THATS IT!!!.......
Discussion
After just 6 weeks of riding on the road i have made the decision to cancel my insurance and send off the sorn form; the bike is coming off the road!
there are far too many metal coffins driving around for me to have any real fun and im too conscious of my safety to open the throttle properly so all funds will be channelled into making this a shit hot quik track weapon!!
grrrr!!!
there are far too many metal coffins driving around for me to have any real fun and im too conscious of my safety to open the throttle properly so all funds will be channelled into making this a shit hot quik track weapon!!
grrrr!!!
garyhun said:
That's a shame!!
I've been riding for about 7 months now and find any excuse to go out there - I love it.
Are you sure you're not being too careful and seeing dangers everywhere even when there aren't any?
Anyway...if you don't feel safe you are probably doing the right thing!
I've been riding for about 7 months now and find any excuse to go out there - I love it.
Are you sure you're not being too careful and seeing dangers everywhere even when there aren't any?
Anyway...if you don't feel safe you are probably doing the right thing!
dont get me wrong, iv enjoyed it. i just want to go faster and while im on the road i cant see it happening.
by doing this, when im not riding i'l be making the bike quicker and when i am riding (on track) i can give 100% to the way i ride and not have to be concerned with giving way...
i think i recall niall mackenzie saying once that he hated riding on the roads. now i can see why...
You might well be doing the right thing if balls out riding is where you get your kicks.
I've started doing my first track days this year, and riding the sports bike on the road after that feels a little flat. Boring, but dangerous at the same time
I'm lucky to have a more relaxed bike for the road as well as my sport bike, and I think my plan from now on will be to ditch the sport bike for road riding.
I've started doing my first track days this year, and riding the sports bike on the road after that feels a little flat. Boring, but dangerous at the same time
I'm lucky to have a more relaxed bike for the road as well as my sport bike, and I think my plan from now on will be to ditch the sport bike for road riding.
Not sure that 6 weeks is enough time for you to have properly raised your game in terms of being aware of the roads around you, to be honest.
What, precisely, are your concerns over the other users of the road? If its because they are constantly doing things you dont expect, then IMHO, you need to be more situationally aware. Most drivers will signal their intentions before they get anywhere near using such silly things as indicators. If you dont have a constantly updated riding plan that includes mutterings about "he's just glanced in his mirrors twice, maybe he's going to dive left", as well as "effing bendy buses", then you arent doing enough to help yourself.
Perhaps, now its coming up for summer, some advanced training, or even a BikeSafe afternoon of pootling around with a very experienced rider might give you something to focus on to make you feel happier about riding on the roads.
What, precisely, are your concerns over the other users of the road? If its because they are constantly doing things you dont expect, then IMHO, you need to be more situationally aware. Most drivers will signal their intentions before they get anywhere near using such silly things as indicators. If you dont have a constantly updated riding plan that includes mutterings about "he's just glanced in his mirrors twice, maybe he's going to dive left", as well as "effing bendy buses", then you arent doing enough to help yourself.
Perhaps, now its coming up for summer, some advanced training, or even a BikeSafe afternoon of pootling around with a very experienced rider might give you something to focus on to make you feel happier about riding on the roads.
randlemarcus said:
Not sure that 6 weeks is enough time for you to have properly raised your game in terms of being aware of the roads around you, to be honest.
What, precisely, are your concerns over the other users of the road? If its because they are constantly doing things you dont expect, then IMHO, you need to be more situationally aware. Most drivers will signal their intentions before they get anywhere near using such silly things as indicators. If you dont have a constantly updated riding plan that includes mutterings about "he's just glanced in his mirrors twice, maybe he's going to dive left", as well as "effing bendy buses", then you arent doing enough to help yourself.
Perhaps, now its coming up for summer, some advanced training, or even a BikeSafe afternoon of pootling around with a very experienced rider might give you something to focus on to make you feel happier about riding on the roads.
What, precisely, are your concerns over the other users of the road? If its because they are constantly doing things you dont expect, then IMHO, you need to be more situationally aware. Most drivers will signal their intentions before they get anywhere near using such silly things as indicators. If you dont have a constantly updated riding plan that includes mutterings about "he's just glanced in his mirrors twice, maybe he's going to dive left", as well as "effing bendy buses", then you arent doing enough to help yourself.
Perhaps, now its coming up for summer, some advanced training, or even a BikeSafe afternoon of pootling around with a very experienced rider might give you something to focus on to make you feel happier about riding on the roads.
I agree with this. 6 weeks just isn't enough time to formulate that kind of decision.
Go out to some meets, speak to other bikers and find out where the decent roads are in your area......
essex.newb!! said:
After just 6 weeks of riding on the road i have made the decision to cancel my insurance and send off the sorn form; the bike is coming off the road!
there are far too many metal coffins driving around for me to have any real fun and im too conscious of my safety to open the throttle properly so all funds will be channelled into making this a shit hot quik track weapon!!
grrrr!!!
there are far too many metal coffins driving around for me to have any real fun and im too conscious of my safety to open the throttle properly so all funds will be channelled into making this a shit hot quik track weapon!!
grrrr!!!
Mate, I'm kinda in the same boat. Thinking of giving up the London commute....Just too many hazards. I got hit by an arctic lorry last night...bloke just didn't see me (Dutch) and I had his bumper in my shoulder. Lucky the traffic had stopped in front of him...otherwise he'd have dragged me a long with him.
Silly speeds on the track, and the occasional social ride is the way forward for me I think.....I just hate the train with a passion though.
Would love to ride track only but a) I cannot afford to really, b) most track days are during the week, c) i don't have the time... Living in Norfolk is a nightmare (for several reasons!) because the land is so flat you never get a good view of the road ahead - just hedges surrounding you. Therefore it's always a worry what is waiting for you around the next corner. I really want to ride Northern roads - there's one from Middlesborough to Whitby which looks great because you can see the winding road ahead.
Road riding always feels a bit lame after a day on the track...
Road riding always feels a bit lame after a day on the track...
shot2bits said:
Would love to ride track only but a) I cannot afford to really, b) most track days are during the week, c) i don't have the time... Living in Norfolk is a nightmare (for several reasons!) because the land is so flat you never get a good view of the road ahead - just hedges surrounding you. Therefore it's always a worry what is waiting for you around the next corner. I really want to ride Northern roads - there's one from Middlesborough to Whitby which looks great because you can see the winding road ahead.
Road riding always feels a bit lame after a day on the track...
Road riding always feels a bit lame after a day on the track...
I always thought the idea of track days was to get the "need for speed" out of your system BUT I kow from doing car ones that its not the case!! I have to say I am looking forward to having the road bike for a year then upgrading to something fast and doing a track day!! Oh what fun
Probably for the best that you stick to the track. We wouldn't want you riding like a total arse everywhere (as you must be if speed is your only concern) and giving the rest of us a bad name. Or ending up as a statistic and giving the speed nazis more ammunition.
Good luck in your quest to be the next Ron Haslam.
Good luck in your quest to be the next Ron Haslam.
wedg1e said:
Probably for the best that you stick to the track. We wouldn't want you riding like a total arse everywhere (as you must be if speed is your only concern) and giving the rest of us a bad name. Or ending up as a statistic and giving the speed nazis more ammunition.
Good luck in your quest to be the next Ron Haslam.
Good luck in your quest to be the next Ron Haslam.
There is some truth to that!!
XC2 said:
I simply don't believe you.
ok, let me put it this way, i have watched racing and read bike mags for the best part of 2 decades. i want to ride bikes QUICK!! i dont want to go out and potter about aimlessly. i want to take my bike out and ride the fcuk out of it without having to have the amount of respect that the roads command. and before all you knit-pickers start with "well you need to have respect on track..." im fully aware of this, but the respect for fellow track riders wont hold you back anywhere near as much as the respect you MUST have for road users... and if people cant make a decision in 6 weeks you must be women trapped in mens bod's cos only a bird could be so indecisive...
wedg1e said:
Probably for the best that you stick to the track. We wouldn't want you riding like a total arse everywhere (as you must be if speed is your only concern) and giving the rest of us a bad name. Or ending up as a statistic and giving the speed nazis more ammunition.
Good luck in your quest to be the next Ron Haslam.
Good luck in your quest to be the next Ron Haslam.
EXACTLY!! thanks for the support mate
As previously mentioned above, 6 weeks may not be enough to call the judgement. Obtaining more skills that will enable clearer risk management will give you more grounds for a positive decision to quit road riding. A day (and a miserly £60) will give you a chance to absorb roadcraft with the police (again already mentioned - Bikesafe, The Edge 44, or similar). Reading and absorbing the book: Roadcraft for bikes, will add to your armoury in self preservation.
Making progress safely can be done, its is purely a perception and self awareness issue. Track work will also add to your library of skills that you can mix and match until you find the right synergy (to coin a naff corporate phrase).
After riding bikes for 23 years I can honestly say that I am still learning new things; every rideout brings valuable lessons. There really is no substitute for time in the saddle, that goes for track work as well.
Good luck with the track adventure, have you considered the costs? Bennyboy (Ben le Beau) on this forum is probably a good person to speak to about this as he ran for some years in BEMSEE with success. I believe tyre and service bills can be quite prohibitive.
Making progress safely can be done, its is purely a perception and self awareness issue. Track work will also add to your library of skills that you can mix and match until you find the right synergy (to coin a naff corporate phrase).
After riding bikes for 23 years I can honestly say that I am still learning new things; every rideout brings valuable lessons. There really is no substitute for time in the saddle, that goes for track work as well.
Good luck with the track adventure, have you considered the costs? Bennyboy (Ben le Beau) on this forum is probably a good person to speak to about this as he ran for some years in BEMSEE with success. I believe tyre and service bills can be quite prohibitive.
Well I know how little I had progressed in my first six weeks of riding so I can say with certainty that I wouldn't have been qualified to make that sort of a judgement at that stage.
What specific incidents have brought you to this conclusion? Can you give a couple of examples so we can understand better?
What specific incidents have brought you to this conclusion? Can you give a couple of examples so we can understand better?
I think that 6 weeks is no where near enough for anyone to understand how to ride a bike in a way that allows rapid (relatively safe) progress either on the road or on the track. The issue here is not the other road users but it’s the rider. If you are getting ‘caught out’ by unexpected situations on anything like a regular basis then your are riding well beyond your capability.
You are dangerously mistaken if you believe that you will be safer on the track. On the road, most drivers, whilst in general being total idiots, drive well within their limits. If something does start to go ‘pear shaped’ there is normally room for maneuver. On the track, most people are riding either near or at their limit (often beyond their limit) so that if anything does go a little ‘against plan’ there IS going to be some sort of event and it is likely to be big.
Be it on the track or on the road what you need to do is stop trying to be the next Rossi, slow down and concentrate on getting it right. Speed will come as a ‘natural byproduct’. Think very carefully about your riding and ask yourself, ‘if I was a bystander and saw someone else do what I have just done, would I be impressed with their biking skills or would I think they were a prat’? If, as is likely, the answer is the second option then stop riding like a prat. Ride so that mythical 3rd person would be really impressed with just how good you are.
Ride safe and enjoy
You are dangerously mistaken if you believe that you will be safer on the track. On the road, most drivers, whilst in general being total idiots, drive well within their limits. If something does start to go ‘pear shaped’ there is normally room for maneuver. On the track, most people are riding either near or at their limit (often beyond their limit) so that if anything does go a little ‘against plan’ there IS going to be some sort of event and it is likely to be big.
Be it on the track or on the road what you need to do is stop trying to be the next Rossi, slow down and concentrate on getting it right. Speed will come as a ‘natural byproduct’. Think very carefully about your riding and ask yourself, ‘if I was a bystander and saw someone else do what I have just done, would I be impressed with their biking skills or would I think they were a prat’? If, as is likely, the answer is the second option then stop riding like a prat. Ride so that mythical 3rd person would be really impressed with just how good you are.
Ride safe and enjoy
ffs. its not about trying to be rossi. no big incident or incidents have happened. what i think you're not getting is that i dont honestly believe bikes should be riden on the road anyway. roads are for transportation from one destination to another. for that i have a van. a track is a piece of smoothly laid tarmac (depending on which one you ride, lol) designed for the user to ride, step by step of course, and progress to a competetive level or even just a level you're comfortable with. if you are doing this on the roads then you're either very stupid or.....nope thats all i have.
bikes run in my family, after an afforementioned incident with an older sibling i said that id never own a bike on the roads but would get one for track use. i went against this 6 weeks ago and have now realised that i should'v stuck to my guns....
i dont know how to make it clearer for you guys.....
bikes run in my family, after an afforementioned incident with an older sibling i said that id never own a bike on the roads but would get one for track use. i went against this 6 weeks ago and have now realised that i should'v stuck to my guns....
i dont know how to make it clearer for you guys.....
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