NYC commuters?

NYPD was out clearing illegally parked bikes in Midtown this morning. I hope the KLR isn't someone from here.

While that isn't me parked next to you, I do routinely park my bike basically on top of other bikes. I fully expect to find my bike laying on its side when I go back to get it after work, but it hasn't happened yet (it's only been 2 weeks since I started my new gig). I also park very, very close to cars. Thing is, I don't mind if my bike gets banged up, I take it off road and bang it up myself anyway (I've also never washed it, just keep it lubbed and well maintained.)

One problem is that I work on 42nd and Madison, and legal street parking around there doesn't exist. I either park in Tudor City, or down on 31st street and then hop on a citi bike. There are always a lot of bikes where I park, due to the fact that all of midtown is a black hole of commercial parking zones. Oh well, that's life in the city I guess.

I work a block over from you in the MetLife tower above GC. Do you legally park in Tudor City? If so, could you provide details? I've considered riding in but have held off due to the ticketing and towing and just park at my local train station.

My old K 100 simply can't have it's sidestand lifted without pushing it to the right.

And it carries all it's 600lbs high up so there's no lowering it and rolling it on an angle either.

So if anyone parks that close to my bike I simply knock it over or really scratch the shit out of it pulling out.


(rest assured my days of parking anywhere north of 14th street are dead and gone, you couldn't pay me to commute into midtown again in this lifetime)

I've gotten pretty lucky with parking. I work at 29th & 7th and I found alternate side parking on 28th and 29th between 8th ave and 9th ave. tons of bikes parked there all the time. It really makes me wonder why there isn't bike specific parking. I'm sure this issue has been discussed before, but it seems like a logical thing to me.


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Tudor City has alternate side parking, which means that, if you're like me and you work a 9-5, you will have to park on the side that doesn't have street sweeping. By 8AM, all the good moto spots are taken up by a lot of motorcycles, especially on nice days. Scooters get in on the action too. I usually get in at around 8:45, so I have to squeeze my bike somewhere. Usually, I just park 4 inches away on each side from two car bumpers, pretty much guaranteeing that it will be knocked over if the cars need to leave. I also sometimes squeeze in on some bikes, which I expect will lead to the owner of bike or bikes to kick my bike over and knock it down.

I don't mind any of this, I have barkbusters and crash guards on my bike, so the vitals have done fine on tip overs, and you really can't care about the way your bike looks, it will get soot, dirt, and it will most likely get scratched at one point when it is parked on a public street.

So, in short, if you get in early, don't mind getting your bike dirty and possibly dropped on its side, then come join us.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to walk over there during lunch and scope it out. I've been trying to avoid NYPD tickets at all costs. Just got one two weeks ago for riding a Citi bike with headphones on. I keep the volume extremely low and obviously constantly aware of my surroundings but welcome to the nanny state and $98 out of my pocket.

For all you Citi bikers as an FYI, if there is a bike lane available on the street, you must ride within the bike lane. For example on 6th ave if you want to turn right off it, "you must stop at the corner on the left side and wait for the red light and then proceed with the cross street traffic." You can't make a right turn from the right lane even tho you are proceeding with the flow of traffic. At least according to the two wonderful NYPD officers who've been sitting at the corner of 6th and 40th writing tickets over the past 2 weeks.

i would check that before paying it. does not sound right. is there really a LAW saying bikes must and only be in bike lane when one is provided? quick search found this bottom left first bullet for bicyclists. might just keep a copy of that on me for now.

i noticed none of the 3 officials are any longer in office though so maybe it don't count

this one lists scripture of 4-12 p

this is nyc traffic rules and regulations of 4-12 p which does not say the same as above

I researched it pretty heavily and read the statute, but I can't find the link right now.

Here's a news article about a guy who tried to fight it and lost.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...-ticketed-leaving-lane-turn-article-1.1033860

This is true with my bike too ... most bikes on their kickstands, no? Just yesterday a car parked so close to my bike, on its right side, that I was unable to tilt the bike up off its stand. Fortunately the car moved soon.

Hey guys, back to my radiator problems ... my Strom overheated (not to the point of stalling or anything too drastic) the other day and it got me wondering if the water pump was shot. Can the pump be checked by simply feeling the pressure of the coolant hoses? (High pressure equaling pump working.)

Wouldn't the overheating almost definitively tell you that it is shot. I don't really know, but I'm running through all the possibilities in my head and that's what I would assume. The only other thing I could think of is that there's a blockage or extremely low coolant levels.


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Well I'm mystified myself ... I don't know if it has to do with the radiator's problems (possible clogging due to pepper I put in the coolant in an attempt to block small holes?) or if I have a whole new problem with the pump. Which would tell me, once again, that this Strom isn't the most reliable bike on the road.

Water pump is just a spinning impeller which is connected to the drive shaft by gears or a chain. For it to produce NO pumping action it would have had to shattered, which would certainly give you other clues (like a terrible grinding noise, followed by your engine exploding).


Let's start with the basics: Is your coolant level going down?

If Yes, then there could be a number of problems which would also result in overheating:

• Bad radiator cap
• Leaky or loose hose
• Leak in water pump/gasket
• Leak in head gasket

If your coolant level is steady and you're still overheating, then:

• Is your radiator blocked by some custom radiator guard?
• Is your radiator blocked by DIRT?
• Does your radiator have damage, such as bent fins?
• Is it possible you have a BAD THERMOSTAT? (Many cooling systems have a thermostat which causes coolant to BYPASS the radiator until the engine reaches a particular temperature.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for chiming in guys.

The odd thing is that I've been losing coolant all summer long (discovered the radiator leak in early June - after the bike had been sitting all winter :eek1), but topping it up every fuel stop allowed me to put some 1500 miles on it without over heating.

But this past few rides it necessarily leak - no coolant dripping, no loss from the reservoir. I was scratching my head.

The last ride I did, from Brooklyn up the FDR to Harlem, I just by chance looked down to see the temp gauge showed 5 bars (max) and the warning light was on. This obviously got me wondering/worried - I hobbled home.

I just now idled the bike up to max temp and ... the hose out of the pump remained cool-ish with no pressure to speak of, the radiator remained cool-ish with no leaking, and the fan never came on.

I replaced the thermostat maybe 15K ago. I'd like to think they last longer (did on my previous bikes), but is that the cause of the cool hose/radiator and lack of pressure? No fan: Appears that the temp sensor isn't working.

This bike is eating at me one problem at a time.

Posting this for a friend. A brave young lady touring solo and enjoying every mile/kilometer. Join her to hear her story

Details here http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=24944871&postcount=354

Just a thought. Is your radiator fill lower than to highest point on the cooling systems. They often are and require bleeding when fill to get the air bubbles out if the system otherwise you get overheating. May be why your one hose is cool to the touch.

I've been filling via the plastic reservoir - I'm not sure, but I think it's higher than the radiator. I've topped it off this way many times ... seems odd that it would now get an air bubble.

Also, in the last ride the reservoir didn't need topping off.

So should I be looking to buy a new temp sensor and thermostat?

Usually the fan is triggered by a separate temp switch, but it may be connected to the radiator. If the radiator never gets warm, my guess is that it's the thermostat. Probably pretty cheap.

Easy enough to test:

1. Disconnect the thermostat.
2. Wait until wife/girlfriend leaves house
3. Put thermostat in kettle on stove
4. Stick cooking thermometer in water
5. Warm up water
6. Note what temperature is when/if thermostat opens up.
7. Clean everything up, and look causal when missus gets home.

Easy enough to test:


Easy for you to say, Mister Laid-up-in-a-bed. Or are you back on two feet?

Digging down to the thermostat means tank fairing off, tank off, air box off (what else???), and working on the street with limited tools (toolbox is in storage).

Checked - thermostat $22, sensor $44. Not that expensive, but added to all the other work I've done on the bike this year and