The true beauty of this motorcycle. (another LONG read)

[Lord Popgun]

Cormanus, I have no doubt Ferret is a much better and more skilled rider than I am. You too for that matter. But I think I’m more spirited than him in some ways.

But I think too that Ferret follows the old NASCAR saying that sometimes you have to go slow to go fast.

[Cormanus]

I’m sure the laws are the same, but reading the forum and one brief experience riding in the US, the enforcement of speed limits seemed way more relaxed there.

Anyway, I guess my point is that overtaking in 5th has never been a problem for me and I can’t recall threatening the rev limiter. I’d have thought that in the higher gears the 112 mph speed limiter will kick in first.

Look forward to hearing from both of you about Sunday’s experiences.

The ‘gawd, she’s beautiful’ thing is a problem. What if she’s beautiful but loves most of what you hate? What if you continue to be tormented by her beauty but grow to loathe everything else about her? I feel for you. She works for me. I’m lucky, I guess.

Cormanus, I have no doubt Ferret is a much better and more skilled rider than I am. You too for that matter. But I think I’m more spirited than him in some ways.

But I think too that Ferret follows the old NASCAR saying that sometimes you have to go slow to go fast.

He’s way more skilled than me. And I’m in awe of how he complies with that NASCAR saying!

[Frulk_imp]

“The CB will do 0-60 in 3.3 seconds”. That’s FAST. Look up how many cars currently sold can beat that mark. It will be a very short and very expensive list. I say cars because that’s what we’re dealing with out on the roads 99% of the time. In practical, real world applications this bikes performance by any measure is not lacking. Now, if you’re canyon carving with a group of late model liter sport bikes that’s a different story.

[the Ferret]

If you read my report carefully you will notice I said accelerating from my normal cruising speed of 3500 rpms in 4 th or 3500 rpms in 5 th ... (and that it would be a different case if you revved high in the lower gears ... 1st, 2 nd and 3rd up to 6 grand and then just kept upshifting until you got to 4th and 5 th, and eventually 6 th) ... but since I don't usually ride above 3500, that's where my starting point on my way to 6K began. I found the sundial comment appropriate in that situation. The tach needle doesn't "swing" or "sweep" it climbs laboriously seemingly to take forever to hit that 6k plateau.

I stand by my assessment as I just did it several times today.

VLJ I ride my ST1300 exactly the same 2500-3500 rpms. It saw 100 mph once a few years ago on a trip out west with my wife in Montana ( actually 110). It saw 90 in Utah on my way home from my Cali trip (speed limit was 80). It regularly sees 75 here ( speed limit is 65). I no longer feel the need to push my luck on the highway. From the time I was 16 until about 40 I found out just how fast every motorcycle I rode was. Lived through that somehow, now I ride for my pleasure and my pleasure says take it easy. I was very apprehensive riding as I did today. Everyday I assure my wife when I leave that I will come home to her, and I do everything in my power to keep that promise which includes riding as if I WANT to return home.

I read in some of your posts you are beginning to battle that demon yourself, hence the desire to slow down. You appear not to be ready to surrender though.

[VLJ_imp]

Cormanus Wrote:The ‘gawd, she’s beautiful’ thing is a problem. What if she’s beautiful but loves most of what you hate? What if you continue to be tormented by her beauty but grow to loathe everything else about her?
Wait.

You know Ligia, too? Dang. Small world.



mickey Wroteon't believe a word I say. Seriously, every time I hop on either of my trusty steeds I'm straight-up , yo!
Yeah, yeah. We know.



Anyway, to your other point, yes, I am battling the speed demon. I know I need to slow down. Intellectually, I sort of want to slow down. The stupid teen version of me says I'm not ready yet to slow down, and my right wrist usually concurs.

But I have slowed down, for sure. I am no longer going as fast as I did on the Street Triple R. I haven't even seen 125 mph yet on the XSR. I sit up now and relax on the straights. ~knock on wood~ I haven't crashed in god knows how long. Upwards of fifteen years, I would guess. ~knock on wood~ I stopped doing track days, and long before I stopped I was questioning whether I had any business still being out there?

I mean, come on, I'm looking at things like the Triumph T120 and Honda CB1100, and I even took a sniff at a couple of Moto Guzzi tractors disguised as motorcycles.

I want to arrive at a point whereby I don't need to treat motorcycling as a sport in order to enjoy it. I really do want to get there; so much so, in fact, that I may just force myself into it by swapping to a heavy, relatively under-powered/under-damped retro sled. It's not so much that I have this grand desire to slow down and smell the roses. Nope, it's more that I just don't want to keep tempting fate. If I'm to continue riding, well, I have to be able to continue riding, and with my neck situation one good crash could do me in.

So, yep, I truly do want to slow down and somehow still enjoy the ride. I'm not positive I'll manage it, but that's the goal, anyway.

[the Ferret]

Repeat after me

" I don't need to compete, to feel complete"

There done!

[VLJ_imp]

I was never big on bumper stickers.

[the Ferret]

Lol .... sounds a lot like "I'm not hooked. I can quit anytime I want to. I just don't want to right now."

[VLJ_imp]

"I ain't gonna get hooked, not on no coke, you can't get hooked, my friends been snorting fifteen years, they ain't hooked." - Richard Pryor

[the Ferret]