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is for the track. Not the public roads.
A friend of mine is wanting to get a bike. He's never rode street, so like a smart person, he's looking at getting a Ninja 250R. The new 2008 models are pretty cool. They look like a real sportbike and are perfect starter bikes.
Well, yesterday 4/24, he asked if I would meet him at the Kawasaki dealer to check them out. They had no 250R's and the owner said she can't keep them on the floor, just as I figured and heard. Those little things go like hot cakes. So he wanted to go to the Honda/Yamaha dealer. So, off we went. He in his Solara, me on my R6. We get to a stop light that has nothing but open highway ahead. The light goes green and just as I figured, he wanted to see the 6 run so he gassed his Toyota. I entertained him and twisted the throttle. Ran thru 1st to 3rd and got into forth gear and this baby blue Celica that was coming the opposite direction decided to do a u-turn. I let off the throttle and the Celica stopped in the median. So, I rolled back on the throttle and the Celica(u-turner), proceeds into my lanes. I'm well into forth gear at this time and seconds are split into thousandths. I grab the brake and quickly realize that there ain't no stopping at that speed and short distance getting shorter very rapidly. My mind ran thru a quick series of options, and hitting the broad side of that Celica wasn't one of them. One of the thoughts were, 'I hope to g-od he sees me and slams his brakes, or does a 3-point so I have more room in front of him', (I was in the right lane)...I had to try and squeeze in front of him because at that speed, there also ain't no cut a quick turn to the left and go around the back of the car. So I picked my line and again found myself hoping, this time it was, 'please don't gas it and whip on around', because he would hit me. My friend that saw the whole thing, said I must've made it passed the front bumper of that car by inches. He said that I was already a good 3-4ft off the asphalt to avoid the nose of the car. I just knew the back of my bike was about to swing out from him hitting it, but I made it passed him. The next obstacles; big ass, pindo palm trees, that need trimmed baddly. I narrowly missed 2 of them with my right shoulder and elbow, and even had to go between a palm boot that had fell on the ground 2 ft from one of the trees. So, amazingly, I've pulled it back onto the asphalt, still on 2 wheels, and I wish I'd have looked at the speedometer, because I'd say I was still on up there...probably around 80-90ish... and had just went a good 200ft on a very ruff, un-manicured shoulder...and my bike ain't no enduro. You can imagine what was going thru my mind right after all that. You'd think that 'absolutely pissed' would be the primary state of mind, but I would say that was the least. I was happy, proud, impressed. I felt d@mn skilled, but looking back at that blue celica kept a tinge of anger in mind as well.
So, we get up to the next red light. I'm turning around watching the Celica pull up behind me, and the guy is yelling out the window. I thought, 'I know he ain't...' I put the kickstand down and was going to drag him out of his window if he even thought he was pissed at me, but half way to his car I could hear him. He was apologizing with extreme sincerity. When I got to his car he said, "sir, I didn't even see you coming." The kid had to be 16-17 with his little friend in the car that looked about 13-14yrs old. Both of them had already puffed down about half their cigs. I just told him that he's gotta watch for us out there. He kept apologizing. I held up 2 fingers (peace), and went on.
High speeds are for controlled environments. If someone blocks your path at 45mph. No problem. You can stop a spotbike real short at that speed. Not to mention make serious cuts and sharp maneuvers to dodge things, but once you get up around 150, your options are slim. And I hope it goes without saying, but you never use your rear brake on a sportbike or you've just lost conrtol because the ass end is coming around. I just had to mention it because I've seen it happen, and heard about it more than too many times. It would've been another crash story if I had hit the rear brake as well yesterday because I would've lost control of the bike.
Safe riding and watch for the dum****es out there that don't watch for us. All it would've took was a glance to the right and that dipshyt would've seen me. I always ride with my high-beams on during the day too. Better visibility.
A friend of mine is wanting to get a bike. He's never rode street, so like a smart person, he's looking at getting a Ninja 250R. The new 2008 models are pretty cool. They look like a real sportbike and are perfect starter bikes.
Well, yesterday 4/24, he asked if I would meet him at the Kawasaki dealer to check them out. They had no 250R's and the owner said she can't keep them on the floor, just as I figured and heard. Those little things go like hot cakes. So he wanted to go to the Honda/Yamaha dealer. So, off we went. He in his Solara, me on my R6. We get to a stop light that has nothing but open highway ahead. The light goes green and just as I figured, he wanted to see the 6 run so he gassed his Toyota. I entertained him and twisted the throttle. Ran thru 1st to 3rd and got into forth gear and this baby blue Celica that was coming the opposite direction decided to do a u-turn. I let off the throttle and the Celica stopped in the median. So, I rolled back on the throttle and the Celica(u-turner), proceeds into my lanes. I'm well into forth gear at this time and seconds are split into thousandths. I grab the brake and quickly realize that there ain't no stopping at that speed and short distance getting shorter very rapidly. My mind ran thru a quick series of options, and hitting the broad side of that Celica wasn't one of them. One of the thoughts were, 'I hope to g-od he sees me and slams his brakes, or does a 3-point so I have more room in front of him', (I was in the right lane)...I had to try and squeeze in front of him because at that speed, there also ain't no cut a quick turn to the left and go around the back of the car. So I picked my line and again found myself hoping, this time it was, 'please don't gas it and whip on around', because he would hit me. My friend that saw the whole thing, said I must've made it passed the front bumper of that car by inches. He said that I was already a good 3-4ft off the asphalt to avoid the nose of the car. I just knew the back of my bike was about to swing out from him hitting it, but I made it passed him. The next obstacles; big ass, pindo palm trees, that need trimmed baddly. I narrowly missed 2 of them with my right shoulder and elbow, and even had to go between a palm boot that had fell on the ground 2 ft from one of the trees. So, amazingly, I've pulled it back onto the asphalt, still on 2 wheels, and I wish I'd have looked at the speedometer, because I'd say I was still on up there...probably around 80-90ish... and had just went a good 200ft on a very ruff, un-manicured shoulder...and my bike ain't no enduro. You can imagine what was going thru my mind right after all that. You'd think that 'absolutely pissed' would be the primary state of mind, but I would say that was the least. I was happy, proud, impressed. I felt d@mn skilled, but looking back at that blue celica kept a tinge of anger in mind as well.
So, we get up to the next red light. I'm turning around watching the Celica pull up behind me, and the guy is yelling out the window. I thought, 'I know he ain't...' I put the kickstand down and was going to drag him out of his window if he even thought he was pissed at me, but half way to his car I could hear him. He was apologizing with extreme sincerity. When I got to his car he said, "sir, I didn't even see you coming." The kid had to be 16-17 with his little friend in the car that looked about 13-14yrs old. Both of them had already puffed down about half their cigs. I just told him that he's gotta watch for us out there. He kept apologizing. I held up 2 fingers (peace), and went on.
High speeds are for controlled environments. If someone blocks your path at 45mph. No problem. You can stop a spotbike real short at that speed. Not to mention make serious cuts and sharp maneuvers to dodge things, but once you get up around 150, your options are slim. And I hope it goes without saying, but you never use your rear brake on a sportbike or you've just lost conrtol because the ass end is coming around. I just had to mention it because I've seen it happen, and heard about it more than too many times. It would've been another crash story if I had hit the rear brake as well yesterday because I would've lost control of the bike.
Safe riding and watch for the dum****es out there that don't watch for us. All it would've took was a glance to the right and that dipshyt would've seen me. I always ride with my high-beams on during the day too. Better visibility.
. Allot of folks don't look for bikes. They're just focused on other cars. It's like we don't even register in their mind. The good thing is that bikes have gotten so trendy. Everybody's a biker now-days. That's a good thing because they're more motorcycle aware. Riders are also usually better drivers because riding a motorcycle makes you a better driver. You drive way ahead and are always on the defensive preparing for any situation.
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