dm_gsxr
Mon Apr 23rd, 2012, 05:49 AM
So I changed my oil and filter, changed the brake and clutch fluid, and changed out my worn grips. After I decided to take the bike on a spin up into the mountains on Rt 7.
So I'm about half way up and I come upon a couple of riders with ladies on the back. Shortly the guy in front pulls over to the right side and gestures. The rear guy pulls up next to him and from the gestures, the first guy indicates they should pull over and let me by :up: as I pass and I wave.
About two thirds of the way up, I come upon a cruiser rider who is hauling butt, not as fast as me or I wouldn't have caught him :). Anyway, I follow looking for a passing lane as he either doesn't see me or doesn't want me to pass. In watching him, he's clearly not thinking as he's riding the white line on right hand curves and the double yellow on left hand curves. With the number of bicyclists on the road, it's only a matter of time before he encounters one. Sure enough, coming around a corner he almost face plants some stretch pants. He swerves left, looking to be in trouble and he overshoots on the recovery riding on the shoulder, almost in the dirt before he recovers and is back on the asphalt. I back off even further hoping I'm not pushing him to ride beyond his skills.
Finally in a passing area I pass but pull in right behind a Goldwing, two cars, and a pack of cruisers toddling along at 5 to 10 under. In a passing zone, I pass the 'wing and both cars getting behind the tail end charlie of the cruiser pack. He slows and speeds up making noise a couple of times. In another passing area, I zip past the rear pack of three. There's another bike oncoming followed by a pickup so I slip into the pack passing the next guy in his lane as I slow down. Not wanting to stick around, at the next wide spot, I passed the next guy, who was second in the pack and the number one guy at the next wide spot.
Whew, out of the pack. I take the next four or five curves a bit better then reach Peak to Peak. There is a pack of sport bikes (Ducati 1198, an R6 I think, and one other) and one GS. I pull around, shut off the bike, remove helmet, get off, and we start chatting. A couple of minutes later the pack arrives. I wave at them as they make the turn on Peak to Peak. Most are friendly enough with a couple of frowns. :)
We chat a couple of more minutes. Looks like the GS is missing the right front wheel spacer. There's one on the left but not on the right. He got it recently from Foothills so I expect he'll be taking it back for a check, or checking his Service Guide at minimum.
Anyway, I got geared up, waved and headed back down the mountain. After a few curves, I came upon a group of three; Ducati and two similar bikes. One is riding race fuel, you can smell it in the exhaust :) There's a car in front of them. But when they have a chance to pass, they decline (maybe to keep it in a group). After several minutes, the car finally turns in to let us by and we continue on. There's no apparent effort to go faster or move over, so at the next passing zone I quickly pass the Ducati as he's been trailing the other two and at the next pass, I go by with a wave and head on down through the next couple of curves. I check my mirror because I always do that and the guy with the race fuel is big in my mirrors. I pull over and wave him by. He seemed reluctant so I slowed and gestured harder and he went by. He really was pushing it to me until we got to a row of cars. With a wave, he pulled over to wait for his friends. I waved of course.
At the next passing zone, I passed the cars but 10 seconds later we were in town, so I slowed to 40, then 25 and headed home.
Dealing with other riders was mostly ok. The first guys had it right. I of course should have been a tad more patient and not passed on the double yellow but I was in the middle of the pack and felt I needed to get the heck out. I didn't let the rider who came up on me on the way down push me beyond how I wanted to ride. I paid attention to my mirrors and moved over to let him pass once I saw him, unlike the cruiser rider from earlier. I was riding well within my limits, partly because I'd replaced oil, fluids, and grips so I was feeling out the bike handling and partly because I hadn't put on my overpants so was feeling vulnerable. The new right grip felt larger though, likely due to the newness :) Glad I replaced them.
Ride Safe.
Carl
So I'm about half way up and I come upon a couple of riders with ladies on the back. Shortly the guy in front pulls over to the right side and gestures. The rear guy pulls up next to him and from the gestures, the first guy indicates they should pull over and let me by :up: as I pass and I wave.
About two thirds of the way up, I come upon a cruiser rider who is hauling butt, not as fast as me or I wouldn't have caught him :). Anyway, I follow looking for a passing lane as he either doesn't see me or doesn't want me to pass. In watching him, he's clearly not thinking as he's riding the white line on right hand curves and the double yellow on left hand curves. With the number of bicyclists on the road, it's only a matter of time before he encounters one. Sure enough, coming around a corner he almost face plants some stretch pants. He swerves left, looking to be in trouble and he overshoots on the recovery riding on the shoulder, almost in the dirt before he recovers and is back on the asphalt. I back off even further hoping I'm not pushing him to ride beyond his skills.
Finally in a passing area I pass but pull in right behind a Goldwing, two cars, and a pack of cruisers toddling along at 5 to 10 under. In a passing zone, I pass the 'wing and both cars getting behind the tail end charlie of the cruiser pack. He slows and speeds up making noise a couple of times. In another passing area, I zip past the rear pack of three. There's another bike oncoming followed by a pickup so I slip into the pack passing the next guy in his lane as I slow down. Not wanting to stick around, at the next wide spot, I passed the next guy, who was second in the pack and the number one guy at the next wide spot.
Whew, out of the pack. I take the next four or five curves a bit better then reach Peak to Peak. There is a pack of sport bikes (Ducati 1198, an R6 I think, and one other) and one GS. I pull around, shut off the bike, remove helmet, get off, and we start chatting. A couple of minutes later the pack arrives. I wave at them as they make the turn on Peak to Peak. Most are friendly enough with a couple of frowns. :)
We chat a couple of more minutes. Looks like the GS is missing the right front wheel spacer. There's one on the left but not on the right. He got it recently from Foothills so I expect he'll be taking it back for a check, or checking his Service Guide at minimum.
Anyway, I got geared up, waved and headed back down the mountain. After a few curves, I came upon a group of three; Ducati and two similar bikes. One is riding race fuel, you can smell it in the exhaust :) There's a car in front of them. But when they have a chance to pass, they decline (maybe to keep it in a group). After several minutes, the car finally turns in to let us by and we continue on. There's no apparent effort to go faster or move over, so at the next passing zone I quickly pass the Ducati as he's been trailing the other two and at the next pass, I go by with a wave and head on down through the next couple of curves. I check my mirror because I always do that and the guy with the race fuel is big in my mirrors. I pull over and wave him by. He seemed reluctant so I slowed and gestured harder and he went by. He really was pushing it to me until we got to a row of cars. With a wave, he pulled over to wait for his friends. I waved of course.
At the next passing zone, I passed the cars but 10 seconds later we were in town, so I slowed to 40, then 25 and headed home.
Dealing with other riders was mostly ok. The first guys had it right. I of course should have been a tad more patient and not passed on the double yellow but I was in the middle of the pack and felt I needed to get the heck out. I didn't let the rider who came up on me on the way down push me beyond how I wanted to ride. I paid attention to my mirrors and moved over to let him pass once I saw him, unlike the cruiser rider from earlier. I was riding well within my limits, partly because I'd replaced oil, fluids, and grips so I was feeling out the bike handling and partly because I hadn't put on my overpants so was feeling vulnerable. The new right grip felt larger though, likely due to the newness :) Glad I replaced them.
Ride Safe.
Carl