Craig and I were on a hilly up and down road yesterday (Hyde Park Road near Cripple Creek) taking it about 75mph, fast pace but not blazing for that road, taking the corners nice and quick - or so we thought.
When all of a sudden on a flat part I hear a bike go by. At first I thought Craig must be bored with my pace, but it wasnt, then 3 more guys go by. 2 R1s, 2 RC51 motorcycles. They get ahead of me about 100 yards and I speed up out of instinct, for about a second. Ego thing, then I think to myself whoa there bud! There is dried up mud all over the place from the rains, and dirt in some of these corners, what the hell am I doing? I settle back into my original pace, and soon enough we are into some twisties, they all slowed down to negotiate cause of dirt in the road then bam right back up to 100+ mph.
They hit the turn off to a cleaner better road and start to get way out ahead of us, I know I can do it faster but keep my same pace. We catch up to them at the stop sign a mile down the road, I took all the same turns as them pretty fast but did not gass it through the blind stuff or top it out on the flats, and they only got to the stop sign a few seconds before we did? I almost let my EGO get carried away!
:twist: Hey , if they pass you on a straight and don't hold you up in the next corner, let'em go and know you can safely pick-up your pace if you wish, because they should catch all the attention of the Cops. My ego would want to run them down and try to pass them back, but my smarts would hopefully do what you did and just maintain my Pace :shake: Also, I try to watch my mirrors all the time to make sure no one is sneeking up on me, mostly the Law. A Pace is much safer and less likely to piss someone off and of course if you happen to get nailed for speeding, 80mph looks much better than 100mph when you trying to talk your way out of it ! :beer:
Don't think I've ever been passed on the street by anyone other than the guys I ride with.
Note, this isn't meant to be braggish, there just aren't all that many sport bikes around (if you don't count the poseurs that never leave town!)
The track is a good place to learn humility. The liter bikes would zip by me like I was standing still on straightaways. I tried to catch up to the first couple, but quickly realized that I lacked E-Boz's late braking skills :D
Don't think I ever got passed in a corner though. That's where I did most of my passing.
Super twisties, the kind that is totally insane to take at 60-70mph, hasn't happened yet.
Sweepers, etc.. I'd probably let them go.
From watching your videos, non of the roads look twisty enough that I would care if someone passed me. They all seem to be easy sweepers that would get me arrested long before I hit my limits. So if you were taking this road at 75mph and they were going 100mph+, I imagine I would have let them go, I assume that was a pretty easy road. One thing about the VFR is it seems to want to take sweepers at warp speed.. easy to get in trouble with the police.
If someone passed me on a road that had marked corners like 15mph and true hairpins, etc.. I'd be pretty pissed but I doubt I'd try to catch up again, just way too dangerous.
My most embarrassing moment as a rider was when I was cruising home on a twisty road one night after work.. a road I knew extremely well. A squidly looking guy on an R6 passed me on a straight. I wicked it up and eventually blew by him in his lane on the outside in a corner going like 3x the speed limit. I felt like such an ass afterwards.
I usually pass H-Ds, just because I can and they need it. Most of the soprtbike riders around here are kids on R6s and whatnot and I figure it's just safer let them pass and stay away from me.
Besides as the George Thorogood song sez "I ride alone, I prefer to be by myself."
I'd like to think that I'd wack it open and just dust the guy but the truth is I a pretty sane old dog. I know that my skill level isn't up to racing, my bike is an 800cc sport/tour and I'm on public roads. This is just a great bike that does everything well, except race open class litter RR's on flat straightaways, it truly exceeds my abilities. My skill set may be small but my smile is large! :goof:
On the weekend I got passed by a guy on a Ducati 999 (man, that bike sounds great!). I tried to keep up for a while, then glanced at the speedo while taking a big sweeper and saw I was doing 200 kph (125 mph). I decided it was too crazy for me, especially as cops patrol that road, so I sobered up and slowed down to a reasonable illegal speed...
I tend to be very competitive, so I have to keep reminding myself to ride my own ride and just let people pass me by ...otherwise, I'm letting myself be controlled by the actions of others.
The good thing about riding a VFR is we don't really have anything to prove to the "Hyper Superbikes" like the ones you encountered. You have to be realistic too that even though the VFR performs much better than a lot of people will expect, the budget shock and forks on our bikes limits it's performance envelope. Add to this the 30 to 40 Horsepower deficit we have compared to those R1s and RC51s, so it could be considered suicide to try and keep up with such good bikes with good (I hope!) riders :( . Maybe if your name happens to be Freddie Spencer, then it might be a different story but I'm sure you'll do the Hyper bike trouncing on the track. A 2004 "Factory" model Aprilia would also help tremendously to keep up with such bikes. :P
Craig and I stopped in Cripple Creek later for a scoop of ice cream, I said to him "I had an ego trip there for a moment". He said he saw them coming up fast a few turns back and thought maybe I would not see them cause of the hilly area and all the turns. He said with all the dirt on the roads just let it go no sence in going down trying to catch up with a group going too fast for the road conditions.
I check my mirrors but pay attention mostly to whats up front, I was enjoying the fall colors on the mountain sides. I sure as heck didnt know about them behind me until they passed. I thought we were the only ones on the road besides a few cages we passed miles ago.
Imagine if the cops started riding sport bikes and ran us all down on our favorite roads?
Interesting topic as I had an experience(had this before of course too) yesterday on the way home form a weekend road trip up north that involved three "new vtecs/new riders".
Coming home through hwy 33 we came up on these three new VFR's(dealer plate placards and obviously new riders) who were running very slowly and cautiously(as they should've been) but unfortunately did not seem to understand rider etiquette as I see it. We followed them very slowly for almost three miles(missing lots of great corners) with no apparent courtesy on their part, i.e. no signaling for us to pass in terms of a hand signal or pulling to the right portion of the lane to give us room to get by. Finally, after refusing to pull into two separate turnouts I had had enough a passed one of the guys on the right in the next turnout(I do not normally do this) and had to pass the other two across the double yellow to get by.
Now, taking into account that these three were new riders on new bikes and all, maybe they are not aware of what to me is proper riding courtesy?
I tend to look at it like this: If there is someone that wants, or is capable of riding at a faster pace than I happen to be going, I would like them to make sure that I know they are there(i.e. not just blow by me and scare the crap out of me and create a possible danger situation) and then for my part I feel as I should pull to the right portion of the lane and wave them by. This seems to me to be an equitable situation for all involved. Proper rider etiquette from my point of view....win/win for all invloved, and the safest way to handle the situation. Would you all agree?
Unfortunately, we had to repeat the whole situation again as we took a 15-20 minute break at the Ojai Chevron and just as we were getting ready to head on home, saw them heading down the main street in the same direction we would be going. Knowing that getting caught behind them again in certain sections would make passing dangerous as well as missing out on lots of fun corners again, I headed out as quickly as traffic permitted and as I said had to repeat basically the whole scenario again. I did wave in "thanks" to these guys each time I passed.
Seems like there should be some kind of universally acknowledged rider courtesy about this kind of stuff. I know I sure appreciate it when cars pull over and/or signal for me to pass. Shouldn't we as motorcyclists expect the same from each other? Courtesy is a good thing :D
VFR suspension bits are better than most IMO. Certainly better than alot of the replica bikes out there, missing only the full adjustabilty. 10k sticker price for an 800cc bike is not budget, when you consider most 750cc class bikes are more likely to be in the 8k price range.
I have an Ohlins on mine, and now that I have it set up right my tires are hooked up with the road, we could have caught up, cause all the speed they were doing was in the straits and well they were not going top speed, but 100mph is just beyond the limits of saftey on that road. Its a 50mph speed limit on the straits and 35mph in some of the hilly parts. Like I said before we had already rode over all kinds of shit on that road, dried up dirt, kicked up rocks in the corners, bumpy patches, you name it just not the best road. See I am doing it now, gotta just let it go!
I am very competitive but realize that no matter how fast I think I am, there is always going to be someone faster. I have to keep reminding myself that I have only been riding for nine months and that the bike is a lot faster than I am. Speed gets me going. Stunting doesn't faze me one bit. Let 'em go I say.
I just ride at a pace that's comfortable for me. If someone passes me I normally just keep cruising at my pace.. No what you mean with the ego thing, sometimes its very enticing to catch up with them.. :wheel:
Only a few times has my ego gotten the better of me, but then it usually only takes a few seconds to realize that unbridled, it is often larger than my abilities.
I will usually yield the road to a faster rider in a second if I see them.
What annoys me are the squids who will usurp the road and pass me under any and all circumstances, with total disregard of safety for them or others, on the outside of a tight corner on a narrow trafficked road when I haven't seen them, and when they get so close they brush my sleeve and where I can smell their foul squidly breath, for example. They may choose to risk their own lives, but I profoundly resent anyone making a conscious decision, without my assent, to forcibly put my own life in jeapardy as well.
RedFlyer, Sep. 22What annoys me are the squids who will usurp the road and pass me under any and all circumstances, with total disregard of safety for them or others, on the outside of a tight corner on a narrow trafficked road when I haven't seen them, and when they get so close they brush my sleeve and where I can smell their foul squidly breath, for example. �They may choose to risk their own lives, but I profoundly resent anyone making a conscious decision, without my assent, to forcibly put my own life in jeapardy as well.
Carol, Couldn't agree with you more. I just don't get the lack of common sense and courtesy that some motorcyclists have towards others :shake:
If you want to pass someone, just make sure they know that you're there, wait for a sign to pass before you pass, and pass on a straight, not a curve.
If you're on the other side of the coin, when you notice that someone's behind you and seems to want to go faster, pull to the right side of the lane and wave them by. Seems pretty simple to me :idea: Craig
I have certainly waved my fair share of bikes through with no qualms at all. At 42 years old I feel I have nothing to prove and it all to loose. I enjoy riding to my personal limits and to the conditions of the road as well as how I feel on any given day.
one day riding along, dum-de-dum-dum, i hear what i thought might be a swarm of killa-bees coming from behind. they were so fast, that by the time i looked in the mirror, they were whiping by so fast all i saw were paint colors. i bolted and tried to catch them. i entered the first corner so fast i nearly wrecked. after that, slowed right back down to dum-de-dum-dum. then it happened again but just one bike, but with pillion. i thought, well heck, surely i can take it at the same speed, me being without a passenger. Wrong!. have'nt tried to keep up with anyone since.
I try to make sure other riders or cages see me at least before I pass, and don't do it like a jerk. Sometimes they piss me with their obliviousness, off and must be smoked.
Rider comes up behind me and wants to pass, I'll usually signal them to go by. Although I have been known to give chase. If I feel like it. Within MY limits. :wheel:
I guess I must be getting old, because I know my limits, and the street is not the place to be comparing Schwartz's! Calamari is for Christmas Eve dinner; not riding with on the twisties!
Well they all had full face helmets on, and leather or some kind of armored textile Jacket. �Three had riding pants on, the leader had on jeans. �squids maybe, but they were taking the corners pretty good, the clean ones on the second road really good. �The guy in the jeans looked like they could have been draggin jeans cause of the strange seams.
Craig has riding pants but they get too hot for him he says so he wears jeans with dirt armor, the strap on kind, under the pants. �Me I was wearing my trusty one piece Stich with a back protector, Apline Stars Boots and Gloves and a Aria helm for a lid. �I actually had it zipped up too all the way.
I'm very competetive too. I sold my Z28 because I was starting to get into "stupid contests" with teenagers. :shake: Thankfully nobody has challenged me on the bike yet, except for wheelies in the opposite direction. I have to remember to ride my own ride.
Das Bone, Sep. 22Couldn't agree with you more. I just don't get the lack of common sense and courtesy that some motorcyclists have towards others :shake:
If you want to pass someone, just make sure they know that you're there, wait for a sign to pass before you pass, and pass on a straight, not a curve.
If you're on the other side of the coin, when you notice that someone's behind you and seems to want to go faster, pull to the right side of the lane and wave them by. Seems pretty simple to me :idea: Craig
:twist: Agreed !
It's that same lack of common sense and courtesy that causes Road Rage :angry: for cars or bikes !
It's hard to believe, but it seems the majority of drivers/riders fall into this self centered, no coustesy,B-hole group ! Like when you use your turn single before you move into an opening, only to have the jerk close the hole. "Thanks for the warning, but I'm not letting you in." You try to be courtious and they use it against you. If I'm in my car I usally just chop of their nose and stuff it in there anyway, because it really pisses me off ! Not the best behavior, but frk'em. I'm starting to Rage ! :angry: :beer:
End of thread · 30 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 2 May 2005