[Gypsyjon]

18F and Mintz is out riding...Okay you Minnesota whoosies, man up!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ek6EMhJZyAQ

[gremlin]

............but, It'll get all salty & dirty .......

[mattsz]

Can't ride in the snow we've got.  And when I find something to keep my hands warm that doesn't require a second mortgage, I'll be out and about in the cold - until they salt the roads.

Anyway, thanks for the tour, Rich!  And... fix that starboard pilot light - you've got an image to maintain!

edit: in part 2, the light flickers throughout.  And, I noticed that Rich is yet another UCE guy with idle speed issues - yes, I know he has low miles.  I'm just sayin'...

[Chuck D]

Rich,
Nice vid. Even though this is your first motorcycle, it is obvious you're probably an experienced and savvy bicycle rider as well. Me too. That skill has always served me well in NYC traffic. Watch your ass out there.
Chuck.

[Rich Mintz]

Today it's 42, which is practically summer, and I'm riding to Long Island -- my longest ride yet!

[Bulletman]

Great job Rich

[Rich Mintz]

Thanks, Chuck. I feel like a year in NYC traffic on a bicycle and another year on a 20mph electric scooter have been really helpful in making me a competent motorcyclist quickly. But it's hard for me to put my finger on exactly what bicycling skills I'm using on the Enfield. I'd be interested to hear from you how you think city bicycling skills translate.

[Rich Mintz]

OK, today I did a 50-mile round trip in almost springlike weather, out the Long Island Expressway to Mineola, and back on the Grand Central Parkway. It's the longest mostly-highway trip I've ever taken on the bike (at about 800 miles on the clock). The bike sings at 50mph, clatters a bit at 60mph but is still perfectly controllable. I pushed it up to 65 for a mile or so but I didn't like it much.

Lovely ride -- the only problem is that one of my wind deflectors blew off due to the plastic bolts.

Eager to fill up the tank and see how much my (disappointing) mileage has improved at highway speeds.

[Ducati Scotty]

After a few thousand miles the clatter and vibration at higher speeds tends to settle down. 

Scott

[Chuck D]

Thanks, Chuck. I feel like a year in NYC traffic on a bicycle and another year on a 20mph electric scooter have been really helpful in making me a competent motorcyclist quickly. But it's hard for me to put my finger on exactly what bicycling skills I'm using on the Enfield. I'd be interested to hear from you how you think city bicycling skills translate.

Hi Rich,
Well, the most useful "skill" I've found is the hyper alertness that became second nature to me as a city cyclist. I've lived in NYC all of my life (I'm 51) and in that time I'm sure I've logged well in excess of a quarter million miles by bicycle either racing, training, commuting to work or just plain fun. There came a point a long, long time ago when the bicycle (and I've owned and gotten rid of more than I can remember) became a natural extension of my self. Any time I mount a bike, within moments it simply disappears beneath me as if my nervous system is connected to it. Guys talk about actually feeling the road through your tires. It is that complete. Not to be immodest, I am more at home riding a bicycle than most people are walking. At any speed.
So, already knowing the feeling of complete mastery of a single track vehicle in possibly the most demanding riding environment anywhere outside of India, I had something very tangible to shoot for when I started motorcycling six years ago.
In addition, I'd long ago developed the traffic instincts that come from being the most vulnerable guy out there. Avoiding blind spots, watching mirrors (mine and the other guys), watching for turning wheels, expecting doors to get flung open in front of me, clueless jaywalkers, delivery food guys, wide turning trucks, metal plates, con ed workers, you name it, it's just a typical day in gotham. Also instinctively sensing when traffic is tightening up before the brake lights come on. Thankfully, I had all of that under my belt already before I ever touched a motorcycle.
Anyway, glad you got a ride in today. Me too. BQE, Belt Parkway, Van Wyck, Grand Central, Triborough Bridge to FDR and back to BKLYN. A glorious 55 miles.
And Scotty is right. The bike smooths out with more miles.
Cheers,
Chuck.

[Rich Mintz]

Thanks, Chuck. Your ride sounds more or less like what I did yesterday (to JFK and back, for a flight that got cancelled). I appreciate the way you laid it all out. My instincts aren't as developed as yours, after only a couple of years' riding in the city, but they're directionally similar. On the range in motorcycle riding class, I was surprised how un-aware of what was far ahead of them the other riders seemed to be, even the people who actually had riding experience. I always have my eye 5 seconds ahead, looking for side mirrors folded in or not, brake lights indicating occupied cars, etc.

The other thing that I think is worth mentioning is that I don't trust my mirrors. If I didn't look over my shoulder, I don't assume it's clear. (I learned that when driving a car too.)

[Chuck D]

Oh, yeah, head check EVERY time.
You know what I'm talkin'bout.
Which MSF school did you use? Trama's?

[Rich Mintz]

I used Motorcycle Safety School (ridemss.com). I wouldn't say the class blew my mind, but they covered the material thoroughly and the range exercises were well administered. It was also reassuring to be by far the oldest, most mature, least danger-courting, and most risk-aware person in the class. (Topic of conversation at the smoke breaks: guns.)

[Chuck D]

Guns. Oy.