Wee Willy
It's bad, you know
Well, this here's a true story. I'm a tellin' ya so you don't make the same mistake I did. Last October 3rd, a friend & I rode the IBA SS1K on a route from Santa Clarita to Lake Tahoe, to Sacramento, to Gilroy, to Cambria, to SLO, and through Santa Barbara back home to Santa Clarita (ride details). It was 1032 miles in 21.1 hrs. To make my ride easier on the way, I had installed a Throttle Meister ™ about 2 weeks before the ride. I was not yet completely used to the TM by the ride date. Before the TM, I had used a Throttle Rocker (TR) for long trips on the FJR and I had it on the grip for the ride up the 395 that day (I know, I know...belt & suspenders), but I was used to the TR, or so I thought. As the ride progressed, I kept adjusting the TR higher around the grip (moving it more clockwise looking into the throttle) so that it was at the right position for the right hand at cruising speeds. This meant that the TR was positioned quite high at idle. It was so high up (almost 10 o'clock with noon being straight up), in fact, that it damn near killed me. Here's how:
After we left the Gardnerville, NV area, we began climbing into the Sierras, heading for the El Dorado Highway (CA 50) for the trip west to Sacramento (Route). We reached the 50 about 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day for a Saturday ride through the mountains. And we weren't the only people on the road that day with the same idea; the 50 was pretty busy. Now, much of this pass road is two-lane mountain highway with a passing lane every few miles. Whenever one of these opportunities came around, we would typically use our bike's acceleration advantage to put the slower cagers behind us leaving us with a stretch of open mountain road before we encountered the next cager train. Nothing insane in all this mind you...just typical MC overtaking.
Now, I was riding in the wingman slot of a flight of two. My experienced lead was riding a Kawasaki KZ-10R...a damned quick bike. So, every time one of these opportunities would come up, I would tighten the formation up to await his move then slot in behind him and follow his lead. It was important to stay tucked up close or we might find ourselves separated by traffic on the far side...not a disaster mind you, just undesirable. It was on one of the energetic overtakes that my story gets exciting. Keeping with his past MO, my lead moved fairly aggressively when it was safe to do so & I followed suit. This particular short passing lane area had a decreasing-radius right-hand turn as the lanes merged from 2 lanes back into 1 west bound. As I approached this merge with oncoming traffic going by nose to tail, I was leaning right with a fair head of steam on. I noticed the turn tightening and rolled the throttle off...plenty of margin, no problem here. Only the throttle doesn't roll off because that damn TR in concert with the position of my hand won't let me...I've rolled my hand as far forward as anatomically possible but it's hooked at partial power and too much to get safely around in this condition. And to add insult to injury, I can't get my fingers onto the front brake lever because I'm trying so hard to steer, and roll off speed that my hand is now positioned so that my fingers would have to bend backwards at a 90 degree angle to reach the lever...it ain't happening.
You have all probably been there at one time or another...that big shot of system-jolting adrenaline that hits you when things look to get real exciting real quick!! Well, now it's deep lean time and I put my right peg into the asphalt still trying to work that throttle somehow to roll off speed without any progress. I'm next on the rear brake to pull myself around and that's what finally does it without doing anything more serious than staining my shorts. At the outermost edge of this turn my tires were an inch from the center line with peg in the dirt and about 6 inches from the front tire of a big dually Ford going the other way...I remember the logo on the hood like it was yesterday. And the look on that guy's face was worth the price of admission. The next straight section of road saw me remove that velcroed TR and put it back in the tank bag. It has not been out since this event.
So here's the moral of this story. 1) I recommend you use a TR only on open roads with minimal need for throttle variations. 2) if you are using a TR, make sure you are careful to position it so you don't lose complete capability to QUICKLY dump your throttle AND use the front brake. And 3) remove it completely if you're headed into the twisties.
Cheers,
W2
After we left the Gardnerville, NV area, we began climbing into the Sierras, heading for the El Dorado Highway (CA 50) for the trip west to Sacramento (Route). We reached the 50 about 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day for a Saturday ride through the mountains. And we weren't the only people on the road that day with the same idea; the 50 was pretty busy. Now, much of this pass road is two-lane mountain highway with a passing lane every few miles. Whenever one of these opportunities came around, we would typically use our bike's acceleration advantage to put the slower cagers behind us leaving us with a stretch of open mountain road before we encountered the next cager train. Nothing insane in all this mind you...just typical MC overtaking.
Now, I was riding in the wingman slot of a flight of two. My experienced lead was riding a Kawasaki KZ-10R...a damned quick bike. So, every time one of these opportunities would come up, I would tighten the formation up to await his move then slot in behind him and follow his lead. It was important to stay tucked up close or we might find ourselves separated by traffic on the far side...not a disaster mind you, just undesirable. It was on one of the energetic overtakes that my story gets exciting. Keeping with his past MO, my lead moved fairly aggressively when it was safe to do so & I followed suit. This particular short passing lane area had a decreasing-radius right-hand turn as the lanes merged from 2 lanes back into 1 west bound. As I approached this merge with oncoming traffic going by nose to tail, I was leaning right with a fair head of steam on. I noticed the turn tightening and rolled the throttle off...plenty of margin, no problem here. Only the throttle doesn't roll off because that damn TR in concert with the position of my hand won't let me...I've rolled my hand as far forward as anatomically possible but it's hooked at partial power and too much to get safely around in this condition. And to add insult to injury, I can't get my fingers onto the front brake lever because I'm trying so hard to steer, and roll off speed that my hand is now positioned so that my fingers would have to bend backwards at a 90 degree angle to reach the lever...it ain't happening.
You have all probably been there at one time or another...that big shot of system-jolting adrenaline that hits you when things look to get real exciting real quick!! Well, now it's deep lean time and I put my right peg into the asphalt still trying to work that throttle somehow to roll off speed without any progress. I'm next on the rear brake to pull myself around and that's what finally does it without doing anything more serious than staining my shorts. At the outermost edge of this turn my tires were an inch from the center line with peg in the dirt and about 6 inches from the front tire of a big dually Ford going the other way...I remember the logo on the hood like it was yesterday. And the look on that guy's face was worth the price of admission. The next straight section of road saw me remove that velcroed TR and put it back in the tank bag. It has not been out since this event.
So here's the moral of this story. 1) I recommend you use a TR only on open roads with minimal need for throttle variations. 2) if you are using a TR, make sure you are careful to position it so you don't lose complete capability to QUICKLY dump your throttle AND use the front brake. And 3) remove it completely if you're headed into the twisties.
Cheers,
W2
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