GrumpySmurf

Not important:0:1 Not important: Broke up with female, got back together with female, female broke up with me - got ugly. Doesn't help that we work together - gonna be an interesting week. I have yet to have a 'normal relationship' with a female who was an American citizen - had great relationships with Latin American girls, Asian ones, and Canuck chicks - but not yet a single Yank girl. Riddle me this: What the heck is wrong with the Yank girls? On the plus side, INS let me back into the country. 1 case owed - first time I rode the Ducati for nearly 12 hours straight, stopping only long enough to fill the tank - from Windsor, Ontario (across from Detroit) to Winona, Minnesota - would have been closer to 9 hours except for the charlie foxtrot they call the Chicago Skyway - express lane my ass. Waved to a gent in a car on west bound I-94 in Michigan who had a Skydiver sticker plastered to his rear windshield.

Replace above with: pretty much most things outside of just knocking him over and planting on him. Might get the point across ever better.

"So, I'd like to get some motorcycle magazines. " Though not strictly Hog oriented, nor cheap for that matter - MCN - Motorcycle Consumer News - they have some of the best reviews, tech and safety tips without having to sort through dozens of pages of ads (which results in the high cover price).

Somewhere between 'No comment' and lost count:0:relates to 'No comment' and lost count. No jumping, unless getting jumped alot counts. Crossed 4,000 mile mark on the bike on Wednesday (now at 4,600). Watched S/O nearly smear herself into the back of a car after she tried her best imitation of Trinity in the 'Matrix: Reloaded', at a 100 and some odd mph. She now has a wonderful sized bald spot on the rear tire of her FZ1. My only thought, watching this unfold just in front of me, "She gonna get blood all over the damn jacket I just loaned her" - never gonna tell her that, mind y'all. And she had the nerve to 'comment' about my 'extreme lean angle' through turns (what's the point in riding a sport bike if you're are not gonna use up ALL of the tire's surface area). Women! Jumping at SDC to follow this weekend coming up, keeping the fingers crossed.

Dude, I couldn't agree more with that whole message. I ain't changing to suit nobody. With like 3 billion women in the world - there gotta be at least one out there that can not only stand being around me, but I can also stand being around.

'nother trick is to simply tell them to look over your shoulder on the side of the turn - so with a left turn, have them look over your left shoulder and so on for the right - forces them to ride with the bike. I'd rather they have the hands on the tank, than wrapped around me - especially with those Brembo calipers, else one hard stop with an extra 100 + some number pounds pushing on ya, certain important items are gonna get really squished into the tank.

Thanx for the heads up. "Must go, must buy!!!"

The MSF is a must for anyone without riding experience - I really wish they had an intermediate class for people who knew how to ride well enough to breeze through the first day at the range but wanted to work on some of the trickier skills - but who were not quite ready for the Experienced Rider Course - I found I kept losing my patience sitting behind with the folk who were scared to take the bikes above 15 mph. Anyways, the must reads prior to the course - even if you don't take the course, these are the must reads - Dave Hough's two books Proficient Motorcyling and More Proficient Motorcycling - I've heard a few comments that it was his articles WAY back in the day that were the foundation for alot of what is taught in the theory part of the MSF Basic. Read those books and you'll realize how much they gloss over due to time constraints in the classroom. Picked up Twist of the Wrist and found it ok, but more geared for the track, little for use on the street - in comparison to Proficient Motorcycling which focuses on all the things that can and do kill riders. Nelson Rigg - not too pleased with thier stuff - the saddle backs started coming apart after 6 weeks and the way the straps hook to the tail bag could be ALOT better. Site to buy things: www.newenough.com By far the standard for customer service that all others are (or should be) judged by. If you want to go for the high end in synthetic riding gear: http://www.motoport.com/ Not cheap (since alot of it is made custom to measure) - but you get the protection equivilent to leather and alot more comfy in warm weather.

"Great track bike but if you plan on riding for over an hour at a time be prepared. They aren't the best bike for comfort. " When it comes to comfort and Ducks - You don't break in the bike, the bike breaks in you. After a couple of 6 hour jaunts on the thing, your body will figure it out - but getting to that point - oh man, talk about having some choice words when you step off the machine.

'Alien' - I was 5 years old. I'd say it 'moved' me.

And I'm gonna try to write it off Actually got away with a meal expense of over $600 once entertaining the engineers from DCX during tests of one of thier SUVs in Florida last spring - if you can, get a job with them - they are allowed to be entertained by the suppliers - and I think jumps could be argued as counting as reasonable entertainment. Catch ya this weekend.

Toys good, toys always good. Got word of a growing mini-crisis with the customer, had my team working on it till close of business Friday and with the break in the weather on Saturday, needed to boogie fast to get back without getting caught in a storm. And spent Sunday/Monday following up. Racing through Iowa with tornado sirens blaring in the towns I was going through was a little unnerving. On the plus side - convinced the employer that I should drive to Detroit for GM's Device Integration Test of our part next week - that I should leave Friday around noon and return from Detroit Friday morning - guess what is almost exactly halfway between here and Detroit - a certain DZ in Ottawa, Il. And the company will cover the travel costs. If only I could claim jumps as customary and reasonable business expenditures. So, if you be floating 'aboot' the DZ this weekend - I'll buy a few rounds of your choice to make up for skipping out

I'm a good boy :3:1 Drove 600 miles round trip on the Ducati Supersport to SDC (the first). Convinced friend/co-worker to ride her Yamaha FZ1 600 miles round trip as well to meet me there for her first 2 tandems. 'Hey Mikey, I think she likes it!' Eener got to experience that bike as a passenger - that thing is bejezuz fast - especially with that particular friend/co-worker as the operator. My first ride on back of it, all I could think was - to hell with the 620, I want a 999, dammit! 3 more camera jumps added. Time to get some freefly coaching - need many corrections.

"Hey she-bitch, come get some." That movie did rock!

Give these guys a look then: http://www.dragginjeans.com/ Be equally as stylish and a have a bit more than "minimum protection on the bottom half. "

"matching helmet, and an order for an armored matching jacket for" Pants, gloves, boots, spine protector? Skin grafts are equally expensive and painful, so I hear, on those parts too

It's who Porsche simply puts most of thier effort into marketing to. They appear to have tried the average Joe consumer with all the footbal season ads - funny how those dried up within the first season - probably due to lack of result. Every Porsche gathering I've been to has been dominated by 40 to 50 something males with far more money than sense or time. If you ever buy a new one - the dealer with sign you up for Christophorus - some of the articles about trips, or ads for watches and what not make you think, "And I can afford that, how??" I think I recall Fred Schwab (former CEO of PCNA) coming out and stating in Christophorus what he felt was the demograhpic for (what was then) the upcoming release of the Cayenne and how Porsche was previously a 3rd or 4th car for a married male, 40 to 50 something who was in the top 2% of income for the country - and they were trying to get the age number down and get more females buying the Cayenne. At least that is what I can recall, it was quite some time ago. They since let Schwab go, so who knows how much weight can be given to what he said.

"Ford drivers get more then someone with a Porsche??" Cuz by the time the average Joe can afford one, he's too damn old to get it up anyways

"We all know how this wonderful substance can make you feel awake.....yet very edgy." Caffeine keeps the headaches away

"I thought you had the 620 Super Sport?" Yup. They (the S and SS line) all share the same frame and layout - just different displacements and minor options. So if it'll fit the older 750 and 900, odds are it'll fit the 620 S, 800 SS and 1000 SS. Though the 620 is just a Sport, not a Super Sport. Got stuck riding on back of a co-workers Yammer a few weeks back, the bejezuz thing was freakin' fast, though I think that might have alot to do with the female driving it. Now thinking, need more speed, now thinking 749 sounds like not such a bad idea.

"What is there that you are really horrible at doing? Make me feel better knowing that there are others out there who absolutely suck at something. " I don't suck at anything, it's everyone elses standards that are just too unreasonably high.

Thanks for the suggestions.. Ah sonovabitch: Motorcycle Make & Model: SS 750/900 Topcase Mounting Hardware: No Sidecase Mounting Hardware: No 3-Case Mounting Hardware: No I guess there's always bungies and duct tape for holding down the hard luggage?

Anyone try finding a tail bag to toss thier rig in when wandering to and fro the DZ on thier bike? The saddle bags got enough room for everything else, just need to find a decent sized tailbag for the Javelin J3. Want to keep the rig off the back, with or without a gear bag - any kind of weight on the back is not a good thing for long rides. Any comments or suggestions would be much appreciated.

SD TC seems like a nice enough place, I'm another one of those Canucks (a Newfie at that) trapped on the southern side of the Yank/Canuck border, in Winona, MN and have dropped by there a few times when not trekking down to SDC. SD TC has in the past gotten an Otter for use over the summer, from Perris - so you might get exposure to more canopies in the sky than a strictly Cessna DZ. Best bet might be to take a week or two off and just knock off the 'A' in one straight shot - assuming the bank account allows for it - then again that's why they invented VISA/MC/AMEX. The folk there were really friendly, as with most every DZ you'll find - if you go student there, odds are you'll pick up a few buddies along the way to jump with after finishing the 'A'. Haven't seen any of thier student program aside from tandems (not enough visits, or too busy packing and jumping to notice) - so can't comment on it. Haven't been far enough north to try out SD Superior though - no comment on what it's like.

Aye - currently one koryu style of Iai/Ken-jutsu, along with a gendai-ryu style of Iai/Batto-Do. Many, many moons of aikido. Many, many trips to the ER as a result. Very limited exposure with gendai kendo, naginata, and kyudo.