PiLFy

Dunno, Jerry. I'm only going by what the Ad says. I've never seen one.

"Sure wish I had my Wonderhog rig back." Here ya go: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=118472;d=1

I should have elaborated a little. It's obvious that helmets in skydiving are not really meant for protection from "impact" as there is no sense in attempting so. But they are thought for protection from blows and bumps, some of which might be dealt with quite some force - which leads to "should be in good condition so it won't prematurely break in places it should resist." You should buy a German helmet. Zey are much better. Just my 2 Eurocents FIFY I agree w/Abedy's point. If you cracked the chin piece all the way through? You might get sliced to the bone by a subsequent kick to the head doing RW. Or, a hard off-landing, for that matter. That being said. I don't feel those helmets give much protection to start with. You could try 100mph tape & crazy glue or epoxy. You could even bridge the repair from behind w/a suitably strong strip of plastic. I'm too cheap to pay $350 for a non-Snell certified lid. I'd repair it.

I was like, "f-yeah, this rocks" Yep, you're sooo Zen.

Do a search of the forums for Fear. The window is in the upper right hand corner of any forum page. You'll see you're far from alone in that. Enjoy the journey

"At what jump did you decide to keep this hobby of jumping?" That took a while. I had an extreme fear of heights when I started. I literally almost peed myself on my first jump. I stumbled off the field on shaky knees. Mumbling to myself "This is soooo not for me." I asked myself what the H*ll I was doing on that plane, all the way through AFF & beyond. Then, I had a line over on my fifteenth. I was swirling the bowl @4500ft. Thinking to myself "SOB, I'm gonna have to chop this thing." (I eventually cleared the mal w/o a cutaway.) The thing is, I was laughing as I thought that. On earlier jumps, I think my heart would have actually stopped had that happened. So, for me it was a gradual process, not a singular moment. My training progression went from terror to really digging it. Why do you ask? Do you find yourself wrestling fear & a feeling of not belonging on the ride up to altitude? It's more common than you might think. If you've willingly thrown yourself out of a plane three or more times? You're already hooked. You just might not realize it, yet. No Worries. You'll soon be lined up w/the rest of us junkies. Looking forward to your next Air-Fix . "And after how many did you start looking for a rig?" @22 jumps, & still looking...

"what i like about the older VMax is that it is a squirrelly ride... like an old muscle car, big power, frame that can't handle it, crazy wobbles... keeps you thinking." Absolutely agree. In ways, modern bikes have gotten too good. They can turn laps w/surgical precision. W/frames engineered to only flex w/just the right balance between engine loading & cornering forces. I get warm N fuzzy thinking about things like Eddie Lawson scaring his mechanics senseless w/the amount of frame flex his KZ1000 was doing on Daytona's banking. Or, a little further back to the machines Barry Sheene & King Kenny had to wrestle to become world champions. Fighting the machine's imperfections was another skill set they had to have.

"HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT....BRAINS....COMMMING OOOUUUUUUUTTTT OFFF MMMMMYYYY AASSSSS!" Hey Shah, Mad Max is a neat ride, but is older tech. Ever rode a 'Busa or a 1000 Gixxer? Now, they have warp drives. If you ever get accustomed to the acceleration? There's all sorts of wonderfully perverse performance mods readily available. Wait a minute. What am I doing??? Shah has shown a propensity for spending too much money on questionable purchases. I might be planting the seeds for another large cash outlay he doesn't really need to make... I've got a better idea. Shah, I can't really suggest you keep pouring money into that GPZ. There's another way. I've ridden primarily big-bore sportbikes. When I was working through school, & poor. I worked a deal for a museum piece of a bike. It was a 20+yr old Honda K-bike. I thought I'd hate it. I ended up keeping her for five years. I rebuilt it a little at a time, & loved it. One of the great things about motorcycling is. You don't have to spend a lot to enjoy it (unlike certain other hobbies...). Nab an older, well-designed bike, & discover its gifts. Hell man, my bike is steamy fast & bullet proof. I think the blue book on it is only around $1500... Get a bike like that, & smile as you ride past the dealerships year after year.

OK, Abedy... Why Ducks?

"There's nothing easy about spinning wrenched on a Honda V4." This is the reason I passed on buying an ST the last time. Well, that & I was too cheap to pay the price difference... Any decent power mods require splitting the cases on that engine. Other platforms are far easier to hop up. Oh, & yes, the pipes are really LOUD !!

Not quite, Dave . I've owned two Kawis in the past. A then-new '85 900 Ninja, & a used 750 GPZ. I had mechanical problems w/both of 'em. Plus, incidents like the ones I cited to you. I'm not a fan of their approach or products.

Shah's GPZ is a completely different bike from the old air-cooled 550s. For Shah to pull the carbs on that bike? He has to unbolt the freakin motor, & tip the whole thing forward.... Way to go, COWee.

"So that's why there are still KZ1000's in service with police departments all across the country?" Meh... Cops drive Fords. What do they know. Those old KZ1000s are from a different era. Go to a drag strip. You'll still find Z1-based bikes tearing it up. That's not my point. Shah's bike is sitting in the garage due to poor engineering. His model bike is well-known to have that problem. Kawi sportbikes are what they are. Compared to other brands offerings, they come up short. It is what it is, Dave. My 900 Ninja used to run too hot, & foil plugs regularly. That was from when it was new. ZX-10s had a nasty habit of shattering their center stands in the middle of the winter. I've read of a few where the owners found them bashed up on their sides from that. Doug Chandler (?) got hurt after a foot peg broke while he was at speed on a track. It wasn't the first failure he'd experienced. He & Muzzy got into it big time after that one. He almost walked out on his contract about the equipment. The ZX-14 might have some steam when new. It's still too porky for me. I still wouldn't trust the parts. I also wouldn't trust that it would continue to run to spec after a few years. A Suzuki or a Yamaha will run circles around it in those categories. You are, of course, free to buy what you choose...

Sorry Shah, I've owned two Kawis in my life. One of which I bought brand new. I sold both due to mechanical shortcomings. There's a reason Kawis are usually cheaper. There's a reason they're usually heavier, slower, less better handling, etc... There's also a reason you read of metallurgy failures w/them from time to time. Come on, Shah. You already got burned on the GPZ you've got. Tell me you don't see piss poor engineering in that.

Crippled is crippled... Who cares whose fault it was? PiLFy "that's why I finally gave 'em up" B.A. Newbie.

We need a [PUKE] emoticon here... It's a Kaw (COW). Nough Said. If a big speedy beast is your thing? Hop on the 'Bus(a), Gus. There are great bikes for every taste.

What??? That writer is on crack. Bikes are better than ever nowadays. Ducks are a bad example to run with, though. They're too expensive, & have too many problems to warrant the costs. Sure, an 1199 is pure visceral nirvana. Right until the freakin frame cracks by the steering stem @11K miles... Totally unacceptable.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/268761/under-our-skin I'd never heard of this documentary. I stumbled upon it @Hulu the other night. It definitely got my attention. It's scary.

Oh Nooo !! He'll do mean things to me!! It's been my experience that SUPERantiSpyware is good. It won't clean everything, though. That's why multiple cleaning programs are recommended.

Here Wendy: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=139313 As long as you can boot your system up? Even if that only means nuking the system, & reinstalling the OS. Only to have the virus take control of your PC again in minutes (ask me how I know)... This will allow you to clean your system. They're good guys on this site. If you get stuck. Throw up a white flag in the forum section. They'll help you out. Show your love by buying a couple of Tees off them or something. Good Luck.

What OS are you running, Wendy?

If you haven't been arrested for beating someone to death by now. You've got it licked. Welcome to a healthier life

A 'Shart' is a shit AND a fart... You probably don't know what an 'upper-decker' is either... Well...umm...Sure I do: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Upper+Decker Man, I love Google .

It is possible to tear the meniscus while kneeling. I think you were primed by your previous impacts, though. Women also are more prone to knee injuries due to your anatomy. I hope you got away w/o needing surgery to fix the tear. Please don't misunderstand. I'm sorry you got hurt. It just sounds like your twist by the door was the straw that broke the camel's back. Flooring guys are literally on their knees for several hours a day. Yes, they wear better pads. They still load their knees every which way, though. My knees took quite a pounding during my student progression. I've no doubt I took some years off them w/some of my landings. My point is that I wouldn't have pounded them so badly had I been wearing simple pads.

"Old Sharts" Mkay...I'll bite. What the Heck is an Old Shart?