"I know how fast that bike goes!"

 

Today as I got home two boys were walking down the street. They saw my bike and
one pointed at it and said, "I know how fast that bike can go!"

"Oh yeah? How fast?"

"186 miles per hour."

I'm afraid I disappointed him with my reply ... I said it couldn't go that fast
but I had gone as fast as 110 mph on it once. I suppose instead I should have
handed him a spare riding suit and helmet and said, "Put this on!"

Eh. His mommy would probably not have approved.

--
Timberwoof <me at timberwoof dot com>
faq:  http://www.timberwoof.com/motorcycle/faq.shtml

 

Timberwoof wrote:

You can't kill the vision that easily...

The seeds of the vision of speed have been planted in that kid's head
already. Telling him that you never experienced the ecstasy of extreme
velocity on a mystical machine with such performance possibilities just
communicated that you were a wuss without insight.

He's going to go for the glory and try to live out "his" vision when he
gets *his* own motorbike...

Looking back over the decades, I know who it was that planted the seeds
of the vision in my impressionable mind. It was the late great Gordon
Jennings, who was a writer for Road & Track in the early 1960's...

He wrote about what it was like to run-and-bump to start a Norton Manx
at the Isle of Man TT. I was hooked on the vision, stuck between the
impractical notion of road racing and the need for cheap 2-wheeled
transportation...

It's hard to balance vision against practical reality...

You be the one to do it. Let the kids dream...

 



bike and

that fast

Not that it's of any importance, or mildly relevant, but I just never
cared much about top speed on vehicles. Sure, I could get excited
over acceleration, torque, and roll-on performance, but never got
into the TS thing.

It seems analogous to an amusement park roller coaster that merely
travels its path at a constant, albeit high speed.

But, I can certainly see where an adolescent could be easily impress-
ed by those claims, and I guess that's what's most important.

Gary

 

The Family wrote:


A squid's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a GSXR-1000 for?

 

I got a phone call from my son (he's 30yo) telling me he'd heard about me
riding in excess of 140mph last week. (I'm surprised it's the first time)

He told me to cut it out or he'd not let me drive his Evo anymore:-)

Speed was never a major criteria for me when choosing a bike either, but
once I'd experienced it for an extended time, it became almost addictive.
I'll either have to get a slower bike, or stick a restrictor somewhere. Nah,
bollocks to that, flog the shit out of 'em, that's what they're for.


--
Beav

Reply to "beavis dot original at ntlworld dot com" (with the obvious
changes)