| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
>>>>>Would feel safe in attributing it to the Testosterone Factor that generates competitiveness and over confidence. Well, I'll quote Court from the days when I traveled to ALL the IMS shows and hosted rides for Buell prospects...LONG before most of you knew the word "Buell". This is a quote from my old invite.... if you have unresolved childhood issues or need to prove you are a "man", please take a 2' length of bicycle chain, take the subway to the Bronx, wave the chain over your head and declare yourself "King of the World", but DO NOT COME RIDE WITH ME Arrogant? You bet  | ||
| Whatever |
EZ: ROFLMFAO.....  | ||
| Rick_A |
That's awesome. Fact is, my riding is a lot more tame than the guys I used to ride with back home. How most of them are still alive is beyond me. The little risk I take I feel is calculated within fairly safe parameters. I find driving on the interstate more dangerous than any other riding I've done. Just today in 400 miles a big rig lost a front wheel(!) just in front of me. I watched in slow motion as this thing went across 4 lanes somehow missing everyone...then hitting a truck in the opposing traffic and flipping back into the median. It could've bounded back into me...fortunately it lost it's momentum with that hit. A guy in a sedan cut me off. Later a guy in a Mustang nearly hit me when he shot in front me when I was inches from his bumper. Then an entire tire carcass was sitting in my lane in heavy traffic. Soon after I had to dodge a big black garbage bag floating over the highway seeming to float in the direction of any oncomming vehicle. I dodged it in the last minute. I was picturing that thing stuck to my helmet...and the result would've likely been disasterous. There was a flat bed truck dropping all manner of debris all over the road in front of me...I could go on... To me it should be a common courtesy to go at or near the damn speed limit. The slow bastards can eat my exhaust, for all I care. I don't short shift to satisfy anybody...people have fingers...put them where you please. If my bike runs marginally better with a very unrestricted exhaust...than that's what I'm runnin'. I'll screw around a little when I've surveyed the area and it seems clear and safe. I may grow out of it like some of you older more mature(?) types...but for now...ah well. | ||
| Rick_A |
I'd just like to add that I make no excuses and I'm not dangerous!  | ||
| Kerryx1 |
Most of my "Hooliganism" takes place at zero speed now. Staged at a traffic light, it's a hoot to snick it into third gear and light up the tire at about 6 grand. When the offending party disappears in a cloud of tire smoke, they generally get the hint. Court and Henrik. I don't know how you guys do it in NYC. All those yellow cages think it's a video game for space on the street. Courtesy? Total lack of it qualifies you for a NYC Hack license. I was running in the "sweet spot" (4000) on the GSP and had two guys with girls on the back go by me at well over a hundred on their rockets. Both of them wearing baggy shorts, sandals and a ten dollar skull cap. The "neat" thing was they were both sitting on the gas tank with their legs up over the bars. Can't say I would ever add that to my list of cool things to do. Somewhere along the aging process a different quote comes to my mind. The adrenaline rush is still the same but I used to say to myself "Man, that was cool!" The thought that comes to mind now is "Man, that was stupid!" The problem is that I still do it so I guess I'm not totally over the hill yet! 'Ole Baldie | ||
| Tripp |
fyi folks, b4 i got my cyclone, i totalled a kawizrx1100 and at the time i had on a t-shirt(which will never happen again). anyways i had a ton of road rash and a seperated shoulder (which took 10 mo. to heal). however, i saw a specialist for the road rash and he told me about this miracle cream called BIAFINE, it's at your local drugstore but u have 2 ask 4 it for some weird reason.. sooooo i used it religiously and i generally scar bad, but using this stuff really hooked me up!!!!!!!! for instance, i have a scar on my elbow from falling down on roller skates when i was 11(22 yrs ago) which is hard core compared to my bike accident doin 55mph!! knock on wood that was the only bike accident that i've been in 12 yrs of riding, but you can barely see the scars on my elbows! and you can definately see my roller skateing scar.... figure that!?! | ||
| Nevco1 |
And Rick_A says... "I'll screw around a little when I've surveyed the area and it seems clear and safe. I may grow out of it like some of you older more mature(?) types...but for now...ah well." And the Old Guy says... Welcome to the club. That is what us old guys do before testing the limits!!! The rest of the time, we just enjoy the route to the next technical section. | ||
| Sportyeric |
I started to think about the short shifts when I was doing Mount St. Helens and I was amazed that some people would roll down the window and give me a wave to go for the pass before I had a clear line of sight around a corner. First time it happened, I dropped a gear and nailed it to the pin. After, I realized that, with the Thunderheader I had on, I probably left the fellow bleeding from the ears when he had given me a courtesy I've never seen at home. To be sure, there are people who do get the full sonic impulse treatment from time to time, but usually they've done something to deserve at least an audio assault. Plugging the fast lane at less than the speed limit will sometimes inspire a full throttle pass on the left, although the risk of picking up a nail has taken the edge off that manuever. In other matters: its pretty much a given here that at a traffic stoppage for road construction, bikes move to the front. Don't have to eat everyone's dust, plus you don't have to pick them all off one by one on an otherwise open road. Did that in Washington state last year and got major grief from the flaglady. What's with that? That actually reminds me of getting grief for the same scenario in BC from a pickup truck driver on the Fraser Canyon. Once we started going we stayed just fast enough to not get passed, still 20 mph or more over the speed limit, waited 'til we were in a tunnel, and I think there's about ten of 'em in 30 miles, then downshifted and pinned it when the truck got into each tunnel. That was fun. | ||
| Whatever |
Easy answer, the flaglady was pissed because she can't afford a bike AND she is a flaglady for God's sake !!! | ||
| Nevco1 |
Easier answer, but not as much fun. If you had to cross a solid yellow line, ride on the shoulder or split/share lanes, you have committed a traffic offense in every State. The only exception is California which allows lane splitting/sharing. Translation: you upset all around you if they were not of the "it don't mean nothin'" generation. Having moved back to Wisconsin from So Cal, I have had a real hard time not lane splitting. It is just something that becomes second nature to you after a while. Not to mention it is a time saver, keeps your air cooled engine from burning up and protects you from being hit from the rear at stop signs/lights. What are the laws concerning these maneuvers in BC and do they change in each Province as you ride across Canada? For what it's worth... Bill PS: The Flag Lady could have been a Self-appointed Sheriff, was just seething and considering making a citizens arrest. LMAO | ||
| Sportyeric |
Well, it's not legal, of course, but it's probably the safest illegal maneuver we do on bikes. I mean, we pass them on double solids sometimes at high speed but I've never seen such a chip on the shoulder as that flaglady, and, I think, the car drivers around us. It seemed like a difference between,"oooh, that guy was so reckless" and "hey, that jerk isn't waiting his turn." I guess it all turned on the flaglady's attitude. Usually, they treat it as normal procedure and chat with us, which would defuse the wronged car driver. | ||
| Rick_A |
Well, in the standstill traffic I encounter daily here I sometimes cruise down past all the stopped traffic if it's a wide lane. There's almost always some @$$ in a truck that tries to cut ya off. Anytime some fool jumps in the fast lane and slows me down...I pin it and unneccesarily rev the crap out of my bike as I pass, too. The worst is when some old fart in an open lane blocks a pass by staying with a slower car. Just 'cause you're slow don't mean I have to be! Stoplights...I always leave as quickly as possible if I'm the first there. I can't stand when I get cut off by a cage driver. In heavy traffic it happens all the time. I should keep a bag of ball bearings to chuck into their window as I pass. Seems like a third of all cars here have a dented fender...ok...but I'm on a bike! | ||
| Lornce |
Errrmn, not entirely sure where this thread's meant to go.... Reviewed some of the earlier posts.... Some of the in-between-posts.... A few observations on riding and riders after 25 years and 350k+ injury free miles.... Genuinely fast guys don't slow down *too* much as they age.... Slow guys get more annoying in their arrogant attitudes towards fast guys as they age.... Most fast guys ride fast because it's pleasing and it makes them smile as they enjoy the unique thrill of mastering a machine at speed.... Slow guys accuse fast guys of "having something to prove" largely because they feel powerless to do SOMEthing in response to being so slow.... The *safety idiot* angle remains their only proactive recourse.... Have a riding buddy who used to be a national level road racing contender here in Canada.... He's now a 63 year old retired art teacher refined intellectual type.... And he still rides the wheels off his R1100S and embarrasses the vast majority of riders half his age.... He really loves to ride my Buells.... Says the motors 'talk' to him.... He recently sold his 851 Ducati.... Thank God.... When he rides my 146 rwhp Suzuki Streetfighter he gets a maniacal grin on his face that remains for hours.... He's not trying to 'prove' anything to anyone.... He's doing what he loves and it makes him smile.... He hasn't crashed in decades.... I find him to be typical of truly skilled riders.... I think I made my point.... | ||
| Kerryx1 |
>>>>"Genuinely fast guys don't slow down *too* much as they age...."<<<< Lornce, So very true! They don't really slow down, the mind and body just need a tiny bit more time to calculate all the given factors that come with speed. Careful calculation of the given factors with sufficient buffer for the unseen is riding on the edge of the envelope. It's the valve for adrenaline! 'Ole Baldie Beautiful S3 you have! | ||
| Java |
Maybe I'm just over cautious, because I'm already fighting the battle over my cigarettes and my guns. Maybe I AM just getting old. But when all those old folks that have been offended/scared/pissed off by our loud pipes and "look at me" riding styles get together, they will do and say just what we are doing and saying now. After they've voted to outlaw any two-wheeled vehicles on any roads, public or private, they will flip you off, and say "sorry, life goes on". Just as we have the freedom to ride what we want, however we want, as long as society tolerates us, they have the freedom to shut us down when they cease to tolerate us. | ||
| Dino |
Well said, Java. Perhaps we'll all understand it after it's too late. | ||
| Cowboy |
Hi. all with the weather now to cold to ride very much I enjoy reading your posting. Dont worry to much about getting old I dont think you will slow down much. at 66yr I still ride a X1 lighting, have been riding for 50+ yr. once owned a twin engine dragster, and still like to wind her up. But at my age a QUICKIE only means a fast bike....waiting for spring | ||
| Rick_A |
Pshaw...there's enough Cruiser riders with drag pipes to make sure that won't happen  I think it's been that way since the beginning. I don't think that'll ever happen...especially with our numbers growing every year. | ||
| Dino |
Nope, you're right. They'll never outlaw gun ownership either. | ||
| Captpete |
Rick, North FL's just like South GA, which is a different country than South FL. C'mon up & trade your walker & blue hair for a pit bull & pony tail. Ya gotta go north to get to the South. & have you tried Gainsville HD/Buell for your parts needs? They've got a pretty good rep. And all ya gotta do is cross the bridge to get to CycleRama (like... on the side of the of the Team Elves LSR Buell?) for your performance needs. Capt. Pete | ||
| Rick_A |
Well, see, guns are a bit of a different story, IMO. Those rights are slowly being eroded away by the media-fed ignorant sheep among us. Yeah...S FL really blows...but the traffic here is unbearable...idling around with numb hands on a throbbing beast. I'm gonna try farther north in the future. I've heard great things about Gainsville and of course awesome things about Cyclerama. Gainsville is about 2 hours from here. I guess if I need something in a pinch I'll give 'em a ring. About Cyclerama...I'll call them when the checkbook allows! I have ideas of ported heads and NOS under a custom tailsection...  | ||
| Dino |
Rick_A, Do you think that the "media-fed ignorant sheep among us" understand our love of motorcycles and are eager to protect our right to blow past old codgers on our bikes that sound like big-twins w/ straight thru exhausts? (paraphrasing your posts from a couple threads here on BadWeb) | ||
| Lornce |
Cowboy, My hat's off to you friend. The real deal's getting harder to find all the time. Long may you run... and ride. Lornce | ||
| Nevco1 |
RickA... Tis those same ignorant, media fed sheep that are going after motorcyclists rights and many more freedoms in this country. Easiest way to explain it is to suggest you look at all the things you could do as a kid and realize that most of it is illegal now or at least will get you in deep yogurt. Once you do that exercise, try to imagine what freedoms those of us that are (unfortunately) considerably older than you have lost. It is indeed a poor situation we have gotten ourselves into. Had we collectively taken the responsibility for our own actions, we would not be hounded by the bleeding heart liberals (read: those that want to blame objects and not people in this case) that have undue influence on the lawmakers. Way too many laws on the books already. Get rid of the antiquated, revise the existing and enforce them. Then again, if that happens what do we need over half the Fed and State Governments for. Tax savings idea, eh? LOL | ||
| Kevyn |
And just why "thank god" was it so special that he sold the 851 Duc...?  | ||
| Lornce |
~And just why "thank god" was it so special that he sold the 851 Duc...?~ Kevyn, Beg your pardon, guess that wasn't too clear. Was alluding to how ruddy fast he liked to go on the 851! Couple of years back at the Canadian Ducati Owners Club's annual track event on the Mosport circuit, he's mixing it up with a 30ish American guy. It's getting pretty heated with lots of back and forth outbraking and moves up the inside etc. In short: They're having a ball. Immediately afterwards in the pits the young guy walks over to my buddy (who's still got his helmet on: dude has no idea he's been dicing with a 60 year old) and says something like "Great ride, you were really flyin' out there. I've never seen you before. Where you from?" My friend raises his visor, leans in close to the guy and with his patented 'isn't life a wonderful thing' smile on his face, simply says "The sixties". Lornce | ||
| Bomber |
Rick_A if you really think you (and the rest of us riders) are not under attack, brother, open up yer peepers, read the paper, take a look at the AMA website . . . . .sheesh, man . . . pay attention fer chrissakes . . . . . . one example of a good-sized minority being legislated out of existance is that of smokers . . .last I saw, approx 25% of the adult population smoked (tobacco) . . . . slowly being legislated into the tar pits . . . . weather or not you agree with this particular example of majority rule, let it serve as an example of a large percentage of the population being run outa dodge by the sheep you mentioned earlier | ||
| Rick_A |
The difference is...motorcycles are still seen as a viable form of transportation. Guns are being ostracized in the media as unnecessary pure deadly life takers. Almost anything fun and enjoyable is under attack. There's bicycle helmet laws being pushed...people trying to ban scooters and skateboards...etc, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if parents will be signing wavers to let their kids into a playground in the near future. It's outa control. It's not that I don't think we're under attack...it's that we pretty much have been since motorcycles were invented and things are still pretty good. There's a lotta laws that are out of our favor...but a lot are not being enforced, either. The only crime is getting caught...and the only law is that which you follow, IMO. Did you know you could be fined $40,000 for the mods done to your bike? You did it anyway didn't you? Fer Christ sakes, man, have you no respect for the law?! My point is, no sh*t, we're under attack...always have been. It just doesn't worry me much, is all. Hell, I can't even vote...and I have no $$ to speak with...so screw it. That's my angle...and I'm sticking to it. In short...don't give me your lines...'cause I can't do a damn thing about it. Bikes get banned...I'll get a license, slap a number plate on it, and drag my car out of the garage. That's about as much as I can do  | ||
| Bomber |
Well, Rick, I can think of a number of things to write, but, as you've already decided your stance, I'll just wish you luck . . . . | ||
| Dino |
Gee Rick_A, so much to disagree with, so little time. "The difference is...motorcycles are still seen as a viable form of transportation. " Hahahahahhaha. In Europe yes, in the U.S.,no way. Bikes are seen as toys. "Almost anything fun and enjoyable is under attack. " Seen anybody attacking skydiving. Neither have I. Probably because nobody's ever been passed by a skydiver running an uncorked 1200cc V-Twin. If you don't annoy people they are much more likely to leave you, and your sport, alone. "Did you know you could be fined $40,000 for the mods done to your bike?" I realize that this was aimed at someone else. My bikes are virtually stock. Don't take any of this to mean I'm suggesting that you should never, ever stretch the law a bit. Hell, my regular riding bud is Ferris Bueller. Those who know Ferris will assure you that I wouldn't stay in the same zipcode with him if I didn't occasionally, ummm, nibble a bit at the edges of the California vehicle code. I could put a track only exhaust on my FZ. That wouldn't make me as fast as Ferris, it'd just piss-off the people I pass on all the great twisties here in the southern Sierra Nevada. Most of those people are currently nice enough to use the turnouts when they see me coming up behind them. I believe that if intelligent riders want to continue to enjoy this sport with as little interference as possible they will attempt to minimize the degree to which they annoy the general public. Or gosh, maybe someday we can have it as good as the English gun owners do. We'll be able to have any moto we want, as long as it is no more than, say, 125cc; and of course we'll have to keep it at the track and ride it only on the track. Then everyone will be happy...right? |
