Swift - Starting the New Year training with Swift 1/7/13 - A long read...

Discussion in 'Swift' started by DocWatson, Jan 3, 2013.

  1. Kindle

    Kindle Medium Load Member

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    Its actually pretty nice though you have to kinda watch it on slow corners if light or empty. It really wants to take off , at least mine does. The cruise control with it is a whole different story. It will "pace" you behind someone who is going slow. Sometimes thats good, sometimes aggravating. Then theres the beeping if you take over. "Distance Alert" anytime someone cuts in front. So its a mixed bag on the auto. Overall yea I like it. Also the shifter is actually is right by the seat, built in. So nothing where you would find a manual shifter. That still gets me at times.

    Oh and I am a Johnny Dollar fan myself. And big fan of the Sirius Onyx Plus. You can backtrack about 30 minutes per channel to see/play what you missed. You have one of those? I highly recomend.
     
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  3. DocWatson

    DocWatson Road Train Member

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  4. DocWatson

    DocWatson Road Train Member

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    Patrick's story Part 2 and bribes in Mexico...


    I left San Blas that morning saying goodbye to the French surfer girl. I knew Patrick was already heading south along the coast. He didn't know where he would end up. All he would say is “maybe Panama, but I don't know”.

    I had plans to meet up with Cisco and I was already a couple of days behind schedule. Originally I had met Cisco on an international adventure riding forum on Facebook. Months before my trip had began, I had asked whether anyone was planning on attending the Todos Santos Cuchamatan festival in Guatemala. Cisco was the only one to respond in the affirmative. It was at that point that we made some loose plans to meet up in Creel, Mexico at a BMW convention and then later on we would meet at the Todos Santos festival. Well I was about a day late for the BMW convention, evidenced by the broken line of BMW adventure bikes heading in the opposite direction as I approached Creel. I would not meet up with Cisco this early in my trip as he was already riding somewhere else in the state of Chichuahua when I arrived to the town of Creel that was mostly devoid of any BMW motorcycles. From there my adventure would be mostly solo until I
    met up with Patrick down in San Blas. But now it was time to pick up the pace a little so I could meet Cisco in Puerto Vallarta before he started moving again without me.

    I had barely left town and started heading south on a little country 2 lane that abutted the Pacific Ocean, visible off to my right past some scrub brush and palm trees, when I had passed that beat up old police car that had sounded it's “whoopp...whooopp” as I passed.


    Dealing with Mexican police bribes, the infamous “la mordida” - “the bite”. Wear them down and act crazy...


    I had passed that police car not long after leaving town. It already had another vehicle pulled over and there was an officer outside the car when I passed and heard its siren. Although I was a little alarmed by the sound as I passed, as I looked back in my mirror the car was still sitting there. My thought at the time was that it must not have been sounded for me. Besides, since when does a police officer hit his siren parked on the side of the road, especially when they are already busy with another motorist.


    I continued down the road and in about a mile I noticed flashing lights in my mirror. It looked like that same cop car and he was catching up to me quick. Not a very difficult thing to do though as I was going pretty slow anyway. I hit my right turn signal and pulled over on the shoulder to my right. No sooner than I pulled over I immediately reached up to the right side of my helmet, turned the GoPro on hearing it's “beep..beep...beep” in quick succession indicating that it was now on. I reached my forefinger up and hit the record button. Another single “beep” that indicated that I was now recording and I knew I was set. Before he could even get out of his car I removed my helmet, GoPro recording, and placed the helmet on my right mirror with the camera facing backwards towards me
    sitting on my bike.

    His English wasn't great. He basically asked me for my papers and, as I had planned to do before this trip even started in an event such as this, I removed the AAA International Driver's License from my left, zippered pocket of my riding pants. I told him that I had my insurance and my registration in my bags that were now securely locked and strapped onto the back of my bike. He was impatient and kept looking back towards where he had come. He explained to me that
    I was doing 68 kph in a 45 kph zone. Not a great speed I would think, especially when it comes to the difference being in kilometers per hour. He kept asking me if I understood. All I told him at this point was that I thought that I wasn't speeding and that the transition to kilometers per hour versus the miles per hour I'm used to back in the states. He was impatient and told me that his partner was waiting back where I had originally seen them with the other driver. He had to return and told me that I must follow him back to his partner. I still had to strap the bags on that I had started to remove and he didn't want to wait. He held on to my AAA license and told me that I would have to ride back and meet him back where his partner was. I would then have to show them my documents. He got
    back in his car and headed back to where his partner was. At this time I did debate just riding off. The AAA International Drivers Permit didn't mean anything to me. It was disposable and it wasn't like it was my regular CDL license. Plus I had an extra AAA license with me just for an event like this. I debated it. But hinking about how I might have to worry about another cop stopping me somewhere further down the road (not likely) I decided I would head back to where he wanted me to meet with him and his partner. I put my helmet back on, shut the camera off and rode back.

    As I approached them, now on my left side, the original vehicle that was pulled over was now gone. It was only this cop and his partner standing around in the heat outside their car, lazily leaning up against it. As I approached I reached up and hit the record button on my GoPro again. I parked, removed my helmet, placed it on my right sideview mirror facing backwards, towards the cops and their car, and I hopped off. The cop explained that I needed to pay the fine. Again I was doing 68 kph in a 45 kph zone. To add to the perceived severity of my “crime” he explained that they had a couple of fatal accidents on that road recently. Unlikely but whatever. He kept repeating how bad it was to speed. He explained that I either had to pay the fine there in San Blas, in town, or that I could ride down to a larger city called Tepic and pay it down there. Either way, he would hold on to my license and once he received the receipt that I had paid my fine, I could get my AAA license back. Ok, no problem. I don't remember him ever asking for my insurance or registration again. Odd as here in the U.S. There would be no getting around showing your insurance and proof of registration/ownership. I never did take them out of my bag. He showed me the ticket he was writing. As he pointed to it he explained, “you pay 63 pesos”. I said no problem. I would pay it and come back with the receipt.

    It was sometime during this interaction with him that I noticed his partner had walked away from the back of the cop car where I was talking with the more enured of officers, the one that originally pulled me over, and this younger cop had walked away to the opposite side of my bike. That was odd. He was standing near my bike but past the handlebars furthest from us. This older, more experienced cop was now telling me “you pay 63 pesos for 20 days.”. This older cop and I were conversing and transacting at the rear of their dumpy little police car on the trunk. The car reminded me of an old Nissan Sentra and I noticed through The back window a spare tire just sitting wedged on the back seat. I almost felt sorry for these guys. Almost.


    “What?”, I said. “No entiendo”. I don't understand. “Yo pago 63 pesos total?”, I asked. That's what I pay?


    “No, you pay 63 pesos. Every day. 20 days.”, he replied.


    I was completely confused. He was pointing to a spot on the ticket as if this part of the ticket explained this 63 pesos per day for 20 days. I couldn't see where it said that although it was all in Spanish. I was looking for those 2 key important numerical figures – the “63” and the “20 day”. I didn't see anything.



    “You understand? That is a lot of money. A lot of money. Look 1260 pesos all.” He was trying to explain it slower so I could understand the extremity of the fine.


    I still came back with “no entiendo. Por que por veinte dias?”, I asked. I don't understand, why for 20 days.


    “It's a lot of money. Mucho dinero” he kept saying.


    He asked where I was heading and I told him that I was heading down to Puerto Vallarta to meet up with my friend. He was telling me I had to pay this fine that was nearly $100 U.S. - 1260 pesos. He started to get annoyed.


    “Cuando? When you pay?”, he asked. “You pay hoy?” asking if I was paying today.


    I could see where this was going at this point when he kept emphasizing that this was a lot of money. He would say it and look me in my eyes to gauge my reaction. I explained that I would pay after I go talk to my friend down in Puerto Vallarta.


    I explained to him, in my bad Spanish, that my friend was in the legal field, in law.

    “Mi amigo es en ley. Yo no entiendo. Mi amigo explicame”. I told him that I didn't understand, that my friend was in the legal field and that my friend would explain this all to me. He was getting frustrated. Time to switch up my tactics a little.



    I remember reading on the ADVrider.com website, before I left on my trip, that one way to get out of a bribe was to play the stupid gringo. Play ignorant. Waste their time. So far I was doing this pretty decent.


    So I tell him in my bad Spanish...

    “Tu tiene la llave por me cortazon pero no tiene la contrasena”.

    In bad Spanish this roughly meant “You have the key to my heart but you don't have the password”.



    “What??? What you say??”. He was confused. So I continued. I apologized “Lo siento”. And then I continued...



    “Mi perro tiene azul ojos pero solomente en Lunes”. I came back with.

    This time I was roughly saying in poor Spanish, “My dog has blue eyes but only on Mondays”.



    “What? No entiendo. I no understand”. He was not getting so confused that he was mixing up his Spanish and his English in the same sentence. He was flustered and absolutely confused at this point. I played innocent like I was truly trying to communicate something that was related to this ticket I was to receive.


    I said that I would go to Puerto Vallarta.


    “Yo voy a Puerto Vallarta porque me gusta bailando”, I told him. I would go to Puerto Vallarta because I like to dance. Then to add to the compiling confusion I shuffled my feet around in the sand on the side of the road, put my hands up in a salsa dancing stance and I sung...

    “Pa la calle, la rumba estai en la calle. Pa la calle, la rumba estai en la calle”, singing to him an old salsa song that I love from Grupo Raices. I'm pretty sure he wasn't familiar with this song or at least my rendition of it.


    He was defeated at this point. I had looked over at his partner and in doing so, I noticed that my helmet was now facing the ground although still mounted on my handlebar mirror. Very odd. I took notice that there was no breeze. No wind. No reason for my helmet to shift it's positioning from facing us to now facing the ground.

    This tenured cop said that I could leave. He handed me back my license. But he had to win somehow. With some sternness in his voice he demanded...


    “But you give me a cigarro. And you give my partner too”. He wanted a cigarette for him and his partner. This was their small win as they had to come out of this winning somehow. I had no problem obliging. I voluntarily gave them two cigarettes each. They seemed happy.

    Two days later I was riding with Cisco when we stopped at a little beachside hotel for the night. We were the only ones there. We used the wifi in the lobby and while I was there I decided to download that video from the GoPro. It all came out excellent. Total time wasted ended up being 45 minutes. Good job to me. I also came to notice how the helmet faced the ground. While this old, more tenured cop was talking to me the younger cop, most likely being trained on how to do a proper shakedown and get a bribe, had moved over towards my bike. As evidenced on the video by the helmet and camera moving, this younger cop had tried unsuccessfully to move my camera on the helmet. It failed a few times. Once it looked like he tried to cover the camera with something resembling a paper towel. It fell off almost immediately. Eventually after a few failed times he finally nearly picks the helmet up and replaces it on the mirror facing down. That mystery was solved.

    Before I rode off that day the younger cop must have walked over and whispered to the older cop that I had a camera on my helmet and that it was recording. nfortunately when the GoPro records there is a little red light the flashed on the front. It's obvious it is recording. The older cop asked me, as I mounted my bike, about the camera. Was it recording. I told him no. I told him in English, as I don't know how to say it in Spanish, that the memory card was full. I don't think he understood what I was trying to say but he waved me goodbye anyway. I rode off and after I had gotten safely out of sight of the two cops wanting “la mordida” I picked up the pace to 70 mph. Just out of spite. What that, 112 kph? Now you have something worth pulling me over for. If they had only stuck with the 63 peso fine and not have gotten greedy then they would have been fine. But due to their greed they got nothing other than a couple of cigarettes I would have happily given them anyway.

    I rode south to meet with Cisco that evening in Puerto Vallarta. This was my experience with "la mordida" in Mexico. Little did I know that the excitement of this experience would pale in comparison with what would happen a few weeks later once I met up with Patrick.
     
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  5. DocWatson

    DocWatson Road Train Member

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    I didn't realize they had those distance alerts in the trucks. I would imagine that would be a little annoying when you are stuck in that traffic whereby everyone keeps cutting in front of you. But it could help maybe in some circumstances too.

    I wasn't aware that the Onxy Plus had that. I think I have the cheaper Onyx. Mine doesn't even have different color options. I'm stuck with blue. It's the basic Onxy I think but it would be nice to have that playback feature.
     
  6. Lepton1

    Lepton1 Road Train Member

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    Best way to start floating is in high range. Try from 7th to 8th, start by pulling GENTLY on the stick as if you WANT to bring it out of gear while you still have your foot on the throttle. While continuously pulling gently on the stick EASE off on the throttle and the stick should come out of gear easily, then continue to EASE off on the throttle AS you continue to pull gently on the stick toward 8th. You might have slight grinding as you bring the rpm's down to the 1100 target rpm's. You can FEEL it wanting to get into gear and just SLIGHTLY move the throttle up or down as you need it as you CONTINUOUSLY and GENTLY pull on the stick. It should drop in like butter.

    Once you start getting the hang of it try it in low range in a parking lot. The NEAT thing about floating low range is that you can drop it into gear at IDLE or just above idle rpm's. For example, if you are coming up on a stop sign at the end of an exit ramp you can bring your speed down to about 3 mph, which is about idle speed in 2nd gear, then simply drop it right in there, slightly brake to have a hesitation stop, then apply throttle without ever touching the clutch.

    Progressive shifting in low range makes floating much easier. 1st to 2nd I shift at about 1200 rpm (bringing it down to about 900), 2nd to 3rd shift at about 1300 rpm, 3rd to 4th at about 1400 rpm. Then the shift from 4th to 5th (low to high range) I'll take it on up to 1500 to give more coast time to allow the "clunk!" of the range selector to kick in and that shift always seems to be a tad sticky in any truck I've driven. Sometimes I'll need to slightly move rpm's around the target before she'll drop in. After that high range floating is a breeze.

    Once you get the hang of floating you'll likely want to do it most of the time. Sometimes I still "tap out" (single clutch to get out of gear) if I'm up against the governor or it's difficult to get out of gear on a downgrade and I want to upshift.
     
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  7. DenaliDad

    DenaliDad Retired Wheel Dog

    I do both on any road test I have to take, just to show the 'examiner' I still remember how to use my left foot.
     
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  8. Kindle

    Kindle Medium Load Member

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    I just got the Onyx plus a month ago. Around $60 from Amazon. Of course Sirus charges you $15 to transfer it over to the new unit. I argued over that, they knocked off $5. Sent me an e-mail receipt. For $15. I gave up at that point, wasn't worth getting mad over $5. Love the unit though. Highly recomend it.
     
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  9. DocWatson

    DocWatson Road Train Member

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    They mentioned something about a fee to transfer it over and when I expressed disbelief they said they wouldn't charge me the fee.

    My only complaint about the Onyx is a very small one. I wish I could change the colors just to switch things up now and then. Otherwise it's been a great unit.
     
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  10. DocWatson

    DocWatson Road Train Member

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    I've been practicing this lately. Sometimes it's easy and sometimes the truck seems to fight it a little. Like you said above, when I get a little trouble I "tap out" and single clutch it. Prior to floating I realized that I single clutch it a lot in changing gears. Not sure if this is bad for the transmission but it seems I've worked into doing it instinctively.
     
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  11. A21CAV

    A21CAV Road Train Member

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    Floating is difficult in the Prostar . Its a "fly by wire " accelerator so it drops RPM quickly . What Lepton was saying about feel is great advice but the best I heard many years ago was "she will tell you when she's ready " which sounds like great advice for getting laid but actually refers to when the heavens of unsynchronized gears line up .
     
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