Brock Kickass
Wizard
I went on my first ride in a group today, after almost 35,000km of street riding. Up to today, my experience has been mostly riding alone or with one other bike. I have one friend with a GSX650F who I have been riding with regularly for 2 seasons. So far the only conclusion we have reached is that he wants a litrebike. Besides riding with him, I have a couple other friends I have gone out for a burn with, but I have only ridden in pairs or alone.
Today, I hit the road with 5 other bikes from my local (Ottawa, ON) forum. The group was my FZ1, a CBR600RR, a CBR1000 Fireblade, an SV650, a Gixxer 600, and a Striple. We headed out on some local twisties to test out our setups after a suspension tweaking session at a friend's shop. The two CBR's were piloted buy a guy and gal who were A) excellent riders, and B) who had ridden together a lot. The SV was behind them, then me, then the Gixxer, and the Triumph bringing up the rear.
I was surprised and impressed by how close the CBR's stuck together. It was pretty cool to see two riders who knew each other very well form up and ride together. The SV stuck pretty close to them and I hung back a bit in deference to my inexperience riding in a group. The Gixxer kept a good distance from my tail and the Striple hung back equally far from him.
Once we hit the twisties the CBR's started to pull away. The SV fell quite a bit behind because the two CBR's had very quick riders on them. After 10 miles or so, the SV hung right and waved me by. I took the opportunity to let the 998 stretch her legs and catch the Hondas, which I am quite proud to say she did with ease. The Gixxer came with me and wasn't very far behind me at all when we caught the CBR's. The Suzuki was quite capable but the pilot was new and riding within his ability. Once I caught the Hondas we did another 15 miles or so of twisties in a hurry! I was quite impressed with my bike to hang with a couple of SS bikes with decent riders on them. Keep in mind, nobody was pushing 100%, but it was still pretty cool to be able to keep up with a couple of very quick bikes and riders without having to push too hard.
We pulled in or a fuel up and shot the $hit for a few minutes, and I got a lot of compliments on my bike. I tried not to let my head swell up too much, but it was pretty cool to be complimented among such quality company. Out of the six bikes there wasn't a turkey in the bunch. It made me really happy when I reflected on the fact that I could hang with a high end SS bike in a spirited ride, and be a lot more comfy in the process. I like to think of my FZ1 like the BMW M3 of bikes; comfortable, civilized, but fast enough to keep up to a lot of others that make a lot more compromises to be fast. Booting along on my FZ1 was a lot easier on my body than being hunched over a CBR600RR.
Now, I have no illusions about what would happen if the SS riders had decided to open right up. That Fireblade could have made a monkey out of me at any time. Still, though, Isabelle was having fun on it, not waiting up for me. All in all, the FZ1 is a pretty impressive piece of kit. It really flies.
Luckily for me, my first group riding experience was great! No squids in he group, great weather and great road. And, of course, the FZ1 was the star of the show. Fast, comfortable, and fast, who could ask for anything more?
Today, I hit the road with 5 other bikes from my local (Ottawa, ON) forum. The group was my FZ1, a CBR600RR, a CBR1000 Fireblade, an SV650, a Gixxer 600, and a Striple. We headed out on some local twisties to test out our setups after a suspension tweaking session at a friend's shop. The two CBR's were piloted buy a guy and gal who were A) excellent riders, and B) who had ridden together a lot. The SV was behind them, then me, then the Gixxer, and the Triumph bringing up the rear.
I was surprised and impressed by how close the CBR's stuck together. It was pretty cool to see two riders who knew each other very well form up and ride together. The SV stuck pretty close to them and I hung back a bit in deference to my inexperience riding in a group. The Gixxer kept a good distance from my tail and the Striple hung back equally far from him.
Once we hit the twisties the CBR's started to pull away. The SV fell quite a bit behind because the two CBR's had very quick riders on them. After 10 miles or so, the SV hung right and waved me by. I took the opportunity to let the 998 stretch her legs and catch the Hondas, which I am quite proud to say she did with ease. The Gixxer came with me and wasn't very far behind me at all when we caught the CBR's. The Suzuki was quite capable but the pilot was new and riding within his ability. Once I caught the Hondas we did another 15 miles or so of twisties in a hurry! I was quite impressed with my bike to hang with a couple of SS bikes with decent riders on them. Keep in mind, nobody was pushing 100%, but it was still pretty cool to be able to keep up with a couple of very quick bikes and riders without having to push too hard.
We pulled in or a fuel up and shot the $hit for a few minutes, and I got a lot of compliments on my bike. I tried not to let my head swell up too much, but it was pretty cool to be complimented among such quality company. Out of the six bikes there wasn't a turkey in the bunch. It made me really happy when I reflected on the fact that I could hang with a high end SS bike in a spirited ride, and be a lot more comfy in the process. I like to think of my FZ1 like the BMW M3 of bikes; comfortable, civilized, but fast enough to keep up to a lot of others that make a lot more compromises to be fast. Booting along on my FZ1 was a lot easier on my body than being hunched over a CBR600RR.
Now, I have no illusions about what would happen if the SS riders had decided to open right up. That Fireblade could have made a monkey out of me at any time. Still, though, Isabelle was having fun on it, not waiting up for me. All in all, the FZ1 is a pretty impressive piece of kit. It really flies.
Luckily for me, my first group riding experience was great! No squids in he group, great weather and great road. And, of course, the FZ1 was the star of the show. Fast, comfortable, and fast, who could ask for anything more?
I took a trip last year with 4 other bikes: a Yamaha Star Raider, a Honda VTX 1800 (lowered to the ground), a Gen 1 V-Max and some sort of HD, maybe an Electra Glide. I was solo, but they all had their wives on the back. I was shocked at the pace they could do through the twisties on those bikes with someone on the back. The only bike that couldn't keep up with the lowered VTX, but both rider and passanger were large and I wasn't sure of the experience of the rider. 