David’s Riding The Edge blog

I just finished a video of a nice little park in the foothills of the Cascades. I am testing a piece of camera gear to see if I can use it on next seasons rides. The video was shot with a Nikon D90 digital SLR with video capabilities. it might be cool to only need to carry one camera on a motorcycle trip. 

With the motorcycle touring season coming to an end in much of the country, at least in my neck of the woods.  My thoughts have already began to race to next season. We have all ready picked next years big ride which will take us to the scenic state of Utah. We don't have the specifics worked out but that's ok, we will figure it out over the cold winter months. Dreaming of the next adventure is much of the fun and helps me get through the winter chill.

I was looking into a Suzuki dr650 as another option for an adventure bike. Some of the knocks on that dual sport is the small 3.4 gallon tank and a narrow and hard seat. No worries, after market parts to the rescue. You can turn that dual sport into a long range adventure bike with  a Corbin seat and 7.9 gallon Safari Tank By Aqualine, oh my!

I find it kind of funny how just about any activity I do seems to come with its own language, terms and phrases that can be colorful at times. Motorcycles are no different so here are a few of my favorite words and phrases I have come across in my motor sport journey.

Ape Hangers: The handle bars that positions the riders hands high above his shoulders, like hanging from a tree.

Monkey butt: I have heard it associated with dirt riding and the color the rear end gets resembling a baboons butt. I use the term rather loosely to describe the way my butt-ox feels during a long ride making me walk like a chimpanzee.
 
Chicken Strips: These aren't the ones served in a basket but the untouched rubber on the tires of a motorbike.

Cage: a car.

Cager: a person driving a car.

Crotch Rocket: A term some people use to describe a high-performance sport-bike.

Riding naked or naked bike: a favorite of mine since I only ride naked, that is a motorcycle with little or no wind-deflection and an exposed chassis.

Sissy Bar: A tall backrest on the passenger seat of a motorcycle.

Crotch Rocket: A term some people use to describe a high-performance sport-bike.

Get-Off: Get-off is not as good as it sounds. It is when the bike and rider part company.

High-siding: Once again may sound up lifting and it maybe for the brief moment you are in the air. High-siding occurs when the rider of a motorcycle is flipped over the handlebars of the bike or is catapulted air born in a crash.

Hard Tail: Hard Tail refers to a motorcycle with no rear suspension. Hard tails always give me monkey butt

Soft Tail: A Soft Tail is a motorcycle that appears to have a Hard Tail rear suspension but in reality has shock absorbers that are hidden from view.

Road Rash: Road Rash is a term used to define injuries to the skin when a rider falls and slides on the pavement.

Squid: A motorcycle rider who does not wear protective clothing, darts into and out of traffic at high speed and seems to need some motorcycle training.

Stoppie: A stoppie is a motorcycle maneuver to stop a moving motorcycle so the rear wheel is raised in the air while the machine is balanced on the front tire.

Tank slapper: A rapid side-to-side oscillation of the front wheel of a motorcycle, where the handlebars literally 'slap' the gas tank due to insufficient road grip on the front tyre.

Thumper: A single cylinder motorcycle, not a fuzzy little rabbit.

Twisties: Twisties are any series of curves in the road, they are quite yummy at time.

Pillion: A pillion is a secondary pad, cushion, or seat behind the main seat or saddle on a motorcycle. A passenger in this seat is said to "ride pillion" or may themselves be referred to as a "pillion."

Two-up: Two people riding on a motorcycle.

Here is an example sentence using a few of these colorful terms:
 
While riding a crotch rocket two-up in the twisties I stood on my pegs to shake out the monkey butt when a cage pulled out in front of us causing evasive maneuvers that led to a tank slapper that turned into a get-off with a high-side sending me and my pillion dressed like a squid in our shorts to the asphalt resulting in some nasty road rash.

I am sure if I thought about it for a little longer I could get in a few more terms but that would just be silly.

I was riding to a photo shoot on my motorbike yesterday and noticed that there often seems to be motorcycles parked in front of taverns. I never gave it much thought before, it is just not a place I would considered visiting on my bike. With motorcycles as with cars I made a promise to myself long ago, I would never drive after drinking any alcohol period, that is just my rule. I know it sounds a bit extreme but it has served me well. A mistake on a motorcycle can have dire consequences so I see no compelling reason to ad alcohol to the mix.
 
When touring with the guys we wait till we have reached our destination and done for the day before we break out the beers.
 
Ok, that is enough for todays sermon. 

Cheers!