HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: erika@znext.cts.com (erik astrup)
Subject: Re: First ride in rain almost first dropped bike, too
Organization: pnet
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 17:31:06 GMT


     See! Isn't commuting in the rain big FUN?


	I've commuted across the Bay Bridge 50 miles a day for 5 years
now on my bikes. Rain or shine. Last night was a blast, lane spltting in
the rain, in the dark, in the worst traffic I've seen in years. I split
for nearly 12 miles on the way home....took 45 minutes to go 25 miles. 
A 33 mph average, but had I driven it would have taken at least 1.5 hours. 
You'll get used to the rain, I actually like riding in it, though without
the commute traffic it's tons more fun!


 ==============================================================================
  Erik Astrup                   DOD #683                            AFM #422

  1993 CBR 900RR  *  1990 CBR 600  *  1990 Concours *  1980 GL1100 Interstate

      "This one goes to eleven" - Nigel Tufnel, lead guitar, Spinal Tap
 ==============================================================================
From: dsc3jfs@nmrdc1.nmrdc.nnmc.navy.mil (Jim Small)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: still no EX500
Date: 16 Dec 92 17:35:09 GMT
Organization: Naval Medical Research & Development Command

Still no sign of my poor little stolen EX500.

Dad suggested I consider a few other bikes than the EX as a replacement.
He suggested the Seca.  I looked at him in utter amasement and said "
A Seca?  You've got to be kidding.  Cliff Weston rides a Seca, that should
tell you something."



-- 
I hate the 3B2
The 3B2 can bite me.
From: scs8@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Sebastian C Sears)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Looking to learn to ride
Date: 12 Dec 92 19:46:37 GMT
Reply-To: scs8@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Sebastian C Sears)
Organization: Columbia University

In article <1992Dec10.170056.1914@spectrum.xerox.com> mdennie@beryllium.mc.xerox.com writes:
>In article 1334@galaxy.gov.bc.ca, bclarke@galaxy.gov.bc.ca () writes:
>>I imagine most people in this newsgroup will tell you to take a course like
>>those offered by MSF. It's cheap insurance, and if you can't afford to take a
>>course, then you probably can't afford to motorcycle.
>>
>>BC 
>
>An MSF course is of "course" recommended.  But in addition to that, Chris will NEED
>a liscenced motorcycle operator to accompany him (I`ll assume that`s accurate,
>given the "new guy"reference ;) while practicing riding on the street with his
>"permit" and when he goes to take the operator liscence test.

	Many places will do all this for you. Thankfully, my Dad chose to pay
	the guy he took his MSF course from to supply a small bike for his
	test, and be the guy who came alone as the licensed rider. These guys
	seem to know all the ropes, making them even more helpful.

	If you can find someone to go to the test with you, great (less $$), 
	but if not, call around to me MSF places and ask.

>-- Matt

-------
"This is where I wanna sit and buy you a drink someday." - Temple of the Dog
Sea-Bass Sears --> scs8@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu --> DoD#516 <-- |Stanley, ID.|
'79 Yamaha XS750F -- '85 Toyota 4Runner -- Perception Corsica  |  NYC, NY.  |
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
From: jet@boxer.nas.nasa.gov (J. Eric Townsend)
Subject: Re: a few questions from a wanna-be owner.
	<1gtrrnINNbrs@agate.berkeley.edu>
Organization: Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation, NASA Ames
Date: 18 Dec 92 18:01:40
Distribution: na

"robinson" == Michael Robinson <robinson@cogsci.Berkeley.EDU> writes:

robinson> All my bikes so far have been in the 400-550 range.  They
robinson> have all had enough power to carry passengers on Bay Area
robinson> ...
robinson> You just have to downshift a lot.

Which I find annoying.  I like to do more than constantly up/down
shift.  I also get tired of running an engine in the upper third of
it's rpm range simply because I want reasonable power.  (wow, my 75cc
2stroke puts out peak horsepower at 27,000 RPM!  Too bad my teeth have
all been buzzed out...)

robinson> Wouldn't part of learning "to ride reasonably well" include
robinson> learning how to work a power curve?

Why should I have to "work a power curve" for commuting and around
town driving?  There's nothing more annoying that not being able to
WFO and have the bike *go*.  The 750 nighthack I have does this quite
well (even with a passenger :-).  The CL450 I rode for awhile didn't.
Downshifting only helped it a *little*. :-)
--
             J. Eric Townsend --  jet@nas.nasa.gov -- 415.604.4311
              '92 R100R, DoD# 0378, BMWMOA, AMA, ACLU, EFF, CPSR
                                "HotHead Rules!"
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
From: chrispi@microsoft.com (Chris Pirih)
Subject: Re: Goldwings are darned interesting motorcycles
Date: 17 Dec 92 10:50:48 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corporation
Distribution: na

In rec.motorcycles jsloan@ncar.ucar.edu (John Sloan) writes:
;And just as engineering exercises, they are marvels of design. Looking
;under the fairing pieces (and there are a lot of them... not unlike the
;modern sportbike in that regard), it looks like something designed by
;NASA. 

If the NASA-designed stuff I've seen is at all
typical, then this is no compliment.  I'd rather
have a Honda-designed machine any day.

---
chris
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
From: datasbld@bnr.ca (Datasbuild)
Subject: Re: What is the DoD?
Organization: BNR Europe Ltd, Maidenhead, UK
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 16:39:32 GMT

In article <1ggt3qINNhta@agate.berkeley.edu> robinson@cogsci.Berkeley.EDU (Michael Robinson) writes:
>In article <1992Dec14.014622.12191@netcom.com> avery@netcom.com (Avery Ray Colter) writes:
>>You don't list the first one I'd heard.
>>Someone told me a little while back that it was Denny's or Die,
>>a touring group which makes a blood oath never to eat anywhere
>>except Denny's during tours.
>
>Great.  Now we have to kill you.
>
>Sigh.
>
>ObMoto: If you are on a canyon road, and encounter black ice, is there
>anything you can do to help minimize your chances of a dramatic spill?
>  Michael Robinson


Drive a SAAB?


Nick (the ex-SAAB owning Biker)   MAG 73516   DoD 1069   Concise Oxford


M'Lud.
From: ravi@cs.wpi.edu (Ravi Narayan)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: RAVI BUMPER STICKERS
Date: 21 Dec 1992 05:43:56 GMT
Organization: Woopie Tech
Distribution: world
Reply-To: ravi@cs.wpi.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: ivy.wpi.edu

charlie@elektro.cmhnet.org (Charlie Smith) writes:
= 
= To Ravi:   I got it.  (obviously)
= 

    thanks!!!! and its nice to hear from you once again! did you get the
    stuff i sent you by mail??

= To Others:
= I got two of Ravi's stickers out of the first batch, they *DO* exist <!>
= Pink letters on a black background, as I recall.

    and thanks for clearing my sterling reputation ;-).

    to all: i'll have news tomorrow about the stickers.

    peace,

    - ravi


-- 
----------_________----------_________----------_________----------_________
.sig (n): a piece of mail with a fool at one  | Ravi Narayan, CS, WPI
          end and flames at the other. (C).   | 89 SuzukiGS500E - Phaedra ;)
__________---------__________---------__________---------__________---------
From: karish@pangea.Stanford.EDU (Chuck Karish)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Throttle cable?
Date: 18 Dec 1992 02:39:56 GMT
Organization: Mindcraft, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: pangea.stanford.edu

In article <1992Dec17.125454.5570@newstand.syr.edu>
dwjurkat@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Jurkat) writes:
>Hi, I have a Honda CB750 Custom and the problem is that the throttle
>doesn't return when I twist it.  It seems to have a very weak spring
>or whatever since twisting it open is a little harder than twisting it
>back.  Where do I look for the return spring?

In between the #2 and #3 carburetors.

>I did pour some
>molibdenum stuff down both throttle cables.  Yea, why are there two 
>cables?

One pulls the butterflies open, the other pulls them closed.
This means that you can slow down even if the cables or the
butterfly pivots get sticky, and Honda isn't sued as often
by people who injure themselves because they don't maintain
their bikes.

>Also where
>in the Clymer can I find this.  

In the section on assembling and installing the carburetors.

>On a lighter note:  Where can I get a permit for a couple of sidewinders

The authorities in your part of the world have been sorta
wary of munitions like that ever since some enterprising
folks set up a Lahti semi-automatic 20mm anti-tank gun in
front of a Buffalo bank vault one night and left it there
until it shot a hole through the door.
--

    Chuck Karish          karish@mindcraft.com
    (415) 323-9000 x117   karish@pangea.stanford.edu
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
From: craig@ug.cs.dal.ca (Ryan Craig)
Subject: Helmet Laws
Summary: Why in the US?
Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 19:38:20 GMT


Here's an interesting question (at least I think it is):  Why is the federal
goverernment in the U.S. so intent on implementing helmet laws?  The federal
government in the US certainly doesn't pay for the health care of most
bike riders, so there goes that excuse.  They don't force seatbelt laws down
people's throats, as far as I know, although they do insist on stupid passive
restraint laws that result in less effective seatbelts for people who already
used them (I'm referring to those stupid belts attached to the doors, of
course, as opposed to the proper solution, air bags, which still aren't a
replacement for proper use of seat belts).  It all smacks of pure intervention-
ism, without any real reason.  That's not to say that helmets aren't a good
idea, or helmet laws for that reason, but what's the federal governments stake
in enforcing seatbelt laws?

	Ryan "I just had to ask a stupid question" Craig.
-- 
+--------------------------------------------------+-------------------------+
|Ryan Craig: Comp Sci Co-op, Dalhousie University  |  Disclaimer: My opinions|
|craig@ug.cs.dal.ca |       are mine only.  Who else would want them, anyway?|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: ant@galadriel.bt.co.uk (Antony Espindola)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: 2-Stroke Question: Low-End Pickup
Date: 14 Dec 92 10:11:48 GMT
Organization: Data and Business Comms, BT Labs, Martlesham, Ipswich, UK.


Hi All.
I've recently been having trouble with my little 125 2-stroke.
The problem seems to be at the low-end revs.
It won't pull very well until about 9,000 rpm!!
It bounces off the scale at 13,000 rpm and makes a hell of a noise.

The low-end pickup is not good at all.
Firstly, the carb seemed to be sticking at about 4,000 rpm, but this
seemed to cure itself after the carb inlet rubber was tightened
properly. I had to buy a new one due to starting problems ie. it
wouldn't. This helped it start but brought problems of the sticking.
We also replaced throttle linkages and spark plug.

Now the sticking has been cured, the bike doesn't want to pull below
about 6,000 rpm. (get a bigger bike I hear someone cry).
The bike has a non-standard exhaust and air filter, but has been
jetted accordingly. The bike was running rich with the needle adjuster
on full so we brought that down a touch and it seems to be running ok.

I think it may be the pilot jet is blocked and will strip the carb
(again) tonight.
But if it isn't this what could it be ??
And also, as a general 2-stroke tuning question, how COULD I improve
the low-end pickup ??

Antony.
DoD#1832
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
From: jet@boxer.nas.nasa.gov (J. Eric Townsend)
Subject: What do I do with a new bike that has a toasted frame/forks?
Organization: Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation, NASA Ames
Date: 15 Dec 92 17:25:46


Well, looks like State Farm is going to total out my '91 CB750
NightHawk.  Why?  When the estimate hit $4300 the shop realized it was
going to be a total.

Here's what's wrong with it (*'d items are things I personally saw)

- Front forks bent a bit (*)
- Instrument cluster banged up (*)
- rightside exaust bent (*)
- frame tweaked ("needs to be replaced" according to the shop)
- rightside crash bar crashed (*)

Here's what was good about it before it got smashed up:
- only 10K miles (well maintained)
- rear tire with only 1K miles

As I see it, I can always part it out, but there's not that much a
demand for used CB750 parts yet.  It's at the cycle shop in oakland
that people have been ragging on as a fence for stolen parts, so I've
got a nagging feeling that the shop will try and buy the wreckage from
State Farm.

Things I've thought about doing with it:
 - part it out over time
 - get another frame (new or used) and forks and fix the damn thing myself.
 - Stuff the 750 into something with a *much* smaller frame and kill
myself the first time out.  (RZ750, anyone? :-)


--
             J. Eric Townsend --  jet@nas.nasa.gov -- 415.604.4311
              '92 R100R, DoD# 0378, BMWMOA, AMA, ACLU, EFF, CPSR
                                "HotHead Rules!"
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
From: ed@Tekelec.gecko.uucp (Ed Campbell)
Subject: Granny's quotes
Originator: ed@rover
Organization: Tekelec Inc
     Some time ago someone asked about my grandmother, who was a
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 18:18:38 GMT

    She was born in the shadow of Edinburgh castle in some secret
year, probably the 1880's or 90's. She was raised by Gipsies and
learned all the fortune telling methods they used to do for a
living.
    Just before WW I broke out, she married a British naval officer.
Around 1920 they moved to the US from Manchester UK and settled in
western PA. Public transportation wasn't much in the Beaver River
area so she deciced she had to learn to drive. She naver mastered
the art of caging, but with the horsemanship learned from the Gipsies,
she felt right at home on a motorcycle. She rode a Henderson 4 for
a few years untill (around 1933) a guy named Eddie Rosenburg out ran
it in his Dusenberg. She went to the shop and demanded a faster bike
and ended up with a Henderson with a hotrod Plymouth 4 cylinder
engine in place of the original air cooled 4. After that, from what
I heard, she was the terror of PA and Ohio untill she sold the bike
and moved to CA in 1945 or '46.


Ed Campbell

'57 FL
'76 XLCH
My other car is a '54 Harley Servicar.

*************************************************************
   "Those twins are nice, but since I put in that Plymouth 4
    engine, there aint a Harley, Indian, or Exelcior that can
    touch my Henderson!"
                        Grandmother 1936
=============================================================
From: ray@unisql.UUCP (Ray Shea)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Did the EC hp-limit pass ?
Date: 18 Dec 92 01:21:04 GMT
Distribution: rec
Organization: UniSQL, Inc., Austin, Texas, USA

In article <BzEMHt.BDn@fulcrum.co.uk> rct@fulcrum.co.uk (Richard Taylor) writes:
>According to the British bike press, the situation is far from resolved, since
>the report which claimed high-power bikes were more dangerous has been exposed
>as a bit of a statistical sham


So now we know where Dick Floyd ended up...

-- 
Ray Shea                                      
UniSQL, Inc.                             Sometimes I feel like a blue dog.
unisql!ray@cs.utexas.edu                                     -- The Blue Dog
DoD #0372 -- Team Twinkie -- '88 Hawk NT650
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
From: neal@cmptrc.lonestar.org (Neal Howard)
Subject: Re: Sport Bikes
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 19:46:32 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: CompuTrac Inc., Richardson TX
Keywords: Spam

>]rendered my own opinion and then my curiousity got the best of me. Plus
>]I really wanted to know. So I looked up the word Sport in the dictionary. 
>]Here is what it said....
>] 
>]   "To shoot out as liquid through a pipe; projecting tube or pipe for 
     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
     Sounds like a sexual definition for "spurt" instead ;-)

-- 
=============================================================================
Neal Howard   '91 XLH-1200      DoD #686      CompuTrac, Inc (Richardson, TX)
	      doh #0000001200
         "Let us learn to dream, gentlemen, and then perhaps
          we shall learn the truth." -- August Kekule' (1890)
=============================================================================
From: bloom@inland.com
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Broken Rods Are Better Rods 
Date: 15 Dec 92 15:54:14 CST
Organization: Inland Steel Company; East Chicago, IN

In article <Bypp22.7no@vuse.vanderbilt.edu>, dab@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (The Nashville Flash) writes:
> The 
> connecting rods are broken.  That's right, broken.  Although they call it 
> new "fracture or crack technology allowing better and stronger mating of 
> parts when rejoined at the break."  WHAT A FINE IDEA!  Instead of putting a 
> mirror finish on the mating surfaces of the big end of the rod with the 
> bearing caps, they make the entire rod out of a single forging and then 
> break it to form two separate pieces of rod and cap.  The two pieces fit 
> together as near to perfectly as anything can.  As a bonus, you'd have to be 
> as dumb as TWO boxes of rocks to put the cap on backwards or on the wrong 
> rod during a rebuild.  The picture on p.38 of BMWMOA News is KILLER.


The real reason they break the rod in 2 is because it is CHEAPER to 
make.  They avoid having to machine the mating surfaces of the rod 
and cap.  Where cost is no object and you want the best rod available, 
you make the rod and cap the old fashioned way by machining the 
mating surfaces.  e.g. Carillo steel rods, Formula 1 rods etc.
I can think of 2 reasons the broken cap rod is inferior:

1. Distortion of the rod after the break is made.  Prior to the break, 
   there is some state of balanced residual stress in the rod.  Now 
   after you have cleaved the cap, the stresses are likely to be 
   unbalanced and the rod and cap distort so that the fit is no 
   longer near to perfect.

2. You cannot design in a step or angle to the mating surfaces to 
   minimize shifting of the cap under load.

.....Dr. Doom
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
From: dbidwa@sei.cmu.edu (Daniel Bidwa)
Subject: Re: Any thoughts on '83 Kawasaki GPZ1100?
Organization: The Software Engineering Institute
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 11:36:49 EST


cjackson@adobe.com (Curtis Jackson) writes:
|> I'm looking at a GPZ1100 still owned by the original owner, who
|> wants to sell it because his wife says he has to sell one bike
|> to help pay for the new house, and he won't sell his Harley.
|> It has roughly 4000 miles on it. Any thoughts on this bike?
|> Known problems? Advice on things to check out when I look at
|> and test ride it?

I've heard that the fuel-injected versions had problems. (It was in some issue
of Cycle World, in an article about good used bikes -- the blurb said
something like "the fuel-injected GPz1100s never ran right".) Dunno if there's
such a thing as a non-fuel-injected GPz1100.

Dan
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
From: klinger@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Jorg Klinger)
Subject: Re: Best Bike for World Trip
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 15:10:36 GMT

In <Bz8CDy.1C4@quadsys.com> roland@quadsys.com (Roland Besserer) writes:

>I've been asked by a friend to give hime some recommendations as the the
>best bike to embark on an extended South America/Africa - possibly World -
>trip.

>I immediately thought of a number of Paris-Dakar replica types (such as
>the BMW, Cagiva, etc..). Any suggestions?

  I saw a show were some American industrialist toured China on a
R100RT. It seemed up to the task. He rode on some really bad roads for
long distances. His only problem was when he bent one of BMW's
unbreakable rims, but a local pounded it back to shape and he was on his
way. 

Comfort and versatility,...hmm.

__
   Jorg Klinger            |       GSXR1100        | If you only new who
   Arch. & Eng. Services   |          **           | I think I am. 
   UManitoba, Man. Ca.     |"The Embalmer" - IT175 |           - anonymous
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: Squash or slide?
From: dave.williams@chaos.lrk.ar.us (Dave Williams) 
Date: 14 Dec 92 09:45:00 GMT
Reply-To: dave.williams@chaos.lrk.ar.us (Dave Williams) 
Distribution: world
Organization: The Courts of Chaos * 501-985-0059 * Public Access Usenet


->       Pardon me, perhaps I am missing the point, but why hit the kill
-> switch in a bad situation. You should get it under control. I

 I've never quite understood the Federally-mandated kill switch.  What
good is it?  You're not likely to deliberately kill the engine the
engine in an emergency - you're generally trying to save it until OH
SHIT!  If you drop the bike and it skitters away, any Good Samaritan is
likely to look for an ignition key, just like a car.  Such a key
generally exists a foot or so from the kill switch, in an
easily-recognizeable configuration much like that of the common
automobile, except for Harleys and other peculiar devices.  Besides, the
carbs'll freak out and the engine'll quit shortly anyway.

 The only use I've found for the kill switch is, when you're in the
right lane, you reach your left hand out, flip your buddy's switch, then
take off WFO.  Amusing on occasion, but not amusing enough to require
Federal regulation.

 Of course, the kill switch could be the idea of one of those goobers
who thinks the rider will STAY with the machine instead of getting as
far away from it as possible.  I have a couple of "safety studies" which
"prove" you're safer if you stay with the bike in a crash.  Apparently
these people have never seen a hot quarter-ton motorcycle squash
someone.  That's why the NHTSA and DOT regularly review proposals for
air bags and seat belts for motorcycles.  Fortunately, at least SOMEONE
there has a tiny amount of sense, and these proposals usually don't make
it far.
From: dickwin@sequent.com (Dick Winningstad)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
Subject: Re: HELMETS
Keywords: hm.
Date: 13 Dec 92 20:59:47 GMT
Article-I.D.: sequent.1992Dec13.205947.5718
Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.

In article <1992Dec13.140142.1126@posthorn.informatik.uni-kl.de> nessel@informatik.uni-kl.de (Jochen Nessel) writes:
>[deleted...]
>|>
>|>   My personal experience backs that up, also.  In three separate accidents
>|> in the last 100,000 miles of riding, my helmet has been completely undamaged
>|> each time.  Make of that what you will...
>|>
>|> Randy Davis                            Email: randy@megatek.com
>|> ZX-11 #00072 Pilot                            megatek!randy@uunet.uu.net
>|> DoD #0013                                     ucsd!megatek!randy
>|>
>
>
>Well, dunno. About 3 months ago, a sonofawhore pushed me off the road
>(they never catched him) and into a guard rail. Hit my head against one
>of those steel bars. Without helmet, my ghost would be writing this.
>So i only got a heavy concussion (and some broken bones...).
>
>Make of that what you will...
>
>Jochen Nessel
>Duc 750
>DoD 775

As an addition to the above, in my younger days I crashed several
times on the street and when I took up racing I could count on
crashing once a year.  I was lucky and never hit anything solid, but
in about half of the crashes the helmet was nicely scraped up on the
side or back.

I always wear a helmet, and even when Oregon did not have a helmet
law I still wore a helmet. But I do not like helmet laws and feel it
should be your choice.  The government should not use cost as a reason
to limit your freedom. If it gets too expensive, they should not pay
for the services required. Also, if people are allowed to not wear
helmets, they will eliminate themselves from the gene pool and we
will be better off as a society.

            Social Darwinism. Its the only real law!


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+Dick Winningstad                                                    +
+                    Italian Wines are Fine                          +
+          I'd rather be on a Moto Guzzi in eastern Oregon.          +
+dickwin@sequent.com                                                 +
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles