Sport bike companions

[ncsonderman]

I was up on a regular route to the BRP yesterday afternoon when I stopped into Tuggle's Gap restaurant for a drink. I began talking to a couple of guys who I recognized from previous stops. It turns out that they both live (jealous)in two areas that I love to ride. I asked about a local road I'd heard about and was pleased when answered that not only would they direct me to it, they'd lead the ride. I haven't spent much time with sportbike guys since i've ridden the RT's but it felt great to be back with them.

 

Mike was on an SV1000 and Tim a Speed Triple. I was very pleased that they didn't pass on the double yellow and informed me of such prior to taking off. We rode down the mountain and I was able to pick a couple of new lines up through some difficult switchbacks.

 

I loved riding with the more aggressive sport bikes, they didn't push hard enough to where they weren't smooth or out of control. I did have to be alert to when their knee pucks were down and the lean angle kept getting smaller. I am terribly aware that the RT has clearance limitations.

 

Long story short, I'll ride with these guys again. It will be a nice change of pace to have no destination in mind except for meeting at a gas station at noon for the ride.

 

It turns out that these guys even put quite a few miles on their bikes. Budd on his FZ1 has done a couple of BB's back to back and rides to Laguna and back each year for the races.

 

It seems to me that I've got to bring some of my other riding buddies into the fray and show them what the other side is like

 

God made days like yesterday for riding!

[g_nuse]

......and God did a great job today in the North Georgia mountains!

[BFish]

know what you mean when following sport bikes.. my riding buddy, art, passed away a couple of months ago. one of the joys of riding behind his gxsr was watching his line, learning the line and getting better. learned a lot from him. miss all that stuff. this is not meant to be a hijack.

[russell_bynum]

I don't mind riding with mis-matched bikes at all. As long as the riders are fairly close in skill level, and the bikes are so totally different that they actually get in the way, it can be really great riding with different types.

 

Besides, at a street pace, a sportbike really can't stretch its legs, so there really isn't much of an advantage over a nimble tourer like an RT, so the performance gap really isn't very big (and sometimes it actually favors the RT instead of the sport bike.)