind at freeway speeds. thus the view is relatively clear. there is some glare when passing under sodium street lamps but once used to this phenomenon it isn't too bothersome.

situation 2, freeway speeds in frank rain: again, water beads up, albeit in larger droplets, and streaks to the side thanks to the wind. another pass for the screen. i did find, however, that my Scorpion AXO-700's faceshield is quite useless in these situation: when wet there are several streaky, thin, vertical bars right near the center portion of the faceshield, likely due to its manufacturing process.

these streaky bars are annoying when riding a bike with no windscreen as they can't be wiped away with the squeegee on winter gloves, but they are more than annoying when combined with a windscreen with droplets on it, as in this situation. i found that i was much more comfortable riding with the faceshield up, looking only through the windscreen. (thanks to the enormous size of the windscreen my face was just fine in terms of wind blast and buffeting).

situation 3, slow speeds in mist or light rain: the worst situation of the bunch, and the one that i encountered right as i wheeled out of my doorway into the alley. the light rain formed multiple small beads of water and the slow speeds kept these from being swept away. i could still ride but it admittedly was distracting.

overall i'm still happy with the screen as it has greatly reduced noise, buffeting, and keeps my hands quite a bit warmer. furthermore, i don't feel that it has reduced performance perceptibly. i definitely am going to give the RainCoat a try before my next trip in the rain (likely after my 1000 km service next week), as it seems to be just the product indicated for this kind of situation. note the right side of the helmet's faceshield treated with RainCoat, with the helmet's left treated with auto polish:

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/6434/helmetvisorwaxbefore.jpg http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/7245/helmetvisorwaxafter.jpg

[Toshi]

i'm really tempted to put a fairing on my e-bike! ahha, i'm sick in the head :D

http://www.zzipper.com/products.php

[Toshi]

i'm at the 997 mile mark on the e-bike, effectively 1000. it has done its job, something that i wasn't quite so sure about myself when i set out on this lark. here's my energy use over its life: one can see how i initially rode it like a bike at bike-like speeds with assist only at exceptional times, and now have settled in on a riding style that hovers right around 30 Wh/mile.

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/196/picture1oxa.png

these last few miles were racked up on my commute home. (yes, home at this hour: i was on call last night.) i used REI's BikeYourDrive iPhone app to map it out: you turn on the app at the start of your commute and leave it ticking away as you ride, and then at the end of your ride it plots out GPX coordinates with elevation and such. much nicer than gmaps-pedometer... here's the commute from UWMC to my house, in any case:

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=213976

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/1871/picture2uvq.png

note that most of the year was spent at a different, closer hospital.

[Toshi]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v168/jma10780/Awesome_Dog.jpg

(not my photo)

[.:Jeenyus:.]

so i have a 5d mkii to play with for the extended weekend, and no experience using canon cameras ever.

tell me your secrets? :nerd:

[Toshi]

so i have a 5d mkii to play with for the extended weekend, and no experience using canon cameras ever.

tell me your secrets? :nerd:

coolness. i shoot in Av with auto ISO the majority of the time. capture in RAW so that you can play around with the files afterwards. otherwise it's just like any other camera...

[narlus]

so i have a 5d mkii to play with for the extended weekend, and no experience using canon cameras ever.

tell me your secrets? :nerd:

enable the hidden AF points at the center, using one of the custom functions. these only work in AI Servo, but i can't think of a good reason to not use them.

likewise, you can choose ISO expansion but really, the 6400 ISO is native and is very good; needing to double or quadruple that is unlikely.

if you shoot RAW, you will need to either use DPP (canon's RAW converter) or to convert to DNG to edit the files if you don't have CS 4.

you can use Live View to get an instant histogram which is neat. otherwise as Toshi said, it's just a camera.

have fun!

[.:Jeenyus:.]

yesterday's turnout with the camera:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jkurlan/sets/72157618686778594/

i don't think i'm going to give it back... :D

[Toshi]

hotness:

V0gHZrowzlU

[Toshi]

today was my last day of vacation for this year. i took advantage of it by hunting down the windy roads of suburbia. my route of just over 100 miles including some side jaunts, starting and ending at point J (A is hidden), traveling clockwise:

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/windy%20roads%20of%20suburbia%20-%20april%2028,%202009/Images/route.jpg[/img]

i rode a similar but not identical route in reverse today. just shy of 130 miles on the scooter under the bright, blue sky. good times, and i wasn't the only one with the same idea, judging from how many other riders were out and about!

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/8643/picture1cjj.png

no pics from the ride: did it without stopping save for getting costco gas right at the end.

[Toshi]

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/7743/picture1jzg.png

(A is the extended stay hotel that we'll be living in until the on-campus housing at B, the hospital, is available.)

moving on june 25! yikes

[Toshi]

a few MP3 vids from the mothership:

eplOgfgRDD0

Memx1ZGQpY4

[Toshi]

intern year stats
one day left. assuming i work a typical amount that day here is how this year has played out:

64.33 hours per week if you count my 3 weeks of vacation and 1 week of one day per week technical skills training. 68.48 hours per week if you only count my 11 true rotations. 69.96 hours per week if you don't count the alternating 12 hour night and day shifts of the ER.

only four break violations, but all of them of the 10-hour rule: here later than 7 PM one night and earlier than 5 AM the next, for instance.

1.36 days off per week on average if ER and vacation are excluded, 1.46 if ER is in the mix. (this would be lower except i had awesome seniors who gave the team extra days off around thanksgiving and new years.)

average call cycle: q9.54 days all said and done, with the only catch that 5 weeks of my year were spent as the night float resident that makes this all happen. while on ortho for two solid months this winter i was q3d, and on one of my neurosurgery months i was q3.5d on average.

times my program director threatened to fire me: 1. times that the underlying charge was actually valid: 0. the saying is that "**** flows downhill" in general surgery programs, and my R5 completely dumped on me for what turned out to not be a valid reason.

overall, looking at the numbers things don't look that bad in the grand scheme. despite this, i still would not recommend a UW gen surg prelim year in good faith. oh well, live and learn, and onto the next starting this thursday...

[Toshi]

i find myself drifting further and further from the biking community. for this upcoming year i'm not even going to be a bike commuter! (my commute will be walking for less than 5 minutes across a lawn, basically.) fewer of the threads on RM are interesting as i get further away from the age of the young groms, and more of the regulars are drifting away as well. finally, the new layout, specifically text and image wrap, is pretty horrid…

[Westy]

Have you moved yet?

[Toshi]

Have you moved yet?

yup. moving truck came on the 19th. finished work on the 24th. flew out on the 25th and started orientation immediately. first "real" day of work is today… time to see if reality meets up with expectations for radiology. i blogged about my initial NY/LI impressions: http://toshiclark.xanga.com/

[Barbaton]

Do you even have a bike anymore other than your electric? If so we should ride :)

K and I were talking about doing a weekend at Diablo if you guys are interested. I could probably use the advice of someone who knows what they're doing. :eek:


i find myself drifting further and further from the biking community. for this upcoming year i'm not even going to be a bike commuter! (my commute will be walking for less than 5 minutes across a lawn, basically.) fewer of the threads on RM are interesting as i get further away from the age of the young groms, and more of the regulars are drifting away as well. finally, the new layout, specifically text and image wrap, is pretty horrid…

[Toshi]

Do you even have a bike anymore other than your electric? If so we should ride :)

K and I were talking about doing a weekend at Diablo if you guys are interested. I could probably use the advice of someone who knows what they're doing. :eek:

Last year I sold the road and xc bikes, and the evil and the dh rigs were sold a year or five before that. You are correct in your arithmetic: the only one left is the commuter e-bike. We were talking about building Jessica one, with or without assist, but I just don't see her riding around on these roads and with this heat and humidity.

K would ride diablo? Wow. I'm pretty confident that that's not up Jessica's alley. I'd be game, however, and my schedule this year should be pretty decent!

[Toshi]

we've been out in long island for a few weeks. we're still waiting for the moving truck but thankfully have been able to move out from the $125/night extended stay hotel and into our own apartment. it was one of the better apartments in the spectrum of this particular hospital's on-campus resident housing but still was pretty shabby.

my wife's father flew out this weekend, however, and we all pitched in to patch this place up. we spackled and sanded like mad, then repainted everything save for the kitchen cabinets. trim, ceilings, everything. it was quite the extravaganza. on the upside we now have quite a nice looking little place and our repairs are very difficult to pick out without prior knowledge.

living in a relatively small one bedroom is going to require some adjustment. i'd been in a one bedroom last year… by myself. when the moving truck finally arrives we're going to have a lot of stuff. the bike may still be able to live inside, but the scooter is definitely banished to the street! heh.

the upside to this place, of course, is that my commute is unbeatable: it's a 1/4 mile walk. i can mosey out the door at 7:50 AM and be there in plenty of time for 8 AM morning conference. yeah, that's radiology hours for you: an 8 AM start to the day. much better than rounding at 5:45 (with prerounding and thus me being there at 5:15) as was the case for much of last year! (the days are much shorter, too! this basically rocks.)

anyway, if we find this place to be acceptable in the long term, as in for my four years that i'll be here, then the e-bike and scooter will see scant use save for errands, and that'll be quite alright.

oh, if anyone's still reading at this point:

1) if i continue to use my scooter then jessica has given me the ok to trade in my MP3 250 when the MP3 Hybrid is available!

2) if her 2001 corolla dies within 2 years then we'll upgrade it to certified pre-owned 2004-2008 prius. if it dies after 2 years or makes it to 2013-2014 then we'll strongly consider upgrading to a new Lexus HS250h, their prius-based new model.

3) chrismartenson.com, home of the crash course, has a second part to their article on electric bikes. it basically outlines the same train of thought as espoused by yours truly in the first several pages of this thread. note that the author of this article and i came to different conclusions. this is because i am, or was, a "real cyclist" who doesn't like super-upright seating positions, and because i had incentive to stick with a normal-wheelbase bike so that it'd fit on the seattle buses' bike racks. anyway, the article links:

part 1 of 2: http://www.chrismartenson.com/quiet-revolution-bicycles-recapturing-role-utilitarian-people-movers-part-i

part 2 of 2: http://www.chrismartenson.com/quiet-revolution-bicycles-recapturing-role-utilitarian-people-movers-part-ii

[DaveW]

oh, if anyone's still reading at this point:

Yes. ;) :thumb:

[Toshi]

so the moving company decided that putting a big ol' scrape in my scooter's windscreen would be a good idea. photos of the damage:

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/moving%20damage%20-%20scratched%20scooter%20windscreen/Images/IMG_5861.jpg
it looks fine as you walk up to it given certain lighting…

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/moving%20damage%20-%20scratched%20scooter%20windscreen/Images/IMG_5863.jpg
… but then you notice that there's an odd hazy pattern.

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/moving%20damage%20-%20scratched%20scooter%20windscreen/Images/IMG_5864.jpg
yeah, that's not good. is it in the line of sight, however?

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/moving%20damage%20-%20scratched%20scooter%20windscreen/Images/IMG_5868.jpg
why yes, it's right at eye level. gah.

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/moving%20damage%20-%20scratched%20scooter%20windscreen/Images/IMG_5870.jpg
one final shot illustrating the texture of the scratch. and no, it doesn't buff right out…

[Toshi]

crossposting:

http://toshiclark.com/images/events%20and%20concerts/january%202009%20e-bike%20glamour%20shots%20-%20january%2031,%202009/Images/IMG_5194.jpg

i just listed my electric bike for sale. my commute this year is a five minute walk, and the drivers here in long island frankly scare me in a car, let alone on a bicycle. riding on the sidewalk isn't all that fun and i've been neglecting my beast…

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110418578435

[Toshi]

whoa.

http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp166/CRSpeedy/450Bridge.jpg

[DaveW]

Nice trials obstacle :thumb:
Haven't been able to take my own bike out in weeks due to a wrist injury at work. :(

Did manage to get out skiing last weekend though. :)
I posted up some pics Here (http://forums.freeriden.co.nz/viewtopic.php?t=6593) :weee:

[Barbaton]

crossposting:



i just listed my electric bike for sale. my commute this year is a five minute walk, and the drivers here in long island frankly scare me in a car, let alone on a bicycle. riding on the sidewalk isn't all that fun and i've been neglecting my beast…



Get the a mountain bike again so we can hit the trails! I haven't found any crazy long island drivers there yet...

[Toshi]

Get the a mountain bike again so we can hit the trails! I haven't found any crazy long island drivers there yet...

then i need to suck it up and get a parks passport, i guess. having entry fees at county and state parks is bizarre!

[Barbaton]

then i need to suck it up and get a parks passport, i guess. having entry fees at county and state parks is bizarre!

Yeah, it varies. Out here some of them need a green pass and others need a DEC permit. Others nothing. The trails right by school are Town of Brookhaven and need nothing.

Scuttlebutt is that nobody actually cares about the permitting, but I just got my DEC. Was really easy. Just filled out a form (http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/regions_pdf/accesspermit.pdf) and they gave me a 30day while the real one gets sent to me... Lady said to just say all applicable areas for all activities, even though i'm not likely to falcon :)

Oh, and evidently both of you need your own if you're going to be hiking or anything together...

[Toshi]

i'm contemplating rollerblading about 10 miles to pick up my scooter tomorrow. jessica is in the city for the weekend and the bus/train combo would take me over an hour. i figure i might as well get some exercise, provided the dealer has my scooter ready for pickup.

(it's in the shop for a sticky horn button, a minor but annoying warranty issue. instead of going "bleep" it goes "BLAAAAAEEEEGP" when i hit the button, at least until i pry it to the off position.)

ignore the jog upwards as google maps has no option for cutting across (paths that cross) a golf course:

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/9778/picture1xpr.png

[Toshi]

i'm contemplating rollerblading about 10 miles to pick up my scooter tomorrow. jessica is in the city for the weekend and the bus/train combo would take me over an hour. i figure i might as well get some exercise, provided the dealer has my scooter ready for pickup.

i'm never going to do that again. my feet are killing me, as is my left palm from where i got some road rash by virtue of a homeowner who "disposed" of his excess landscaping dirt by dumping it in the street. long island has really poor sidewalks: narrow, bumpy, and often covered with sand or glass. in a few places i was actually forced to rollerblade in the traffic lane, on 40 mph limit roads, no less. as much as i could i cut across parking lots and took residential streets, but the insane layout of the island is such that these residential streets never go anywhere.

all in all it took me about 1:45 to cover 10 miles. overall it was a pretty horrible experience. ugh. at least i have my scooter back, and can use the car in a pinch.

[Toshi]

an unartistic group shot (not by me, not with my camera) of the scooter club at today's ride.

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/5245/delilineup.jpg

[chicodude]

i'm never going to do that again. my feet are killing me, as is my left palm from where i got some road rash by virtue of a homeowner who "disposed" of his excess landscaping dirt by dumping it in the street. long island has really poor sidewalks: narrow, bumpy, and often covered with sand or glass. in a few places i was actually forced to rollerblade in the traffic lane, on 40 mph limit roads, no less. as much as i could i cut across parking lots and took residential streets, but the insane layout of the island is such that these residential streets never go anywhere.

all in all it took me about 1:45 to cover 10 miles. overall it was a pretty horrible experience. ugh. at least i have my scooter back, and can use the car in a pinch.

This should teach you a valuable lesson. Don't rollerblade. that is unless you are french. I heard that's ok.

LOL at the Scooter club pic

[Toshi]

planned route for this afternoon:

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/9223/picture1cox.png

[Toshi]

planned route for this afternoon:

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/9223/picture1cox.png

i ended up riding a slightly different route. about 70 solo miles on the scooter today since it was nice enough out and i'll be missing out on the group ride tomorrow.

my actual route:

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/north%20shore%20at%2050mm%20-%20august%2022,%202009/Images/Picture_1_17_13_23.jpg

black MP3 and our new-to-us red 2008 Honda Fit

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/north%20shore%20at%2050mm%20-%20august%2022,%202009/Images/IMG_5934.jpg

/me is :unamused:

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/north%20shore%20at%2050mm%20-%20august%2022,%202009/Images/IMG_5949.jpg

/me is :goofy: later on

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/north%20shore%20at%2050mm%20-%20august%2022,%202009/Images/IMG_5957.jpg

i definitely wasn't supposed to park here…

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/north%20shore%20at%2050mm%20-%20august%2022,%202009/Images/IMG_5958.jpg

[Fool]

Is it possible I saw you and your scootermachine on the Southern State Parkway yesterday?

[Toshi]

Is it possible I saw you and your scootermachine on the Southern State Parkway yesterday?
It's possible in theory but not reality, unless someone "borrowed" my scooter: I was on call last night until 9 PM and didn't go on any sort of ride. Was the person you spotted dressed all goonishly in high viz like me?

[Toshi]

it seems old white men love to tack all sorts of extraneous crap on their possessions. see minivans with CB radios galore, the ugly-ass electric bikes that i've posted before, and… this. (not my pic, but it's of a local's ride.)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2532/3858211104_587db15c00_b.jpg

wow.

[Toshi]

with residency and marriage i've had to cut back on the things that i do, as there's only so much time to go around. here's a short list of things that i'd like to do or learn to do; things that i want to keep on doing; and things that i used to do but have been dropped by the wayside.

things that i'd like to do or learn to do:

1. learn how to fly a plane

2. learn how to fly a helicopter

3. race in an amateur track series, whether on a motorcycle, in a spec miata, or in a shifter kart

4. learn how to windsurf

5. dabble in rockclimbing

6. learn how to kayak, if i end up in a place where that'd be convenient

7. finally learn how to unicycle–i tried for a day before med school but didn't follow through with it

8. learn how to weld and do basic fabrication

9. build a kit car, like a caterham or some newfangled electric equivalent

10. learn the iPhone SDK and program an application–my current idea is for a universal remote but that'd need a wifi/bluetooth to IR hardware box at some point in the chain

11. change the oil on our car! i can take a bike apart and put it back together in a snap and can solder electronics competently but have never actually changed oil on a car before

12. build an ultralight plane or powered paraglider and then manage to not crash it

13. learn how to confidently skate and crossover backwards and maybe play some rec league hockey?

14. learn how to sail keelboats and pilot larger watercraft both powered and sail-driven

15. learn how to fish–never been

16. learn how to do light mountaineering, although i have little desire to perish in a lonely crevasse


things that i want to keep on doing (besides spend time with jessica, which is a given):

1. keep on riding powered two-wheelers, a loose category that includes my uncategorizable Piaggio MP3 and hopefully will include some other fun machines in the future

2. keep playing the trumpet, including playing in groups big and small. jessica and i have found a local band to play with starting in september, northwinds, and i hope that it works out: that they're at an appropriate level, have motivated and relatively young performers, have decent intonation, and that the group is generally a good personality fit.

3. stay motivated and actively involved in my continuing education in radiology, since much of the learning that must get done will be self-directed.

4. shooting technically well-done, more or less interesting photographs.


things that i used to do that have been dropped by the wayside:

1. biking. i sold my last bike this month, and just don't see myself riding much on long island. it's hot, flat, and dangerous on the roads, i have no commute to speak of, and i feel that driving a long ways in order to go riding is ultimately pretty stupid. furthermore, i've been spoiled by my years of riding at whistler and the north shore.

2. sailing little boats. the yacht clubs around here seem pretty snooty–references required!–and don't seem to be the kind of experience in which i'd like to or can afford to partake.

3. scuba diving. i really haven't kept up with this, as again it seems like an activity that i'd really have to go out of my way to participate in.

4. piano. this kind of was by choice: like with chess i lack a sense of moderation when i play, and it's not especially healthy or rewarding.

5. pretend i'm going to make some sort of significant discovery or achievement, whether in science, music, or in math. i'm getting old. haven't done much spectacular yet and frankly am unlikely to do so given that i'm pretty content with how things are as they currently stand.

6. autocross. i've lost the bug that used to drive me to wake up extra early on my days off, drive to the racecourse, change my tires, register, work the course, do my meager 4 or 5 runs, and thus indirectly measure my driving prowess against other dudes.

[Toshi]

i went on a little loop tonight. getting chilly. had to put the liner in my armored textile pants and wore a t-shirt and a long sleeve jersey below my fall/winter jacket with all its vents closed. with my fullface's shield down i was just about right temperature-wise. such a change from just a few days ago…

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/5234/screenshot20090831at104.png

[Toshi]

big group ride planned for tomorrow. 135 miles, with the ultimate goal being to visit the croton dam, one of the landmarks in new york's water supply system.

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/4278/screenshot20090904at958.png

[Toshi]

big group ride planned for tomorrow. 135 miles, with the ultimate goal being to visit the croton dam, one of the landmarks in new york's water supply system.

the route, more or less. ended up being about 150 miles all said and done. 7:30 AM until right after 5 PM. a long day, even if broken up with rests here and there.

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/croton%20dam%20ride%20-%20august%205,%202009/Images/CrotonDamRoute.jpg

looking back towards manhattan from new jersey, along the palisades highway. i think that's the george washington bridge, incidentally very near where i spent the first four years of my life (later on moving further down the island).

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/croton%20dam%20ride%20-%20august%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5960.jpg

fast forward a bunch and we're now at the croton dam, near croton-on-hudson, ny. it creates one of the aquifers that feeds new york city's voracious appetite for water through its amazing, old system of underground viaducts.

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/croton%20dam%20ride%20-%20august%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5973.jpg

that's a lot of water.

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/croton%20dam%20ride%20-%20august%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5974.jpg

from below. the guard at the state park let us in for free, even though it's still technically a season in which admission should be charged.

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/croton%20dam%20ride%20-%20august%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5991.jpg

what gallery would be complete without a glamour shot of my MP3?

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/croton%20dam%20ride%20-%20august%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5986.jpg

the whole group's set of rides after we rode a bit on the grass. heh. iirc they are: Vespa LX150, Vespa GTS 250, 1962 Lambretta, Vespa LX150, Suzuki Burgman 650, my Piaggio MP3 250, another Vespa GTS 250, and a Honda Helix frankenmobile. :D

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/croton%20dam%20ride%20-%20august%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5996.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/croton%20dam%20ride%20-%20august%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5997.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/croton%20dam%20ride%20-%20august%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5998.jpg

group shot minus the photographer (me) on the bridge:

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/croton%20dam%20ride%20-%20august%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5980.jpg

finally, i shot some video footage at the dam. youtube is taking its sweet time with the uploaded file but with any luck it should be viewable later tonight.

youtube video link by yours truly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpUc-9L0ty4

[Westy]

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/croton%20dam%20ride%20-%20august%205,%202009/Images/IMG_5980.jpg


No "1%" patches?

[Toshi]

No "1%" patches?

i had to look that one up…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_motorcycle_club#One_Percenters

[Toshi]

quick one hour spin on dark roads today. strange to ride solely by my headlight. no following cars in the mirrors, no streetlights for much of it, dead quiet.

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/605/screenshot20090915at114.png

note the short stretch on 495, the long island expressway, just for kicks.

[DaveW]

Farkinhell! that's a lot of golf/country clubs on that map! :eek:

[Toshi]

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/3600/img0116k.jpg
i don't remember if this was the F 800 GS or the R 1200 GS. same difference.

when out shopping for gear for my wife both of us sat on a bunch of bikes to get a better idea of what feels right, what feels too big, etc. below are my thoughts just from swinging a leg over the following bikes (no actual riding took place :lol: ). i'm 173 cm/5' 8" for reference.

Triumph Street Triple: felt light and very manageable. 368 lbs, 31.5" seat height. (the Street Triple R isn't much different but there wasn't one in the showroom: 367 lbs, 31.6" seat height.)

Triumph Speed Triple: looked awesome with that short tail and single sided swingarm. also felt manageable but i could perceive its extra "bigness". heh. 416 lbs, 32.1" seat height.

Moto Guzzi Griso 1200 8V. long, not very tall, wide. felt a bit strange, actually. 489 lbs, 31.5" seat height.

BMW R 1200 GS non-A. felt tall, massive, but proportional. probably a bit much! 504 lbs, 33.5" seat height. i was up on my toes but could move the bike about reasonably easily, and could flat foot with one foot only if i shifted my hips.

BMW F 800 GS. also felt tall but perhaps within the realm of possibility. less wide than the R1200GS, surely. 455 lbs, 34.5" seat height.

BMW R 1200 RT. massive. felt like a low seat after hopping off the crazy-tall GS bikes. definitely bigger than i wish to go: i wouldn't want to catch that much weight at every stoplight, and at this point i'm more inclined to hop in a car for truly long distance touring. 571 lbs, 33.0" seat height.

BMW K 1300 GT. felt much like the R 1200 RT. bigger than i wish to go. pretty for sure, but oh so big. 635 lbs, 33.1" seat height.

BMW K 1200 LT. didn't even swing a leg over as it was on its centerstand in a corner. gold wing-esque huge. wow. not my bag at this point in the game. 853 lbs. 31.5" seat height.

[Toshi]

if you're wondering why i chose such a strange mix of bikes this was at a Ducati/Moto Guzzi/Bimota/BMW/Triumph/Piaggio dealer, and many of the Ducati/Bimota race reps had "do not sit on this bike" signs on them. the ones that i picked were more accessible in a sense.

[DaveW]

Mmmm Moto Guzzi! :drool:
I want one...... Not so big on the Griso, but I do like the Bellagio (a bike that never seems to photograph that well but looks gorgeous in the flesh). I'm oh so tempted to get rid of the bandit and buy one when my house sells. :)

[DaveW]

Oh and that is the BMW R1200 GS in the pic as it has the transverse cylinders the BMW F800 has a more normal looking motor. ;)

And that would be the BMW LT (luxury tour) in the background. :)

I do like the way the BMW's and Guzzi's are shaft drive instead of chain..... waaay less fooling around with maintenance issues.
With the Guzzi it's just a case of 2 pumps with the grease gun on each nipple every 50,000km Vs oiling the chain every 400km for a chain driven bike.

[Toshi]

speaking of shaft drive: have you been following the scuttlebutt on the upcoming Honda VFR 1200? 200 hp V-4, shaft drive, 6 speed dual-clutch gearbox is the word. if it's not an obese beast i'm quite psyched, at least on paper.

[Toshi]

ooh, sexy sexy

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/092309top.JPG

2010 Ducati Hypermotard 796. http://www.motorcycledaily.com/23september09_ducati2010hypermotard796.htm

$9,995. 368 lbs. "lower seat height". 81 hp, 56 ft-lbs of torque. beautiful styling in a perverse way, with that single sided swingarm and high mounted exhaust.

[Toshi]

on the other hand you have this:

http://image.motorcyclistonline.com/f/12146286+w750+st0/122_0812_02_z+2009_triumph_street_triple_r+right_s ide_view.jpg

2009 Triumph Street Triple R. http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/firstrides/122_0812_2009_triumph_street_triple_r/index.html

$8,999. 368 lbs as well. 31.6" seat height. 107 hp. 51 ft-lbs of torque. uprated suspension compared to the non-R street triple.

i wonder which would be more fun to magazine-race. :D heh. by the time i can afford one maybe i'll be totally cured of this fascination with two wheels.

[Toshi]

any thoughts from the peanut gallery on faired versus unfaired bikes for day to day usage? these theoretical 2014-ish bikes would be of comparable geometry, say VFR vs one of the above.

[Westy]

I just love the looks of those triumphs but the practicality of a fairing is nice. I've had 3 bikes, an unfaired Yamaha Seca, 2002 VFR and an SV with partial fairing. My problem with the unfaired bike was that turbulence caused by larger vehicles would beat the crap out of me. It felt like someone was constantly smacking the sides of my helmet. Even the small fairing on the SV prevents most of this. The big fairing on the VFR was nice in cold and wet weather, it kept not just your face but good portions of the rest of your body out of the wind. It did a nice job of keeping engine heat away from the legs too.

Seems like an odd question coming from someone sporting a 4'X8' windscreen on a scooter.

[Toshi]

i didn't trumpet it widely but after the movers scratched up my huge-ass windshield i pocketed the insurance settlement and didn't replace it. i'm running with just a tiny, abbreviated windscreen now (the stock one). in the east coast summer heat and humidity all the airflow possible was welcome. now that it's getting colder and i'm idly daydreaming about bikes fairings are more on my mind.

how did you like the VFR overall? was it too heavy? what do you think of the rumors about the upcoming VFR 1200 with dual-clutch this and that? i'm worried it'll top 550 lbs. the naked bikes above are appealing on paper (and when straddling them in the showroom) for their lightness.

[Westy]

i didn't trumpet it widely but after the movers scratched up my huge-ass windshield i pocketed the insurance settlement and didn't replace it. i'm running with just a tiny, abbreviated windscreen now (the stock one). in the east coast summer heat and humidity all the airflow possible was welcome. now that it's getting colder and i'm idly daydreaming about bikes fairings are more on my mind.

how did you like the VFR overall? was it too heavy? what do you think of the rumors about the upcoming VFR 1200 with dual-clutch this and that? i'm worried it'll top 550 lbs. the naked bikes above are appealing on paper (and when straddling them in the showroom) for their lightness.


My VFR was certainly heavier than my SV650, most notably at stop lights but at speed it wasn't very noticeable. Everything about the VFR felt very smooth and refined, it was a very nice bike.

I don't get the need to make the VFR with a bigger engine. There are other sport touring bikes just like that. The thing I liked about my VFR was that it was really more of a real world sport bike not some street legal racebike. The 800cc engine had plenty of power, seems like they are just trying to compete on a spec sheet. I don't get the need for the semi-auto tranny either. Of course I also opted for the old fashioned 6-speed on my GTI instead of the wiz-bang dual clutch job. I like to be involved in my driving/riding. It is not like shifting is difficult.

[Toshi]

i like shifting, but my inner nerd things dual-clutch tech is super cool. i'm not attracted at all to big true-auto bikes like the DN-01 or FJR AE but the dual-clutch honda box sounds interesting. they claim it's lighter, too?

i'm not sure if this link will work but here's a cool youtube showing how smooth the dual-clutch box is on a VFR 1200 prototype:

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=156344039174&h=44D-A&u=whZYR&ref=mf

(i can't link directly or embed while at work since youtube is blocked)

[Westy]

i like shifting, but my inner nerd things dual-clutch tech is super cool. i'm not attracted at all to big true-auto bikes like the DN-01 or FJR AE but the dual-clutch honda box sounds interesting. they claim it's lighter, too?

i'm not sure if this link will work but here's a cool youtube showing how smooth the dual-clutch box is on a VFR 1200 prototype:

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=156344039174&h=44D-A&u=whZYR&ref=mf

(i can't link directly or embed while at work since youtube is blocked)

Youtube is blocked for me too. I really enjoy the technology for automated manuals, they are no doubt superior to a human controlled unit. But at the end of the day I would still prefer to drive an old fashioned one. It would be different if I was looking for a tenth of a second on a racetrack though. I'd like to see someone come out with a automated unit with a manual clutch override.

I can't believe that the semi auto transmission is inherently lighter, it must be because of extra engineering effort. Maybe it doesn't have to be as robust since they don't have to design around a potential ham-fisted operator?

[Toshi]

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blogs/autosblogpost.aspx?post=1257833

hmm, i might be parsing their text incorrectly. i took "Honda has tackled these problems with a slew of new innovations to make the transmission both smaller and lighter" to mean that it was smaller and lighter than the baseline non-DCT, but it might just be in comparison to prior clunky DCT designs, not that there is much of a motorcycle DCT baseline...

[Westy]

I'd love to see that engine/transmission lightly turbocharged and put into a small lightweight car.

[DaveW]

I'm def more of a fairing fan, the wind buffeting on an unfaired bike wears you out after a few hours on longer trips (and ok it just plain bugs me), as far as the 1200 VFR goes.....

A/ I think it would be just plain too big for you and your experience level....... It's a lot of power to keep under control.

B/ unless your living somewhere with no speed limits or plan on going to track days at the local race track, you will never need or use that many horses.
Even touring with 2 on the bike I think that 1000cc is as big as you need.
Call me a retro grouch if you must but I still feel that the BMW K100 (1000cc flat four) is about the perfect size and power bike for long trips.

Might be a lil tall for you but if you like the triumphs, see if you can find a tiger to have a look at, or alternatively something like a KTM SuperMotard.

[Toshi]

oh, this would be around 2014 when i'm finally an attending. i have plenty of time to get more miles and experience before then. :D

if it gets equivalent mileage to a 600 with the fancypants cylinder activation and the bike itself isn't a porker i see no reason to not go for a 1200. although i do see how it'd be a bit dangerous/tempting. on the other hand i'd rather have a bigger, more tractable bike than a peaky smaller one.

yeah, i think a Tiger is too tall for sure! the dual-sports and pseudo-dual-sports are the worst in that regard.

[Toshi]

edited since i posted in the wrong thread!

new content:

so jessica has informed me that i'll need to get a car before i can get another powered two-wheeler. this is probably reasonable. again, this would all happen around 2013-2014 (2013 being when i finish residency and 2014 when i finish a presumed fellowship as almost all radiologists do one these days).

this is interesting to me for two reasons:

1) i get to think about a car for me off in the hazy future
2) implicitly stated is that i can get a motorcycle later on!

woot. heh

[Toshi]

mmm F 800 ST. 85 hp and 63 ft-lbs, 450 lbs, 31.1" low seat (or 29.9" low suspension and seat! maybe even too low…), belt drive and a single sided swingarm, a full fairing with optional hard bags, ABS, and heated grips. oh, and a base price under $11k, $12.5 with ABS and trimmings. not bad at all for a BMW.

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/5919/colorf800st031024x768.jpg

here's a review: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218631

i like daydreaming, clearly :thumb:

[DaveW]

I do like the Beemers, high prices for servicing and parts though.

[Toshi]

that's purty. in a retro-modern way. :thumb:

2010 Honda CB1100

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/093009top.jpg

i rode ~150 miles in the rain yesterday, btw. it kind of sucked. but i got to where i needed to get to and didn't die.

time to take the gloves out of the dryer for another ride…

[stevew]

^

spoked wheels and that thing would look great.....and probably not available in the US...

here's another daydream bike.....

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/4158/borile1.jpg

[Toshi]

time to take the gloves out of the dryer for another ride…

i ended up not needing to wear the still-wet winter/rain gloves since it was absolutely beautiful out today. near 80 and sunny. logged another 100 miles including a dicey situation on the southern state parkway in traffic…

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/5233/img0145dr.jpg

http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/5508/img0147.jpg

[Toshi]

ugh. Honda VFR1200F specs announced... and it's 613 lbs.

http://www.hondanews.com/categories/1359/releases/5219

not so interested now. hmph.

why oh why did honda have to make it so heavy? maybe by the time i'm actually in the market (read: ~2013ish :lol: ) i'll have warmed up to the concept of 600 lb bikes. i do like the dual nature of it as illustrated below:

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/989/hondavfr1200flarge08.jpg

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9364/hondavfr1200flarge18.jpg

key specs:

- 1237 cc V-4: 172 hp, 95 ft-lbs. of torque
- 6-speed manual or DCT, both with a slipper clutch and mated to a shaft drive
- standard ABS and combined braking system
- 32.1" seat height with an optional lower/narrower seat
- 591 / 613 lb curb weight without/with the DCT :think:
- factory pannier, top case, tank bag, windscreen, heated grip, and GPS system options :thumb:

[Toshi]

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/afternoon%20in%20nyc%20-%20october%2010,%202009/Images/IMG_6005.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/afternoon%20in%20nyc%20-%20october%2010,%202009/Images/IMG_6015.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/afternoon%20in%20nyc%20-%20october%2010,%202009/Images/IMG_6016.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/daily/afternoon%20in%20nyc%20-%20october%2010,%202009/Images/IMG_6006.jpg

[Toshi]

8 hours out on the road today, 5.5 of which were in the saddle (and the majority of the rest waiting for or on the bridgeport-port jefferson ferry). 191 miles bringing my total to just under 2500 :lol: for those counting along.

lots of other powered two-wheelers out today, mostly big harleys. lots of traffic, too! on the cross-island, I-95, and (oddly) coming down from bear mountain traffic was stop and go to at a standstill so i got plenty of lane splitting practice. it's not legal in NY but is a fairly common practice given the traffic.

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/bear%20mountain%20and%20a%20boat%20-%20october%2011,%202009/Images/10_11_09_ride_route.jpg

atop bear mountain:

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/bear%20mountain%20and%20a%20boat%20-%20october%2011,%202009/Images/IMG_6020.jpg

my goofy scooter and my goofy mug:

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/bear%20mountain%20and%20a%20boat%20-%20october%2011,%202009/Images/IMG_6022.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/bear%20mountain%20and%20a%20boat%20-%20october%2011,%202009/Images/IMG_6024.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/bear%20mountain%20and%20a%20boat%20-%20october%2011,%202009/Images/IMG_6029.jpg

on the ferry back to long island:

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/bear%20mountain%20and%20a%20boat%20-%20october%2011,%202009/Images/IMG_6033.jpg

http://toshiclark.com/images/trips/bear%20mountain%20and%20a%20boat%20-%20october%2011,%202009/Images/IMG_6039.jpg

[Toshi]

video from the ferry (between points D and A):

aR8ILCz_H6Q

full size/HQ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR8ILCz_H6Q

[Toshi]

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/7109/2721.jpg

VFR 1200 F news, including a review of the dual-clutch box:

http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-news-new-bikes/honda-vfr1200f-launch-first-riding-impressions/8565.html

My first lap was a bit of an eye opener. Following ex-GP God Tohru Ukawa for our sighting laps, I was immediately taken by surprise by how quickly the VFR steers and found myself having to correct my line mid-corner to avoid twatting the inside kerb. Despite a fully fluid-filled and oil brimmed kerb weight of 267kgs, it really doesn’t feel it when you’re moving and grooving. Flicking it left/right through chicanes isn’t a major drama either.

The biggest compliment I can pay the new VFR is it feels every inch a Honda. Nothing takes getting used to. Nothing feels unusual or quirky. Nothing takes you by surprise. ...

In our pre-ride blurb and presentations great fuss was made of the shaft drive system with its clever use of sliding knuckle joints and offset output shaft. Offset from the swingarm pivot that is. I was sceptical, I have to admit. A shaft drive that feels like a chain is a big claim after all.

But you know what? They were right. Do you know how a ‘normal’ shaft drive bike feels when you knock the throttle on and off? That shunting, clunking feeling of all those reciprocating, heavy parts – that rising and falling of the back end? Well there’s none of that on the new VFR1200F and with it no reason to even contemplate a Scottoiler ever again. Or adjusting a pesky chain.

So, it’s super easy to ride – flattering even - but what’s its direct opposition? What’s it most like? Well, I suppose the BMW K1300 is the nearest obvious bedfellow. The VFR1200F is very, very fast but it’s not going to win any races. Like the big Beemer the new VFR is clearly designed to give us road riders the kind of performance that, if we’re all honest, 99% of us need on the road 99% of the time.

The BMW does have noticeably more bottom and mid-range power, or perhaps a more savage fuelling that creates the impression of more instant low-down shove. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I rode the BMW and it’s still fresh in my mind but I’d like to seriously back-to-back the two bikes to see the differences.

In the Honda’s favour though, is huge raft of plus points. Finish being one of them (that candy paint is just amazingly deep and shiny) ease of use the other (BMWs do take some, er, getting used to) and the way the engineers have managed to disguise the weight and make it feel at least 50kgs lighter than it really is. The VFR1200F makes the K1300 feel as long as a top fuel dragster.

http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-news-new-bikes/honda-vfr1200f-launch-dct-transmission/8566.html

WELL, I’ve just sampled our future. And, no, I don’t mean electric motorcycles, thank goodness.

Honda’s DCT (dual clutch transmission), an optional extra on their new VFR1200F, is absolutely incredible. ...

Start the V4 up and automatic is, er, automatically selected. It’s then up to you to make the choice between sporty (more revs, blips throttle for downshifts, holds onto gear longer and backshifts sooner to keep the revs higher) and cruisy, lazy auto mode, which would be just fine for the road.

Hate the idea of auto? Just use the right hand bar-mounted flappy paddles. You use the thumb control to backshift and your index finger for upshifts. It really is that simple.

In any of these modes the gearshifts are smoother than your best ever pillion-firendly gearshift. Ever. They’re fast, too – particularly in flappy paddle mode or when the auto setting is in sports.

But you know the best bit about all this? It frees up a massive portion of your brain (useful in my case) to think about other things like getting you line right or your braking point.

[Toshi]

proposed saturday ride route if the weather holds up. 145 miles as plotted.

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/4507/screenshot20091022at110.png

maybe meeting up for pizza in the city that evening with undergrad buddies, too? :thumb:

[Toshi]

i did end up riding a similar route to the one above on saturday. in the pouring rain. with two others. it was fun, but along the way my stebel horn stopped working. apparently the makers weren't kidding when they said to mount it vertically (mine was straight up horizontal). whoops. :D

today jessica joined me for a group ride in the sun with the local LI group. it had to be the worst led ride we've been on. multiple instances of picking the wrong lane, missing turns, stopping and not stopping when not called for… the most egregious example of poor form came when some of us got caught at a changing light on a two-lane-each-side road. the people ahead of us stopped, as they should in a group, but stopped 4-wide across 1.5 lanes of traffic.

idiots.

we left the group halfway through and went on our own route, which was much more satisfying: no idiotic behavior such as the above, no super slow riding in the corners, and more entertaining roads and scenery to boot. gah.

[Toshi]

what would ideally be in my garage at this instant (assuming i have a garage and everything else in life is buttoned down and peachy keen):

Aptera 2e
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/3310/aptera2edebut.png

Nissan Leaf
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/1420/nissanleafelectriccar1.jpg

Toyota Prius
http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/9559/2010toyotaprius1.jpg

Mazda MX-5 Miata power retractable hardtop version
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/73/rht06001s.jpg

Zero Motorcycles Zero MX
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6867/screenshot20091025at503.png

BMW F 800 GS
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/7766/2008bmwf800gsa.jpg

Honda VFR1200F
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/8213/2010hondavfr1200foption.jpg

i guess it's going to have to be a big garage. :rofl: (jessica's comment: "we're not having that many cars! god…")

[Toshi]

today jessica joined me for a group ride in the sun with the local LI group. it had to be the worst led ride we've been on. multiple instances of picking the wrong lane, missing turns, stopping and not stopping when not called for… the most egregious example of poor form came when some of us got caught at a changing light on a two-lane-each-side road. the people ahead of us stopped, as they should in a group, but stopped 4-wide across 1.5 lanes of traffic.

idiots.

we left the group halfway through and went on our own route, which was much more satisfying: no idiotic behavior such as the above, no super slow riding in the corners, and more entertaining roads and scenery to boot. gah.

ahha: after complaining about the poorly run group ride on sunday on the local club's forum i think i've gotten myself banned. :rofl:

[Toshi]

hehe, awesome: an adventure Honda Monkey.

http://gorillabiker.nolimit.cz/image/14780445

[Toshi]

sweet jeebus, life is very different elsewhere…

http://motosyberia.com/galeria/2_mir3_planB/images/0077.jpg

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239330

[Toshi]

all this reading about adventure riding kind of makes me want to get back into mountain biking. except that i still think it's moderately stupid to drive a car 50 or 100 miles in order to ride a bike 10 or 15. somehow it seems more elegant to ride a dual-sport out to a trail even if both activities are somewhat contrived given that i live surrounded by civilization.

[IH8Rice]

all this reading about adventure riding kind of makes me want to get back into mountain biking. except that i still think it's moderately stupid to drive a car 50 or 100 miles in order to ride a bike 10 or 15.

well no one said LI is the mecca of mountain biking

[Toshi]

well no one said LI is the mecca of mountain biking

even around seattle that's the norm. we'd drive 2-3 hours to go riding, or 5 to get up to whistler. i could "solve" that problem by living in the sticks, i suppose, but that's not a real solution unless i can read all my films from home, a concept that sadly is not a reality in most practices these days.

[DaveW]

Poor bugger.... You need to find the US version of Wellington.
Many here ride the bikes to the trails as they are so close, some within 5mins ride of the CBD and Mt Vic is a popular lunch time ride as it's right in town (Hospital backs onto it even!! ).

[Toshi]

Poor buger.... You need to find the US version of Wellington.
Many here ride the bikes to the trails as they are so close, some within 5mins ride of the CBD and Mt Vic is a popular lunch time ride as it's right in town (Hospital backs onto it even!! ).

i'd love to move to the NZ version of Wellington... it's just that jessica feels it's a little far from her family in washington state. :D

[IH8Rice]

even around seattle that's the norm. we'd drive 2-3 hours to go riding, or 5 to get up to whistler. i could "solve" that problem by living in the sticks, i suppose, but that's not a real solution unless i can read all my films from home, a concept that sadly is not a reality in most practices these days.

north Jersey has a ton of riding within 1 hour of where i lived...DH/XC...you name it. and you dont have to listen to the Long Island accents all day

[Toshi]

north Jersey has a ton of riding within 1 hour of where i lived...DH/XC...you name it. and you dont have to listen to the Long Island accents all day

but in exchange you are in jersey.

http://www.guidofistpump.com/guido%20pix/GuidoOompa.jpg

[IH8Rice]

woah woah woah...the Oompa Prompa twins are NOT from Jersey
http://www.hotchickswithdouchebags.com/uploaded_images/Prompas4a-767821.jpghttp://www.hotchickswithdouchebags.com/

[Toshi]

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/8142/img0159w.jpg

found this when i stepped up to the car this afternoon. apparently someone did a U-turn into it this afternoon while it was parked on the street today. no note. nothing. gah.

[DaveW]

Bugger :(

[Toshi]

Bugger :(

turns out a nice guy at the body shop pounded it out and buffed the white paint off… for free! it's not cosmetically perfect but from a distance looks more than acceptable, and it'll do just fine for now. can't beat free.

[Toshi]

here's something i didn't know existed outside of motorcycle companies: a bike dyno. cool.

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/9776/ktmredhotexhaustimg2120.jpg

[Toshi]

so i've been trying to add a stebel nautilus compact air horn to my MP3. the first install went fine but the horn died in about a week. its replacement came, and looks like this:

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/1557/stebel.jpg

note that the negative contact has a bite taken out of its far corner. also note the asymmetry in the holes in the contacts with respect to the black plastic horn body. yeah, the negative contact is also pushed in farther. methinks it wasn't aligned properly in the tool that shoves in the contacts at time of original manufacture. whoops. in any case this second horn also doesn't work. gah.

[Toshi]

good riding today with the re-formed club (such drama :D ). we had 7 riders + 3 car-bound people show up, and eventually there will be some low-quality photos from one of the car people hanging out his window as we rode along on a straight road. exciting, i know.

clickable/draggable route: http://tinyurl.com/sundaynovember8route

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/1039/screenshot20091108at515.png

[Westy]

So what are your thoughts on Long Island so far? For me L.I. is similar to L.A. in that it would probably be a nice place if 90% of the population died.

[Toshi]

So what are your thoughts on Long Island so far? For me L.I. is similar to L.A. in that it would probably be a nice place if 90% of the population died.

our area of LI is pretty dismal as it's basically a giant strip mall but the north shore is much nicer to look at. no way would i consider sticking around here and paying an exorbitant amount of money for a fancy north shore house, however, as one would still need to fight the traffic everywhere with the hoi polloi.

[Toshi]

eventually there will be some low-quality photos from one of the car people hanging out his window as we rode along on a straight road. exciting, i know.

"highlights"

is me.

http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/oo225/stellalenny/20RideToshi.jpg

a 300 lb dude on a 125 cc scooter. no, that combo doesn't climb hills well. :rofl:

http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/oo225/stellalenny/19RideFern.jpg

honda reflex with "highway peg" leg position, heh

http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/oo225/stellalenny/22RideHolla.jpg

tricked out ruckus

http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/oo225/stellalenny/18RideJay.jpg

the highly intimidating crew

http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/oo225/stellalenny/9Group.jpg

[Toshi]

i got pulled over on my scooter for the first time tonight, and i totally didn't deserve it.

no, really, i didn't deserve it, no lie: i was cruising along on a dark, straight section of road tonight headed towards a more entertaining twisty bit when i noticed a nondescript set of headlights approaching from behind at a fair pace. i'm pretty good at identifying cars from their headlights but with the darkness and the slightly buzzy mirrors on my single-cylinder scooter no particular alarm bells went off. nevertheless, i didn't want to hold up whomever was in such a hurry so i pulled over into a driveway to wave them by.

to my surprise, the car behind me pulled in as well and switched on its flashing blue and red lightbar! as i switched off the scooter the officer quickly hopped out and asked if anything was wrong.

"uh, actually, no, i'm ok. i pulled over to let you pass, in fact."
"oh. wait, this thing has three wheels?"
"yeah, let me show you how it tilts…"
"cool. … is it an electric?"
"nope"

and then he was off on his merry way, as was i, just a little bit thrown off by the whole roadside exchange. no license info or anything was exchanged (and needless to say there was no ticket or warning), just those words. it's nice that he was trying to be helpful but i have to admit seeing those lights was a bit of a shock.

[Toshi]

the new Ducati Multistrada seems to be targeting the VFR audience, albeit with a long-legged/pseudo-dual-sport twist:

http://www.cyclenews.com/files/news_articles/newbikes/0911/Multistrad_web_inside.jpg

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/new-bikes/2009/11/10/ducati-s-2010-multistarda-unveiled/full

$15k base. 150 hp twin. 417 lbs (dry, ~490 wet). available ABS and traction control, hard bags and top case, power points under the seat, heated grips, integrated GPS, and adjustable windscreen. possibly gimmicky suspension option on the S model that's adjustable to four customizable presets (e.g. rider only, with pillion, and then both combos with luggage) via electronics. 4 throttle/traction control maps courtesy of drive by wire.

Four bikes in one

Four different motorcycles, available at the touch of a button, change the fundamental characteristics of the new Multistrada 1200. Power and torque delivery, suspension settings, and traction control can be changed - even while riding - to enable the motorcycle to adapt to the needs of the rider and not the other way around. With the Multistrada 1200, Ducati introduce the concept of four-bikes-in-one with four Riding Modes: Sport, Touring, Urban and Enduro.

The Sport Riding Mode provides the rider with an adrenalin-fuelled ride, where 150hp and incredible torque delivery are combined with a sports-oriented suspension set-up. To impart precise and focused handling like a sportbike, it also slightly reduces Ducati Traction Control intervention to level 3 for expert riders whose 'comfort zone' is closer to the limit.

The Touring Riding Mode is still programmed to produce 150hp; however, the power characteristic is designed in a touring configuration with much smoother torque delivery, but ready to respond when needed. Safety is enhanced with the most advanced ABS technology and with the Ducati Traction Control system set to level 5 (intermediate intervention), specifically intended for a stable and relaxing ride. The suspension set-up is ideal for touring, ensuring maximum comfort for both the rider and passenger.

Navigating through the urban jungle requires an even more manageable motorcycle that can be used 365 days a year, whether travelling to work or grabbing a coffee in town. Selecting the Urban Riding Mode instantly changes the power to 100hp, and the suspension to the perfect setting for tackling the maze of city streets full of speed bumps and drain covers. The traction control level is set to 7, providing high system intervention so the rider can enjoy enhanced safety even in the most chaotic of stop-start traffic.

Should the journey aboard the Multistrada 1200 leave the beaten track, it has the capability to take off-road routes in its stride. Agile and lightweight and with high, wide handlebars, serrated footrests and specially designed tires, the Multistrada also features an Enduro Riding Mode which instantly transforms the bike with a smooth 100hp engine, higher suspension, and the option to disable the ABS. Traction control is reduced to the minimum of level 1 for almost no intervention.

The four-bikes-in-one concept uses three technologies which interact to instantly change the chassis set-up and character of the Multistrada 1200. Fitted as standard equipment on all versions, the electronic ride-by-wire system administers three different engine mappings to change the character of the engine, while Ducati Traction Control (DTC) uses eight levels of system interaction to enhance control. For the 'S' version, Ducati Electronic Suspension (DES) instantly configures the suspension set-up to suit "rider only," "rider with luggage," "rider and passenger," or "rider and passenger with luggage."

i don't foresee the new VFR coming in under $15k. 172 hp vs. 150 hp isn't much of an argument, and a multistrada seems like it'd be a great, comfortable bike for many a purpose. not great on the track, and not great on true off-road, but for most everything in between it'd be like a wonderful, honkin' V-Strom with an italian accent. :D

[DaveW]

If you want a bike with sublime handling get a Ducati. :D

[Toshi]

i might have asked this before, but do you guys use heated gear?

i have about 8A to play with of electrical headroom, supposedly, and am looking at picking up heated jacket liners +/- heated gloves for both jessica and me. clearly we wouldn't be able to both use the setup at the same time due to the electrical constraints (and the fact that i only plan on buying one controller, albeit one with two settings, one for the jacket and the other for the gloves).

stuff that i'm looking at in particular is the 2nds from warm 'n safe. warm 'n safe is a small company that actually still makes their gear in the USA--imagine that!--and their customer service is reputed to be quite good. plus they have an ADVrider discount!

[DaveW]

Nope no Heated gear.... Keep meaning to get heated grips but it's not an urgent issue given the local temp.

[Toshi]

q9ccX3RvQLc

little video i made today of jessica hitting around at her beginner tennis lesson. has bonus footage of me serving at the end. for the first 10 serves or so i was using jessica's racket, which is actually child sized! needless to say i don't serve to well with it. :D

[Toshi]

the bit between E (I-87 diner) and Cold Spring on the map below (E Hook Rd and E Mountain Rd) was AMAZING. best road i have been on here in new york, bar none. all in all it was 200 miles and change for me today.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/1310/screenshot20091115at650.png

clickable route: http://tinyurl.com/yfzhsl8

[Westy]

the bit between E (I-87 diner) and Cold Spring on the map below (E Hook Rd and E Mountain Rd) was AMAZING. best road i have been on here in new york, bar none. all in all it was 200 miles and change for me today.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/1310/screenshot20091115at650.png

clickable route: http://tinyurl.com/yfzhsl8

You were up near where young Westy spent his formative years. Grew up outside Poughkeepsie in the small town of LaGrange just of the Taconic Parkway.

[Toshi]

You were up near where young Westy spent his formative years. Grew up outside Poughkeepsie in the small town of LaGrange just of the Taconic Parkway.

it seems like nice country. certainly some nice roads up there! i imagine it's culturally quite different from nyc even though some commute into the city…

here's my gas-wasting activity for today, the last day before i take off to mexico to bask in the sun and do little for a bit. yeah, i got a bit lost in the middle before i got my bearings again :D

clickable route: http://tinyurl.com/lostloop

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/4126/screenshot20091117at328u.png