Friday, September 30, 2011

A Trip Downtown

skyway

A needed to take a trip downtown Minneapolis the other day. I used to work there, but am now in downtown St. Paul instead. Parking a motorcycle is always a pain as many of the ramps have signs banning motorcycles.

I usually take my Super9, so I can have easy moped parking at the many bike racks for free. I decided to take my SV650 and find a spot. The ramp I used is on the corner of 11th and Marquette. It’s in the left of the photo above.

I was told by an employee that they had motorcycle parking. I didn’t see the spot that they said existed, so I went in with the cars.

sv in a sea of cars

I think they ban motorcycles because they don’t have their detectors on the gate arms configured correctly or because it would be very easy to ride around one without paying.

Another reason is the corkscrew ramp seen below. Some drivers seem to have trouble with these, and I would imagine some riders might too. I found it to be very fun and way easy to ride down. I intentionally parked higher up, so I could ride it more. Fun!

corkscrew ramp

The ramp has a nice view of downtown too.

skyline

This particular ramp has pay stations before you exit. Then you stick the paid ticket into the machine and the arm opens. Very motorcycle friendly if you ask me. It was just as I was going to leave the ramp I glanced over to my left and saw “Motorcycle Parking $5” Gah! The car rate was $12!

It wasn’t clear how to enter that area, but it looks like you go south on 2nd Ave S and make a right turn. A bit of googling when I got home. This google street view makes it more clear. It is looking north towards 11th on 2nd Ave S. Next time I’m parking here!


View Larger Map

5 comments:

  1. I don't like the corkscrews. If a car shoots out ( common) and I am in a lean ( all the time while going down) I have to stand it up to brake. Add to that the cars enter on the right , for safety sake I ride the inside where debris collects.

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  2. I, for one, would probably have a hard time on the corkscrews. Some of them I've been on before were really slippery even with four wheels.

    That is a nice shot of downtown Minneapolis. I never really got to see much except for whatever was right around the university.

    Richard

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  3. Anon: I was riding on the outside wheel track. The extra height let me see if cars were approaching.

    RichardM: This one didn't seem slippery at all, but I do have very sticky tires on the SV.

    If you come again, I'd happy to give you a more proper tour. The Ural is great for that.

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  4. Richard, I can recommend the Chris Luhman Ural Tour. It is great fun!

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  5. Gary: Thanks! It was fun giving you the tour.

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