2000-05-23

I bought some motorcycle pr0n the other day. I did it to get a feel for what is out there, and what's going on in the industry. And when I say pr0n, I mean [CycleWorld[(http://web.archive.org/web/20000613234615/http://www.cycleworld.com/) and BIKE. The latter is a British mag, and has that slick, flashy look about it. It's saving grace is the kick ass photography, and sheer size, 22x30cm size. A normal mag is 20x26.5cm. It's big, it's pretty. In the back of CW, there are ads for tons of dealers, part shops, and the usual cruft you'd expect to see in there. In the back of BIKE, there are ads for escort services, "hot chat" lines, and then the usual cruft you'd expect to see. It does take a while to get used the different names and such of the bikes, but for the most part, they appear to be relatively unchanged.

I did most of the initial maintenance myself tonight; changing the oil, checking the various nuts and bolts, tightening the cables, etc. I also cleaned the engine and fairings to get rid of all the junk that's accumulated over the past 750 miles. I'm still going to bring it in next week, to let the "pros" handle the carb tune, float check, and some other things I can't do without the proper tools.

Now that I've ridden 750 miles, I notice I ride faster and with more confidence. When I first started off, I stayed within the speed limits, and was overly cautious about everything. Now some things are just second nature, and I don't really have to cognitively thing about it; like shifting, hill starts, and riding in traffic. I'm still very much aware of what is going on, but not to the point where I was overloading myself before. z is picking up his bike this weekend. Guess what I'm doing all weekend? If you guessed putting another 750 on the bike, I'll see you on the road.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program. I've been playing execessive Unreal Tournament lately. There really aren't many other players out there, and those that are, basically suck at it. You can't just go blasting everything that moves over and over again. Yes, please do shoot a zillion rockets at me, and while you're lost in the rocket smoke, I'll duck around the corner, and surprise you with my machine gun. Kids these days, just don't get it. :P