Posted on 04/16/2008 3:49:32 AM PDT by BraveMan
These are what I refer to as dynamics.
What you refer to as dynamics I refer to as basics.
I call it, "Head on a swivel".
Rich Urban Biker. You know, the orthodonist who grows two days of stubble and thinks he’s a biker bad-ass on Memorial Day as the throws his leg over his $20K machine with 20 miles on it.
Check.
Usually riding in a pack all wearing $1000 in Harley sanctioned clothes trying to look different while all looking the same. I live out in the country on some great bike roads. These guys come through all summer. I wish they would leave the mufflers on.
Todays sport bikes are pretty suicidal. It’s almost impossible to obey the law on one. Anything more than just cracking the throttle and it’s “Hang On”. Very, very different from a cruiser. You better *really* know how to ride if you’re going to use what it’s got.
A bike has two wheels.
Blah blah blah.. so many words, thoughts, statistics....... :-)~~~~~~~~~~~
Slide the keyboard away,
put the beverage down,
gear up,
saddle up,
push the start button,
slide the kickstand,
back it out of the garage,
set the radio to “scream” level,
adjust your sack,
kick it down to first,
look both ways,
........ lets ride!!!
I’ve never had any problems switching motorcycles - ya just have to pay attention!
I've been riding that way since 1948 - when you assume that everyone sees you, is when you get crunched.
The very same sentiment applies to cars, planes, boats, and trains, Judge. Perhaps we should all just stay home and live in plastic bubbles? But then the formaldehyde would get us, affecting the lawsuits and the “unsupported next-of-kin” that your comment presupposes EVERYONE has, etc...
Somehow I've never considered bags, trailers, sterio / intercoms, and flags to represent "biking".
(They do seem to be quite popular over in the local retirement community)
On the other end, what spooks me the most are the high revving, race worthy, rice rockets, on what must be the most wonderful tires ever devised, being ridden down the freeway by a bunch of teen agers who don't know how close they are to their own limits. It hurts to learn those limits (but easier to deal with at 18 than at 55).
Note; the twins down the street got new Suzukis (?) last year; they were both wearing road rash all over that shiny paint within about 30 days...now I only see one of them riding in or out.
As to "new bikes", any time you ride ANY different bike or pick up your own bike after a winter lay off, you've got to feel your way (back) into it.
BLAHAHAHAHAHAHA Best post all day!
:)
Why the Hyosung? Kawasaki just launched the new Ninja 250 and it’s great looking.
You mistake me...
I am a biker
I have no problem differentiating between
living in fear, and being cautious
I have no problem with accepting the consequences of my behavior.
The comment was a response to comment #33
Sometimes, the legal aspect of fault may be
important, after death. For myself, I don't care
I must walk my own path
I must accept the consequences of that walk
I got one GREAT BIG WAKE-UP CALL when I rode the Buell for the first time. Lofting the front wheel with an angry twist of the wrist, lofting the rear wheel with firm grab of the right lever; that first ride left me literally shaking. It had been twenty years since I’d ridden a sport bike. I was taken back by how much the bar had been raised.
It’s entirely plausible to me that an experienced cruiser rider could be easily overwhelmed by the performance of the current crop of sport bikes. They’re a whole lot more sensitive than the bikes of the ‘70s & ‘80s. They’re much more demanding to ride than your garden variety cruiser.
The bikes that were giant killers back in the day are slouches compared to today’s full-on rockets . . .
Ah, ha - I see what you mean. My first three bikes were Harley’s back in the late 40’s and middle 50’s. The late 50’s and early 60’s I was into sports cars. In ‘64 I got back into bikes and have had one or more all at all times since.
One Harley 1200cc Sportster in the 90’s that had some engine and suspension tweaking, all of the rest were/are foreign makes.
Smoothness is the answer, even when you’re bombing around on the back roads and wringing the bike out. There’s nothing like an adrenaline rush. >:-}
I finally broke down and got my endorsement last year via a motorcycle training course, as I had been riding for years without one, but the State of Washington instituted a new $1000 fine and impoundment if you didn’t have one. Plus I had heard to many horror stories about guys dropping their bikes during the test and figured that the $250 course was cheaper than repairs to my Springer.
We had about 8 people in the course and two of them dropped the little trainers, but amazingly everyone passed. I say this as there were 3 people that should never go any where near a motorcycle, including the 2 that dropped their bikes.
I also have known the instructor for many years and even he said a much...
It was a pretty scary thought and still is to know that these people may be out there riding today. These folks all had just purchased new bikes but had zero confidence in themselves when they started the course and even less when they graduated....
A Tee shirt at Sturgis.
If you don’t limp, you ain’t sh*t.
That said, throwing a leg over any one of the latest crop of litre sized sport bikes is not for the faint-hearted; they reward sloppiness and indiscretion with copious amounts of pain. My Buell Lightning, an also-ran compared to GSX’rs, ‘Busas, and ZX12’s, is stomach-turining eyeball-flattening hellaciously fast. An errant whack of the throttle will get you into trouble in a hurry; a super-sized panic grab of the front brake lever only compounds the trouble you're getting into.
The enticement to crank it up is there in spades. A deft touch is required to pull back from the brink of disaster; not an easy feat when your line is spreading out towards the guardrail or gravel shoulder . . .
“So most guys buy a 900lb monster.”
Ducati Monsters don’t weigh 900lbs! (really they don’t!) :)
I don’t think Harley makes a “monster”. Monstrosity, now thats another story. (ok I’m kidding!)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.