I can see that this is a sensitive topic, but the thing is: physics don't care about democracy. Copernicus was one of the few that thought it's the Earth going around the Sun, not the other way around, and that didn't make him any less correct :-) I'm not trying to persuade anyone to do wheelies, dr...

I have to respectfully disagree. Look up Newton's third law of dynamics (action = reaction) If the ground wasn't pushing back, the bike would keep falling. If you put a bike onto something that has no ability to push back, i.e. thin air, quick sand, you name it, the bike will keep going down my frie...

Well, the size of the contact patch is just one thing. When you look at Moto GP bikes, you don't see their tires being any larger than "normal". If you look at guys racing on ice, their contact patch is really small (just a few spikes at a time)... But let's limit this to street bikes and street tir...

Just like lead-acid, Li-ion price depends on the size. For our 1100s you would need to spend $250-300, more or less. For my SV650 I paid $140 for the Li-battery. The big plus is that you don't need to keep them on a charger. Ever. Once it's fully charged and put away, so long as you don't get it hot...

I hear ya. The truth is that most riders are fair weather fans and even those who don't think they are (like me), still are. Very few people actually ride at temps significantly below 30F (0C). While that's about the cutoff for Li-ion to start a bike without ANY rain dance, they will still work at 2...

Yes Joe. I'm a battery engineer myself and I've been working with Li-ion for 16 years now. There is a lot of safety built into these cells, but they are intrinsically dangerous. Here's why: they pack a LOT of energy into a small volume and low weight. The more energy you pack, the closer it becomes ...

Connor, I'm a big fan of Li-ion, with that said, they are a bit touchy as far as temperature goes. You go too cold, they won't charge well, and you will need to warm them up before you can start the bike (usually by running your headlight for a while). You get them too hot, and they may explode on y...

Well, phone coverage is fine, but it's even better not to be stuck. The thing about having spares is that even if I don't need them on the road, at some point I'll need to replace them anyways, so I have absolutely nothing against getting them. And cheap stuff is cheap for a reason :ugeek: As far as...

This is the general area where I plan to ride, and camp for a couple of days: https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8374275,-120.3093676,104344m/data=!3m1!1e3 The road goes up and down a lot. My plan is to keep the speed in the turns in the valleys, to carry more of it for the next uphill. I go there in w...

Good catch about C vs. F. Yes, I meant 80-90F. I'll dive into the reading then. Very generally though, any issues you foresee if I were to ride into the mountain, doing absolutely nothing to the bike? EDIT: I read the two articles. Great read. I honestly didn't expect much trouble, but I prefer to a...