Sport bikes...

[KawiZX900 0]

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First off I have been 145 mph on my bike on a country road, so what I'm about to say is a little hypocritical. But dude those sort of speeds should be saved for the race track. People are risking organ donorship when they ride bikes at excessive speeds on city streets and highways. There are too many unknown variables (traffic and debris to name a few) on public roads to be riding a powerful machine near it's limits.

if you've got a rocket, odds are you'll feed it rice...

I know its stupid, and brought that up in an "ask the rider session" that Alpine Stars sponsored... My question was for Erik Bostrum where I asked what advice he had for new riders on the street trying to emmulate their more "experienced" street buddies and what they see on two wheel tuesdays from the pros. Especially since some of the FOckers out there are riding WAY past their wear bars on their tires.. and blah blah blah.. ALpine Stars wrote me back and said that they didn't use my question, but liked it all the same and sent me a signed Bostrum poster w/ the funky Red Bull helmet... "Where do i get one of those?"

What do you guys do when your left wrist refuses to snap the clutch after a couple of weeks of non stop hard core riding? Have you ever had trouble getting your left hand to function after some SERIOUS sessions?

Accelerate hard to get them looking, then slam on the fronts and rollright beside the car, hanging the back wheel at eye level for a few seconds. Guaranteed reaction- Dave Sonsky

[skydivejersey 0]

my bike.........

http://0010c03d8ca360e118f341778727be53.powersport.co.uk/new/bikeimage/gsxr1000_large.jpg

YUMMY!!!!

[KawiZX900 0]

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those that have been down and those that are goin down

anybody want to watch people take stupid chances come down to SD and meet up with people at the coaster where 60+ bikes hit the 5 in the summer and pull knick knacks and christ poses and other stupid shit in close quarters on the 5.....
I went out and watched from a "safe?" distance a couple times, but their are tons of people with a death wish in San Diego.... I'm glad I fell in with the crew that I did when I first got my bike.. A group of tight canyon riders, if you're new and your new best friend has on a pair of pucks, keep off his line and do not attempt to give him chase...


my favorite turn in San Diego is a 360 on ramp near West Mission that has a NOICE camber to it, in at 65 out at 90. It's marked 25 for the cars, and thats about what they take it at. Can get your bike kicked over to the right really far and just let that fuker breathe and grab a furious little patch of road

Accelerate hard to get them looking, then slam on the fronts and rollright beside the car, hanging the back wheel at eye level for a few seconds. Guaranteed reaction- Dave Sonsky

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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I guess i didnt phrase that right.... I meant to say, go to a course desinged around your purchase... if you get a rocket, go to rocket school.. they do have beginner track days to teach people how to handle the bike that's hands on w/video, professional instrucition and not just some tool with a book and a Marlboro who rode a few buckets to the county fair back in the day.... I didn't post that right at all...

but at the tracks, the pros will put you in the know, the equivalant to canopy flight school I suppose.

Hey I'm in total agreement to what you say here.

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CannuckinUSA, your MSR sounds better than what I took in Cali. I drove around some cones at 5mph and thats it.... give me a couple hours and I'll post links...

That's very possible. In fact it's more than possible. In Alberta where I was trained they don't really have the MSF (they've got the Canadian version which likely is more extensive). My course was a six day course 4-5 hours per night after work. The first night was all classroom theory. Then the next three nights, we did basic motorcycle control (mine was held in the parking lot of a football stadium) using total beaters (so if you could control one of those crappers, you could control anything). The instructors started us off first making baby steeps practicing all the skills and work your way up from there (with a lot of emphasis on countersteering and breaking). I will admit that the first night in the parking lot was boring as everything was done at slow speeds. But as the week progressed we got faster and faster. They also taught us how to interact and position ourselves in traffic and how to read the other drivers. Then on the fifth night, they took the entire class in a big group to drive around the city for a few hours (on reasonably nice street worthy bikes). Finally, night number six was the graduation/road test night where the government tester came in and we did our road test and for the riders who learned something during the week (not all students passed), they were given their new motorcycle endorsement.

If other courses don't go into the same detail as mine, then that's unfortunate. I went into that course with some experience riding a motorcycle but really not knowing very much. And I came out of it as someone who felt confident that they knew how to control their machine and they knew how to interact with all those bad drivers out there driving their steel coffins.

But even with all that positive training, I still crashed my bike several months after taking the course. Testosterone, a crotch rocket and one of the best days of my life to that date riding in the mountains of British Columbia came close to ending it all for me on a really tight mountain switch back road. Lessons learned that day:

1) Don't ride fast on a road you've never been on before.

2) Public roads are not race tracks and contain deadly debris (I low sided it after the front tire met the marbles).

3) Always wear your helmet and leathers. Where I was protected I wasn't hurt (my head hit the ground), where I wasn't protected I was hurt (I wasn't wearing a leather jacket only a light nylon jacket) and I suffered a cracked elbow injury.

4) When the signs says 15 miles and hour they mean it. All day long I was cruising around corners much faster than the recommended speed signs. But this switch back corner started off wide and got real tight on me real fast while I was probably going about 30-40 mph.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[pyke 0]

WAY - WAY - WAY TOO MUCH BIKE for someone who has never ridden one before.

Having ridden for over 10 years, and owned bikes myself - I am only just up to where I don't think a 900 is too much of a step up - but it still scares me.

Your analogy with the velocity is pretty accurate. This is too much bike for a beginner - and more performance than you need right now.

Get a nice 4-600 cruiser/standard style bike. Get used to riding, turning, being in traffic, etc with it. Much like getting the most out of your current canopy before you downsize....get the most out of your low cc bike before you upsize it. Only when you're comfortable with what your OWN limitations are - should you get a bigger bike. But, there are always 2 "cardinal" rules I have abided by with bikes - NEVER buy more than you can handle....and NEVER buy more than you can pick up by yourself.

Dropping a bike is a reality (not laying one down on the road, but dropping it on it's side - I have met only a few riders who don't have stories of dropping a bike)! If you can't manage to pick it up by yourself - you should think seriously about your decision BEFORE you invest.

That's a very sweet ride - NO LIE. Makes me drool just looking at it, but that's about it!! I also look at the likes of SkyONE and my own home dz swoopers and think, "man, that's cool!" - BUT you WON'T see me doing that for at least another several hundred jumps on my current canopy.

SHARE THE ROAD - MOTORCYCLES ARE EVERYWHERE!!

Kahurangi e Mahearangi,
Kiwi, RB #926, AFF-I, FAA Snr. Rigger, RN/BSN/Paramedic

[Steel 0]

I don't know how to feel about this safety course. I don't know how much it costs but I think most of it can be summarized real quickly without having to sit in a classroom.
1. Try not to shift gears in a turn while learning
2. Assume the cars don't give a shit if they kill you and therefore will not look out for you. This is probably the biggest problem a biker faces.
3. Never hit the back brake alone, if you do this hard enough when going over 20 miles per hour the best case senario is you will have to change your underwear after the bike swivels all over the place.
4. In the rain ride on the tire tracks of the cars. The part of the lane inbetween is likely to mix the rain oil from the cars.
Other things that they would teach you in the course, you would have to know for you license anyway IE. how to stagger bikes when riding in groups, not to tailgate, enter a turn slower than your bike can handle and gently accelerate after already in it. They would also teach how to bail out. I am not so sure this is a good thing though. Without leathers bailing out garantees a hospital visit and outrageous damage to the bike. I think it may typically better to concentrate on altering your course or thinking ahead to keep from getting into a position where you need to bail.

If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.

[airtwardo 6]

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went from La Jolla to San Diego at a buck60 on the 900 the whole way. That was reallly scary.

I had a Honda Hurricane, use to make the ElCajon to Ocean Beach run 3am at a buck and a half nearly every night. 9 minutes from work to home! Then one night some REALLY grumpy men in a black car with a light bar attempted to discourage me from this practice....I found out you can't make the College Ave. exit in triple digets!

Ice plants saved my life!
...all kinds of power, brakes like a skateboard!

I went back to a Harley...looks cool, and lots easier on the leathers

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[KawiZX900 0]

that exit is a deffinatly not a tripple digit exit

we blew past some of those Kawi cop bikes one night. They were off of their bikes and had a radar gun on us as we zipped past, I saw them look at each other and that was it. Or so we thought, we got into Solona Beach and got picked up by a cop after pulling in for gas and coffee.. One of us in front cop in the middle, and 2 of us in back. the cops head was on such a swivel, trying to see one of us fuk up even slightly. It was kind of funny actually

Accelerate hard to get them looking, then slam on the fronts and rollright beside the car, hanging the back wheel at eye level for a few seconds. Guaranteed reaction- Dave Sonsky

[airtwardo 6]

my favorite turn in San Diego is a 360 on ramp near West Mission that has a NOICE camber to it, in at 65 out at 90. It's marked 25 for the cars, and thats about what they take it at. Can get your bike kicked over to the right really far and just let that fuker breathe and grab a furious little patch of road

[wildblue 4]

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Dude I don't know where you're getting your negative information about safety courses (maybe not all courses are the same), but the one I attended in the mid 90s up in Canada had excellent instructors and they did teach me to do this. In fact, we went way beyond just the theory of this principle as the instructors had us physically drive over wooden crates and tires (in a control environment) to prove to ourselves that it can be done.

I was thinking the same when I ready that post - telling a newbie to "... compress the front forks..." - the first time they do that, and they don't know how to "panic brake" properly, they'll lock up the front tire... and we all know what happens when you do that.

"If you love something, let it go.... if it comes back to you, you probably high-sided."

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[KawiZX900 0]

Thats exactly the ONE

Accelerate hard to get them looking, then slam on the fronts and rollright beside the car, hanging the back wheel at eye level for a few seconds. Guaranteed reaction- Dave Sonsky

[airtwardo 6]

I was a bad boy some years back...

being 'Persued' west bound 8, at that weird exit interchange by Hotel Circle, I turned around and went back up the off ramp....east bound in the shoulder of the west bound flow...up the hill to (again) the College Ave On ramp...wrong way up the ramp...and got lost in the neighborhoods up there north of 8.

I spent the night at a buddy's house in Santee...and took the Sea World route home to Ocean Beach for several weeks!

Somewhat older and wiser now...

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[KawiZX900 0]

Holy SHIt!!! That is so Fukin Matrix it hurts!!!! Wow.. do you work in Hollywood? it really depends on how many points I had on my licence, and if I was well into the tripple digits when I got lit up if I would pursue a similar course of action. I tend to think no, but I've passed people in the shoulder years back at a buck plus so I suppose in a pinch it's not all that differnt doing it the reloaded way, except for that whole Frogger aspect..

Accelerate hard to get them looking, then slam on the fronts and rollright beside the car, hanging the back wheel at eye level for a few seconds. Guaranteed reaction- Dave Sonsky

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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In the rain ride on the tire tracks of the cars. The part of the lane inbetween is likely to mix the rain oil from the cars.

This is not really correct. If the left or right tracks in the lane are in good shape and are not grooved, then yes position your bike in the track as riding over wet oil and fuel isn't recommended. But if the tracks have any sort of groove in them, then you're much better off riding on the wet center track with the oil and fuel as riding in a wet grooved track you run the risk of hydroplaining (a much worse scenario).

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[wildblue 4]

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Never hit the back brake alone,

Never hit it alone? I hardly ever touch the back brake. It has it's place, but on a sportbike if you even look at the back brake hard enough you'll lock the tire. Especially if you're, say, coming to a stop light and ride across a painted arrow after it's rained

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[Steel 0]

I have heard a lot of people advise to use both together. I like to use the front one first and then follow with the back one. Unless I am in a curve in which case I will just use only the front one. You have more stopping power with both you just have to make sure you lead with the front or else the back tire will slide totally out of control. But if it was better to never use the rear brake then they wouldn't even put it on there.

If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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But if it was better to never use the rear brake then they wouldn't even put it on there.

Without a doubt you'll stop faster if both breaks are used together. But all the stopping power is in the front break (and with that I think we are all in agreement).

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[bobsled92 0]

Vadim!
P.M. me If you would like a questioned answered without bias opinions.
History:
It's in my family, I started at age 4.
Dad rode professionally at age 21.
Family owns a dealership.
4years: trail
8years Dirt: Scramble & Moto
12yrs road: sportbike (2years tour)
4yrs road racing WERA & CSC
Quit 2weeks before WFFC Rantoul. Aug.2002
-Grant

_______________________________
If I could be a Super Hero,
I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year.
http://www.hangout.no/speednews/

[wildblue 4]

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ou have more stopping power with both you just have to make sure you lead with the front or else the back tire will slide totally out of control. But if it was better to never use the rear brake then they wouldn't even put it on there.

Not really, actually the opposite. On a sportbike under heavy braking you 'load up' the front tire, which allows you to brake harder = progressive braking. You're also unloading the back tire, which gives you less traction, which means lighter pressure on the brake will cause the tire to lock up.
It does have it's place, but it's not for 'stopping power' at all. I'll stop just as quick as you do, and have zero chance of locking the rear wheel.
Almost any other type of bike, your method is probably the best. Sportbikes are different animals.

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality

[BikerBabe 0]

I just watched Eric win at PPIR this weekend! Kawasaki had a great weekend there...but it is a twisty track that favors smaller bikes.

Anyway, a lot of those guys have major carpal-tunnel from riding so much. My husband is also developing it, as well. PPIR was supposed to be a 29-lap race for him, and his hand was starting to go numb in practice at around lap 22. erk. Luckily, it was shortened to 20 laps.

As for the MSF...riding around on their little 125s or 250s is the way to learn, I didn't feel at all bad about the possibility of dumping the bike.

Now my husband is trying to get me to take a road racing school, as well as the American Supercamp (the one on dirtbikes). He did do a tandem, I feel like I should at least get out on the track once to make it up to him!

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[KawiZX900 0]

all this is covered really well in twist of the wrist... theyve got a nice myth fact section on braking if I recall

Accelerate hard to get them looking, then slam on the fronts and rollright beside the car, hanging the back wheel at eye level for a few seconds. Guaranteed reaction- Dave Sonsky

[MissMae 0]

As long as you have the cash for both then go for it. I've been wanting to get another one for a while now... Funny, the boyfriend is more comfortable with me jumping rather than riding. But he doesn't really ride so..... I had a ZX-6 for a while (4 years), and let me tell you, people think you can stop on a dime and don't think twice about pulling out in front of you. So as with anything else, Just be careful!!!!

take the time to appreciate the people around you.

[JackC 0]

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Without a doubt you'll stop faster if both breaks are used together. But all the stopping power is in the front break (and with that I think we are all in agreement).

For a sports bike ridden on the limit in good conditions, if your rear wheel is still on the floor, your not braking hard enough. Rear brakes are just extra weight in that scenario. On the dirt or in slippery conditions, the front brake is less useful and it's much safer to lock a rear than to lock a front.

Bikes normally only step out of line under braking if you stamp on the front anchors way too fast and loose rear grip by excessive engine braking or excessive use of the rear Jesus pedal. Even then you have to be leaning a bit to get the tail end out. To get it back in line just release the brakes and dip the clutch.

[leroydb 0]

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***
I will echo what bikerbabe said "Suzuki SV 650 or SV 650S is a wonderful starter bike" an ex500 is even a really nice bike, and can go fast enough to scare you..

i got a sv 650s and absolutly love it. no it isnt a full ferring bike... but if you lay it over at a stop sign not alot of damage is done.. maybe a scratch or 2 is all. I love the bike and it is fast(for me) No i cant go 160 but hell this is my first bike.. loook at the icon pretty.....

anywho
peace and ride safe

Leroy


..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio...

[wildblue 4]

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No i cant go 160

... and would you really want to? I'll never understand why people want a 'busa - ok, great, you can do 190mph.... where? Straight lines are boring anyway - it takes no skill to twist a throttle. That, and I think they're ugly as sin If you're ready for a sportbike, save some $$ and get a 600 - you'll never use it to it's full potential (if you do, you should be racing professionally) -- bigger doesn't mean faster.

it's like incest - you're substituting convenience for quality