Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Rough Edge racing on August 24, 2015, 08:47:06 AM
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I know a lot you you here have powerful sport bikes capable of brutal acceleration and top speeds. Most don't confine this to the race track only......So many of you are hooligans like me and admit to using the power on public roads?
Disclaimer, do one condones breaking the law so let's just say it's all theoretical....
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The first time I rode with the SoCal hooligans, I wondered what would happen to my insurance if I got busted for 60 over..
So I didn't do that.
Ever.
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Edge one,
In moderation with the STRX, and I have not explored the terror zone above 9000 rpm very much. But man do I love the sharp handling and acceleration and responsive engine and brakes. Corners like a cat.
Given that I saw a young sport bike rider flipping in and out of lanes on a packed road last week. Idiot.
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I travelled back to Maine from San Diego just recently and seldom went over 75 MPH the entire ride, there were the odd times to get by a truck that I would do more and then settle back down to the more sedate pace.
Now, every once in a bit I will take the Stelvio up to triple digits just because there is a place to do that on my commute, did it today in fact.
This particular stretch of a divided four lane road I can see for about two miles after a gentle left hand sweeper and there are no cars within that foreseeable run I just roll it up from the 65 MPH that I am doing anyway and drift it off as I approach and hit 100... I love it. Always have and probably always will. It is better than coffee for me.
Best,
Rob
P.S. How did you do at Loring...?
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My first motorcycle was the '72 H2 that I still ride. Then I got a Mille GT, and then a Yamaha DT100 that I set up as a little road racer. Last week I bought an '05 Kawasaki Ninja 250 for my newly licensed daughter to have something she could ride. The H2 and Mille are physically too big for her, and the 100 is too small for long weekend rides. There's a lot of truth in the statement "It's more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow." After my first longish ride on the 250, I had so much fun that I've been saying that if it were the only motorcycle I could ever own from now on, I'd still be happy riding.
So the answer is that lately I've been enjoying motorcycles that don't tempt me to unleash ungodly power at every possible opportunity, and it's more of a relief than a disadvantage.
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Some folks who are overly focused on performance bikes may be subconsciously compensating for performance problems in other categories. Just sayin'.
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Oh hell , yeah my hooligan streak resurfaces every now and then , can't get on a fast bike W/O using it . Good reason to not own one .
Dusty
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This particular stretch of a divided four lane road I can see for about two miles after a gentle left hand sweeper and there are no cars within that foreseeable run I just roll it up from the 65 MPH that I am doing anyway and drift it off as I approach and hit 100... I love it. Always have and probably always will. It is better than coffee for me.
Best,
Rob
The Stelvio sounds good at 100, but in Virginia if "the bronze" catch you doing it, you'll be having your coffee in an orange jumpsuit the next morning ... Have to want that thrill pretty bad to do it on the street!
Lannis
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The 1190, can pick em up and lay em down, but I hate tickets, so stay around 10 over most of the time. I run pretty good in the mountains, but always slow down for small towns and traffic. Open road, I will leave your group of traffic at proper times, and you will never see me again most likely.
When traveling cross country (several states) I stick to back roads and twisties if I can find them. The 6 gallon tank will get me about 230 miles or more running 80ish. Over all I don't run high speed except to leave a traffic group for clearer roads.
The big power is very nice when it is needed. Gonna be really hard to sell this bike, best handling bike I have ever owned!
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before the speed traps became prevalent I used to hit my Bandit pretty hard, like an indicated 135 on the way to work or 145 going with sport riders. Now I am not claiming that I was going that fast, probably 120-130 tops. The difference was huge, at 145 it was a little bit scary but 135 felt stable enough to ride it all the way to California.
I've also touched 105 on the EV with the wife dozing on the back seat. The Sport gets a little twitchy at speed. But anymore I am less into speed and more into cornering and technical aspects of riding rather than just pinning the throttle. The Sport is great for that. And I don't want anymore tickets.
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After garaging my brother in law's GSX-R 1000 for a few years and taking a few trips just to keep it in shape, I checked out a speed in gear chart to know how fast I was going. During acceleration the digital speedo was useless so I wanted to at least guess at how fast you had to go to get to the 8.5k rpm where the bike started pulling (13k redline). That's 60mph in first gear! If you get to the power band in 2nd you're breaking the law, get to in third it's reckless driving, and get to it in 4th you are either dead or going to jail. Shift out 2nd and you are in triple digits.
Ok so I did it a couple of time I admit, but those hyper bikes are mostly driven well below their intended rpm range. At those rpms they are making about the same power and torque as a Griso in its intended power band. Much more fun to be on the gun with a bike made for the street then to have the occasional visit to warp speed. At least that's what I came away with.
http://www.gearingcommander.com/
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... Have to want that thrill pretty bad to do it on the street!
Lannis
Yeah, I get that. I do not do it often, only when the conditions are juuuust right. No place for a LEO to hide in that one stretch and it takes literally a second to run it up there. I just enjoy it however, if there is one car up ahead, I stay put.
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To some who claim not to.... So you're on a deserted road and never give it full throttle and near redline in the first few gears up to maybe 80 MPH? So why buy a performance bike that isn't just for track time, is it just for image?
I'll admit to using all the acceleration performance of my 97 Buell in a straight line and more or less in curves. Not all the time of course. It's not about showing off because no one is around... but the thrill of acceleration is still a rush to me...And the meditation factor...Problems just disappear as you concentrate on the task at hand.
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yeah I have a hard time not breaking 90 over the limit...fortunately I live in a very rural area of WI. I did manage on the last group outing (961 miles in three days) to only take it to 130 once for a couple of minutes. The big VFR just cruises at 145 like nothing.
Last month I took a 60 mile test ride on a Kawasaki ZX14R... That bike just cruises at 160 like nothing...It is just astonishing how good today's motorcycles are. After the test ride on the ZX14R the salesman asked me if I wanted to take the bike home with me... (this was on a Wendsday) I answered "I would love to,but if I did I would LOSE my license by Saturday." A least I had the sense to keep my VFR that day...
I had been riding dirt bikes for year's until I got my license at 16,and my first road bike was a 1976 RD350, and it is astonishing how far motorcycles have come since then.
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My poor little bike gets wrung out fairly often when I know there are no LEO's around. There are a few roads around here that I can get to well over 100 "safely". The problem at the higher speeds is I start thinking about stuff like, is there going to be a pothole in the road or other debris that will end the ride abruptly? So, then I slow down a little, 80 or so :)
I have ridden much faster bikes and I KNOW I would get into trouble with them, so I keep my lowly T5.
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I bought the Breva 1100 because of it's raw power over the 750s. There is no logical reason, I just wanted the extra power. Call me immature. Now... for me the 90 hp and huge torque is all I need. Torque rules my world.
I used to have an SV650, and eventually got to ride a cbr600 F3. I disliked all parts of riding the sport bike around town because you couldn't have any fun with it, the only time it made me grin was getting on the freeway, but when I looked down I was doing 85 on the onramp. It's not worth it to me to have a bike whose only purpose is to break the law and be utterly uncomfortable at all times.
If I had the money, I would buy this for track use though... Now there is some TORQUE :evil:
(http://lightningmotorcycle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/LS218_specs_new.jpg)
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Well, I think I've out grown that and lived to tell about it. Yea, I had an H1 but my fastest bike was a Ducati. Probably my most fun was on the track when I campaigned a GPZ 550 around 1980. I rode my RD400F Daytona like gang busters in the Malibu canyons and never went down but did get written up by the man more than once. I loved riding that on Latigo - a lot of 2nd gear action. :thumb:
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I recently bought a BMW K1300GT, pretty much the opposite of a Guzzi--the BMW has seemingly no flywheel, all horsepower, no 'character', motionless at idle, but is obscenely fast. And therein lies its fun. I cruised at 100 mph early last Sunday morning on the empty, rural interstate to visit my mother. She's doing fine, and the bike was a champ. :grin:
Otherwise I keep the risky riding to a minimum, even with the K's capabilities.
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I ride my Moto Guzzi with the throttle to the stop almost all the time - often for hours on end. :evil:
But.........its a NF with a top speed not much north of 60!
Nick
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Okay I am quite guilty but living in rural Kansas it is so easy to do with all the straight roads, little traffic and you can see far ahead. I have had the T-3 up to 115 mph indicated with the wife on board and she was laughing her ass off in in her helmet. Keep in mind that kind of speed was for maybe a half a mile then back to reality.
Yesterday we were in the car on highway 160 which is the main east west highway through deep southern Kansas. After getting about 20 miles west of Medicine lodge we drove for at least 40 miles without seeing another car from either direction.
GliderJohn
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Okay I am quite guilty but living in rural Kansas it is so easy to do with all the straight roads, little traffic and you can see far ahead. I have had the T-3 up to 115 mph indicated with the wife on board and she was laughing her ass off in in her helmet. Keep in mind that kind of speed was for maybe a half a mile then back to reality.
Yesterday we were in the car on highway 160 which is the main east west highway through deep southern Kansas. After getting about 20 miles west of Medicine lodge we drove for at least 40 miles without seeing another car from either direction.
GliderJohn
A lot of times it's not the other traffic we need to worry about!
You blow a tire on a T3 two-up at 115 MPH, and you'll be hurtin' for certain - smiles will come hard, I know that. Or the tranny locks up under the strain, or whatever .....
BUT everyone has to decide the risk/benefit for themselves.
Lannis
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Guilty- there's a few favorite spots where you can stretch the legs a little. But it's usually a limited twist up to 100-105 then back down to a more sensible clip.
I'm with Lucydad on knowing it's there: "In moderation with the STRX, and I have not explored the terror zone above 9000 rpm very much. But man do I love the sharp handling and acceleration and responsive engine and brakes. Corners like a cat. "
*On the 1200S it's a nice long pull and the rare occasion to actually get into 6th.
*On the Duc it's a chance to hear & feel the bike as you row it from 4th through 5th and into 6th.
*On the MV it's the simultaneous pulling of your shoulder sockets while your eyeballs get squished in 4th and 5th. Roads aren't long enough for 6th. Terror zone is quite an accurate description.
A KTM390 could be a fun all around for back roads in this part of PA. Nimble, power enough to get your heart racing, but you'd still have to work for it. Plenty of truth that it's "more fun to ride a slow bike fast."
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This thread has a point? A lot of people get into bikes because they can't afford a properly fast car, living in a large state with a concentrated population means law enforcement is stretched pretty thin in a lot of places and we really only have one relatively small club race track draw your own conclusions.
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So many of you are hooligans like me and admit to using the power on public roads?
Every time a scooter goes past me. :whip2:
Red rag to a bull, that is. :bike-037:
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Quote from Lannis:
A lot of times it's not the other traffic we need to worry about!
You blow a tire on a T3 two-up at 115 MPH, and you'll be hurtin' for certain - smiles will come hard, I know that. Or the tranny locks up under the strain, or whatever .....
BUT everyone has to decide the risk/benefit for themselves.
Possibly, but doing something like that for a half mile or less under a very carefully chosen piece of road IMHO carries less risk then your average drive through any given city. If we had a tire (Using near new H rated tires) let go at that speed we would not be "hurtin for certain", we would most likely be killed instantly. Yes, we all make our own choices.
GliderJohn
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I bought the Breva 1100 because of it's raw power over the 750s. There is no logical reason, I just wanted the extra power. Call me immature. Now... for me the 90 hp and huge torque is all I need. Torque rules my world.
I used to have an SV650, and eventually got to ride a cbr600 F3. I disliked all parts of riding the sport bike around town because you couldn't have any fun with it, the only time it made me grin was getting on the freeway, but when I looked down I was doing 85 on the onramp. It's not worth it to me to have a bike whose only purpose is to break the law and be utterly uncomfortable at all times.
If I had the money, I would buy this for track use though... Now there is some TORQUE :evil:
(http://lightningmotorcycle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/LS218_specs_new.jpg)
Notice they dont mention the weight
Ciao
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I admit to it, hit 138mph Saturday on the `14 MV Agusta F4. It had plenty more left and do not doubt it would come close to it`s 180.9 advertised top speed. It`s was only about a 20 second run from a rolling 20mph start and shifts were 2000 under redline, it was leisurely and no real strain. The Quickshifter and Auto-blipper are nice items also.:thumb:
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A lot of times it's not the other traffic we need to worry about!
You blow a tire on a T3 two-up at 115 MPH, and you'll be hurtin' for certain - smiles will come hard, I know that. Or the tranny locks up under the strain, or whatever .....
BUT everyone has to decide the risk/benefit for themselves.
Lannis
And you can crushed by a F350 while driving your tiny car... :wink:
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Guilty- there's a few favorite spots where you can stretch the legs a little. But it's usually a limited twist up to 100-105 then back down to a more sensible clip.
I'm with Lucydad on knowing it's there: "In moderation with the STRX, and I have not explored the terror zone above 9000 rpm very much. But man do I love the sharp handling and acceleration and responsive engine and brakes. Corners like a cat. "
*On the 1200S it's a nice long pull and the rare occasion to actually get into 6th.
*On the Duc it's a chance to hear & feel the bike as you row it from 4th through 5th and into 6th.
*On the MV it's the simultaneous pulling of your shoulder sockets while your eyeballs get squished in 4th and 5th. Roads aren't long enough for 6th. Terror zone is quite an accurate description.
A KTM390 could be a fun all around for back roads in this part of PA. Nimble, power enough to get your heart racing, but you'd still have to work for it. Plenty of truth that it's "more fun to ride a slow bike fast."
My experience is similar, minus the MV. My B11, being similar to the 1200S gives the same experience. My Monster 796 quite similar to the S2R, same deal, it's a chance to go from 4th to 5th to 6th at full song, enjoying the wonderful air-cooled Desmo music. Same deal with the couple of VFR's that I've owned. The V4's definitely play a wonderful tune of their own.
These three digit excursions are always on remote, straight sections of road with no traffic or places for LEO's to hide. PA125, one of my favorite roads near me has a few straight steep uphill sections that are great for enjoying the full music of the motor w/o needing to go as fast, as you can twist the throttle to the stop to the top of 2nd and 3rd gears to hear that wonderful music and still keep it under three digits.
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Notice they dont mention the weight
Ciao
They do, somewhere on that site it is listed, just under 500# IIRC. That's actually pretty light compared to a 560# Hyabusa.
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I admit to it, hit 138mph Saturday on the `14 MV Agusta F4. It had plenty more left and do not doubt it would come close to it`s 180.9 advertised top speed. It`s was only about a 20 second run from a rolling 20mph start and shifts were 2000 under redline, it was leisurely and no real strain. The Quickshifter and Auto-blipper are nice items also.:thumb:
Well, either you or your bike is lacking in the cojones category. You chickened out at 40 mph under the top speed? Strong admission, indeed.
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Well, either you or your bike is lacking in the cojones category. You chickened out at 40 mph under the top speed? Strong admission, indeed.
Ran out of room, stopping is part of the equation.
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I totally get the allure.
But the temptation to do it, and not always at the ideal time, is part of my reasoning for choosing the bikes I keep in the fleet.
That's not to say I don't enjoy it on occasion (especially on the right bike).
But I've generally found it's a better idea if I don't tempt myself every day.
Kudos to those of you who have better throttle discipline on a more regular basis, enjoy your rides.
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I totally get the allure.
But the temptation to do it, and not always at the ideal time, is part of my reasoning for choosing the bikes I keep in the fleet.
That's not to say I don't enjoy it on occasion (especially on the right bike).
Yup, you`re right, because if you have it you`ll use it
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I try to keep my wrist action to occasional single riding on remote roads and even then for short bursts. Fast group riding is just asking for a trip in the back of a patrol car.
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Yup, you`re right, because if you have it you`ll use it
And after all these years, we find common ground. :grin: :wink: :boozing:
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I got out of the high performance bike business about 4 years ago (or so I thought). I had this 2006 BMW K1200r - 163 hp - that just wasn't happy below 80 mph. After back to back weekend 'discussions' with a couple of rural Texas sheriffs I decided to sell it.
However, over the years I've gradually moved back towards the dark side. First came the 2006 Griso, which may not be considered a performance bike, but is perfectly happy going down the road at 85 mph + for miles.
But then came the Ducati Monster 821. I told the dealer I wasn't interested in the 1200 Monster because I didn't need all that power. So fast forward to the present:
I do the bulk of my riding in the Texas Hill Country. Once you get about 150 miles west of Austin you run into a lot of wide open roads. The locals seem to treat the posted speed limits, usually 70-75 mph minimum on surface roads, as 'suggestions'. If you don't run about 10 mph above you will continually get passed.
So I put over 400 miles on the 'little' Monster this weekend. I did at least two desolate 10 mile stretches at 100 mph. Never saw any cars, just wide open roads. Oh, and the little Ducati will go considerably faster than that speed, but we won't get into that here.
Guess my only hope is finding a twelve step program for speedaholics and sticking to it.
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At the LSR tracks we race on there are quite a few street bikes sometimes. A lot of guys are disappointed when their supposed fast bike, usually an older modified machine , can barely top 120, despite claims of much higher speeds on the highway.
But most of the stuff that's supposed to be fast is, like near 185 MPH in the one mile standing start for the best stock hyper bikes. But stock at the track means stock external appearance , not necessarily internal engine stuff.
My 85 Guzzi Cali cafe bike ran 4 consistent 117 MPH runs. The bike was still pulling slightly in 5th so might have gone 120 with more room..
In the world of land speed racing there are about 50 naked frame bikes over 200 MPH, none are stock of course.
I still find acceleration to be a thrill.... Hanging onto a machine by fingertips ,ass and toes as it accelerates fast enough to scare me...
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And after all these years, we find common ground. :grin: :wink: :boozing:
Finally we do! :boozing:
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I love to ride fast as Rough edge knows :evil:
I get tickets, on my Buell most recently.
Rough's old Cal II hasn't seen 117mph with me- haven't found a road long and empty enough to hold it open. Hit only 75 behind the pace car at Watkins Glen-I want more time to play! On the road 75-85 is typical of open rural roads. I slow down a bit when I'm on new roads. You never know what's around the corner.
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I love to ride fast as Rough edge knows :evil:
I get tickets, on my Buell most recently.
Rough's old Cal II hasn't seen 117mph with me- haven't found a road long and empty enough to hold it open. Hit only 75 behind the pace car at Watkins Glen-I want more time to play! On the road 75-85 is typical of open rural roads. I slow down a bit when I'm on new roads. You never know what's around the corner.
Yeah, you ride damn fast most of the time, fast acceleration and breaking 80 on the rural two lanes. But last time was more sane... :copcar:
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I love to ride fast as Rough edge knows :evil:
I slow down a bit when I'm on new roads. You never know what's around the corner.
You never know what`s around a corner on a road you do know. :wink:
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Just last Saturday I was tooling down a back road outside of Lancaster, CA, on my 01 Cal Special with the speedo needle hovering around 130. The 7/33 rear drive might have something to do with that. :grin: I figure I was closer to 100.
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Outran a cop once. Between Pinckard and Daleville, AL. On an old non-stock Harley. I swear it's true. 1977, winter. Was leaving him behind very nicely and after I topped a hill and got out of his line of sight, I turned off the lights and took a sideroad. I knew he'd radio the cops in Daleville. A jerk that stayed right on my back fender every night when I got off 2nd shift in Dothan and came through Pinckard. I was young and stupid, but it was a rush. Stopped coming home through Pinckard though. I recommend it highly, if you're young and stupid.
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It would be interesting to look at the median age of people and the context of their reply to this thread.
As we age (and survive) the painted lines seem to have changed tempo.
I fully admit to being stupid but lucky. I also admit to not having the brights to resist temptation if the opportunity is available so I've limited temptation.
There was a time in my life, when I lived in Alberta, that my (non-group ride) testosterone was validated through the challenge of tripling the posted corner speed on any rural road. Pretty much doable as long as the bike had the balance and the legs, and I had the balls. But that was decades ago (1980's).
Today I ride a 50 hp bike on which I've recorded 108 miles per hour by GPS.
Still here, still having fun. Can afford an xxx-hp bike. Prefer to try to ride into my eighties.
I want to be one of those old bastards in old styler leather you meet that say "look Sonny.... this is how it is..."
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In my younger days...... I had a Yamaha FJ1100, which was a glorious beast of a bike. I just kept going faster and faster. Then one day, after putting it completely in the air (but only a couple feet) at about 130 on the street (and landing it), I thought, "I should slow down if I ever want to get old."
That's when I got a BMW R100CS (airhead). It was more challenging to ride at slower speeds, and I liked the sound and feel of the twin - which I supposed was a necessary step in my development before I could be allowed to become a Guzzisti. Fast forward more than a few years... the Guzzi V11s are faster than I really need to go, but still fast and sporty enough.
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Back about 10 years ago, I was commuting to work on an FZ750 Yamaha...every morning I would pin it across a long straight at the bottom of a valley (this was 5:30-6AM-ish), and see 240kmh plus indicated (pipe/filter mods etc). One morning I passed a dump truck doing my usual speed, came up the long hill to the crest, and suddenly had a box full of neutrals as I started down the other side. I figured I had blown transmission...clos er inspection that night revealed I had lost the front sprocket nut and the primary sprocket came off. Luckily Yamaha in their infinite wisdom casts a cone inside the sprocket cover that keeps the sprocket centered over the end of the output shaft and kept me from locking up a back wheel and getting spit off. That was an eye opening event!!!
Now I try to keep it subsonic most of the time...but I did pull redline in 6th a couple weeks back on my V11 LeMans (ti pipes, K&N, PC, dyno tune) on a long level piece of pavement. I don't have a working speedo at the moment...but it calculates out to a respectable top speed...lol
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I owned a 1050 Tiger that had all the speed (and then some) that I could need. Sold it and bought a V7 once I figured out I never really ran the Tiger over 5000 rpm on a routine basis, it was just a hair trigger above those rpm's and too easy to get going faster than I realized. Just before I bought the V7 I really laid into the throttle on the Tiger coming away from a light and maybe I had a head cold or something but my brain felt like it was 10 yards behind the bike and not in control, I didn't like that at all.
I did enjoy riding the Tiger up Highway 1 to Big Sur, it was a good bike for nipping around slow cars in the short straights between curves, I may take the V7 up there this week for a run.
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I've ridden classic bikes for awhile now and like that, really like riding my V7C (not much faster than my Goldstar), but everrry now and then I've got to take my 955 Sprint out and pull the trigger. Still comfortable doing it and it keeps my blood thinned out.
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Riding on ice is sorta like riding a 170 hp bike - you gotta be so smooth
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I sold my Norton Commando because I knew I'd die on it. Next was a HD panhead which was more tractor than motorcycle. Now, with a little Breva 750, I kind of split the difference
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Riding on ice is sorta like riding a 170 hp bike - you gotta be so smooth
Actually you don`t. With bank angle sensing traction control, anti-wheelie intervention, slipper clutches and ABS it`s not absolutely necessary, but it`s still better if you are.
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I take the Diavel out for a short burst now and again. It has some much power that you can get there, enjoy it, and back off way before anyone will notice.
Not interested in jacking my insurance rates, so I try to keep the speeding to a minimum.
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When I was 20 I decided that the Yamaha R6 was very cool and that I wanted one. I rode it the 500 mile break in as recommended and decided it is now time to see what this bike was all about. I was on a long highway onramp and grabbed a handful of throttle in first gear. That front end shot up faster than i could say "oh s***" I backed off of it and put it in second and revved it up. I got it to 125 and merged into traffic.
I mostly used the power of that bike to accelerate onto the highway. I rarely sped and rode it like a normal bike. I had taller bars and a Corbin seat and it was a sport tourer. These days I dont see myself owning a sport bike. It doesn't suit what I do and there are no roads in Alaska that would do it justice.
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Actually you don`t. With bank angle sensing traction control, anti-wheelie intervention, slipper clutches and ABS it`s not absolutely necessary, but it`s still better if you are.
This. Modern 'High Performance' bikes are so barkingly mad in front of almost any riders ability curve that these 'Anti-Wanker' devices, (As they were described to us by a Piaggio factory rep! :grin:) are pretty much 'De Riguere'.
Like it or not the bikes are a lot better than we ever were or will be.
Pete
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I can't wait to get on the STRX this weekend....
I got the need.
The need for speed....
Been a very stressful week.
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I can't wait to get on the STRX this weekend....
I got the need.
The need for speed....
Been a very stressful week.
:evil: :evil: :evil:
:copcar:
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I mostly used the power of that bike to accelerate onto the highway. I rarely sped and rode it like a normal bike. I had taller bars and a Corbin seat and it was a sport tourer. These days I dont see myself owning a sport bike. It doesn't suit what I do and there are no roads in Alaska that would do it justice.
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Entirely disagree. there are some spectacular riding roads in your state.
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Yep .............. My K13 tests me every time I'm out with her..... its turbine smooth amongst other obvious things and is in many ways the opposite of the M/Gs.
Ciao.
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One of my all time favorite bikes, and maybe the best sport touring rig I've ever owned (rode it 27,000 miles in a year) was my ZX-14.
Smoother than anything else I'd ridden, made my PGM-FI Blackbird feel like a cammy small block.... had reserves of power that you virtually never tapped into.....and was just a fun bike to ride.
A bike that is built to handle 186mph and 180hp will go down the freeway at 80 feeling so relaxed and unstressed, that you feel like you could hop off and jog alongside. Really hides the sensation of speed.
And when you do want to see what it can do....on a deserted two lane in southern New Mexico for example :azn:
It makes everything you've ever ridden feel hopelessly slow.
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One of my all time favorite bikes, and maybe the best sport touring rig I've ever owned (rode it 27,000 miles in a year) was my ZX-14.
Smoother than anything else I'd ridden, made my PGM-FI Blackbird feel like a cammy small block.... had reserves of power that you virtually never tapped into.....and was just a fun bike to ride.
A bike that is built to handle 186mph and 180hp will go down the freeway at 80 feeling so relaxed and unstressed, that you feel like you could hop off and jog alongside. Really hides the sensation of speed.
And when you do want to see what it can do....on a deserted two lane in southern New Mexico for example :azn:
It makes everything you've ever ridden feel hopelessly slow.
Sounds like a great bike, almost ideal!
There must be another side of the story, though, because (not to put too fine a point on it) I notice that you're not riding it any more .... ?
Lannis
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Sounds like a great bike, almost ideal!
There must be another side of the story, though, because (not to put too fine a point on it) I notice that you're not riding it any more .... ?
Lannis
nope...no other side to the story.
I am on my 71st motorcycle since 1968, have owned at least one every year since I was 12.
Half of those are probably dirtbikes, some plated, some not. There's a link to them in my sig line.
I tend to keep a bike a year, maybe two - and put tons of miles on them, then move on.
I like all brands, am not a slave to 'character' vs. 'appliance' arguments - every bike has it's good and weak points.
I have no favorite brand - it's pretty tough to buy a bad motorcycle these days. Some are truly stupendous, some are a little boring, but they all had "something" that got my interest long enough for me to purchase it and ride it a while.
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nope...no other side to the story.
I am on my 71st motorcycle since 1968, have owned at least one every year since I was 12.
Half of those are probably dirtbikes, some plated, some not. There's a link to them in my sig line.
I tend to keep a bike a year, maybe two - and put tons of miles on them, then move on.
I like all brands, am not a slave to 'character' vs. 'appliance' arguments - every bike has it's good and weak points.
I have no favorite brand - it's pretty tough to buy a bad motorcycle these days. Some are truly stupendous, some are a little boring, but they all had "something" that got my interest long enough for me to purchase it and ride it a while.
Got it!
I'm about as half as bad as you, I think I'm on bike #34 since 1970.
I keep SAYING that the best thing to do is to hook onto a great bike and then keep it and bond with it and stick with it for as long as you can ....
.... but I'm extremely unfaithful and I never do it .....
Lannis
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Hmm, I am taking Mary Anne out tomorrow to the coast....Little Goose got all the miles last weekend, but she will get out on Sunday to church and a bit more.
Think I will install the side and big top bag on the V7R: test fit for the OK and fall camping. All my camp gear got stored, pissed me off when I found out, should have it back in a couple weeks though.
Not sure if side bags on V7R will swing too much...rub or not...need to find out though...could be a little engineering could fix problems. I want a test loaded up run, and chance to pack my kit, and set up tent before pondering the OK Rally...
Grandpa Larry today: 1) locked himself out of house, 2) found out he is out of toilet paper, did not tell us...so no idea how long it has been since he used any, 3) threw a fit at dinner for more wine, 4) ate his salad with his hands at restaurant, 5) wiped his mouth on table cloth, I reminded him nicely he has a napkin, apologized, then did it again 5 seconds later...
We cry and laugh at the same time. Alzheimer's is horrible, and wow I will leave it at that. Good part is he did not ramble down stairs to disrupt our key financial planning meeting this morning: critical to the October 5 retirement.
Come on life...lighten up.
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In the late 80's at around 2:00 am on I-5 between Sacramento and Lodi I found out that my Honda V65 Magna would show 130 on the speedometer (I believe that there was some alcohol involved in this decision). As I was making this discovery a set of headlights appeared behind me, very rapidly decreasing the distance between us. I just knew I would be having breakfast behind bars while wearing an orange suit, however as I began to slow down the twin headlights came up next to me and the driver of the Cobra waved and quickly accelerated past and soon disappeared.
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...I am on my 71st motorcycle since 1968, have owned at least one every year since I was 12.
Half of those are probably dirtbikes, some plated, some not. There's a link to them in my sig line...
WOW! Thanks for pointing out the link to your bike history. What a blast reading through it.
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This. Modern 'High Performance' bikes are so barkingly mad in front of almost any riders ability curve that these 'Anti-Wanker' devices, (As they were described to us by a Piaggio factory rep! :grin:) are pretty much 'De Riguere'.
Like it or not the bikes are a lot better than we ever were or will be.
Pete
This is probably the best "Pro-Luddite" argument I've heard.
Modern bikes are having huge amounts of money spent on them by the developers, at the urging of the marketeers, and having huge amounts of fragile complexity added, so that they can reach levels of torque and horsepower that NOBODY can use on the street. Completely worthless for anything except extending the riders' imaginary wedding tackle and having something to brag about.
So, to counter all this unusable complexity and horsepower, they have EXTRA levels of complexity added to them to "tone them down" so that they don't kill people more than they do. Limiters, milder maps, lean sensors, ABS, etc etc.
It's just marketing, like giant V-twin Cubic Centimeter Comparisons ("Mine's 50cc bigger than YOURS, Nyaaaah!"). So what if it will go 186 MPH? So what if it will scrape the pegs at 100 MPH on a blind mountain turn? Nobody except a few maniacs is actually DOING that.
It's be simpler and cheaper if they'd just SAY it would do all this .... most riders wouldn't know the difference ....
Lannis
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This is probably the best "Pro-Luddite" argument I've heard.
Modern bikes are having huge amounts of money spent on them by the developers, at the urging of the marketeers, and having huge amounts of fragile complexity added, so that they can reach levels of torque and horsepower that NOBODY can use on the street. Completely worthless for anything except extending the riders' imaginary wedding tackle and having something to brag about.
So, to counter all this unusable complexity and horsepower, they have EXTRA levels of complexity added to them to "tone them down" so that they don't kill people more than they do. Limiters, milder maps, lean sensors, ABS, etc etc.
It's just marketing, like giant V-twin Cubic Centimeter Comparisons ("Mine's 50cc bigger than YOURS, Nyaaaah!"). So what if it will go 186 MPH? So what if it will scrape the pegs at 100 MPH on a blind mountain turn? Nobody except a few maniacs is actually DOING that.
It's be simpler and cheaper if they'd just SAY it would do all this .... most riders wouldn't know the difference ....
Lannis
If the world was a boring as you would like it to be, then all we need are 40hp VW bugs with airbags.
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How are your reactions? Believe the first decision you make in less than a second will be the right one?
This is the distance covered in one second at speed.
mph kmph metres psec feet psec
60-- 96.6 ---------27------------- 88
70-- 112.7--------31-------------103
80-- 128.8--------36-------------117
90-- 144.9--------40-------------132
100- 161----------45-------------147
110- 177.1--------49-------------161
120- 193.2--------54-------------176
130- 209.3--------58-------------191
140- 225.4--------63-------------205
150- 241.5--------67-------------220
Now have someone fire a tennis ball at you from 88 feet away at 60mph and try avoiding it :gotpics: PLEASE!
Ride to LIVE I say.
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This is probably the best "Pro-Luddite" argument I've heard.
Modern bikes are having huge amounts of money spent on them by the developers, at the urging of the marketeers, and having huge amounts of fragile complexity added, so that they can reach levels of torque and horsepower that NOBODY can use on the street. Completely worthless for anything except extending the riders' imaginary wedding tackle and having something to brag about.
So, to counter all this unusable complexity and horsepower, they have EXTRA levels of complexity added to them to "tone them down" so that they don't kill people more than they do. Limiters, milder maps, lean sensors, ABS, etc etc.
It's just marketing, like giant V-twin Cubic Centimeter Comparisons ("Mine's 50cc bigger than YOURS, Nyaaaah!"). So what if it will go 186 MPH? So what if it will scrape the pegs at 100 MPH on a blind mountain turn? Nobody except a few maniacs is actually DOING that.
It's be simpler and cheaper if they'd just SAY it would do all this .... most riders wouldn't know the difference ....
Lannis
Your awesome Lannis :thumb: your probably almost right.
Ciao.
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A bike that is built to handle 186mph and 180hp will go down the freeway at 80 feeling so relaxed and unstressed, that you feel like you could hop off and jog alongside. Really hides the sensation of speed.
That, especially the last line, is a precise explanation of what I don't like about them or, conversely, why I prefer less sophisticated/less powerful bikes.
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Your awesome Lannis :thumb: your probably almost right.
Ciao.
"Probably almost" is as good as it gets some days ... :azn:
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That, especially the last line, is a precise explanation of what I don't like about them or, conversely, why I prefer less sophisticated/less powerful bikes.
Yes.....My minimalist Buell can cruise at 80 mph with nearly zero engine vibration as well as many of the big bore Guzzi's. In fact most any modern Harley can cruise at 80 mph or faster without strain..
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Must of have been 25 or so years ago I had a BMW K100. I remember it was a tall bike that sounded like a sewing machine. On a whim, I ran it up to 130+... I managed a peak down at the instrument gauge just to see the number... it scared me and I've never ridden any faster than surrounding traffic since. The BMW was solid as a rock at high speed... I wasn't.
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My STRX triple gets smoother the faster we go....the choice for me though is maturity and throttle control.
Had my V7R up to 90 this morning on the freeway, she just purrs along.
Something that often comes with the modern high performance bikes: superb braking systems and handling and tires: all contribute to safety...
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Yeah the good old days when 100 mph or the Ton was a big deal. Ducked down onto the tank of a British 650 twin. Left hand down on the fork tube like a flat tracker, throttle twisted to max, intense vibration,blurred vision, gauge needles oscillating wildly, must be at least a 110 mph....Then back off the throttle, take a deep breath as you sit up into the wind and it was a test of rider and machine...
We have come a long way since then...or maybe we have lost something...