Info please

[scurfer]

Picked up a 98 Std a couple of weeks ago and have been doing some reading of the Dark Side. Anyone know of a shop or person who will mount a C/T and do a nut cage mod for me for a price?
I am in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area. Thanks

[Valker]

I am on the east side of Amarillo. I have a local car shop do mine. Nut cage mod is super easy.

[MP]

I did the nutcage mod, and all was well until 2 up.  I had to put a carraige bolt in instead, as I started hitting the nut.
MP

[scurfer]

I am on the east side of Amarillo. I have a local car shop do mine. Nut cage mod is super easy.

Matter of convenience. My days of wrestling with tires and ripping sheet metal out of wheel wells are over. I have enough tread to get me to the left coast and back to visit the kids so that trip will determine if I have the right vehicle for the trip or not and that will determine if I want a long lasting c/t or not. Maybe I'm thinking of the Darkside  too soon since I am still very cautious and learning to ride this thing. Most likely the deciding factors are the amount of heat thrown back from the radiator and the inability of lane spliting once I get into heavy Calif traffic.   

[rodeo1]

i have ridden to the west coast every year for about 10 years now, twice on a goldwing, and 8 times on a valk. if you don't think a valk is the right tool for the job, you need a kia. the valk is far superior to anything i have ridden cross country, and that includes a 1500 on 2 wheels, a 1500 trike (2 car tires )

i'm not trying to put you or anyone else down, but i think "lane splitting" has to be the stupidest thing the calif. legislature has ever come up with. i have watched them do it at 70 mph. damn ! aint bike riding  dangerous enough? lane splitting is dumber than riding a crotch rocket with harley emblems on it, two car tires, and riding drunk and on drugs.

[scurfer]

I'll be taking the Valk to the coast sometime in Sept so I'll find out then. What I look for in a tourer is comfort, good wind management and a large of enough tank to get me at leat 200 miles between pit stops. I do know that something has to be done about the OEM saddle and I was thinking of a laminar lip for the Hondaline windscreen unless I find out a better aerodynamically designed screen somewhere. A plastic jerry can bungeed to the back tho not the best solution but the cheapest to increase range. If it doesn't work out, I will still be happy with the purchase and use it for it's prime mission: being a big flashy cruiser.
I don't believe anything is on the "books" in Calif re lane splitting. It is permitted so long if it is done in a "safe and prudent" manner. I bet smacking into a side mirror at 70 mph would leave quite a mark.
I didn't know KIA was coming out with a motorcycle, although I've heard rummors that Subaru may be designing a 6 cyc, two wheel drive boxer. Lets hope.

[Valker]

Scurfer, the law in southern CA about lane sharing limits the speeds to 5 mph above the speed of the traffic, but not to exceed the posted limits. Most riders do not pay attention to this.

[rodeo1]

man it is really scary looking stuff. and it is the law in southern calif. i watched a heard of monguls last spring running about 50 in traffic stopped cold with less than a foot between the cars and their bikes. damn ! just one car door open and "game over" !

[scurfer]

Learn something new everyday. Would you have the statue for that? Lived in Calif for over 30 years and never ran across that info. I pulled the "safe and prudent from the CHP.CA.GOV web site.
The 1998 Motorcycle Driver Supplement of the California DMV states the following on Page 22: Sharing Lanes: Sharing lanes is not illegal in California. However, in many driving situations, it can be unsafe to share a lane with another vehicle. In the interest of motorcycle safety, vehicle drivers should not share lanes with motorcycles and motorcycle riders should not share lanes with vehicles.
As a motorcycle rider, there are two things you can do to prevent lane sharing. First, don't ride between rows of slow moving vehicles; this maneuver is unsafe. Don't try to squeeze past a stopped car in the same lane. Anything can happen. A hand could come out a window, a door could open, a car could turn suddenly. Secondly, discourage lane sharing by moving toward the center of the lane in situations where other drivers might be tempted to squeeze by you. Such situations include:

* Heavy bumper-to-bumper traffic.
* When preparing to turn at an intersection, enter an exit lane, or leave the highway.
* When another driver wants to pass.

If you move to the far side of the lane in these situations, you invite the driver to share the lane with you.

And found very similar wording in the 2001 California Motorcycle Handbook (http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/dl655/dl655mcycle.pdf)
 u
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[Valker]

Nope, don't have the statute. I am just going from what a former CHiP motor officer told me.

[scurfer]

Yep, Don't know your situ in Tejas but since moving to NM lane splitting is the last thing I have to worry about and rodeo1 showing Grand Jct as his 1020 must feel the same way. I wish I would regain the hours in my life sitting in dead traffic on Hwy 101 from San Jose to San Francisco.

[rodeo1]

no we sure don't allow it here, and like valker i got my info by asking a chp officer one day in los banos, headed to I-5. for a poor old country cop like me to watch that happen was pretty un nerving to be sure. i like riding in caly, but that lane splitting will always scare the heck out of me.

the stranger part seems to be that they don't seem to do it in northern calif. i come in at reno and run over to novato and down through pacifica to morro bay, etc. and don't seem to see it till you get south of say, hollister. seems to be a southern caly. thing ??

[oldman]

The Lane splitting was setup for those bikers on multi-lane roads where there were traffic jams, ie, like LA and Bay areas.  It allowed them to move up to the front without over heating.  Good, bad, or scary, that is what it was for.  On one of the Shadow forums, there are several folks who live in the LA area.  They say the normally Lane split on the way to work/home and do so safely. 

In Northern CA, you don't have the traffic that Southern CA has. AND folks up here are a little smarter. That is why you don't see much lane splitting in Northern half 

I have live in Northeastern CA for over 6 years.  I never have lane split.  Never needed to cause the traffic is just not that bad.  Most of the roads around me are 2 lanes, which don't apply to lane splitting law.  Also when riding a Valk, not sure there is enough room for it.  I might do it when riding my 1100 Shadow but never with the Valk.

[rodeo1]

ah !  susanville, the very nicest part of calif. no need to get in a toot up there, pretty laid back the last time i visited it.

i am a northern cally fan myself. i have a boy in lincoln, a best friend in lincoln, a cousin in both novato and pacifica. i was stationed at moffet field at mt. view while in the service.

i'd live out there, but having a robot from the future for governor scares me !

[Nogrey]

i have ridden to the west coast every year for about 10 years now, twice on a goldwing, and 8 times on a valk. if you don't think a valk is the right tool for the job, you need a kia. the valk is far superior to anything i have ridden cross country, and that includes a 1500 on 2 wheels, a 1500 trike (2 car tires )

i'm not trying to put you or anyone else down, but i think "lane splitting" has to be the stupidest thing the calif. legislature has ever come up with. i have watched them do it at 70 mph. damn ! aint bike riding  dangerous enough? lane splitting is dumber than riding a crotch rocket with harley emblems on it, two car tires, and riding drunk and on drugs.

I'm not trying to change the topic here so will state first off that if you have any questions about a CT on the Valk, I'd buy the best Avon or other MC tire and travel with it. They handle exceptionally well. I don't have the experience riding coast to coast like others here on the board, but I've ridden plenty and can tell you that my I/S only leaves you wishing there was more daylight at the end of the day so you didn't have to stop for sleeping. The ride is absolutely the best I've ever experienced. By the way, I'm riding an '01 I/S with a stock seat.
OK, lane splitting: I just returned (yesterday) from a week in San Diego and saw this "lane splitting" thing in action. I personally witnessed on cycleist knocking on the window of a vehicle that was changing lanes in his direction (signalled and everything) so that the driver would notice him and not kill him. I am absolutely amazed at how many times it happened to us while we were there. I was driving a rental car and found it very disturbing when they did that. Most of them were riding crotch rockets, but a fair amount of them were on cruisers as well. Talk about dangerous!