Need to post these thoughts of mine on the forum, of course all are my own experiences // opinions and might not match yours, so any critisism given and returned is nothing serious but just one's own opinion but will give us some possibilities to rethink our own view of things for maybe // hopefully our own good.
After having the pleasure of riding with some real extreme bikers on Saturday 24th, I had to think about myself and my style of riding and choice of bikes more closely.
As some might know I have a hobby of buying some old bikes and restore them for proper use. That's where I come along some different purpose bikes but rode them all to just get the feeling of them. Were they the right choice, YES of course, all for their purpose and it was up to me only to ride them as they were built and what they were meant for.
Seing Luke and Mark and their extreme lean angles, their feet in front for better balancing and as Mark teached me NOT for stabilising the bike once it slips as this will most probably fracture all bones, makes you a little envious and you would like to keep up as you have the 650 which has more mmpppffffhhh then the 400's. No its not the bike I was shown, it's my own abilities. Considering my weight, age, state of fitness and most important my own abilities and daring, it's impossible to keep up.
"Know your own limits and respect them" is the basic rule while biking.
I might be as daring as Luke in every corner would I be 20 years younger, I might be able to drift trough every corner like Mark would I have a lighter, more fit body and the same years and hours of experience, I might be able to run the D-Tracker like John would I not care about horsepower and status, but that's all language I hate: would-should-could, simple own inefficiency bla-bla. Well you see it's not up to the bike, its up to me.
In some corners I dared but was quickly reminded on what I would face would I push it further......slips on the backwheel I can handle but I totally dislike the front breaking out and even more to ride on a totally slippery and wet surface, I simply can't handle this. So power down, let them Motards and Superbikes take you over and put-put-put just behind.
What's the solution, get a more fit, lighter body and don't let myself been drawn into a competition I cannot win for above reasons.
I often hear complaints by guys who go through loads of different bikes and they are no good bikes at all, for me just BS it's not the bikes that are not fitting, its mostly our attitude or overly positive esteem of our riding capabilities that makes every bike not fitting our needs. If we can openly admit that for several reasons we are not Rossi's then comes the time where we really enjoy the bikes we are on at the moment.
Just a little self critisism with a comment on bikes I rode recently: R1, well too quick for my brain, needs to ridden much more daring that I would ever have the balls to, too uncomfortable for my 105 kgs bulk, and last but not least a bike for good and quick roads which aren't too plenty up here. AX1-250, most fun in town and on small loops, tops out at 125km/h but I never needed more as once on top speed, needed to brake again for traffic lights and others, not easy to bring to the limit, more capable than my riding skills. SRX4 best commuter I ever had, incredibly low on fuel consumption and easy to flip through slow moving traffic although punishing your butt while on longer stretches, easy for the back to break out in a turn as very light back; same goes for the 600 version, loads of fun on the Samoeng loop as more power but in the end, Tony would have more fun on it as I will ever have as I do not dare to push it more in the turns. F650 perfect allround bike but has it's limits while pushing it, it's not a Motard and shouldn't be ridden as one, again my mistake, same goes for the DR it's an Enduro and not a Motard, so need to take it easier through the bends otherwise I won't be able to keep it on the road, Mark and Luke still would ride at least 10 km/h quicker through a turn with it and not slip a centimeter. FZ1//FZ6, you must know that sometimes I hate to go through all the gears opposite to when I was younger...., needs to be screamed to be fun, uncomfortable for my 105 kgs on longer stretches, a "too nervous" bike for my age, ER6N is a bike that I liked very much as it gave me quite a matching fit for my abilities and still gave me a lot of confidence that I'm not yet on my limit. Well, last but not least and not all, the FJR, I'm not gonna sell this one, only if it wouldn't be that heavy, or as you could counter me: why don't you do more workout's and get a fitter body, so again back to myself.......
Seing all my riding with a pinch of salt and self critisism I must admit that in the end, I'm not entitled to critisize any bike but only myself. Getting a 690DukeR, a DRZ400SM, an R1, an XT660X, why ? I've got all of them already on my parking lot just not being able to ride them as such and come closer to the before mentioned models. Do I have to buy them ? No, because I have them already ! Of course some small modifications are needed to just give more opportunities like fitting a 17" 120er tyre on the DR but still won't give myself the inner confidence in racing it through the turns like Luke or Mark. Putting a Powercommander and remove the stock exhaust & cats from the FJR would give much more power but would I be able to put it through corners like Tony or Gerhard, no, as I'm not that daring, simply lacking the balls.
And with increasing age it is always good to recognize your limits and abilities that they are not that high as you would like them to be or want to show others what you can do. Better to take it a little slower but safe and still I enjoy the ride !!!!!
So happy & safe riding, best regards, Franz
After having the pleasure of riding with some real extreme bikers on Saturday 24th, I had to think about myself and my style of riding and choice of bikes more closely.
As some might know I have a hobby of buying some old bikes and restore them for proper use. That's where I come along some different purpose bikes but rode them all to just get the feeling of them. Were they the right choice, YES of course, all for their purpose and it was up to me only to ride them as they were built and what they were meant for.
Seing Luke and Mark and their extreme lean angles, their feet in front for better balancing and as Mark teached me NOT for stabilising the bike once it slips as this will most probably fracture all bones, makes you a little envious and you would like to keep up as you have the 650 which has more mmpppffffhhh then the 400's. No its not the bike I was shown, it's my own abilities. Considering my weight, age, state of fitness and most important my own abilities and daring, it's impossible to keep up.
"Know your own limits and respect them" is the basic rule while biking.
I might be as daring as Luke in every corner would I be 20 years younger, I might be able to drift trough every corner like Mark would I have a lighter, more fit body and the same years and hours of experience, I might be able to run the D-Tracker like John would I not care about horsepower and status, but that's all language I hate: would-should-could, simple own inefficiency bla-bla. Well you see it's not up to the bike, its up to me.
In some corners I dared but was quickly reminded on what I would face would I push it further......slips on the backwheel I can handle but I totally dislike the front breaking out and even more to ride on a totally slippery and wet surface, I simply can't handle this. So power down, let them Motards and Superbikes take you over and put-put-put just behind.
What's the solution, get a more fit, lighter body and don't let myself been drawn into a competition I cannot win for above reasons.
I often hear complaints by guys who go through loads of different bikes and they are no good bikes at all, for me just BS it's not the bikes that are not fitting, its mostly our attitude or overly positive esteem of our riding capabilities that makes every bike not fitting our needs. If we can openly admit that for several reasons we are not Rossi's then comes the time where we really enjoy the bikes we are on at the moment.
Just a little self critisism with a comment on bikes I rode recently: R1, well too quick for my brain, needs to ridden much more daring that I would ever have the balls to, too uncomfortable for my 105 kgs bulk, and last but not least a bike for good and quick roads which aren't too plenty up here. AX1-250, most fun in town and on small loops, tops out at 125km/h but I never needed more as once on top speed, needed to brake again for traffic lights and others, not easy to bring to the limit, more capable than my riding skills. SRX4 best commuter I ever had, incredibly low on fuel consumption and easy to flip through slow moving traffic although punishing your butt while on longer stretches, easy for the back to break out in a turn as very light back; same goes for the 600 version, loads of fun on the Samoeng loop as more power but in the end, Tony would have more fun on it as I will ever have as I do not dare to push it more in the turns. F650 perfect allround bike but has it's limits while pushing it, it's not a Motard and shouldn't be ridden as one, again my mistake, same goes for the DR it's an Enduro and not a Motard, so need to take it easier through the bends otherwise I won't be able to keep it on the road, Mark and Luke still would ride at least 10 km/h quicker through a turn with it and not slip a centimeter. FZ1//FZ6, you must know that sometimes I hate to go through all the gears opposite to when I was younger...., needs to be screamed to be fun, uncomfortable for my 105 kgs on longer stretches, a "too nervous" bike for my age, ER6N is a bike that I liked very much as it gave me quite a matching fit for my abilities and still gave me a lot of confidence that I'm not yet on my limit. Well, last but not least and not all, the FJR, I'm not gonna sell this one, only if it wouldn't be that heavy, or as you could counter me: why don't you do more workout's and get a fitter body, so again back to myself.......
Seing all my riding with a pinch of salt and self critisism I must admit that in the end, I'm not entitled to critisize any bike but only myself. Getting a 690DukeR, a DRZ400SM, an R1, an XT660X, why ? I've got all of them already on my parking lot just not being able to ride them as such and come closer to the before mentioned models. Do I have to buy them ? No, because I have them already ! Of course some small modifications are needed to just give more opportunities like fitting a 17" 120er tyre on the DR but still won't give myself the inner confidence in racing it through the turns like Luke or Mark. Putting a Powercommander and remove the stock exhaust & cats from the FJR would give much more power but would I be able to put it through corners like Tony or Gerhard, no, as I'm not that daring, simply lacking the balls.
And with increasing age it is always good to recognize your limits and abilities that they are not that high as you would like them to be or want to show others what you can do. Better to take it a little slower but safe and still I enjoy the ride !!!!!
So happy & safe riding, best regards, Franz