V11 Sport Rocks the Ozarks!

[Mike Stewart]

Yep, I use my mirrors, if someone is on my tail, I wave them by. I like to ride fast, but I am not the fastest (only in my dreams ).

 

And yes, I see the whole picture.

 

Just ride safe and have fun,

Mike

[Guest trispeed]

Oh, it just gets worse and worse.

I had hoped to share some sage advice with the less experienced that thought your exploits worthy of praise.

I have seen 7 deaths up close and personal because of the group riding adrenaline/ testosterone boost. Most riders experience it, especially while young and dumb. I have heard of probably 30 more fatalities in my area since I moved here in '89. Hundreds of less severe injuries, though many life long disabilities. You're the one clearly in denial and living in the fantasy land you spoke about. I haven't heard of one single fatality around here that was a lone rider. ALWAYS in a group. ALWAYS in a group. I've seen less experienced riders roll right off the pavement trying to keep up with the hotshot who just passed by. It happens a lot; this is reality.

I have ridden over a half million miles world wide on the 89 bikes I have owned. At least 20 have seen the track, I've raced from Westwood, B.C. to Willow Springs, CA. Everything from 125 GP to 750 Superbike. (My NSR 250 was the favorite of the lot!)

Jason and Reg are good friends of mine and I've been to 40 or 50 Class School track days. I didn't enjoy the Keith Code approach as much, however and only went to a handfull.

I've run around guys in turn 8 at Willow; they on their 916, 900RR, etc. me on my Aspencade! ( Reg has that on video; you should hear his commentary; I thought he might crash from laughing so hard!) I rode like an idiot on my old RZ350 (street) and am fortunate to be around now without injury. I've seen the right side of 150 MPH indicated on the street and live to tell you how stupid it is, as well. Even with the academic credentials, stupidity often happens when the 'mob mentality' takes over. I've figured it out and you can, too.

Knowledge is power;

Oh well, to the rest of you, have a good ride and try not to kill anyone else in the process.

[dlaing]

I am with TriSpeed on this

except for the name calling, even though I thought the word moron before Trispeed typed it, and the beating people up thang is really moronic, people get nasty and use guns and people die from that nasty stuff. Cool in movies, but violence sucks in reality

As to the forum etiquette of calling someone a moron, it generally is not accepted, but calling their post moronic or unintelligent is more acceptable Right Jaap???

The MGNA-SW guys have some pretty fast riders and when they pass me, it makes me nervous, so the simple solution is to ride tailgun. Most of their passes leave a pretty good margin for error, but I am not sure they know how sloppy of a rider I can be.

When the fast guys on Palomar pass me, that can upset me. But the best thing to do is talk to them, not kick their ass. If they flip you off, then I guess I can't fault you for kicking their assseessss

Passes in turns are rarely safe, although I have seen people like RacerX pull off a very safe inside pass on me at the end of a right turn where he pretty much knew I would swing toward the double yellow while he hugged pretty tight to the right white line. His talent is so much greater than mine, that I trust him to do that.

The other contention is that violence is wrong except in self defence.

[Baldini]

Stand clear - Egos at work....

 

...showing off my skills and trying to show those younger riders a thing or two. That had NOTHING to do with it. It was unsafe to ride in a group of inexperienced riders that were trying to show something.  The safest thing for me to do was get through the brake check at each corner entry....

Yeh, sure! The safest thing to do would have been to let em go, catch em later. Your gettin involved just adds another thing for them to have to deal with.

 

....I've run around guys in turn 8 at Willow; they on their 916, 900RR, etc. me on my Aspencade!....

Well done!

 

Gettin involved in any way with other road traffic, esp unkown vehicles, is asking for trouble, like Trispeed says. But don't most of us do it occasionally? Sometimes I just can't help it, even tho I know it's ultimately stupid, dangerous & proves nothin.....Wish I could kick it, cos at the end there's no real satisfaction to be had out of it less you're happy to fool yourself.

 

KB

[Guest trispeed]

Hi dlaing,

What, you don't think that placing my life in danger with a pre-meditated and deliberate action warrants a response? Just because the rider creating the dangerous situation is ignorant of that fact, the danger is not mitigated.

What's going on here? If someone barges in front of you in line at the grocery store, do you just say 'oh, he's a faster shopper', so that's OK? You wouldn't go for that, would you?

Why do we have 'personal space' in the Food King but in a much more dynamic and dangerous setting, we don't ?

Do you think that if some rider wants to take more chances than you, he should be able to take chances with your well being, too? It seems like many of us are brainwashed to think that if someone rides faster ( whether it's due to higher skill level or a higher risk taking level doesn't seem to matter here), they can take liberties in other areas. That's ridiculous and we should all think hard about that concept.

I say that someone who places another in significant danger in ANY setting deserves an equally aggressive response. If you let people run you over, it will never cease. I never look for trouble but I won't allow myself to be abused, either.

It's called standing up for yourself, people.

Think about where you would draw your personal line; does the other guy have to actually run you off the road/ hit you with his bike, ?? Do you wait that long to take action, or do you do what you can to stop it before it gets to that point?

I got T- boned during a practice session once; I had just peeled off into the turn; this guy ( who had been riding aggressive and poorly) was WAY too hot coming into the hairpin and I heard a second of squealing tire before he broke his fairing and windscreen on my right hip. I had him around the throat him for a bit;(it's only place you can get to someone with full gear on) but he rode so politely the rest of the day, you wouldn't believe it! Did everyone a favor, whether you like the process or not!

[Ouiji Veck]

Two different worlds collide.

How we ever going to bring about world peace like this?

On the one hand ya got the view of " a shopper cutting in front of you" and on

the other "His talent is so much greater than mine, that I trust him to do that."

 

Trispeed is looking @ the situation like geno is sneaking up from

behind and geno is talking about a group with pre concent of a

balls to the walls holligan ride.

 

I've made a few inside passes...20 yrs. ago...with people I rode with

all the time and still ride with.We didn't do to much lane swapping for

no reason and were looking for each other to do such things. I could be

heeled over in a corner and see Ricks or Freds front tire nozing in on me

and just grin and try to get a leap on the exit. If anyone did such a thing

now he'd get slapped down @ the next stop. New riders that tag along with us often

get chastized for following to close or making a dumb ego driven pass on a car...

(or having to brake for a corner.) But it's all done in good humor and we all

know we've done simillar (dare I say moronic?) things. People either respect our opinions or don't get

the great honor, privlige and joy of riding with us. My opinion is my opinion

and dosen't extend beyond my world. Everyone is welcome to be as stupid as they want. Heck...you can even ride without your helmet as far as I care. Just don't

call me a moron if I wear one.

I'm shure geno was taking some risk...in a crowd of risk takers...but you take a risk

every time you pass a car even on a straight away. I'll let Geno decide whats too risky...he sounds like a big boy to me. I wasn't there...maybe I would have grinned

if I saw the ride he discribed (in my mirros ofcourse ) or maybe he would have

got one of DADS lectures if he threatened someone elses well being but we'd probably not got all bent out of shape about it and parted as friends.

 

I get where trispeed is comming from too. 35 yrs in the saddle and ya kinda cringe

@ the thought of people really mixing it up on the public roads. I've never seen anyone killed and only one serious accident in 3 or 4 hundred thousand miles but

I can shure picture it. Glamorizing outregious riding does set my teeth on edge.

 

Then again...if a squid always going on about how bad his xyzxz was, and then

entered every corner hard on his brakes and left the door wide open

for me.. and I thought he wouldn't just fall over.... I'd be tempted. ...

and I'd probably be proud to tell my fellow Guzzist all about the shinning moment.

Have I attained world peace yet?

 

( I imagine every pack of HDs I walk around think I'm an insane squid on a Jap bike)

[staedtler]

Where is the Love?!....

 

[Guest trispeed]

Trispeed is looking @ the situation like geno is sneaking up from

behind and geno is talking about a group with pre concent of a

balls to the walls holligan ride.

 

Hi; you missed the critical element of his post; he had NEVER ridden with these guys before; he had one friend with him. He was taking risks with unknown/ non-consenting riders and was indeed sneaking up, gutter- sniping, whatever you want to call it. Your post misses that bit of information. It's a completely different situation when consent is given and everyone is expecting close passes.

Why are you guys trying to justify this dangerous behaviour by saying, 'we have all done it before'? Yes; ride without a helmet, yes; ride 200 MPH down the 210 freeway; yes kill yourself, who cares? Not me, but your right to be an idiot ends when it begins to expose other citizens to danger. You can't justify, for any reason, creating a dangerous situation for a complete stranger. If your ego needs to show up a slower rider by placing him in danger, then his ego may need to kick some ass at the end of the road; what's the difference?

[dlaing]

I got T- boned during a practice session once; I had just peeled off into the turn; this guy ( who had been riding aggressive and poorly) was WAY too hot coming into the hairpin and I heard a second of squealing tire before he broke his fairing and windscreen on my right hip. I had him around the throat him for a bit;(it's only place you can get to someone with full gear on) but he rode so politely the rest of the day, you wouldn't believe it! Did everyone a favor, whether you like the process or not!

85938[/snapback]

I think you overestimate the value of violence.

If I had cracked my windscreen against someones hip, I think that would be enough of a wake up call to mellow out, without the need for violence.

I can't expect you to evolve, I can only suggest and hope.

Or maybe I could keep kicking your ass until you give up your violent ways.

That method does not work well in the family cycle nor in the raising of pitbulls.

Sadly the aggressive passers on this list are not swayed by your common sense and words as they have had their minds made up already.

Kicking their asses will only make them hate you more and you may end up with sugar in your tank or WD-40 on your tires.

[dlaing]

I'm shure geno was taking some risk...in a crowd of risk takers...but you take a risk

every time you pass a car even on a straight away.

85953[/snapback]

Yah, in a crowd of people brake checking him.

Mixing it up with people doing hostile aggressive moves like brake checking(which I assume is illegal in racing) is stupid and the best way to deal with it is to stay far away (and maybe kick their asses at the next gas station(maybe trispeed is right))

But Geno is all good with the guys who were brake checking him, and just took it as an encouragement to play hard ball with them......I don't get it.

[Guest trispeed]

I think you overestimate the value of violence.

If I had cracked my windscreen against someones hip, I think that would be enough of a wake up call to mellow out, without the need for violence.

I can't expect you to evolve, I can only suggest and hope.

Or maybe I could keep kicking your ass until you give up your violent ways.

That method does not work well in the family cycle nor in the raising of pitbulls.

Sadly the aggressive passers on this list are not swayed by your common sense and words as they have had their minds made up already.

Kicking their asses will only make them hate you more and you may end up with sugar in your tank or WD-40 on your tires.

85966[/snapback]

You will note with a quick re-read that I never made any remark re: ass kicking to anyone specifically here, as you just did. If I see someone WD-40'ing a set of tires, I could get attempted murder to stick. Wanna try that?

Like I said.....that guy's a moron.

[grossohc]

The way i see it is, a guy goes out on his bike with some mates he beats a few on his 20th century bike and they all went home happy (apart from the guys in front ) but they are also okay. So what are the rest of you getting your knickers in a twist for. All the guys he rode with are happy, so chill out.

[beauchemin]

It was unsafe to ride in a group of inexperienced riders that were trying to show something.  The safest thing for me to do was get through the brake check at each corner entry. Their 1000 cc Jap bikes rocket off at each straight, but at each corner I am catching them up and get brake checked right when I am setting up for corner entry.

 

I'm always interested in learning safer road skills. Here's some food for thought:

 

If you are really interested in safety, then wouldn't it be wiser to pull over for a 15 minute break so that the inexperienced riders can get far enough ahead so that they don't get in your way?

 

Slow riders on fast bikes (who are evidently inexperienced, given their riding style) are just another road hazard to be avoided.

[Guest trispeed]

The way i see it is, a guy goes out on his bike with some mates he beats a few on his 20th century bike and they all went home happy (apart from the guys in front ) but they are also okay. So what are the rest of you getting your knickers in a twist for. All the guys he rode with are happy, so chill out.    

85976[/snapback]

Hi grossohc,

the reason is that here in southern california, there are bike to bike incidents that could be avoided if people rode more safely, notice I didn't say SLOWER!

Anyway, that's it; I don't want to see any more innocent lives ruined due to easily avoidable yet quite prevalent and unnecessary dangerous behaviour.

What's wrong with wanting everyone to have a great time and get home in one piece??? Maybe it's just us Americans that suffer from this sort of excessive ego

[Guest geno929]

Well I must say that I have really started a dialogue that all posters on this forum seem very interested. Trispeed, I respect your opinion of me. Just not your choice of words and wanting to parley your feelings into violence. If I cut you off on the freeway would you chase me down to hit me at the next stoplight? I doubt it! You have too many miles under you feet to do that sort of childish thing. Yes, you might get upset and yell, but you have too much experience in life to not just let it roll off your back! I mean gosh, you have been riding motorcycles as long as I have been alive.

As to the fact that I had never ridden with those guys before. Well, yes, that's true in the fact. But I had been invited to join them. I met them 60 miles south of St.Louis. But, most of those guys I had seen and or met at Gateway Intl Raceway at the various CCS and WERA events and trackdays. And most are members of MCRA too.

The inside pass! This seems to be the biggest bone of contention amongst those that feel that I'm the dangerous kid here. I ride "The Pace" ie:don't cross the center line, ride at your own level, never leave anyone behind etc. I never felt that I was riding above my head, didn't cross the center line, and the inside pass was wide open and at the time "the safest option avaliable!" I'm sorry if you don't believe.

As to hanging back for 15 min. to be alone as I catch up! Kinda defeats the purpose of being invited to ride with these guys, dosen't it? I already hung back quite a ways just to see the way they were riding. See original post.

In the end all of the guys had a great time and shared a lot of comaraderie! Kind of the point to meeting those guys.

I didn't mean to offend anyone. Sorry if I did. I just was very proud of "the ole' girl" and I thought you might be too! Geno929