From MSF to WTF! - My first two days on the road

[79FiveFifty]

One of the questions on my NJ Motorcycle Permit test was as follows:

If a dog approaches you, you should:

a) maintain speed and swerve around the dog if necessary
b) kick the dog if it comes near you
c) approach the dog slowly, and accelerate rapidly once past
d) come to a complete stop and wait for the dog to lose interest

The correct answer of course, is C.. approach and floor it - apparently this causes most of them to lose interest unless you are on a 90cc and the dog can actually keep up with you.

[Steve]

Actually, the answer is C, but not for that reason.

A dog is pretty good at tracking you. If you approach it slowly, then speed up, you will mess up it's closing rate and will be gone by the time it gets to where he thought you would be.

That also reminds me of another time I had an unplanned horizontal experience.
A friend kindly lent me his GoldWing while my KZ1300 was in the shop getting some engine work done. On the way to work, a dog came out from behind a bush and bumped the front wheel, sending me down. Only minor damage to the bike and me, and the dog ran down the road, never did see it again.

.

[zrtdarryl]

murderer , everybody/thing has to live some where , now if the deer tomorrow just runs in front of my bullet i'm going to have sweet n sour deer next week !


by the way never ever hit a porcupine they are not squishable in any way

[Charlie G]

I hate metal grate bridges. The 550 should have good power for plus 55 speeds. They will have you thinking there goin to blow, but it will handle it. To some extent it's a matter of you getting used to it. A poor running 550 may contribute to your uneasyness about 55mph plus. My comfort level is 70mph. Wind blows my courage to h#ll! I agree on the "Superbike" bars. Good luck and welcome.

cg

[KGB]

GREAT story!!
I'm still laughing!
I've been riding a long time and have yet to get 1/2 of what you've experienced in 2 days.

As to 2 meals or larger, I usually tell my students
if it's below the axel, surmount the obstacle, if above the obstacle, go around or stop.

2 meals, now that's funny!!
I'm stealing that line for my classes.


As to the 550's power. or lack there of..........rev it!!
And once that new clutch or replacement springs go in, hold on.

Bars,,,,,,yea the "L" is the ugly duckling of the GS family.
Never achieves swan status
There was/is a few threads in here about bar swaps.

Welcome aboard and don't lay it down.
That is not an option, we didn't teach you that in class, did we?

[Steve]

Welcome aboard and don't lay it down.
That is not an option, ...

We were told about "laying it down", but what we were told was
"if you lay it down to avoid a collision, you will end up having TWO collisions.
ONE when you hit the pavement and ANOTHER when you slide into the thing you wanted to avoid."

[79FiveFifty]

Well, all I was told about laying the bike down was that it hurts, or kills.

I'm not really interested in either of those at this point in my life, so I will be doing my best to ride safe.

I am a defensive driver in my car, and 2x on the bike. I don't drive or ride anything to push limits, I drive/ride for space instead of for time. I just do it to enjoy what I'm doing and to make sure I'm coming back home again that day / night.

2 meals, haha.

[DimitriT]

Nice story and welcome.

I recently swapped the L bars for Daytona style bars.

There were a few issues with routing the cables and brake hose
and the position/orientation of the master cylinder. Also the mirrors
aren't in the right place. Not major problems.

We'll be glad to help you with the bars and tuning up the bike
in the Tech section.

My 550 has no trouble going uphill doing 70 mph at 5500 rpm (yep, I went
with an oversize front sprocket) and I'm pushing past 235 lbs. on
the bathroom scale. At 6000 rpm it will cruise nicely at 75 mph with just a
bit of vibration. I'm sure your bike can do this too with a little tuning.

[toejams1]

Good stories. For what it's worth, my GS850 had a stalling issue as well at high speeds. The PO put a fuel filter on the bike and that was causing the problem. Once I removed it, it ran fine. Oh yea, +1 on the dislike of grated bridges. I am more confident on them, but I still don't like that feeling while I cross them. There is one near me in Aurora, IN where there is a stop sign just past the bridge. Lots of fun having to stop then start again on a grated bridge.

[gustovh]

Good way to start your riding, now all those things are out of the way and you can relax a bit and work on your skills.

I used to work graveyard and had a 123 mile commute. On night on the way to work, black as coal out, I darn near hit a possim in the middle of a right hand sweeper doing around 60. Twitched the bars, missed the 2 meal critter and ran over it's tail. The last that I saw of it in my mirrors, it was doing flips in the middle of the road.

Ride safe and wear all the gear. Oh and if my 450 Rebel will do 110 your 550 should do better.
V

[first timer]

good story, I would encourge you to post your troubles in the tech section.

i would agree with what people recomend with the carbs. You are probably run very lean with no filters and have very little power. If you can clearify the clutch issue sounds like the clutch remains engaged when lever is pulled. if so that is a indication the the cable is breaking or not adjusted properly. if the engine is speeding up and you are not under acceleration then that a slipping clutch and worn fiber/weak springs are the cause.

[79FiveFifty]

In the process of rebuilding carbs, replacing clutch springs, adjusting valves, (just changed oil) 10w40 valvoline motorcycle oil, and filter, all the lightbulbs etc.

Oh, and new handlebars too which I'm afraid to put on because I don't want my cables to be too long if I swap the bars?

I should be done with the bike sometime next week weather permitting. I hope I remember how to put it all back together

[juliang]

That was a great read, really was. You should certainly be able to cruise a lot faster than 50mph when the bike is sorted out. These bikes rev a lot higher than a car does, they are designed that way. Try putting some ear plugs in, damping out the engine noise will help you.

[motomonkey]

Wow

Kudos on getting out on your bike so fast after the MSF class. After I passed th class I was riding around the neighborhood in circles waving all the cages thru the stop sign while they wondered what is this stupid girl doing.

Sounds like you got lots of good experience and learned a lot!

Candice

[979roadrunner]

let me guess, Moose = non squishable, Elk = non squishable, Bears = non squishable, Deer marginally squishable?
What about goats?

Me and a friend once rode into a small heard of deer that didn't have a single deer bigger than a medium size dog.
squishable, I think (luckily didn't find out) Whitetail would probavly be trouble. Mulies, too.
Metal grate bridges suck. there's one on one of my favorite teisty backroads. If I ever go down there, I bet I could win a lawsuit against the county, but I'd rather not find out.