I introduced my friend Andres to riding two years ago. He caught on quick, and was much more conservative than I was in riding. Nonetheless, he has a thing for plastic sport bikes.
I've always been the test pilot for stuff he buys, cars or bikes. The first bike he wanted was a Katana 600. That was fun and scary. I've since put maybe 500 borrowed miles on that bike since he bought it, and it's been great.
Today he calls me and asks if I want to go check out a bike with him. It's an injected 1999 GSX-R 750, with moderate street cams and a yoshimura exhaust, I say yes, knowing full well I'd be testing it out.
Not that that doesn't sound like fun, but it's also a bit scary considering that opening the throttle on one of those is like hitching a ride on the blast wave of an endless explosion.
I'm an expert at seeming as if I'm quite accustomed to riding bikes that are far faster than I've ever tried. The very first motorbike I ever rode was in Florence Italy 4 years ago, only after I convinced the rental shop owner that I knew how to ride it, having just asked this random chick on a scooter outside to tell me how to start one. The only instruction in my whole life that I've received on how to ride any motorbike was the five seconds when she reached to the front brake, squeezed it, and that allowed the starter to engage.
I didn't manage to crash that scooter, and I've been faking confident ever since.
I told the 750's owner that I'd need a very straight, very long road. He told me where to go, and I promptly learned what low altitude rocketry is all about. In first, second, or third gear I was sliding backward to the pillion with no control of my butt friction at all. Talk about nuts.
So yeah, I rode a bike that'll do a 10 flat in the quarter, making that by far the fastest vehicle I've ever piloted. That was fun and a bit on the scary side.
Thankfully I didn't drop it. My friend bought it.
I've always been the test pilot for stuff he buys, cars or bikes. The first bike he wanted was a Katana 600. That was fun and scary. I've since put maybe 500 borrowed miles on that bike since he bought it, and it's been great.
Today he calls me and asks if I want to go check out a bike with him. It's an injected 1999 GSX-R 750, with moderate street cams and a yoshimura exhaust, I say yes, knowing full well I'd be testing it out.
Not that that doesn't sound like fun, but it's also a bit scary considering that opening the throttle on one of those is like hitching a ride on the blast wave of an endless explosion.
I'm an expert at seeming as if I'm quite accustomed to riding bikes that are far faster than I've ever tried. The very first motorbike I ever rode was in Florence Italy 4 years ago, only after I convinced the rental shop owner that I knew how to ride it, having just asked this random chick on a scooter outside to tell me how to start one. The only instruction in my whole life that I've received on how to ride any motorbike was the five seconds when she reached to the front brake, squeezed it, and that allowed the starter to engage.
I didn't manage to crash that scooter, and I've been faking confident ever since.
I told the 750's owner that I'd need a very straight, very long road. He told me where to go, and I promptly learned what low altitude rocketry is all about. In first, second, or third gear I was sliding backward to the pillion with no control of my butt friction at all. Talk about nuts.
So yeah, I rode a bike that'll do a 10 flat in the quarter, making that by far the fastest vehicle I've ever piloted. That was fun and a bit on the scary side.
Thankfully I didn't drop it. My friend bought it.
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