Trying to find my Pace

[LCB]

I am also not a peg scraper and thoroughly enjoy my FJR. You ride your ride; I'll ride mine.
That's the message to the OP. "Don't ride so fast that you are unsafe, or fast enough to make you feel uncomfortable."

If it isn't fun, then there's something that should be interpreted from that feeling .....

Yup, if I'm not in my "Happy Place" then I'm no longer riding my own ride. Doesn't matter if I'm testing my limits or enjoying the scenery - if that feeling isn't there it's time to slow down or stop & re-group.

 

[wil780]

If you are running the same speeds as you did 40 years ago, then you are slowing down! Tires, bike geometry, engines, frame stiffness and brakes have come a LONG way in four decades. If you had today's equipment back then, I would suggest that you would have been going a lot faster.

No. My RD400 on K91 tires went around corners at least as well as the FJR. The traction limit was out at about the same place as with the sport-touring tires on the FJR and the cornering clearance was just about the same. The light weight of the RD made up for the poor suspension. Now, I'm about 10 clicks faster in a given corner on my CBR600RR, but that's just keeping to my comfort level. The CBR's ABS works well when cornering at 80% - I've tested it - so I can corner faster knowing I can stop if I have to. Plus it has more cornering clearance, so an unnoticed bump won't scape hard parts. So, sure, I'm faster on a better bike. But I think the '78 RD and FJR have similar cornering capabilities and I run them at the same speeds almost 40 years apart. I don't think I've slowed down.

I've made a small number of major mistakes on the street that had both wheels sliding (not on the FJR), so I know I can transfer my ancient track skills to handle recovering from an unexpected slide on the street. Running appreciably faster is something I could do if I wanted to. However, I'm pretty sure that with the crappy ABS on the FJR, braking hard while scaping a peg is not a viable option. That's one option I'm not willing to do without while in sport-touring mode on a road I haven't pre-ridden.

 

[JRF]

Great thread. Lots of great advice. Ive always found with the various bikes ive owned that they are most enjoyable being ridden as they were designed to. Fast on the sport bikes, slow on the cruisers. I really enjoyed the zx12, but with the speeds I was finding myself moving at, it had to go, so I bought a vulcan.

The thump of a twin & relaxed riding experience was quite enjoyable, but I also felt that the bikes lack of acceleration, braking & handling capabilities compromised my ability to ride safely. I also found myself less alert when riding cruisers.

When the FJR came along I found that this machine very effectively combined the best characteristics of the other bikes ive owned. This bike will do more than ill ever ask of it under normal riding conditions & I see that as a safety measure. Always focussed on the road & comfortable doing so. Baggers are awesome.

If I found myself gravitating towards doing things that fall outside of safe riding practice, than it wouldn't be the right bike for me. Thats one of the best characteristics of the feej, it'll do it if you ask, but couldn't care less if you don't.

 

[art miller]

In my opinion, pushing your limits is for the track, not the street. I started riding too late in life to hone the fine skills really needed to be one who could blow by you on the twisties but I'm OK with that. Even when a corner is well within my skillset to take at 2x the posted speed, I am not generally inclined to push it quite that far. You never know what's around the bend - idiot driver crossing the yellow, Bambi in the road, hay baler, gravel or a pile of animal droppings. I try to not outride further than I can see.
There are old riders and there are bold riders but not many old, bold riders. Hope you can make a decision that allows you to get the "rush" safely!

RossKeen has great advice. As a 73 year old rider I can tell you riding at or above your limit off track will greatly lessen your chance of becoming an old rider. If you need an adrenalin rush attend more track days or find an activity that does not put you and others at risk!

 

[Bill Lumberg]

The key is not overthinking it. I think back to my pre-internet, honda nighthawk and valkyrie days. I didn't obsess over choice of helmet, rubber, over maintenance, etc., and I had huge fun. I ride at a reasonable pace for conditions. I use a lower gear in the twisties, but dont aspire to particularly high revs. My goal is precision and smoothness, be it through max lean, or simply by being able to whip a U on the tightest road or in the tightest parking lot, one up or two up, gear or no gear. The end game, for me, is when the bike disappears below you, leaving you to fly along with nothing more than your thoughts.

 

[rwortman]

As one of the previous posters said, when riding on the street don't override your sight lines. That is playing russian roulette and sooner or later you will get hurt. I like to ride just fast enough to require my full attention. It's almost a Zen thing. Clears my mind when I have to think only about riding and it isn't really that fast. I am passing cruisers and getting past by sport bike riders shaking their heads. Oh well, it's my ride. If you find you have to go faster and faster to have fun because you require the adrenaline rush, get a track bike before you kill yourself. I personally don't like that big adrenaline hit. It's usually a sign that I or someone else just did something stupid. Or maybe a deer.

 

[s.ga.rider]

I usually have my wife on the back who starts squeezing my ribs when I start "exceeding her sense of pace."

Ditto... except the wife part... lol

 

[CA G-Man]

RossKean is right.
Rule Number 1: You should always be able to stop safely within the distance you can see to be clear.

I know "rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of the wise", but when your life (and possibly the life of someone who is following you) may depend on this one, observe it.

If you can't get your fun within this constraint you're in the wrong game.

Ps. IMHO, "The Pace" was designed for cruisers, not proper motorcycles.

Lots of different issues and factors being discussed here and they're all good, but I'll second Rosskean's and mcatrophy's emphasis on the sight lines.

I just got back from a 12-day tour of the British Columbia interior. The route included a great twisty highway between Nakusp and Nelson (HWY 6 - check it out if you're in the area!). As I was riding it I kept thinking that something didn't quite add up: yes, it was twisty, but I've been on twistier. Yes, the scenery is decent, but I've seen better. Yes, the pavement was good, but not great. There's some traffic, but not too much. The weather sucks. But why is this road more fun than a lot of other twisty roads? I realized that the answer was that for whatever reason, those mountain twisties were shaped in such a way that there weren't too many blind corners. Good, hard corners back-to-back, but usually with a good view of what's coming at you. It was great - I was able to get leaned over to a comfortable point where I felt like I was riding the bike as it was intended (no peg scraping, but that's fine with me) and to do it without significantly increasing my exposure (and that of my wife on the back) to big risks. Riding the speed limit, the 4-wheelers inevitably ride up on you from behind on the straights but on this road I was dropping them by a big margin in the curves by riding the best lines.

I don't care how good a rider you are, if the RV driver doing 90 kph chooses a bad time to attempt to pass the RV going 80 and you come at them around a blind corner there's going to be an unhappy ending. Sight lines give you back a big chunk of control over your own fate.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Sometimes people stare at their navel too much.

It's simply about having fun doing what you want to do with the risks you are willing to take...without endangering others around you.

I've gone 155 and been perfectly safe and bored. I've gone 50mph and paid for it with a wreck.

 

[Gurock]

I couldn't agree more with WheatonFJR. It's about the fun and measure the risk for your own comfort level. If the turns are blind I've become too scared to really attack them. I was on a road in northern Kentucky a couple weeks ago with one blind turn after the next after the next and I found myself laying up a lot. On the other hand sometimes as you crest a hill you can see the raod for the next turn or two and know just what to expect. That's when you can have fun with the turns.

 

[bigjohnsd]

Thanks for all the insight posted herein.

I often hear my two inner voices talking while riding. Go, no Slow down etc..........

In 25,000 miles on my FJR I've yet to drag a peg

Did fall over in my garage though

Have kept Bugnatr in sight on a few occasions when he was riding his KTM.

Had to let Petey, Oface, FESTAR and a few others go in Sparks riding around Eagle Lake.

I like the go in slow and come out hot method of cornering.

Last week Bugs talked about staying away from the center line in a way that made sense to me.

I tried to ride in the right hand side of my lane all the way home, mostly successful too.

Laam seats do come unwrinkled if you leave the bike out in the sun, the brown in the LDComfort takes a thorough laundering though.

 

[Bearly Flying]

I've gone 50mph and paid for it with a wreck.

Are You BeemerDon's illegitment Love Child?

JSNS

 

[Goodman4]

You guys have been suggesting that the bike has multiple personalities with the ability to cruise the curves smoothly or imitate a crotch rocket if so desired. I agree with that split personality and experienced both last week in Arkansas. I kept it very smooth most of the time. I think that for me this thread was equally about me trying to set my limits down a notch and deciding how to coach my nephew as this was his first experience with twisties on his Tenere. I did pretty well with him and rode mildly-aggressive for me and kept pretty good sight lines during the curves and always let him catch me on the straights and it stayed really fun. I stayed pretty upright unless I was just practicing hanging off for a curve or two. He stayed well within his limits but I found he rode much faster when he had sight of me. He said he was very nervous when he couldn't see around the corner but when he could see me, he seemed comfortable. I felt pretty good about that. I mostly worked on improving my angles going into the curves and found lots of room for adjustment to get my late apexes right. It was plenty enjoyable.

But then there was the last day of Push Mountain...

I got to feel out push mountain going south by myself on the way out and man that road is a racetrack but I stayed semi-aggressive and worked it smooth. I think I slightly scraped a peg when I didn't hit a corner exactly right but I wouldn't have dragged if I had shifted my weight or even had a better angle. Then came Tuesday...

I rode Push Mountain again, but northbound on the last day before heading home. I told my nephew to take it easy and I was going to push my limits a bit and ride it pretty hard and see him at the end. What a blast. I still went for smooth and didn't accelerate hard in the straights, but I sure did accelerate at the apexes and I don't think I touched the brakes for 18 miles until I stopped to get a breath. I guarantee you I would have scraped the pegs a lot if I hadn't leaned way off during that ride. Even though the road is longer than 18 miles, it started getting a little bit rough and I needed a break after all that constant adrenaline rush.

I think that helped me a lot. I realized that I don't need to do that very often and I agree that if I start pushing it, I need to go to the track. I rode it like it was the track and a mistake would have been more than costly. I loved that experience, but I don't need it and I think I got it out of my system. I need to take advantage of the split personality of the bike and enjoy it like I did up until that last day. Then maybe just once in a while when I am confident with road conditions and traffic, push that line, but do it with full awareness of the risk.

And I will try to avoid the omphaloskepsis, Mark.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Sure, bring out the big words now!

 

[FJRMGM]

It's the street, not a track.

Keep riding like that on the street and you are going to have a major get-off.

In Arkansas it can take hours for help to arrive, and that's IF you have a cell phone signal.

If you die on the ride today there is no ride tomorrow.

 

[MikeVA76]

I rode like that in my youth. Pushing through every corner, dragging peg feelers and leaning way off... and I'm lucky to be alive. Came around a right hander on Rte. 250 in W. VA back in 2007. Up until that point it had been relatively quick cornering, lot of back and forth flicking of the bike. Then came a decreasing radius hard right. Couldn't see through the corner, camber changed a bit midway through as the road tightened. Started dragging the right peg hard. Panicked, stood up, grabbed a fist full of brake and went across the opposite lane into the gravel and let go of the bike as it went down a near 20 foot embankment.

By a miracle there was no traffic the other way and no guard rail along that embankment for myself or the bike to slam into. I had good gear on and walked away with a brush burn on my right elbow through the jacket and a pretty nasty hematoma on my right hip that hurt for about a week. I was actually able to ride the bike along the woods line and bring it back on the road at an easier grade of the hill. Tucked my tail between my legs and road home. It was the only lesson I've needed. I'm not trying to preach down to you. Be careful out there, doesn't matter how good you are. Public roads are dangerous for testing your riding skill.

Mike