| Author | Message | ||
     Dynasport |
Well, I am back from my annual trip from Florida to NC and I thought I'd share a few thoughts. This annual trip is pretty significant to me. I have gone five years in a row now. It started with three of us, and this year grew to nine. I had a great time with the guys, but nine is a few too many for the best riding experience, in my opinion. It was on my second trip to NC that I decided I wanted a bike that handled better than my FXDX. I found myself getting passed by guys on BMWs, which bothered me for some reason. It took a few years, but I finally ended up with my XB12XT. This year was my first year taking the Buell to NC instead of the Harley and some things are more clear to me now. First, the XT did great. I had zero issues with it, except my rear tire is now toasted and needs replacing. Second, I was able to ride faster on the XT and I actually kept up with a group of BMWs on the Dragon, which I could not have done on my FXDX. However, I am still not a fast rider. The Buell allows me to ride faster, but I know that many riders could ride much faster than I do on my bike. This point was made clear to me by the fact that there were two guys in my group on HDs that I could barely put any distance on in the mountains. I have a feeling that if they had been on my bike and I had been on theirs, that I would not have been able to keep them in sight. I have some other thoughts on my XT after a year of ownership, but I will save those for another post. I will post some more pics of my trip later, as I haven't had time to even download them from my camera yet. I will leave you with this cheesy photo of me on the dragon, courtesy of Killboy.  | ||
| Sperz1 |
Why worry about being fast? I went to the gap and was pretty slow. But I had a blast! It's my ride, I'll ride it as I please. | ||
| Tootal |
Dan, glad you had fun and yes, there can be too many people in a group. I ran into that going to Sturgis this year. I'm meeting my friends from Brandon next week in the mountains of north Georgia. My one friend always jokes that the Dragon is littered with Florida license plates!! I can relate as Illinois is the other state with 11 curves in 318 miles!! You'll get faster, it just takes practice. Unfortunately Florida is not a great place to practice!! I think once you realize the front tire will stick and you're not going to do a face plant every time you dive into a corner you'll start picking up speed. The Buell is like nothing else, takes some getting use to. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
do a track day. You'll learn more in 1 day at the track than a year of riding on the street | ||
| Ratbuell |
+1,000 on the track day. It also never hurts to follow someone on a similar bike to yours, the mindset "if they can make it..." definitely helps out. Also, though, +1,000 on "who cares". Ride your pace. Stay comfortable with your limits. Gradually, your performance envelope will enlarge and you'll find yourself going faster and gaining confidence. Along the way you'll find yourself becoming more in tune with the bike's behavior, and what changes you get out of the bike's performance when little things change physically - like tire pressure, or your rear preload setting, or your luggage weight, or the tire and road surface temperatures. Until then...just enjoy the ride! | ||
| Dynasport |
I would love to do a track day one day. You know, perception about speed can be deceiving. I had just caught and hung with that group of BMW's on the Dragon and feeling really fast when I got passed just a few minutes later on the Hellbender like I was standing still by a guy on an MV Augusta F4. Now he was moving. (Message edited by DynaSport on October 07, 2010) | ||
| Dynasport |
Here are a few photos from the trip. The first day in NC we rode the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is a nice ride.  Until we got to Mount Mitchell  It rained on us the rest of that day, and rain was in the forecast for the next day also, so we went to the Wheels through Time Museum. My first trip there and it was fantastic. One place I wouldn't mind cutting the grass  Dale Walksler had just ridden this bike on the Cannonball Run  I took tons of photos, here are just a few   They have cars there too     They have one of Evil Kneviel' bikes   Well, that's enough for now. | ||
| Motorbike |
Oh by the way Dynasport, you got a headlight out and someone wrote on your bike. I just had to say it. | ||
| Tootal |
Dale Walksler use to own Dale's HD in Mt. Vernon Ill. I bought my second Harley from him in 1991. Put 146,000 miles on that bike. I went to the museum a few years ago and he recognized me. I couldn't believe it. We went out and started a few bikes in the museum. All the bikes on the floor run and he's willing to prove it! Great place to visit. | ||
| Dynasport |
Yeah, he fired up a couple of bikes while we were there. He rode one of them right down the middle of the museum at speed. He is an unusually friendly guy who looks like he loves what he does. | ||
| Motorfish |
Dale is a real nice guy and his museum is awesome. That is a great ride. | ||
| Eryngium |
I can relate to the question about going fast. I share similar feelings, but for me it's not about wanting TO go fast, but wanting to BE ABLE to go fast. Maybe a better way of putting would be that I want to be feel like I had the skill to do it well; to have that kind of control of my bike. As a pretty new rider, I feel like I'm still getting there and probably will be for some time. The good news is that feel progress being made. I have yet to do a track day, but would welcome the opportunity. How does one go about doing so? Do you contact the track to find out when it's being offered? I took the basic rider course before I bought a bike, so I have that training. But beyond that I'd have to say that what I've learned is what I taught myself through consideration, observation, and application. And some from what I've read here, understanding you have to take a lot of what you read with a grain of salt. It isn't as much about the bike as it is about the rider. It doesn't matter what kind of bike I ride, it's my skills that determine the outcome - a skilled rider can do way more on a "bad" bike than a developing rider like myself can do on a "good" bike. I think it all comes down to your goal. Is your goal the thrill of speed and maneuvering or are you content with being out there? I'm content to be out there, but I do want to be the best rider I can be. I want to know that I can control my bike when I need to. And that's what I'm working toward. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I have yet to do a track day, but would welcome the opportunity. How does one go about doing so? http://www.sportbiketracktime.biz/Index.aspx |
