Posted by BrianNZ on September 3, 2008, 1:16 am
Been a while but just finished a job and back on line.........
I think last time I had just had my hip done (for the second time @ 45)
after scoring a KTM 950 SM. The KTM is the most fun I've had on a bike.
Flickable for the twisties and grunty enough to keep up with the
sportsbikes (if they aren't pushing too hard :) ).
The only drawbacks so far......wind buffeting at speed,and uncomfortable
if I'm not attacking every bend. So, the only option is attack. :) For
the backroads here I can't think of another bike I'd rather have.
My mate with the '05 SuperDuke has just upgrade to an '07 (still new)
SuperDuke with the bigger petrol tank and more power. I travelled up to
Auckland with him to pick it up, and true to form, he got busted on the
way home (last three bikes he's brought new from the same dealer have
all netted this result) for 'unsafe passing manouvre', instead of the
usual speeding.
It didn't seem unsafe to me (he was passing me) but the oncoming cop
wasn't impressed. By the time he pulled a U-turn we were way down the
road.....my mate a lot further than me, so I got pulled first while the
cop radioed ahead and had my mate stopped. It was funny as, with the cop
shaking with adrenalin and talking fast. It was the first time in years
I've been threatened with arrest. :) By the time he calmed down he
decided to forget my 107kmh (100kmh limit) speed but give me a lecture
(pulled my head in and nodded a lot) and reduced my mates 'dangerous
driving' (loss of licence) to 'unsafe passing' ($150 fine) and finished
with the classic line...."On your bike".
I felt a bit guilty for setting my mate up.....I'd just gone around the
outside of him (I never get to do that unless he's running a bike in)
while he was napping and I could see he was coming back for the re-pass
up an uphill left hander. Being the bastard I am, I thought I'd make him
work for it and ran a bit wide.....being the bastard he is, he didn't
back off. That was when the copper crested the brow.....I jumped on the
brakes getting a nice tyre smoking lock-up from the rear tyre as my mate
shot the gap between patrol car and me, before going head down and
heading for the hills. (You can't outrun the speed of sound though :) )
I was so happy when the cop told me he got me doing 107kmh.....I'm down
to my last 10 demerit points and couldn't have kept my licence if it was
any higher. the first question the cop asked my mate was "Do you need
your licence for work"? and took it from there. Good to know they can
still use ther discretion these days.
The other biggie is my 15 year old son is learning to drive/ride. I've
got him an old XL250 for puttering around on for now, but (sadly) he
prefers driving at the moment. He's learning the basics in a Holden
Grange.....I suppose in the states it would be a Chev something or
other. A tweaked 350 V8 luxury sedan. Defensive driving courses coming
up for him........
Life is good and just keeps getting better! Ride it like you stole
it........
Posted by Sean_Q_ on September 3, 2008, 2:02 am
BrianNZ wrote:
> Been a while but just finished a job and back on line.........
Welcome back
> I could see he was coming back for the re-pass
> up an uphill left hander. Being the bastard I am, I thought I'd make him
> work for it and ran a bit wide.....being the bastard he is, he didn't
> back off. That was when the copper crested the brow.....
Some things never change...
SQ
Posted by mayner on September 3, 2008, 4:48 am
> Been a while but just finished a job and back on line.........
> I think last time I had just had my hip done (for the second time @ 45)
> after scoring a KTM 950 SM. The KTM is the most fun I've had on a bike.
> Flickable for the twisties and grunty enough to keep up with the
> sportsbikes (if they aren't pushing too hard :) ).
> The only drawbacks so far......wind buffeting at speed,and uncomfortable
> if I'm not attacking every bend. So, the only option is attack. :) For
> the backroads here I can't think of another bike I'd rather have.
> My mate with the '05 SuperDuke has just upgrade to an '07 (still new)
> SuperDuke with the bigger petrol tank and more power. I travelled up to
> Auckland with him to pick it up, and true to form, he got busted on the
> way home (last three bikes he's brought new from the same dealer have all
> netted this result) for 'unsafe passing manouvre', instead of the usual
> speeding.
> It didn't seem unsafe to me (he was passing me) but the oncoming cop
> wasn't impressed. By the time he pulled a U-turn we were way down the
> road.....my mate a lot further than me, so I got pulled first while the
> cop radioed ahead and had my mate stopped. It was funny as, with the cop
> shaking with adrenalin and talking fast. It was the first time in years
> I've been threatened with arrest. :) By the time he calmed down he
> decided to forget my 107kmh (100kmh limit) speed but give me a lecture
> (pulled my head in and nodded a lot) and reduced my mates 'dangerous
> driving' (loss of licence) to 'unsafe passing' ($150 fine) and finished
> with the classic line...."On your bike".
> I felt a bit guilty for setting my mate up.....I'd just gone around the
> outside of him (I never get to do that unless he's running a bike in)
> while he was napping and I could see he was coming back for the re-pass up
> an uphill left hander. Being the bastard I am, I thought I'd make him work
> for it and ran a bit wide.....being the bastard he is, he didn't back off.
> That was when the copper crested the brow.....I jumped on the brakes
> getting a nice tyre smoking lock-up from the rear tyre as my mate shot the
> gap between patrol car and me, before going head down and heading for the
> hills. (You can't outrun the speed of sound though :) )
> I was so happy when the cop told me he got me doing 107kmh.....I'm down to
> my last 10 demerit points and couldn't have kept my licence if it was any
> higher. the first question the cop asked my mate was "Do you need your
> licence for work"? and took it from there. Good to know they can still use
> ther discretion these days.
> The other biggie is my 15 year old son is learning to drive/ride. I've got
> him an old XL250 for puttering around on for now, but (sadly) he prefers
> driving at the moment. He's learning the basics in a Holden Grange.....I
> suppose in the states it would be a Chev something or other. A tweaked 350
> V8 luxury sedan. Defensive driving courses coming up for him........
> Life is good and just keeps getting better! Ride it like you stole
> it........
Good to see you're still with us. Thought you wrapped it up somewheres. I
saw a Suzuki SM with a windshield the other day.
Ghastly.
Posted by Andrzej Rosa on September 3, 2008, 9:54 am
BrianNZ wrote:
> Been a while but just finished a job and back on line.........
>
> I think last time I had just had my hip done (for the second time @ 45)
> after scoring a KTM 950 SM. The KTM is the most fun I've had on a bike.
> Flickable for the twisties and grunty enough to keep up with the
> sportsbikes (if they aren't pushing too hard :) ).
>
> The only drawbacks so far......wind buffeting at speed,and uncomfortable
> if I'm not attacking every bend. So, the only option is attack. :) For
> the backroads here I can't think of another bike I'd rather have.
>
> My mate with the '05 SuperDuke has just upgrade to an '07 (still new)
> SuperDuke with the bigger petrol tank and more power. I travelled up to
> Auckland with him to pick it up, and true to form, he got busted on the
> way home (last three bikes he's brought new from the same dealer have
> all netted this result) for 'unsafe passing manouvre', instead of the
> usual speeding.
>
> It didn't seem unsafe to me (he was passing me) but the oncoming cop
> wasn't impressed. By the time he pulled a U-turn we were way down the
> road.....my mate a lot further than me, so I got pulled first while the
> cop radioed ahead and had my mate stopped. It was funny as, with the cop
> shaking with adrenalin and talking fast. It was the first time in years
> I've been threatened with arrest. :) By the time he calmed down he
> decided to forget my 107kmh (100kmh limit) speed but give me a lecture
> (pulled my head in and nodded a lot) and reduced my mates 'dangerous
> driving' (loss of licence) to 'unsafe passing' ($150 fine) and finished
> with the classic line...."On your bike".
>
> I felt a bit guilty for setting my mate up.....I'd just gone around the
> outside of him (I never get to do that unless he's running a bike in)
> while he was napping and I could see he was coming back for the re-pass
> up an uphill left hander. Being the bastard I am, I thought I'd make him
> work for it and ran a bit wide.....being the bastard he is, he didn't
> back off. That was when the copper crested the brow.....I jumped on the
> brakes getting a nice tyre smoking lock-up from the rear tyre
It is a nice read, but why you used rear brake? On a tall and short bike
there is absolutely no reason to even touch it. Your rear tire will lose
traction due to engine braking alone, not even talking about a brake.
(BTW - disengage the clutch when braking hard.)
I repeat. Under hard braking your rear will lift. If you use a rear brake
and your rear starts to slip it will go out of line. Now if you release
the brake it will grip again and can catapult you into a highside!
I'm not joking. Rear brake can kill you.
> as my mate
> shot the gap between patrol car and me, before going head down and
> heading for the hills. (You can't outrun the speed of sound though :) )
>
> I was so happy when the cop told me he got me doing 107kmh.....I'm down
> to my last 10 demerit points and couldn't have kept my licence if it was
> any higher. the first question the cop asked my mate was "Do you need
> your licence for work"? and took it from there. Good to know they can
> still use ther discretion these days.
>
> The other biggie is my 15 year old son is learning to drive/ride. I've
> got him an old XL250 for puttering around on for now,
Teach him to brake properly. Pretty please.
> but (sadly) he
> prefers driving at the moment. He's learning the basics in a Holden
> Grange.....I suppose in the states it would be a Chev something or
> other. A tweaked 350 V8 luxury sedan. Defensive driving courses coming
> up for him........
>
> Life is good and just keeps getting better! Ride it like you stole
> it........
Nice writeup. You got some talent for telling stories.
--
Andrzej Rosa
Posted by BrianNZ on September 3, 2008, 3:46 pm
I jumped on the
>> brakes getting a nice tyre smoking lock-up from the rear tyre
>
> It is a nice read, but why you used rear brake? On a tall and short bike
> there is absolutely no reason to even touch it. Your rear tire will lose
> traction due to engine braking alone, not even talking about a brake.
> (BTW - disengage the clutch when braking hard.)
>
> I repeat. Under hard braking your rear will lift. If you use a rear brake
> and your rear starts to slip it will go out of line. Now if you release
> the brake it will grip again and can catapult you into a highside!
>
> I'm not joking. Rear brake can kill you.
I drag the rear brake all the time. Sometimes to keep the power on and
shave a bit of speed in big sweepers, sometimes (like this instance)
just to stop the front diving and making it obvious to an oncoming car
I'm braking (but I overdid it a bit :) ), sometimes I give it a stomp
just for the fun of sliding around to line up corners in town.I'm well
aware of the dangers of the rear brake, but also aware of the fun it can
bring.
>>
>> The other biggie is my 15 year old son is learning to drive/ride. I've
>> got him an old XL250 for puttering around on for now,
>
> Teach him to brake properly. Pretty please.
LOL....Do as I say, not do as I do. He's been riding dirt bikes for a
few years now, so knows the basics. Now it's 'just add traffic' time for
him. I've got him signed up for the defensive riding course then there's
nothing better than doing heaps of miles puttering around to gain
confidence/skills.
>
>> but (sadly) he
>> prefers driving at the moment. He's learning the basics in a Holden
>> Grange.....I suppose in the states it would be a Chev something or
>> other. A tweaked 350 V8 luxury sedan. Defensive driving courses coming
>> up for him........
>>
>> Life is good and just keeps getting better! Ride it like you stole
>> it........
>
> Nice writeup. You got some talent for telling stories.
>
Cheers, I just tell it like it is......easier that way.
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