okay, now, before the flaming starts, I want everybody to know that this was an isolated incident, I have only ridden a hand full of bikes, and I have listened to the testimony of so many people.

Now I'll begin.

Last Friday, I met up with my dad, a seasoned 30 year rider, MSF instructor, owner of (currently) 4 motorcycles and a very knowledgeable guy. We were going to do a tune up on my bike (seca 2 xj600) and he wanted to ride my bike to see how much we were going to have to do (which meant checking the valves, throttle synchronization etc). On the way home, we went to one of his favorite haunts so he could test out my bike and I could experience his. Now for his ride: a sport tuned 1997 VFR 750. He did all the maintenance and this is his preferred track bike. It rides well.

The area we rode in was called Krauser Canyon and has a ton of very tight switch backs, and in 2 areas, a 10 mph turning zone. Yes, kiss your own ass. On my bike, I could not have driven as fast, would not have negotiated the turns, been able to brake at the correct time and accelerated when the moment called for. My bike would probably have killed me.

After we got done riding, he asked me how the bike felt. I alluded it to skiing: there were two types of skis: parabolic and standard. The standard skis made you work to turn, you had to parallel christi and do all the things you needed to do to negotiate the hill. Parabolics did all the work for you. You thought about turning and they did. You turned a little, you got a huge arc out of it. it was the same with the VFR. I leaned, it said how much more would you like to go. I accelerated and it said we have a few more gears if thats what you want.

All in all, sometimes I think its the bike, and not the rider. The real question is: how the fuck did I keep up with my dad on an underclassed, underpowerer standard touring bike, and I was on his track bike? Don't get me wrong, he has the advantage, but it was his bike that allowed me to keep up, not my skill.

Comments?