[mauibusa]

"be careful"

how many times have I heard that?

I stopped by a friends house Sunday to show my 04 off. Now these guys are die hard car guys for the most part. They love to haul ass and street race. They are actually borderline dangerous to the public.

So they go through the normal how much horse power does it make etc and they can't believe when I tell them between 148-158 at the wheel depending on the bike and the dyno.

One guy gets up to leave and he tells me "be careful"....uh yea like I never thought of that. The other guys says Steve man Jeff's (me) been riding street bikes for 22 years aggressively, I think he's way past the be careful comment (actually I have about 34 years of riding time including dirt bikes).

Steves clueless....like so many other people. He's raced cars on the street like a fool to the extent where he's forced other cars off the road....and he thinks I'm the dangerous guy.

Next is one of the subcontractors on my home. Some stuff broke and he's doing a freebee replacement, man of his word and all.

He starts to tell me about this Harley he had, or some kind of cruiser bike anyway (doesn't know I ride I guess) Tells me that it would do 40 mph in first gear....uh, ok....man you hit second and you know you're on a ride. I got it up to 110...and let me tell you theres no feeling like a bike pulling like that.

me: hey I just bought a new bike

him: oh yea what kind?

Me: 04 R1

him: whats that?

me: it goes 100mph in 1st gear

him: why would you ever want to go that fast?

me: (thinking aren't you the guy who was just bragging about going 110 on a sled?) ....it a six speed too. :hellobye

him: man thats too fast

me: you should see my hayabusa go

him: whats that?

Ok, you guys can see where the rest of this goes on your own. people who do stupid things on their very own, yet just the mere mention of a high performance bike or seeing a sport bike and the rest of us are labeled as suicidal. To some extent I guess they are looking at some statistic or preconceived notion...

my rant for the day...:hellobye

 

[.1394]

very nicely put, clear and articulate, you get an 'A'

but yeah, I agree. People assume that you have a death wish or sometihng

 

[NY2NJ]

The guy asks what an R1 is and your response is that it does 100 mph in first gear? Why didn't you just tell him what it is? A sportbike. That guy is probably on his own forum ranting about YOU.

 

[GXRKLR]

I get the same thing, but then again I do have a death wish, kinda sorta. It's a miracle I lived long enough to graduate High School.

 

[mauibusa]

The guy asks what an R1 is and your response is that it does 100 mph in first gear? Why didn't you just tell him what it is? A sportbike. That guy is probably on his own forum ranting about YOU.

don't worry, I told him it was a sport bike...just had to laugh when he was telling me about what a speed demon he was. I said it was an R1 which is a sport bike, I didn't transcribe the conversation that well. I told him it did 100 in first gear as a tongue in cheek poke at his 40mph first gear line...:riding

 

[YZEtc]

When I get those kind of comments, it's much more often that not by somebody that doesn't ride/can't ride for s**t/doesn't know sportbikes/rides once in a blue moon.

In other words, it is often just another way for most people to say something polite to me, though it usually goes in one ear and out the other - unless it comes from a close friend or loved one.

I would probably be more willing to appreciate it if they were to say something along the lines of, "I'll try to keep my eyes peeled for you."

For what this comment is worth, I always keep in mind that the general motorized public doesn't care all that much for sportbikes to start with.

 

[YZFR1Freak]

He starts to tell me about this Harley he had, or some kind of cruiser bike anyway (doesn't know I ride I guess) Tells me that it would do 40 mph in first gear....uh, ok....man you hit second and you know you're on a ride. I got it up to 110...and let me tell you theres no feeling like a bike pulling like that.

I get the same impression from the general public and from HP junkies alike. I'm just gonna stick to the dylan quote in my sig and hope the public does the same.

Is it just me or did everybody used to ride? :rant

 

[Monolith]

Anytime I tell someone I have a bike first question is it's not one of those ninja bikes is it? I say no it isn't (true) It's an R1, a what? SPORTBIKE not a Hardley? The response is oh my friend/cousin/aunt/uncle has a Hardley. You better be careful those ninja (again) things are dangerous. ????? What about the damn Harley's? I suppose those are safe? People just have no clue. When you ask them if they have ever ridden, they say no. Ask them how do they no it's not safe they say well it just isn't. I just laugh and tell them to check out how many car accidents they see in a year vs how many cycle accidents, whose safe now?

There is an assumed risk in what we do, but I believe the majority of us are as safe as possible when we ride/stunt/whatever. Just the existence of a forum such as this shows that bikers are indeed intelligent people not just and only adrenaline junkies. But I do need my fix now and then. My rant for the month.

 

[Landshark92]

Man, those used-to-ride guys are even worse than the non riders. They tell me about how they used to tear it up back in the days and also how they or somebody crashed every time they went out. I figured out why everybody tells me they crashed so often. They want me to know that they were really fast back in those days, lived life on the edge, and lived to one day tell me about it. Then they usually tell me they quit riding because of one bad crash where they ended up in the hospital.:dunno That is not cool, I would rather be out there riding forever with 2 inch chicken strips then have to give it up sometime.

 

[Skate2]

The best comment i can remember is when some kid on a real old motorcycle told me i have a nice ducati (i was riding my r1).

Another fellow could have swore me and my buddies bikes (r1's and r6's) were all supercharged. Its got to the point where we try to keep a straight face and start feeding em a line of BS just for fun. One question we get a lot is how fast have you been. A couple times we said 210 or 220 mph - but i always have trouble keepin a straight face.

 

[TOMOS]

Oh man this cracks me up and it's so true too.

 

[mauibusa]

Man, those used-to-ride guys are even worse than the non riders. They tell me about how they used to tear it up back in the days and also how they or somebody crashed every time they went out. I figured out why everybody tells me they crashed so often. They want me to know that they were really fast back in those days, lived life on the edge, and lived to one day tell me about it. Then they usually tell me they quit riding because of one bad crash where they ended up in the hospital.:dunno That is not cool, I would rather be out there riding forever with 2 inch chicken strips then have to give it up sometime.

there is an old Harley guy here, must be 90 or so, and he can only ride with two other guys at the same time. Why? because he's not strong enough to stand the bike up any more when he come to a stop sign. One rider pulls up on each side to kind of steady him till its time for him to go. Once he's riding he's fine. I guess they have to help him on and off his bike too.....still riding even though he can barely walk.

At first I thought this must be dangerous as all hell, then I realized that I hope I'm still riding and that I have friends like that when I reach his age...hell I hope they still have gas when I reach his age

 

[djetch]

Recently I was at a Starbucks and a guy pulls up with his lady on back. They pulled up on what could have been a Ninja 250 or 500 (they look identical). My g/f just bought a 250 to learn on. So of course I got to ask the guy about his bike. I asked him how long he had been riding and he stated that he had a Ducati 996 previously but that is was "liquid suicide" and was too wide for traffic so he wanted something smaller for city use.

Now I live in a suburb. About 20-25 minutes outside the Washington DC. It turns out that it is a 250 and not the 500. I had to fight to not laugh or mention that I had a bike.

Even my friend who doesn't own a bike yet agreed that this guy was a sissy. I'm thinking that something happened to him while he was on his 996 (if in fact he ever owned one).

 

[RTSR1]

Remember this "If you have to explain it, they wouldn't understand!" I've been saying that for 35 yrs. and it's still true today!

 

[Darkangel]

Just goes to show you..........