First spill (bit long)

Heh, guilty as charged.

I almost consider this a UKRM badge...


Geo

 

It's a traditional form of congratulation. Years ago, a friend explained
his black eye as "I was talking when I should have been listening." I think
that the majority of bike accidents could be explained as "I was
accelerating when I should have been braking."

 

I hope posting two replies to a post isn't as bad a form as replying to my
own post, but are you anywhere near me? You seem to be familiar with Crete
and its lack of racetracks.


Geo

 

On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:43:55 -0000, "Simian"

snip>

This is so true.

There's nothing like an old 550cc 4 cylinder Jap bike for teaching you
how to anticipate problems and how to work around them. They don't
have enough power to just blast your way out of trouble but they do
have enough power to put you into bad situations very quickly.

It's worth remembering that when the likes of the 1982 GPz550 Kawasaki
came out they were literally light years ahead of what had come
earlier when it came to brakes and handling and they made A road
lunacy seem really easy.

No doubt we'll be looking back in 20 years time and saying the same
about what's now looked on as being the best available but that's
progress and I'm glad we've got it.

 

It rains more often there than in the UK?

 

Haha, happens to the best of us.

uh huh.

Track daying the 12R and riding it in the wet at speed over the TT
course exorcised my particular demons with the bike.

P.

 

Light years ahead of previous Japanese bikes.
A rider of Italian machinery might disagree.

 

I loved my GS550E - I considered it my first proper bike. In that it
wasn't a two stroke, more than 250cc and didn't break down.

 

Did it do so when the now tired Jap bike was brand new?

I don't think it did because I used to know people who rode 'exotica'
like the Guzzi V50 and the Ducati Pantah and they were always the ones
bitching about "only riding a twin" when they got left behind.

I posted the other day that I spent hours deliberating over a Laverda
Montjuic and though it felt as if it handled better than the Kawasaki
I don't think it really did.

 

It wasn't the actualy handling of the GPz550 that impressed me when I
first rode one (and I was a Guzzi rider then, too). It was the
suspension, esecially the rear.

It was superb, especially after a Guzzi which handled in spite of its
crap suspension, rather than because of it. A Guzzi only handled nicely
because the geometry and weight distribution were right and the frame
was rigid.

 

Both are as tired as each other. The Guzzi still has OE rear shocks that
I bunged on as a short term replacement when one of the Konis snapped a
couple of years ago.
http://www.sweller.dynalias.org/images/koni2pieces.jpg

The forks are worn and the chassis bearings on both bikes have seen high
mileages.

The braking on the Guzzi (even on the OE twin pot Brembos) was far better
than the modified set up on the Turbo.

It's difficult to do a completely scientific comparison but based on
empirical evidence I don't see it as a totally wild statement.

I ride a twin and don't often get left behind.

There is a perception that all old bikes are evil handling, slow tractors
- that's not always the case with Italian machines.

I kept both you and Daz in sight - the old bus did spunk its oil
everywhere but that was a symptom of over-revving a worn out bike.

I've never ridden a Laverda but if I wanted a reliable workaday, sporty
bike I would have gone for the Kawasaki.

In reality, I wouldn't have because (a) I'd never have been in the
position to buy a new bike (b) I tend to be wilfully contraire.

 

I rode a Pantah and never got left behind.
You might have been riding with people who were worried
about breaking their expensive toys.

 

When the FZR1000EXUP came out it amazed me for this reason. Excellent
handling with plush suspension. I immediately bought one.

 

"I was braking when I should have been cornering."
--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`

 

"I was cornering when I should have had my knee down and the front
wheel in the air."

 

(goes to Amazon.co.uk)

Sounds interesting, put it on my wishlist so I can have another look at it
later. I hate to admit that I haven't yet explored my own island much.


Geo

 

Nah, it's just that we're less used to water falling from the skies, so we
react even to drizzles

Winter rains have been rather heavy this year, but ended far too soon. It
hasn't rained (or even been cold) in almost a month and plants have been
blossoming like it's May.


Geo

 

I was really comparing similar capacities when I made the post.

I don't know about Daz but if I'd really wanted to play humiliate the
Guzzi I could have turned the screw a lot more and piled on the power
in sufficient doses to vanish into the distance, having a bike with a
top speed of over 180mph gives you that option no matter who the
rider. The problem is that if I want to ride like that then I may as
well only go out on my own because I'll either be left for dead by
some riders or **** off into the distance leaving someone else behind.

Riding on the road when you're in a small group doesn't really prove
how good or bad any bike is, you need to put them somewhere like the
TT and let one rider do 5 laps on each and compare the times if you
want the true picture.

In the end it was a case of getting something I could afford that went
reasonably fast, handled reasonably well and was reasonably reliable.
In other words I used to be sensible.

Whereas I just waste money on toys.

 

Or you might have been riding with people scared of breaking their
expensive toys...

Quite a number of the guys I used to ride with used their toys as
production racers when it came to weekends and none of us used to get
particularly precious about our bikes. It wasn't uncommon to hear
someone complaining about having to catch the bus to work after they'd
binned their bike racing on a Sunday.

 

This is the 10R you're talking about?