Still haven't done the second dyno but seat of the pants dyno runs continue at a furious pace ;-) Was chasing R1's through the canyons on Sunday and I gotta say they don't seem to have much on me anymore. Here's a little report of the ride that I posted to a local list. Sorry for all the road ref's, this was intended for a local audience...
Tales from the darkside Joined up with a group from esportbikes and SFV bikenight websites for a massive squid ride on Sunday. Apx 50 bikes showed up at Coco's on Sunland bl for this ride. As we're getting ready to go, guys are doing high speed wheelies up and down Sunland. One rider cruises by standing on his tank. Hmmm, this is gonna be interesting. Jumped in with the first group of 15 or so riders and headed up Big Tujunga to Angeles Forest. The last straight section before Palmdale brought the most disturbing sight of the day. The leader slowed the pace down considerably and the wheelie antics began. Highspeed wheelies in the middle of the wrong lane. The last guy held his wheelie up and over the crest of a hill. There's no way this guy can see if someone is coming the other way. I'm thinking, wtf? is this guy completely insane??? I'll even admit the evil thought that this guy deserves to die. That thought was quickly struck down because it leads to the thought of the innocent party coming the other way. Thank God Danziger wasn't there. The poor guy woulda had a coronary ;-p In hindsight I'm thinking it was a trick. The lead rider gave him some sort of all clear signal. It has to be, right? I mean, nobody's THAT crazy, are they?? We waited quite a while for the rest of the crew to show at the end of Angeles Forest. During which time there was a funny looking hand-rolled cigarette being passed around between a pickup truck driver and a couple of the riders. Mental note, get to front of pack, leave slow stoner dudes in dust. Having a pickup truck follow them around on a local ride doesn't bode well for their confidence of coming through unscathed. Also noticed "Suicide Clan" or some such nonsense on the tail of one of the bikes. We made a gas stop in Palmdale and left almost in mass up Elizabeth Lake rd. , over Spunky Cyn to San Francisquito road. 20 plus riders in the first group, I was somewhere in the middle of the pack. Shortly before Bouquet we passed a sheriff parked in a wide shoulder at the exit of a high speed sweeper(ie, perfect radaring position). By the time I rode by he'd resorted to just giving a slow down hand signal out his window. I'm sure we were a menacing sight, terrorizing the country side. Can't help but wonder what those poor Harely riders out for a Sunday putt were thinking as they were passed at high rates of speed by an endless stream of sportbikes. Who'd a thought? Sportbike gang terrorizes Harley gang, news at 11.. By the time we reached San Fracisquito I'd worked my way to the front pack of 4 riders. I think it was a couple of R1's and a TLR. They were pulling away a bit in the straight stuff but when the going got twisty I reeled 'em in. We reached the end of San Fracisquito in short order. Again we wait....and wait. Meantime, lead R1 rider is scratching his head. What's wrong with this picture he says, pointing to the mighty GTS. Remarking about his numerous mirror checks and trying to figure out what that huge yellow thing was doing behind him. Undoubtably reevalauating the value of his carbonfiber this or titanium alloy that. Probably sounds like a boast but it's not meant to be. Just another example of how far the capabilities of the modern litre bike outstrip what you can use on the street. I mean it's only so fast the average guy is willing to go on the street, taking into account the unknown that lies beyond the next turn. The fact that a 10 year old design sport-tourer weighing in a couple hundred pounds more portly can match those speeds is usually a quite an eye opener to the proud R1/Gixxer owner. I must admit, it's kinda fun to watch the reactions. Turns out that the inevitable crashes all occured on San Francisquito. I believe that the final reports were that three people crashed. One decidely less purdy R1 rolled up while we were waiting. I can't say for sure, but I'm thinking it was one of the dudes partaking in the funny cigarette. At least there were no serious injuries reported. I bailed to go get some gas before the last of the crash victims arrived. By the time we reached the end of Lake Hughes rd., the herd had thinned to about 17 riders. Some of the group had bailed and another large chunk had managed to get seperated somewhere along the way. The rest of the ride was mucho fun. Elizabeth Lake up to 138 to the 5 to Lockwood Valley and back on Hwy. 33. Hmmm, I went on a squid ride and had lots of fun. There's a certain poetry to a pack of four riders moving at high rates of speed up hwy 33. Almost like a squidron(tm) of fighter pilots. Help me, I'm being pulled into the dark side. Help me, I'm addicted to speed. You know what they say, "Speed Thrills". Errr, or something like that. Rick - needs to take it to the track. _________________________________________________________________ Unlimited Internet access -- and 2 months free! Try MSN. http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/2monthsfree.asp
