Recent content by obelix

Like Bramfrank wrote GSM is the mobile phone service. I'm not sure of the coverage in the US of A as I was last there in 2000. In Europe and most parts of Asia as well as Africa the mobile phone network is omnipresent. An SMS is a short message service over this same phone network (you surely...

Yes, this may be one of the reasons. I don't usually drive on the limit and my driving is more by feeling then by thinking. Must not be that wrong as I do it that way for the last 30 years without any major mishap. I know I DID fight the bike but I wasn't sure it was the reason for this rapid...

Yes, the bike stayed up although I must admit it was only by sheer luck. Remember the race drivers just before being trown from the bike (upsider)? It was just similar but not yet so pronounced. Believe me, if something so heavy as the FJR starts to rapidly move under you it's not funny. And I...

You might be right that I was putting too much weight on the bars. I can't remember if I put the weight on the bars or on the pegs as I was a little distracted by the car trying to hit me. Aluminium frames are less stiff than steel frames? Well, then I learned a new thing. I thought it was just...

You are all correct when you tell me not to ride faster than your line of sight. But who did not do this at one time or the other even without noticing. OK, I learned the lesson. Knifemaker, you got a point. Although this wobble started as a low frequency, low amplitude wobble and just got more...

About 2 weeks ago I was travelling over a high pass in the swiss alps. There were lots of motorcycles around that day, even a group in front of me. I drove about 100 yards behind them downhill through a right bend on a road not larger than 20 feet. I saw the last in the row braking so I slowed...

I have the Tomtom Rider 1 which is not that different. For me it's still the best unit as for it's ease of handling and performance. I'm somewhat of a GPS freak as I have a Garmin on a PDA, an Route66 on the phone, a Tomtom920 in my main car and 2 others in the other cars. Plus some others lying...

Just ma 2 Cents... Did you even consider buying BMW gloves? They make very high quality gloves for many applications. I choose the ProSummer for around 110US$ (here in Europe). They are made of goat leather with Goretex liner. They are soft and quite cool and you don't even notice the liner...

I had a similar problem with my bike although I don't live in the States. Theft insurance was a whopping 1500US$ a year! So I bought a GPS tracker. The one I now have has several functions. 1. It works via SMS. On one side you need GSM coverage which is no problem over here. Looking around...

A 5-year life of a helmet is based on the industrial standard for helmets, so 8 hours wear a day, 5 days a week and storage in sunlight. In this case a helmet should be replaced in industrial environment every 5 years. This varies by the materials used. Thermoplasts (not much used in motorbike...

A friend has them on a car and on his campervan and is happy with them. The best part of them is the sender unit mounting outside so if you have a problem with leakage you just take them off and replace with a standard cap. All you need is to install metal valves instead of the usual rubber ones...

Best price for a brand new in main parts of Europe (France, Belgium, Germany is 12500 Euros, (17500$) including fantasy tax of 15%. Plus you pay a yearly road tax of 50 Euros (70$). Not even considering gas prices of 5$ a gallon.

I'm also new to the Forum but there long enough to read many a posting from Tyler. Saw the announcement for her trip with departure times and thought "hey, what a great trip. Wish I could ride with them". And now this. I can only say that my best wishes go with her and her family. I'm not good...

This was a great follow up to read. Congrats on your achievement. :yahoo: Wish I could run one of those babies but our laws here forbid this "unsafe" constructions until approved by inspection tech. Which will never happen. Beside I can't see the point as I'm only too happy to make a stop...

I can't believe they installed WIRE STRANDS on top of the dividers. Anybody having basic notions of safety will tell you this is indeed a cutting device. Maybe they don't like the costs involved in long time recovery of bikers and prefer to draw a clean line. Steel barriers are also dangerous...