Why do you ride the way you do? This ought to be interesting

This is why I ride the way I do, my motorcycle heroes were Barry Sheene, Kenny Roberts, Fast Freddie Spenser, Eddlie Lawson and even Mike the bike Hailwood etc. When I got on a bike I wanted to emulate them. I rode with hard chargers, one who raced at Daytona (Daytona Frank) another who had some sponsorship from Suzuki (Racer Dave) and another who was one of most naturally gifted riders I've known (Fast Larry). Then there was the old timers I knew riding Rickman's with SOHC 750 motors so built up that the valve covers had screws welded into the top of the valve covers to keep the valves from floating. I enjoyed being around motorcycles so much the I quit college and worked fulltime at a Honda Dealership, still the best job I ever had.

We rode to put you in the dirt, that's the truth either you were going to scare the crap out of yourself or go down trying (this was between the age of 17 to about 22). On a rare occasion some could actually keep up and you became part of the mix, most never rode with us after the first time. I was smart enough not to even try with the old timers, I knew they could put me in the dirt. I remember one time when Rickman Mike (he was about 50 at this time)pointed out this gentleman who pulled up on a GSXR in full leathers he looked to be around 70 (btw I was past my youth at this time this was sometime around 1990) and Mike told me don't even try to keep up with him and if he told me that I knew it was true nothing to prove, I'd just end up in the dirt.

When I was younger we'd scream through curves on our bikes practically rubbing tires and even sometimes bumping them, pass on the inside, the outside of each other. We didn't bar hop or look pretty, we wanted to be the fastest there was in our little crowd. I no longer ride like that I don't have the guts for it, age as taken that away.

Yet what truly amazes me is the lack of skill some of the older riders I see today. To them I'm still a hard charger, but when riding with so many today I'm not pushing at all. Yet we come around turns and they're lines are so wrong that the crossing or close to crossing the double yellow line is inevitable. I'm able to watch most of them in my rear view mirror like I said I'm not pushing it and I just signal for them to slow down. They do look good when we're parked though.

Most of the time when I come across a group of Harleys riding down a two lane road I dread it more than a Tractor-Trailer at least for the most part he wants to let me by. I had a friend who hadn't rode in like 15 years and had limited experience before that, what's his first purchase a leather vest. I got my first Harley in 09 but had another bike in the garage and had been riding for more than 30 years at that point and my first purchase was Ride Like A Pro which I got before I even took delivery of the bike.

I learned how to use a front brake well early on, I had 76 CB750F when I was 17 that had no rear brake and I rode it like that for a year. I learned to out brake most and carry more speed into a corner. This became very helpful as guys got newer better handling bikes, but they could not use their brakes well. The strange thing is none of us ever really got hurt. Yes a few of us would go down every now and then but nothing serious and we all wore gear appropriate for the era, full-face helmets, leather jackets but we didn't look like boy racers you needed a lot of money for that back then. The people I knew that got hurt the most or died had questionable skills and we were known as the crazy ones, go figure.

I still get the comments you know it's not a race blah blah I'm not racing I'm riding at my comfort level. I have gauge in my head and it works like this riding at "10" I have no room for error and a crash could easily happen so I usually don't ride at "10", but I do like to ride at "7 or 8". At that level I have enough room for error that I'm comfortable.

I ride alone for the most part because I don't want to adjust my riding style, some can hang, but I have more respect for those that ride their own ride than telling me how I should ride mine. I try not to ride with kids anymore because they have a tendency to try to keep up.

If you're totally incompetent I might even suggest to you that you sell the bike or as I once told my Bud who brought this guy along (nice guy btw) that to never invite me along for the ride if he goes again (btw he sold the bike 3 months later).

I learned a long time ago that laying her down in not a reasonable option, rear brakes are better to scrub off speed or used for trail-braking but not to stop the bike, the bike most likely will go around the turn just fine as long as the operator doesn't screw up and the most defective part on the motorcycle is the nut between the bars.

I'm not bragging about having any mad skills because I don't, but I am comparing my ability to the average riders I've come across or have ridden with and the lack of skill just amazes me, but damn they look good going down the road.

Rant over and as some of my Buds would say to me there you go making new friends again.

 

I ride the way I do because it's how I want to ride. It's just that simple.

 

Man, I'm relieved to know that you prefer riding alone.

 

What he said.

 

Who cares? Everyone has to do their own thing..... and not worry about the other.

 

I'm sitting in front of a pawn shop eating some pork skins and drinking a Pepsi. The reason for this is they have a pair of xds 45s for a great price and I want one. I want one because I like guns and I carry one every day. I like guns because they're fun. I carry one because I can. Occasionally, I carry 2 guns at the same time.

The point of this is, well, there is no point. I just figured if were sharing stupid crap that nobody cares about that is join in and share my own.

 

What the OP stated is so very true but I suspect he will get flamed for telling the truth. Most riders are truly pathetic but think they have skills. HD riders are usually the worst offenders. But they have full battle gear on along with riding the latest model with all the safety options fitted so its all good right? Then when they go down it's the other guys fault, "damn cager cut me off".

 

Just shoot responsibly.

 

Always.

 

Did you shoot with some of the best shooters out there? Do you shoot alone because the other shooters are inferior to you and the young shooters will try and keep up with you and the old shooters will just ask if you would miss a few targets just to make them feel better.

Are you the coolest most bitchen shooter out there even though you don't dress like a shooter and your guns don't look as good as the guns those inferior shooters have.

If so, you should go to a shooting forum and start a thread about how awesome you are.