02-22-2018, 09:32 AM
(02-22-2018, 08:23 AM)PowerDubs_imp Wrote: I like how we can't 'swear' around here- but we can discuss 125+ mph on public roads.
That being said- I've seen 154mph on my GPS in my VW Golf R32 on my way from NJ to NH to drive in the woods at Tim O'neil's place.
I was about 10 feet off the rear bumper of my friends R32 who was also foot to the floor. Had he not lifted, I would have kept going.
I've always wanted to roadtrip out to Bonneville ever since I learned you can just show up and drive whenever you want weather permitting. My other VW (12 cyl) in theory should kiss close to 200mph (eventually)...
I think young men, motorcycles, and speeding sort of go hand in hand. I mean what teenage or early 20s male doesn't think he's invincible and wants to see how fast the vehicle he is driving will go?
I got my first street bike in 1965. A 50cc Aermacchi 2 stroke 3 speed. I can tell you it would go an indicated 55 mph wide open in 3rd, and it didn't take me long to find that out, and I ran it wide open often. Replay that same story for every motorcycle I owned or rode for the next twenty-five years (and I worked in the motorcycle industry from 1972-1989 and rode a lot of motorcycles) . Finally in the late 80's, when I was maybe 37-38 years old, the bikes were getting fast enough that a combination of fear, age and responsibility convinced my brain that it was a good time to really slow down. I had survived some crazy riding on most of the most powerful bikes of their time..Honda CB 900F, CB 1100F, VF 1100S and CBX, Suzuki GS 1100, Kawasaki KZ 1000, Yamaha XS 1100 and V Max. I found out how fast each of them would go, and yes on public roads. You don't have to tell me how stupid I was, because I came to realize that fact myself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. My younger brother and I often wonder how we survived those times. Seriously.
So now we putt around so to speak. Neither of us ride fast, we don't take chances, we are super cautious, and I believe we are actually very good riders now instead of just really lucky riders.
I know you can't convince other young folks not to act like fools on the public roads. They have to find out for themselves. It's like when your parents tell you not to drink, or not to smoke, or that there is nothing worthwhile being out of your house after midnight. You have to try it all yourself, make up your own mind, and at least in my case, I found out they were right. So I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I am usually in bed asleep, long before midnight. I no longer have the urge to push the limits, on/in anything. Certainly not on something that affords me as little protection as a motorcycle. I no longer take unnecessary chances, and I'm perfectly happy.