Topic: The Motorcycling Thread

[PJungnitsch]

The partner of one of my co-workers caught this on his dash cam Monday:

Edmonton road rage caught on camera as motorcyclist kicks, punches moving SUV
'Thankfully this guy was able to avoid becoming a statistic,' witness says of incident on Anthony Henday Drive

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-road-rage-henday-motorcycle-car-vehicle-safety-1.4692352

[blur911]

My friend with the Africa Twin just hit 10k with it, he says it's like a switch flipped and there is now significantly more power and he hasn't found the rev limiter since.
Must be programmed in it to break it in.

[rrocket]

10k would be an insanely long break in to limit power...

[dkaz]

With how often you trade your bikes in, you'd never reach that. 

[rrocket]

With how often you trade your bikes in, you'd never reach that. 

Depends on the bike.

I put more than that on my Burgman in the short time I owned it.  Duke 690 too!

[bridgecity]

Spent 3 nights last week in McLean/Bragg Creek Alberta. Main reason we went was to ride, but three families in addition to ours made the trek for 17 people in total. We rented a beauty of a log home, men and kids rode dirt bikes during the day, and the wives hung out, relaxed, and got day drunk :p.

This would be regular riding for Heli and KTM, but was such an awesome experience for us flatlanders. One of my buddies is originally from BC and is an experienced rider, so he was making the other three men including myself look silly on the hill climbs.

Anyway, a fantastic trip, couple pics of junior below. Thanks to Heli and KTM for some tips on the area.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HeliDriver]

^ Hey, that’s great! Glad you guys had a good time.

I haven’t made it out to McLean yet this season, but hear it’s in good shape. June can get pretty muddy with the rain, but this year’s been pretty good so far. Mtn biking has been great - hope to get out on the dirt bike soon too.

[bridgecity]

Ya, that was the unexpected thing, how greasy the dirt was when wet. It didn’t rain the first day of riding, but had rained the day before so it was slick early in the morning. The second day of riding we got dumped on. Still had a blast. I thought the soil would be more sandy/gravely though.

[bridgecity]

Oh, and we were stopped twice by CO’s. Showed them our insurance papers and all was good. The papers could have been typed by ourselves, they didn’t look closely at all. And they didn’t give a about lights or spark arrestors. Could be different next time though.

[mlin32]

So my first track school in France, 2 days last Thurs and Fri @ l'Anneau du Rhin in Blitzheim, France (68). I rented a Sprinter and hauled the R3 down. Best thing I've done since landing on the Continent a few months ago. The stage was organised by Passion Vitesse, the local club, and instruction handled thru 2 awesome instructors thath are former French champions at the national level (their own organisation Schwarz Performance)

Impressions:

The riding is at a higher level than the US. Even débutants had a much better handle on track etiquette and were riding at a faster clip than "beginners" in the US during the combined warm up sessions.

The primarily French (some Swiss) riders also had much better general behaviour. Side conversations were kept to a minimum, instructions from coaches and admins were followed.

The coaching was real. With two group levels, an instructor would explain the theory in the classroom, then excercises and drills given out on a half-track. Coach stood at the corner and watched riders perform the prescribed tasks. We'd recovene after 10mn or so and individual feedback would be given. Work on this, you didn't do this right- try this, etc....

I was in the advanced group (confirmé). Despite being down on displacement, I never felt harassed or brushed by other riders. There were no guidelines on passing except "respect one another" and it turned out well. Sure I got passed inside and out in some corners but it never mattered. I never closed the door on anyone, no one ever pushed me off line.

Between both days, there were no incidents. No yellow flags, no crashes. Zéro.    .

Althogether it was 400km on track- I worked hard to improve and took several steps forward. I gave 110% over two days and was exhausted and sore, but I loved and relished every moment of it.....I was in my happy place! The comraderie was great, I met some new friends- the french really are a nice people. And thankfully the language barrier was minimal 

I love tracks: can't wait for the next session ! Although I'll probably rent a Supersport 600 next time  .

[dkaz]

Awesome mlin32! Ready for the next level up eh? How was it riding a 320 among super sports? Any videos?

I may be joining you, I asked my Instagram followers to help me decide on my next bike since I was having a hard time deciding. 2nd place was a CBR 500R but I’m not ready to spend that much. The R3 is so much bang for the buck.

[mlin32]

Awesome mlin32! Ready for the next level up eh? How was it riding a 320 among super sports? Any videos?

I may be joining you, I asked my Instagram followers to help me decide on my next bike since I was having a hard time deciding. 2nd place was a CBR 500R but I’m not ready to spend that much. The R3 is so much bang for the buck.

Heh wow a couple months after the actual event, but thanks ! Riding the R3 amongst others during a stage (coaching) is different from an open trackday though, as coaching is much more strictly regimented and therefore speed much less a priority. During the two days I did not have an issue; I just did what I needed to do and others passed me as needed.

I did rent a R6 and did a trackday at Alès Pôle Mécanique just a few weeks ago : https://www.autos.ca/forum/index.php?topic=101936.0.

That was a much different experience, although I am grateful to have had it. I need more time on a bigger bike though, as that really is a next step.

[dkaz]

Heh wow a couple months after the actual event, but thanks ! Riding the R3 amongst others during a stage (coaching) is different from an open trackday though, as coaching is much more strictly regimented and therefore speed much less a priority. During the two days I did not have an issue; I just did what I needed to do and others passed me as needed.

I did rent a R6 and did a trackday at Alès Pôle Mécanique just a few weeks ago : https://www.autos.ca/forum/index.php?topic=101936.0.

That was a much different experience, although I am grateful to have had it. I need more time on a bigger bike though, as that really is a next step.

Lol I was busy moving at the time so must have missed it sorry! I was wondering why I couldn't find this thread.

Yea it's probably a learning curve with a bigger bike. It doesn't seem like much but I find it fatiguing every time I tried to ride a bike with a much higher power to weight ratio. The R3 is perfect. I'd like the Ninja 400 as well but not $1700 more, no incentives at this time.

[mlin32]

Lol I was busy moving at the time so must have missed it sorry! I was wondering why I couldn't find this thread.

Yea it's probably a learning curve with a bigger bike. It doesn't seem like much but I find it fatiguing every time I tried to ride a bike with a much higher power to weight ratio. The R3 is perfect. I'd like the Ninja 400 as well but not $1700 more, no incentives at this time.

No worries.

Larger bikes require the rider to have good technique as a basis if you want to truly be fast. When I was doing the body positioning excercises at the stage (coaching; sorry French is operating language), the coach said to me that "while it's probably easy for you [on your 300] to change direction without exaggerating your body motions as much, it really matters on a bigger bike, which is heavier. You really need to aim fully for the motions in the exercise even if it seems unnecessary, because it'll be obvious on a 600."

I still like my R3 very much, even if I don't ride much even on the street (my last tank of petrol lasted 2 months.....). However at track days, I need to get comfortable on a 600 and stay at pace. Much faster ! The level of riding in France is high and it pressures me (but motivates me) to up my game to the next level; I cannot accept bumbling around being the slow one on the track so I need to figure out my strategy for next season. On the 600, I appreciated the better riding position and brakes a lot. On the R3 despite having good rear sets to somewhat correct the riding position, the clip ons are still in the wrong place for proper positioning and I'm unwilling to spend a lot more money on it. On the R6 it was much easier to have a proper positioning for cornering.

Plus- if I'm gonna be riding anything with the FFM logo I better be a proper rider 

[dkaz]

Bye mlin32's R3, hi DKaz's R3.

[ktm525]

I have been busy getting ready for a two day enduro event in BC. The categories go from essentially street bikes riding two up to "almost impassable" technical off road riding. We signed up (two man team but could be up to four) for the hard stuff. Hopefully I am made of enough tough stuff to put two long days in the saddle. I have been trying to bulletproof the Husky and work on carrying essentials without too much weight. I am bringing a spot locator, bear spray and some fire building materials. I have been stuck before lol. I am really excited to see how this turns out. I have raced many cross-country and harescramble events but nothing like this.

Here is the start:

http://www.wanduro.com/wandr/

[dirtyjeffer]

Bye mlin32's R3, hi DKaz's R3.

i would imagine the shipping cost from Germany is expensive. 

[johngenx]

Saw a mid 90's vintage Triumph Speed Triple today with a very obvious turbo system on it.  The entire bike looked superbly done.

[dkaz]

Bye mlin32's R3, hi DKaz's R3.

i would imagine the shipping cost from Germany is expensive. 

Who says I’m shipping it?

Saw a mid 90's vintage Triumph Speed Triple today with a very obvious turbo system on it.  The entire bike looked superbly done.

I didn’t know they had speed triples since the 90’s.

[bridgecity]

I have been busy getting ready for a two day enduro event in BC. The categories go from essentially street bikes riding two up to "almost impassable" technical off road riding. We signed up (two man team but could be up to four) for the hard stuff. Hopefully I am made of enough tough stuff to put two long days in the saddle. I have been trying to bulletproof the Husky and work on carrying essentials without too much weight. I am bringing a spot locator, bear spray and some fire building materials. I have been stuck before lol. I am really excited to see how this turns out. I have raced many cross-country and harescramble events but nothing like this.

Here is the start:

http://www.wanduro.com/wandr/

That looks like a whole lotta fun ktm. Good luck!