When I was in college I drove full-sized city buses for the campus transit system (got my passenger CDL 'n everything). I learned in training that the majority of bonehead accidents happen after about 50 hours in the driver's seat.
At that point, the driver has the control of the vehicle down and can operate everything without looking around. They also have a useable sense of the vehicle's performance characteristics and a nascent "situational awareness" on the road.
Of course, this means they're getting cocky. In short, I think I'm getting there again, as if I hadn't learned anything, a decade later.
Now that I've had the 'Busa for about three months and ride it every day, I've found myself *living* above 5000RPM, going WFO from stoplights on deserted (and not so deserted) roads, and generally giving off that "come on, I dare ya" vibe.
I've found out the parts of the powerband that *sound* good, and *feel* good coming out of a turn on a twisty road at full burn with my hair on fire.
People pick up on that stuff. Dorks in chromed-up SUVs and camaros are peeling out from stoplights next to me with increasing frequency, and I -- with the utmost respect for my fellow motorists and a keen sense of social responsibility -- have spanked the crap out of them at each such opportunity.
I've ridden BIG bikes -- like the K-RS -- before, and small FAST bikes -- like the CBR600 -- but not the BIG FAST kind, like the 'Busa. I've taken the BRC a couple of times (once as a referesher), and the ERC on a big BMW. I'll probably do that again on the 'Busa, but that's not what I'm after here.
I've got to work this out -- I can't take this to its logical conclusion. It would be like joining the Dark Side, eh? Street racing, meaningless sex, drunken rioting? Nawww. Gotta go to the track and melt some tires. But where? I live in the armpit of Megalopolis: Washington, DC!
Look, I know that California Superbike or Keith Code and the like has classes at VIR sometimes, but what other outfits would be good to check out on the eastern seaboard -- maybe closer and a skosh cheaper?
(...Preferably with SOMEONE ELSE's bikes, btw, so I don't have to wire and tape up mine, get there with spotless tires, scrape its fairings off the tarmac, etc.)
Thanks (sorry for the long post, it's late)!
At that point, the driver has the control of the vehicle down and can operate everything without looking around. They also have a useable sense of the vehicle's performance characteristics and a nascent "situational awareness" on the road.
Of course, this means they're getting cocky. In short, I think I'm getting there again, as if I hadn't learned anything, a decade later.
Now that I've had the 'Busa for about three months and ride it every day, I've found myself *living* above 5000RPM, going WFO from stoplights on deserted (and not so deserted) roads, and generally giving off that "come on, I dare ya" vibe.
I've found out the parts of the powerband that *sound* good, and *feel* good coming out of a turn on a twisty road at full burn with my hair on fire.
People pick up on that stuff. Dorks in chromed-up SUVs and camaros are peeling out from stoplights next to me with increasing frequency, and I -- with the utmost respect for my fellow motorists and a keen sense of social responsibility -- have spanked the crap out of them at each such opportunity.
I've ridden BIG bikes -- like the K-RS -- before, and small FAST bikes -- like the CBR600 -- but not the BIG FAST kind, like the 'Busa. I've taken the BRC a couple of times (once as a referesher), and the ERC on a big BMW. I'll probably do that again on the 'Busa, but that's not what I'm after here.
I've got to work this out -- I can't take this to its logical conclusion. It would be like joining the Dark Side, eh? Street racing, meaningless sex, drunken rioting? Nawww. Gotta go to the track and melt some tires. But where? I live in the armpit of Megalopolis: Washington, DC!
Look, I know that California Superbike or Keith Code and the like has classes at VIR sometimes, but what other outfits would be good to check out on the eastern seaboard -- maybe closer and a skosh cheaper?
(...Preferably with SOMEONE ELSE's bikes, btw, so I don't have to wire and tape up mine, get there with spotless tires, scrape its fairings off the tarmac, etc.)
Thanks (sorry for the long post, it's late)!
