Dream Big group ride: can it be real? State Wide?

[Mykill]

I know I saw two or three gopro cams where's the videos at?

It takes forever to edit that crap so since you cant wait here you go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO0-s_PAfi0

[Bad324]

Your day was full of fail I would say at best.

you're telling me. Learned a valuable lesson to not skip my Sunday Fundays anymore

[AC2B]

OOOhhhhh. I didn't realize you weren't sure of the route

At one point I realized I had my brights on when I was behind you, and I flipped it off... Anything else must've just been the appearance of me flashing you.... I mean, as if! You're the flasher, here....

We both know it's true, and we both know I loved it

It was too good to let go, I HAD to give you the

After you broke off I stopped for 5-10 minutes at a gas station, as well as backed it off a notch... No sense getting a speeding ticket on home turf, when the ride is >< close to being a success and safely home. The 5-10 minute break was a lifesaver

Oh, and most of the time when I led, I was just following that Silver crossover SUV, staying 1/4 mile behind it... That way he'd suck out any cops... Sorry if that wasn't fast enough... Balancing wanting to get home and OFF THE BIKE is always a tossup between not wanting to get a ticket

BTW, Ali, when you pulled off, AC2B was still Okay, right? I didn't get rained on heading up here, but the highway was a bit wet.... I felt kinda bad pulling away, but he mentioned his GS500 was lacking a bit on the top end, and there's no way he would've been able to stay with us.... Just like there's no way I would've been able to make this ride on my ol Blast... Same problem... Just didn't have it on the top end, and not so great for long highway cruises. AC2B, if you got home safely and read this, post up!

Got home safe. Ali and I broke off then ended up hooking up with 212W>77N. Got home round 8 and was absolutely wiped out!

Thanks for putting this together doc. I had a great time meeting everyone and getting on some awesome roads.

Also, a special thanks to anyone who put up with my geriatric pace haha.

[Disclaimer]

My money was on you as the safest rider out there...

I wish I would've seen the look on your face when we rolled by you on 77

[AC2B]

My money was on you as the safest rider out there...

I wish I would've seen the look on your face when we rolled by you on 77

That was an interesting way to start the ride haha. I was already moving pretty good (for me and the GS anyway!) trying to "catch up" only to have the whole group show up BEHIND me lol

[Disclaimer]

Well, we took the "speedtriple detour" so we backtracked a little bit.

[ohiomike]

LOL, sounds like an 'eventful' ride.....kudo's to Doc for hooking everything up and from the sounds of it, ending up with a great, successful ride!

[Josh1234]

It takes forever to edit that crap so since you cant wait here you go

pumpkin fest - YouTube

Lol, nice stop and go My only regret about yesterday is that I never even really got to see/talk to the riders in the fast group... They pulled out first, and I never again saw 'em, cept for up ahead and that video. Oh well, at least I know some of them already

How do you like the new bike Josh?

After my Blast, it's a dream! On Buella, my ass would've been asleep before I even got to the DQ in the morning, but on Charlotte (The GF named 'er ) my ass was fine. On the way down, I got the normal wrist/elbow/shoulder pain, and I was thinking that if it got worse throughout the day, I'd be in real trouble, but it didn't... it either stayed the same or got better, the more I remembered to relax in the saddle & use my legs.

During the ride, for the first hour or two, I had three ppl between me and the leader of the scenic group, and I was pushing it a bit... After that I made a conscious effort to back off, slow down, and try and enjoy myself & the bike a bit more instead of pushing it to try and keep up or develop riding skills. There were no "oh shit' moments, but there was 1 or 2 "I'm going faster than I'd like to be, right now" moments.

I think the most solid lesson I learned/had reinforced (aside from "don't ride in front of Likwid") was that if I'm leaning into a turn and I brake firmly, the bike will stand up and that's gonna jack up my line and I'll have to re-lean a lot harder as the braking bike stands up to compensate for the change in speed.

It sounds silly, but remember, I'm a 1-yr newb and this was only my second group ride. Also, the YZF has insanely great brakes and this effect was MUCH more pronounced and noticeable than on my Buell Blast... I could apparently brake/re-lean without thinking about it and this time it required conscious effort. Or maybe I never noticed it because I didn't go into turns as quickly on the blast? Dunno.

Luckily, that's a lesson I learned the easy way and I can get it down to be muscle memory/habit now.

The ride home was another eye-opener... And riding with a gs500 (no offense, ac2b) put it into perspective and made it apparent... Hollywood and I zipped home pretty quickly, and there's no way Buella would've been able to keep up, both in terms of speeds achieved AND gas capacity. It literally doesn't go as fast as we went at times, and I also didn't fill up until 120 miles when I needed to stretch and take a break for 5 minutes. The Blast ran out of gas showing 99 miles on the trip meter last time I took it on the highway. Also, although I had standard aches & pains, the YZF is much more comfortable in the SEAT. The blast MAY have had lower foot pegs allowing my knees more comfort, but if so, it's close.

All in all, I'm LOVING the bike, and I think I'll also get more community support/knowledge from a YZF600 than a Blast.... there ARE resources out there for a Blast, but many more for a YZF... Armith, especially, will be my new best friend

Oh, and a 13K redline is INSANE. I can't imagine a supersport bike, with a higher redline, ever using all those RPM's on the streets! I'm sure I'll adjust and start using the higher ends as I get used to the bike and become a better rider, but still! I think I only touched 10K or higher once yesterday. The YZF600 has great torque, so I didn't have to shift unless I wanted to I'm very happy with the bike Windshield spikes and all!

Edited September 26, 2011 by Josh1234
typos

[speedytriple]

Glad you are enjoying the new ride. Yzf's are great all around bikes. I think you will enjoy it for quite some time. I still would remove the death spikes or atleast sand the tips down some. Either way very cool bike and very cool you came out for the ride.

[NinjaDoc]

at last able to post some, was totally wiped out yesterday and slept good after couple of days.

First off, thx to all the riders who turned up, to be honest as i was thinking in the back of my mind no one would be showing up and only 10 bikes will be there, but many came and it was awesome.

As expected it was a bit chaotic, the main problem is i am a noob rider and hence i am in no way able to lead a group or make decision for all those senior riders, I was hoping somebody would take charge and many thx to Paul for doing that. Even tho it was chaotic at first it smoothed out and we were able to start by 11:)) which was only 30 min delay.

[NinjaDoc]

Nobody wanted to split the groups upfront and that was a good decision since many did not show up in the last moment. Due to some confusion we were left with no designated leaders and many kudos to hailwood and ali in stepping up and doing this at some point of time. The groups "metabolized" itself eventually, and i hope the fast paced guys were happy with their ride, they didnt have us slowing them down and pretty much had their own ride with some interaction and it was nice to see. I know almost all of us "eating" groups were happy with our pace and total ride.

[NinjaDoc]

Josh, like i said before, u brought a ride to make it for the group ride which is double kudos

Bad324 big sorry and thx at the same time, we forced you out and you had this silly thing happen right up front. But it was all good,

There were still many members in board who were not aware of the ride it seems if i tried a little bit more harder to let every one know or remind etc we would have crossed the 30 number mark i guess.

Even thou the weather looked bad, i guess the riding gods smiled on us and we were able to at least finish 3/4 ride without getting slammed. As far as i checked every one got home, didnt see dan and fiji post here, may be i missed.

[Bad324]

Josh... We should talk a bit about he new ride. It's going to amplify any bad habits you learned on the Blast. Braking needs to happen and end before you tip the bike into your corner. On a street ride' date=' you shouldn't be riding so fast that you need to use the brakes in a turn.

Maybe one more ride is in order to get some of these quirks pinned down. I'd be happy to lead a sane-paced ride and give you some pointers.[/quote']

Josh, definitely take him up on this. I'm still a pretty weak rider but have only gotten better by getting tips from Pauly, following his line when he isn't hawling the mail and practice

[speedytriple]

I am still kinda shocked that There was only three bikes with me in the fast group. I was not riding that "fast" anyway. Either way I figured we should at least regroup one time during the ride. And the wait would not have been as long if Paul didn't go sight seeing LOL!

Edited September 26, 2011 by speedytriple

[speedytriple]

Bad stop riding with a harley all the time and you might get faster? LOL!

[NinjaDoc]

Regarding the video, i have many good clips, but not as many as i was expecting and not good enuf because of the cloudy weather which doesnt suit go pro. Plus having to distribute the t shirts in btw didnt help much either. Always running back and forth.

The worst part is, the riding footage which i mounted on helmet i messed up, hence no good footage of the big group slabbing down 77 which was one of the highlight reel i was looking for feel like

[LINK]

Josh... We should talk a bit about he new ride. It's going to amplify any bad habits you learned on the Blast. Braking needs to happen and end before you tip the bike into your corner. On a street ride' date=' you shouldn't be riding so fast that you need to use the brakes in a turn.

Maybe one more ride is in order to get some of these quirks pinned down. I'd be happy to lead a sane-paced ride and give you some pointers.[/quote']

I would be up for this, I have a good loop I run with pretty much all good pavement that I think will serve this ride well if interested?

[armith]

Josh... We should talk a bit about he new ride. It's going to amplify any bad habits you learned on the Blast. Braking needs to happen and end before you tip the bike into your corner. On a street ride' date=' you shouldn't be riding so fast that you need to use the brakes in a turn.

Maybe one more ride is in order to get some of these quirks pinned down. I'd be happy to lead a sane-paced ride and give you some pointers.[/quote']

DAMN BEAT ME TO IT!.. I cringed at the thought of "firm braking" mid corner.. For starters, your lucky the bike tipped upright.. The handling is quite forgiving on the cat, but likewise, it's a sport class bike.. there's plenty of brake and it can just as easily wash out and ruin your day.. She's also much heavier than you Buell.

That said, Josh, call me, today if your available.. We're going for a ride buddy.. You, me, and Charolette need to meet up anyway.. haha

Hell if you want we can always hit the parking lot and do some MSF exercises just to familiarize yourself with the weight and what I would think would be a much tighter friction zone on the clutch at low speed stuff. Plus I have PDF copies of those manuals you were looking for:D

[AC2B]

No offense taken at all Josh. The GS is a great learning tool for me. It really forces me to concentrate on being as smooth as possible to maintain corner speed (cause I know damn well I'm not catching anyone on the straights haha). I'm no where near being as smooth as I want to, but can honestly say I rode home a better rider than I was at the beginning of the ride.

[armith]

Actually, I could always use some practice to flush out some demons that seemed to creep up the past couple months.. Paul, you should setup an clinic ride.

[NinjaDoc]

I came up behind 4 bikes on Rt9 south of Carrollton around 6pm and rode with them til I turned west on 171. Peeps from the forum perhaps?

It was the east part of the group, me, hawnut, green versys me and conne, We were going through that wet, leaf ridden part of road and was going slow and i see this bike pull up behind us, was thinking he gonna be mad at our pace

u always ride close and around us why never join us

[Bad324]

I am still kinda shocked that There was only three bikes with me in the fast group. I was not riding that "fast" anyway. Either way I figured we should at least regroup one time during the ride. And the wait would not have been as long if Paul didn't go sight seeing LOL!

i think the parking lot incident had a decent part in your group getting separated from the rest of us

Bad stop riding with a harley all the time and you might get faster? LOL!

you wouldn't believe how far I've come in the last year...even with riding with a harley asshole!

Regarding the video, i have many good clips, but not as many as i was expecting and not good enuf because of the cloudy weather which doesnt suit go pro. Plus having to distribute the t shirts in btw didnt help much either. Always running back and forth.

The worst part is, the riding footage which i mounted on helmet i messed up, hence no good footage of the big group slabbing down 77 which was one of the highlight reel i was looking for feel like

damn I was hoping my sweet ricer fly by was caught on tape

Sounds like we'll just have to do it again next year!

[speedytriple]

Nice video Mykill LOL! stupid pumpkin fest, SWEET TEA!

[NinjaDoc]

clinic ride , me want me want...

i used to brake a lot until uncle punk saw it and beat me up for doing that, since that i never used it. (except a sharp left turn at the end of a steep slope, which i always trouble approaching for some reason)

Yesterday i saw Acsb use brake all the time and i passed on this info to him as well.

Still need to learn a lot and this kind of clinic ride if any of you pros set up would be nice.

Armith you are one of the smoothest rider out there, you dont have demons, i was hoping you would be there as substitute leader if needed, oh well.

[Josh1234]

I accept everyone's offer!!!!!!!

Yeah, now that I think about it, not braking mid-turn is something I should've (And I think knew at one point) learned already. But I was mis-judging my entry speeds.

I normally prefer to brake by downshifting before the turn, but I definitely need more practice blipping the throttle to RPM match... I'm even still lurching my starts because I'm not used to the new bike yet Like Armith said, short friction zone + a LOT more revs than I'm used to.

After downshifting, I brake if that didn't shed enough speed, and ideally, let off the brake, then go into the turn, and be ready to roll on the throttle upon exit... But I think i wasn't slowing down enough before the turn, and that's a recipe for disaster, since it's a cascading event leading to trouble.

Not that I'm volunteering anyone for this, but learner days for newer riders getting instruction from more experienced riders would be a great tradition to continue... slower paced days. Only problem is that it's a big sacrifice for the guys that like to get out there and R-I-D-E.

I'm definitely in for any time I.P. can teach, and I'll follow him anywhere... If he wants to use Link's route, or if Link is separately volunteering, that's even better!

Kevin, isn't it supposed to rain today? My phone said 70% chance.

Actually, it's supposed to rain all week, which sucks I'll be in Columbus wed-fri, but so far my weekend is free.

Do you guys prefer a 1 on 1 session, or should we start a ride thread? I'm not sure if you're willing to devote a saturday to this, or how many students-to-instructors is a good ratio.