Subject: Re: Deep Forest Campout
Author: Greg Field
Date: Jul 20, 2005, 7:02 AM
Post ID: 1719180787
Lannis:
Actually, my bike has NO high-performance engine mods. It is a 950, but
it even has the stock airbox. That's what makes the joke all the more
rich. Here's another insider tidbit: over all the months it's been
going o (even on the Wild Guzzi site), I have never said it will do
141.7 (ya gotta drop in the point-7). I always say something similar
to what I said earlier (i.e. "documented"). Even so, people jump all
vover me, calling me a bullshitter and worse. I let them froth away
till they've thoroughly proven their lack of reading-comprehension
skills before pointing out that I never said Super Eldo would do 141
POINT-7. I'll cruise all day at 90, true speed, and will punch through
100, but that's pretty much the limit. These guys could pass me any
time on the straights, but not in the corners, and they can't keep
doing this all day 'cause their bikes are too uncomfortable.
The suspension's another matter. I've done everything you can do to
stiffen and raise it. It works really well, and I never drag anything
unless someone presses me really hard or I blow it in a corner. I've
also developed good technique that works with this particular bike: as
I enter corners, I keep the throttle on and brake (dual discs) hard
enough to stiffen up the chassis and slow the bike to a speed I reckon
will allow me to make the corner, until I can see enough to be sure of
making the corner, then I dump the brakes and give it all 40-some
horsepower.
As for the moss and road, I am very familiar with that road. When I
first started riding down in that area (it is essentially subalpine
rain forest), I did crash pretty hard on the moss. For several years, I
rode very tentatively on that stuff but eventually developed a "moss
sense" that somehow seems to be working for me. The moss is hard to
see, but really, it gets scrubbed off wherever car tires go. Stay in
the tire "zones," and you'll be OK. This takes some skill around
corners, but I've found I can hack it. If I want to change from the
inside to the outside of the lane, I do it before the corner, while
upright, if possible. A little slip-sliding's easier to handle when
you're upright.
It's so funny, these guys are beginning to believe the bike can do
141.7. Even funnier, they say, "Man, I'm leaned all the way over on my
Sport, and you're ahead of me and don't seem to be leaned over hardly
at all. You look like a cop cruising the freeway, even in this tight
stuff." I told them, "I don't have to lean, cause I installed an
anti-gravity pod." They're beginning to believe that, too. It's just
rider experience-like pitting Chuck Yeager against a guy who's only
been flying for 10 years. (For the record, I do not compare my skill
level or anything to Yeager's; I'm just comparing experience levels.)
That other guy, Reen, he has considerable "moss time," too, and he was
right with me.
So, there it is.
For a 30-year-old touring barge with full fairing and bags, she goes
pretty good. And she's documented to have gone 141 POINT-7 mph.
Ya gotta have a little fun with the boys on the humpy bikes whenever ya
can.
GF
| Greg - Man, am I relieved to hear you drop the other shoe!! I'd been worrying about that all day. You sounded dead serious that your breathed-on Loop could go 141 MPH, and (though far be it from me to doubt the word of the guy who "wrote the book) I KNEW that that was B.S., and was praying that you didn't actually believe it. I'm really glad Joe J. asked you nicely about it!! Now that THAT's out, I want to ask about this business of sliding Eldorados at speed on pavement on wet moss on roads. I can understand a GP racer exploring the limits of traction on a clean racetrack on hot race tires. But how do you dare do that on an unknown road, with unknown traction, and unknown road conditions? Once you're sliding, it's only the grace of God that the moss doesn't extend another 12 inches and you're flat on your ass on the pavement no matter how good you are. Throwing sparks from footboards and saddlebags on wet roads sounds like madness, no way to take a chance on ending a perfectly good rally.... You writer guys, is this like alliteration or simile or hyperbole or some other rhetorical mechanism.....? Lannis Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Hershey�s� or Ghirardelli� Chocolate? Take our Nationwide Chocolate Survey today! Receive a FREE* $100 restaurant gift card of your choice or $100 worth Hershey�s� or Ghirardelli� Chocolate for participating! http://click.topica.com/caadKa5b1dfltb6KFeCf/ChocolateSurvey ------------------------------------------------------------------- |