Andy

Anyone ever just tool off on the bike in the evening after work and hit some local fire trails or something of that nature? With the sun going down late it seems like there's a lot of chances to do that. Folks tell me that there are fire roads "everywhere" in san diego, but then no one seems to know where they are...

a fire road is no place to decide! That's like deciding jumping off the front porch!! NO FAIR!!! Go out to Corral... park at the Crossroads... blast kernan up to four corners... trail one, then trail 2 down to corral campground... spur up to the tower... fire road over to greenhorn... fire road! also; think of it like this... you already own the bike and the gear... so if you sell the bike and gear for skydiving gear, NOW you don't have money for the flight... so EVERY time you want to jump, it costs $150 or whatever... NOW, you get to ride for the cost of gas! A skydive after you're licensed and have your own gear costs $25 at Elsinore. You're only paying for fuel to get the airplane off the ground. The initial expense of getting that license and gear is high, but I spent a lot more getting my R6 and all the roadrace gear to get into that hobby some years ago. I mentioned fire roads generically - I don't wanna hijack my own thread, so I'll put up a new one for that subject

Actually it's 12,500-13,000 feet, not 10,000 Thanks for the feedback, guys, I'm still on the fence with this one. I think I need to go find some fire roads to play on to help myself decide.

So the day came that netted a bigger rush that I've gotten from scaring myself on various types of motorcycle - skydiving is where it's at. Up until now, I've not found anything that could make me think that selling my motorcycle is a good idea. Motorcycles will come and go, but the chance to get licensed and begin a hobby like skydiving is something I don't wanna pass up while I have the chance. What say yall? Oh, and of course, our forum members would get first dibs on the buy.

Pretty powerful words.

To add one very important topic to this thread, EVERYONE who exercises the Second Amendment MUST...I repeat MUST...send a brief message to your assemblyman (Marty Block if you live in greater San Diego) urging the Assembly NOT to support AB962. For those who are NRA members, you already know via mass email that AB962 is on the block tomorrow, 5/6/2009. This bill would restrict private transfer of handgun ammunition to 50 rounds PER MONTH. Yes, that means you are guilty of A CRIME if you are at the shooting range and give a friend more than 50 rounds of any one caliber to shoot thru his gun. This is yet another assinine bill that believe it or not our State Government actually believes will help limit handgun violence. Yes, their thinking is that, if we simply limit folks who willingly show ID to buy ammo at stores and who only go to shooting ranges to shoot where it's safe to buying ammo at approved places and restrict their ability to share ammo amongst themselves, that'll stop crimes committed by people who by their very nature of committing a crime demonstrate that they DON'T FOLLOW LAWS ANYWAY. I digress... Please, everyone, locate your corresponding State Assembly person's webpage (I found mine via google) and send them a brief message urging them NOT to support AB962. All it takes is a couple of sentences, just tell them you're a lawful handgun owner and that you urge them to support bills that actually limit criminals, not limit lawful owners of guns access to ammo. Again, this bill is up for hearing tomorrow, so act quickly. Oh, and as said earlier in the thread, make yourself a member of the NRA and/or the Second Amendment Foundation. To be absolutely honest, I think the NRA is a bunch of propagandist windbags who spin their "news" to make it as dramatic as possible just like any lobbyist group does, but their core belief in our undeniable Second Amendment is worth supporting. Also, another cool forum is www.calguns.net, check it out.

This is way overdue. One of our fellow members, Socalhodaka, can get really good deals on parts, clothing, gear, whatever you need for whatever type of riding you do. He was able to get me a big discount off of several items, saved me a ton of money. Check it out, do him a favor and let him do you one in return

This is turning out to be a great thread, thanks for the continuous advice!! I'd certainly be a liar if I said I didn't wanna learn wheelies partly for the fun of it, but an equal part of it is the confidence and control aspects. The reason professional racers of any vehicle are professionals is because they're completely confident in their total mastery of their racing machine.

^ this is an excellent way to practice, thanks!! I went to the Qualcomm lot today, way back at the north east corner where the Race Legal events are held, and did some practicing. Got in a couple good ones, lots of almosts and a couple that went wild, one that I had to put a foot down to stabilize and the final wheelie of the day which introduced my nuts to the gas tank with great vigor when the nose came down too hard. At that point I figured I'd come back later. I'll keep at it, along with practicing out at McCain valley and other localities. Thanks for all the tips, as usual =)

Bikeslut - I've no shame in admitting that I need help. Gotta start somewhere. Thanks for the parking curb tip, that's a good idea. FakeName - PM me if you wanna, we'll set up a practice day. I've not been able to ride in a couple weeks, my recurrent neck problem (doctor thinks it's "cervical radiculitis", some kinda nerve pinch thing) has made it so I can't even go to the gym on any given day cuz I can't always rely on being able to turn my head all the way. Anxious to get out n ride again to work on more of the fundamentals.

Anyone have a recommendation on a fairly protected (i.e., not on the street) place to practice wheelies? I don't need to learn how to ride one for miles at a time, I just need to get comfortable with the front wheel coming up.

If something was out of alignment last time, I didn't notice it. In any case, it's noticeably out of whack this time around. I highly doubt I physically bent anything - if the components can't stand up to the mild beating my newbie ass administers, I'd imagine they could use some more engineering.

The bike is a XR650L. The trees are a few degrees left when I'm going straight. Is there a preferred method of straightening out the forks? Should I loosen the tree clamps and use the spin-and-brake method on the front wheel to let things pull themselves straight again? Oh, and yes I'm sure it's not just bent handlebars. Everything works just fine, it just needs to be realigned.

^thanks =) Another great day. 9ish turned into 11ish becuz I got up an hour late and had to backtrack a while when I forgot pants (not good for a faller to ride in shorts), but I got there. I met DirtDame, but we were on separate rides so there are no pictures of my crashing. I got in a good one, though, once again the body armor saved me as I was on the bike getting thrown around on a set of whoops one second and tumbling through the sand the next. A couple more missing plastic pieces and I tweeked the forks so the bars are a few degrees left while going straight. I'll have to address that. Learned a lot, ate it a couple times and it was an overall very pleasant day.

I'm off to a late start, getting packed and ready now. I need a refresher as to how to get there - I remember the freeway exit is Boulevard/94, but I don't remember the dirt road that Bikeslut took when we were there last. Can someone shoot me a PM with directions?