Are Mellow Sport-Tourers allowed?

[PharmerKyle]

Please take this lightly as I am not a person to be taken seriously. I have neither ridden nor met with most of you on the Southern Forum and therefore have no clue what the general riding vibe really is down here. I've read a few ride reports that may have been embellished (purely for entertainment purposes I'm sure) and can't see where my riding style fits in. I typically stay at +19 mph where I can afford the tickets and my bike doesn't stress out and I often ride for 60-90 minutes before resting when the company allows. Finish my poll, drop a few words or ignore me. I'm just testing this section for an echo...

[Mista Black]

none of those really apply to me (a sport tourer). some of the fastest people i know are sport tourers. my dad's normal cruising speed is a touch shy of 100 pretty much everywhere unless the road gets really tight.

as for me i ride fast in the twisties and run tank to tank if i'm by myself. with others i try to do what the general consensus of the group is (which doesnt normally mean stopping only every 3 hours).

pretty much none of the above options applies to me. i think for me "ride your own pace and know where lunch is gonna be" is a better option.-

[Stuart Little]

I'm not in the south but the general consensus is who cares what you ride as long as you ride... As long as you can ride well enough that you aren't a danger to others on the ride.

[Hozerking]

Please take this lightly as I am not a person to be taken seriously. I have neither ridden nor met with most of you on the Southern Forum and therefore have no clue what the general riding vibe really is down here. I've read a few ride reports that may have been embellished (purely for entertainment purposes I'm sure) and can't see where my riding style fits in. I typically stay at +19 mph where I can afford the tickets and my bike doesn't stress out and I often ride for 60-90 minutes before resting when the company allows. Finish my poll, drop a few words or ignore me. I'm just testing this section for an echo...


The best way to comment on this is that there are two ways things can go! ... There are groups out there that are not well organized, sometimes meeting random people at a gas station will result in a group like this. So a group like this could result in you getting left behind. But even then there are always people that will wait for you even if you don't know them. Best thing you can do is to get to know the people you ride with..

My first canyon ride after moving here 3 years ago I ended up eating up my rear aluminum sprocket thus I had to pull over and figure out how I could get home, so by the time I figured that if I could baby it the rest of the way several minutes passed. So as I rode forward I foud out that the group had waited for me and a couple of the guys had even turned around to come find me. So to give credit where credit is due the group I was riding with was from this group! I can't remember everyone's name but Duece was there, and asian guy with an R1 who raced locally?

Two years ago two friends and myself decided to start a local chapter for the CSBA (www.cocsba.com). As we have grown the way we organize the rides has had to change becasue as others have stated in the past there can be a diminishing return on the fun as the group gets larger. To prevent this from happening we have made a few statements clear:
--everyone rides at their own pace!
--the group reorganizes at turnoffs! (aka we wait for everyone)
In a larger group you will always have varying levels of skill and desire to go fast thus the longer the ride the more spread out the group can get; even if I wait for everyon in the straights! (read the pace). What I have found is that the group tends to split into two subgroups. We routinely have atleast 8-9 people on our rides and even in this group we tend to split into two subgroups. We usually agree on a route when we set out but we wait at designated stop(turnoff) for everyone.

As I sometimes lead the rides I know its dificult to keep a large group together even on the interstate, not that we stay in formation cuase if I wanted to do that I would buy a harley (I don't understand how those guys find that crap fun?) ! Its just that not everyone understands the route so the motivation for waiting at the turnoffs has two results; no-one gets lost or left behind. Once we hit the canyons people can ride not worrying about turnoffs until they find the group has stoppped for it so I can ride at whatever pace pleases me that day ;) and others can ride at what pleases them. I have aksed others to slow down so that I could learn from them instead of trying to keep up with them, and I have had people as me to slow down so they can follow and learn, in both cases its never an issue; those that I had asked in the past found it a complement and those that have asked me have complemented me.

Group rides are now fun again to me because I get to hang with some of my good friends and I don't feel held back nor do I feel like others are pressured to keep up like I was on some of the early rides I went on. My best advice is to get to know the people that you go riding with; even if you just meet up with a random group at the Conoco in Morrision there are always some regulars who are awesome people and riders out there and thus its good to know people. You are also welcome to ride with us anytime you wish as well; we always try to ride after the monthly meeting on the first Sat. of the month at Fay Meyers' conference room. We meet at 9:00 AM and finish about 11:00 AM when we head out to lunch and then riding. It helps to meet everyone at lunch and thus know the people and their personalites. Drop me a PM or check Our Web Page (http://www.cocsba.com) if you are interested.

Deep down I want to be a mellow sport tourer esspecially on trips to California! I salivate at the idea of an RT but my RC and my wife won't let me have one, and I'm fine with that for now! lol! I'm not getting rid of the RC! So I use the RC as a sport tourer :D :D ... life is good!

late,

-al

[BigE]

Well, as one of Al's riding buddies, ya just twist the gas as far as you can and then catch up at where ever Al is stopped :lol:

On a more serious note, the way I ride with CSBA and my friends up here is mainly go at your own pace and keep an eye out for each other. Everyone has days where they are going to haul butt and days where they watch the scenery.
The main thing is making it back home in one piece so you can go out again :D

[PharmerKyle]

Unnofficial poll results: 3 out of 4 replies to this thread are not from Southern Colorado. :| I'm either being ignored by my neighbors or they are hibernating.

All good words and good answers and thanks to those that did respond. I admit that this thread was poorly planned and poorly worded. My next one will probably be way too far to the other extreme.

I guess I'm just looking for the short-cut to see who I'll feel safe riding with and who will sneer at my middle-aged ass trying to have fun at this. Trial and error is still the only real way to find out... or maybe...

[R1chie]

I don't think you have to worry. Jeff had ridden with us and he has a sport tourer. I don't think anyone wants a ticket and just about everyone I have ridden with feels the same way and stays within their ability (not always true if you hang out at the shell). You should just go on a ride or come to a meeting or to my house for a movie and find out for yourself. Sometimes I ride nearer the front sometimes the back and sometimes the group spreads out a little and regroups. Some people may get tickets and although no one wants one it can happen but the most important thing is that no one gets hurt and with all the groups I have ridden (even shell but I know who not to ride with) with no one has gone down during our ride. I feel this is the most important thing when riding. They are a great group of people and I like them (cannot say that for some in up north) but that’s what it is about, finding people you like and riding with them and if they can tolerate me and my more cautious attitude I don't think you should worry :).

R1ch

[iam4u2nv]

I don't think you have to worry. Jeff had ridden with us and he has a sport tourer. I don't think anyone wants a ticket and just about everyone I have ridden with feels the same way and stays within their ability (not always true if you hang out at the shell). You should just go on a ride or come to a meeting or to my house for a movie and find out for yourself. Sometimes I ride nearer the front sometimes the back and sometimes the group spreads out a little and regroups. Some people may get tickets and although no one wants one it can happen but the most important thing is that no one gets hurt and with all the groups I have ridden (even shell but I know who not to ride with) with no one has gone down during our ride. I feel this is the most important thing when riding. They are a great group of people and I like them (cannot say that for some in up north) but that’s what it is about, finding people you like and riding with them and if they can tolerate me and my more cautious attitude I don't think you should worry :).

R1ch


Watch those shell comments bub ;) :D

[R1chie]

Watch those shell comments bub ;) :D

Watch out for this guy, he left a black front tire patch on the back of my helmet after doing one of his standup wheelies. :lol:

[Mista Black]

I don't think you have to worry. Jeff had ridden with us and he has a sport tourer.<snip>

R1ch

this is true but it was a constant struggle for me to keep you guys in sight :D :P

[R1chie]

I don't think you have to worry. Jeff had ridden with us and he has a sport tourer.<snip>

R1ch

this is true but it was a constant struggle for me to keep you guys in sight :D :P

I don't like riding with Jeff, when I can keep up with him I am always picking black plastic luggage shards out of my teeth :)

[Mista Black]

it's ABS plastic... i'm sure that stands for Anti-Black-Shards or something like that....

[iam4u2nv]

Watch those shell comments bub ;) :D

Watch out for this guy, he left a black front tire patch on the back of my helmet after doing one of his standup wheelies. :lol:

Now you know no one would beleve that the combo of the RF and my fat a$$ could ever produce a wheelie.
At least with out the use of ramps, counterweights, stunt people, and a little divine intervention!!

[SpArKy]

none of those really apply to me (a sport tourer). some of the fastest people i know are sport tourers. my dad's normal cruising speed is a touch shy of 100 pretty much everywhere unless the road gets really tight.

as for me i ride fast in the twisties and run tank to tank if i'm by myself. with others i try to do what the general consensus of the group is (which doesnt normally mean stopping only every 3 hours).

pretty much none of the above options applies to me. i think for me "ride your own pace and know where lunch is gonna be" is a better option.-

Well Jeff........You DO ride a cruiser.

[Mista Black]

I'm a kinder, gentler rider :lol: