Proper parking protocol? And gear question?

[diffluere]

Thanks music man =) I was kinda scared I'd get blasted for that one. Today I went to the Leesburg rally, and I wore *HUGE GASP* sunscreen and a tank top. Well, I had a white 3/4 sleeve shirt on over the tank top on the way there, but once we got into the slow moving traffic around town, shirts became reduced in size and quantity. =P I did wear my jacket part of the way home, because it got dark. It's cold in Payne's Prairie at night!


Parking at a biker rally sucks! We ended up paying $3.50 per bike to park under some trees in a church parking lot. Backing up on dead leaves is NOT fun. This was definitely one day where I was glad I ride a 300 pound GZ instead of a huge 1200cc Harley!

[music man]

Originally Posted by diffluere

Thanks music man =) I was kinda scared I'd get blasted for that one. Today I went to the Leesburg rally, and I wore *HUGE GASP* sunscreen and a tank top.

Oh trust me, me and you are still gonna get blasted for saying that. I am still wearing my mesh jacket, I may be able to squeeze out a couple of more weeks with it on, but that is about it.

Now if I was going out of town on my bike, I could wear my mesh jacket easily into early June, but in town, getting caught at red lights every five seconds and sitting still more than you are moving, HELL NO.


The main important fact that you, me and everyone else always needs to remember is, its your skin your leaving on the pavement, and its you that has to know how much heat you can take baking on that bike in traffic. :rawk:

[Water Warrior 2]

One of my neighbors who also rides but wears next to nothing had a question for me. "Why do you wear all that heavy looking gear in the heat ?" ANWSER: Because I'd rather sit in a puddle of sweat than lay in a pool of my blood. A little harsh and over the top for an answer but I do wear ATGATT no matter what the weather. A good mesh jacket is actually cooler than going without, there is no direct sunshine on your skin to cook you. Same with riding pants and gloves. I doubt there is a single item of clothing that will do it all from cold to hot to rain to shine. I have 3 pair of pants, 3 jackets, 3 pairs of gloves, rain gear, cold weather gear, heated gear and all sorts of odds and ends. My next purchase will be a pair of nice cool but armored gloves. OH no, I might have to go for a long ride to find gloves. Bummer ! :lol:

[music man]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

One of my neighbors who also rides but wears next to nothing had a question for me. "Why do you wear all that heavy looking gear in the heat ?" ANWSER: Because I'd rather sit in a puddle of sweat than lay in a pool of my blood. A little harsh and over the top for an answer but I do wear ATGATT no matter what the weather.

Exactly what does "heat" mean in Squamish Canada in the summertime, And do you ride year round?

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

A good mesh jacket is actually cooler than going without, there is no direct sunshine on your skin to cook you.

I think your perspective is somewhat limited......by the area you live in, maybe.

While that is true to a point, it is ONLY to a point. Any place roughly south of St. Louis in the heat of the summer, on black asphalt, while not moving, with cages all around........the actual air temp. can be something like 110 F with a heat index (taking into consideration the humidity) of something like 130 F. Trust me, under those conditions, a mesh jacket is NOT cooler. Anything that reduces the aspiration cooling even the slightest WILL contribute to an increase in your core temperature and more water loss due to "run off".

There IS a point where the risk line for one kind of danger crosses the other one and becomes more important.

[music man]

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

I think your perspective is somewhat limited......by the area you live in, maybe.

While that is true to a point, it is ONLY to a point. Any place roughly south of St. Louis in the heat of the summer, on black asphalt, while not moving, with cages all around........the actual air temp. can be something like 110 F with a heat index (taking into consideration the humidity) of something like 130 F. Trust me, under those conditions, a mesh jacket is NOT cooler. Anything that reduces the aspiration cooling even the slightest WILL contribute to an increase in your core temperature and more water loss due to "run off".

There IS a point where the risk line for one kind of danger crosses the other one and becomes more important.

:jawdrop: :plus1: Me and Easy Rider 100% totally agree on something, did the earth shift off its axis or something :lol: .

By the way, I borrowed the last line of your post to put on my signature, hope you don't mind.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by music man

By the way, I borrowed the last line of your post to put on my signature, hope you don't mind.

I'm humbled.

I wasn't really proud of the way the wording ended up though; I think it probably could be expressed better.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by music man

:jawdrop: :plus1: Me and Easy Rider 100% totally agree on something, did the earth shift off its axis or something :lol: .

Is it a miracle.......or an omen ??

Better watch your back !!! :shocked: :crackup

[music man]

[quote=Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by "music man":1wzrjgfa

By the way, I borrowed the last line of your post to put on my signature, hope you don't mind.

I'm humbled.

I wasn't really proud of the way the wording ended up though; I think it probably could be expressed better.[/quote:1wzrjgfa]


Well when you edit it, I will change it to that then.

[burkbuilds]

I really miss my GZ's helmet under seat "locks", they worked great, and were easy to use. My Vulcan 500 came with a helmet melter, you hook your helmet on, lock it, and let go of the helmet and it hits the exhaust pipe and melts. :shocked: I finally just removed the one on the Vulcan and bought one that mounted to my handlebars. I wouldn't leave your helmet just hanging on the sissy bar or handlebars unsecured though, several people at my previous school lost helmets that way.

As for parking, park boldly, take up the space and don't feel badly. As someone pointed out on a past post here, he parked in a space at the mall and the lady next to him got out and started griping about him taking up that whole space for just one motorcycle, his reply, how many people are riding in your car lady? Since stats show that 78% of the commuter drivers in Metro Atlanta are riding solo, I don't feel bad taking up the entire space. Now, having said that, if I see another motorcycle parked in a spot and there's room for me to park without being to close to the other bike, or blocking them, I'll often park with them.

Good leather boots will offer you good protection. Steel toes are designed for crush resistance on a construction or manufacturing job and it is unlikely that they will make much of an improvement in an accident. Besides, steel toes get really cold in the Winter. A lot of construction workers I worked with over the years avoided using the steel toe boots unless management forced them to just because they make your toes feel colder in the Winter weather.

The Harley Riding boots I own are the most comfortable shoes I have, and that includes my tennis shoes, however, I found the zippers (made of vinyl not brass) to be of poor quality and after about a year of riding the leather was holding up well, but the zippers were shot. That's way to much money to pay, in my opinion, for a pair of riding boots that have to be replaced or have expensive repairs made to them in a year, so I went to Milwaukee for my next set of boots, not as comfortable, but still okay, and much better quality zippers and "eyes" for the laces. Let me add that I ride daily and wear the boots 10-12 hours a day, so that's probably pretty extreme compared to most riders needs, therefore, the zipper problem may not be an issue with someone who only wears the boots a few hours a week.