Stunts are costly - Monday, March 07, 2005
I'll start off the page with a lighthearted lesson. Last summer it seemed to be a weekly joke,"THEY ARE DROPPING LIKE FLYS". Every time we turned around someone ran out of room during a wheelie and hit a curb,or was in the middle of the best stoppie ever till the butt clenching began.When the rolling burnout becomes the rashed up back slide or the first gear crack you've done a thousand times decides today is the day to crack back.These are all fun things to be doing on a bike and some people like me couldn't see the allure of biking without the occasional trick, but if you aspire to make stunts a part of your repitoir then take your time,you'll get it when you get it.If on the way to your goal you loose it and manage not to get you or anybody else hurt, then be happy,if you are staring at your scrathed up pile of" still making payments"and are pissed you shouldn't have been doing it in the first place.

Turns that terrorize - Monday, March 07, 2005
We've all been there,your day couldn't be going better,you and the bike are one.This is the perfect time for fate to reach in and push you that extra foot out of you comfort zone in a corner and the chills down your neck come on faster than you can say where did the road go?This senario has sent five 2wm riders to rash city and I gather it's not the type of place any of us want to visit.(SEE MEMBER PAGE BRIAN).I am not one to give advice but If anyone has seen my girlfriend ride,I think i'm confident to teach the basics if anyone wants some tips.1-start on the outside,if there is realestate there use it.2-gear down,they made the things to go both ways so before you lean in step on a few cockroaches,the engine braking will be a comfort and if you end up a little slower than you wanted,what ever theres always the next one.3-break in the straight away,before you lean in and while you are on the outside,have a look,you might just see the exit and not need as much brake as you thought but again,if you jam them on a few times and ride around with ease,then ease up a little next time.4-head in not out!does it make any sense to start a corner on the inside and give all the advantage to gravity and friction?All you will end up doing is drifting out to the edge of the road during the scariest part of the turn,I feel like i'm taking crazy pills.5-finish up,by now you've started outside(on a left turn thats the right of the lane)selected an appropriate gear,tapped on the binders if you are still in ninja training and are headed for the inside of the turn with confidense not luck.Just don't give up on the best part,letting her scream out of the middle slowly uprighting and headed for the outside again,spy your next corner....how are you going to set up for this one?

Combat riding in Traffic
I talk to streetbikers everyday and the general feeling is that we are the underdogs in a battle out there and the more combat traning you have the better your chances are.Four 2WM riders have woken up at ENLOE and Many more across the country don't get as lucky.Here are some TRUE stories so hopefully you don't have to learn the hard way.On a nice day not long ago a biker is going down a street like anyother.A car is noted approaching and stopping at an intersection ahead,no problem right .Like a thousand times before you proceed, without the knowledge that the driver just got his foggles out of the glovebox, and at the last minute throttles into the sweet spot of your front tire ! I've always tried to expect every car to do it,move to the middle of the road to get some room ,make eye contact, use a jedi mind trick if you have to,just don't be the guy that tools down the road not thinking about hood ornaments,cause thats when the battle begins. It was a clear day north of chico when a rider stops at a construction zone.The flaggers are soon to wave your lane through so why not let the guard down for a sec,stretch, shake out the arm pump.Thats when Grandma and half in the bag driver Grandpa cruize through you and three other cars before they even see a flag !This shit happens everyday I kid you not and if I didn't take this survey of 100 riders over the last year I wouldn't have believed it.If you haven't heard the term "ride in your mirrors" before,you can start to apply it now.Down the street from my house I was rear ended by a person on a cell phone California rolling a stop sign.I know who is comming up behind me now every time I'm stopped.Better still is the people that cut you off while looking you straight through your face,don't believe it,don't fool yourself they can not see you. Our friends that have lost spleens,knees,ribs,months out of their lives will tell you.We might as well be invisible and the sooner you start driving that way the safer you will be.

Rookie Mistakes
Don't be that guy,the one who forgets to put the sidestand down at the gas station and makes a mess of a perfectly good paint job.There is the guy who could have saved the bike from falling if he knew how to grab the bike in a proper spot or figured out beforehand that they get heavier the further over it goes.Why is it that you never figure out until your second bike to only have one key in the ignition and just put the rest in your pocket,some people might go for that scratched up,broken gauges,bent key look.Kick stands don't work in soft stuff and no matter how hard you try,you'll never remember to put it up when you put it in gear.Front brakes and gravel don't mix but skipping into neutral never failes right when someone is next to you to hear it ! You will leave your key on and drain the battery,you will leave your turn signal on because thats the way it goes.A helmet worth protecting your thick scull is worth putting on the ground,but we'll still laugh when we hear the klunk.Engineers designed tires to work at temperature,if you get excited and crack it out of your driveway,sooner or later you will go for the ride of shame.Since we are talking about it do you have frame sliders?Don't worry you can get them after you go down.In my opinion,if it's your first year you should not EVER speed or roll stop signs,I know it's easy to get excited but do you really think you can avoid like an experienced rider?All in all we are all squids and all I can say is be a rider,not someone who just sits on the thing and puts gas in it,do everything on purpose untill it becomes habbit because untill then you are still a rookie 9000.