Getting older

[Dodgy69]

Imo, the main trouble with adventure bike's is that they all look pretty shit, and looks is a box to tick. Bike's like multis and tracers are as far that way as I would go and the T9 is a sports tourer. Sat up, comfy, luggage, pillion, why buy an adventure.

[dern]

Ha, I got one of those for christmas. They are good.

We had a turkey.

Try the veal... lol

[Yorick]

Ha, I got one of those for christmas. They are good.

We had a turkey.

@Taipan bought one last week

[Noggin]

When SinLaw was doing a lot of workshop stuff, we bought her one of these:
https://www.sgs-engineering.com/ps500-m ... IMQAvD_BwE
She was scathing. Until she used it.

I have something similar, but a round swirly wheely stool with a tool/bitsa tray over the wheels - bloody brilliant it is

[Taipan]

I'm a but odd, in that the track days I did left me cold. I much prefer the getting somewhere, seeing places, stopping to take in a view (and empty bladder these days) and generally just bimbling about.

All that rushing around....what's the hurry?

It's an amazing adrenaline buzz. 130 with knee on the floor is awesome

I'd rather 1:30 with my head on the pillow, snoozing...

[Taipan]

Ha, I got one of those for christmas. They are good.

We had a turkey.

@Taipan bought one last week

Yorick earlier...

[Yorick]

We had a turkey.

@Taipan bought one last week

Yorick earlier...

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[Couchy]

I like to ride for the adrenalin buzz, as I’ve got older I feel it’s dangerous to ride fast on the road and the risk of getting caught has penalties that are too high for me. I used to love riding on the track but I don’t do it enough so I’ve got slow, I’ve also got the mtb which gives me the same adrenalin buzz Trackdays used too and is more readily available and massively cheaper. I can ride 15mins from home and find fast single track, I can ride like a complete dick and no one cares. The most it’ll cost me is £5 at the cafe.
I’ll keep a motorbike forever and do now enjoy a steadier road ride and a slow Trackday but I’m well aware I prefer the adrenalin kick on two wheels and I’ve got a source for that

[Scotsrich]

I’ve never been particularly fast so getting slower is relative.

I can still keep up with my group of mates on a run which is fine by me. It’s all I really want.

Regarding bikes, my days of sports bikes are long gone. Besides, most of my riding is with my OH pillion so comfort is now the main criteria.

I’m 66 so when get the new bike that’ll probably be the last bike I own. I’ll run that till I’m physically not capable of riding anymore.

[weeksy]

Adrenaline, not for me... well, not on a bike with an engine anyway. I enjoy some pace, but the adrenaline i simply don't get.

Couple of times i get it at a trackday, once with @Welsh Muffin with a ZX6R and XSR900 battle and funnily at Pembrey last year when riding @Trinity765 little Triumph and Doug came past me, "not having that i thought to myself" and re-caught him and passed him. But that's rare.

Mostly i'm out for a bit of fun, a bit of speed and a bit of time to myself. But even they're getting rarer for me with the other stuff in life i have. I'm not giving up bikes, but they're not as meaningful as they used to be for me.

[Trinity765]

My need for speed is directly related to my sense of responsibility. Up to five years ago I had a bad attitude towards road riding in that I had something to prove and for a while I was convinced that I could ride as fast as anyone else and would latch onto anyone who dared to overtake me and if I couldn't get past them I'd think "at least I'm going to make this as hard for them as possible". I'd then wake up in the middle of the night, days or weeks later, with something like post-traumatic symptoms and think "what the f*** am doing". I'd have flash backs of close shaves that I'd ignored at the time. Those were fun times and I'm lucky to have got away with it.

Since my Mum became ill and because I do not want to leave my sons with the responsibility that I now have, I've calmed down. All I want to do now is have fun and go home - getting home rules above all else. Leading rides helps me as those behind have to work harder to keep up while I can actually ride my own ride and I focus on leading by example - perfect lines, nice and smooth, hazard awareness, no overtaking on doubles, being considerate to other road users, etc. I don't care much for those behind me as long as they're not getting bored and doing stupid things that endanger the rest of the group.

That's not to say that I don't have a competitive nature and I'd like to develop that on a track as apposed to on the road.

[Hairybiker84]

My need for speed is directly related to my sense of responsibility. Up to five years ago I had a bad attitude towards road riding in that I had something to prove and for a while I was convinced that I could ride as fast as anyone else and would latch onto anyone who dared to overtake me and if I couldn't get past them I'd think "at least I'm going to make this as hard for them as possible". I'd then wake up in the middle of the night, days or weeks later, with something like post-traumatic symptoms and think "what the f*** am doing". I'd have flash backs of close shaves that I'd ignored at the time. Those were fun times and I'm lucky to have got away with it.

Since my Mum became ill and because I do not want to leave my sons with the responsibility that I now have, I've calmed down. All I want to do now is have fun and go home - getting home rules above all else. Leading rides helps me as those behind have to work harder to keep up while I can actually ride my own ride and I focus on leading by example - perfect lines, nice and smooth, hazard awareness, no overtaking on doubles, being considerate to other road users, etc. I don't care much for those behind me as long as they're not getting bored and doing stupid things that endanger the rest of the group.

That's not to say that I don't have a competitive nature and I'd like to develop that on a track as apposed to on the road.

Yeah, had a couple of moments when I think afterwards, 'wtf was I thinking'. Takes a few miles to get into biking mode as well, once I turn out of my road I try to think of road positioning, you really need to give some of the twats in their entitled vehicles a wide berth round here!

I drive a mate's Impreza in rally tours so get most of my speed kicks in that nowadays. You're never going more than 90ish and it's closed 'tests' so there's nothing coming the other way (at least not usually ). And not being mine also has a little bit of a restraining effect

[tricol]

I just wish I'd done all this at least 10 years ago. I have always been a boring sensible driver/rider. I rarely push on beyond my limits - which are fairly low. I get more of a buzz stringing corners together on nice roads than going after pure speed.

[Trinity765]

I just wish I'd done all this at least 10 years ago. I have always been a boring sensible driver/rider. I rarely push on beyond my limits - which are fairly low. I get more of a buzz stringing corners together on nice roads than going after pure speed.

You're in a really good position with a good attitude. If you practice a system* you will get "faster" without trying. You won't even realise how good you are eventually.

*I've done a lot of advanced riding and reading, the IAM and lots of independent instructors from different backgrounds (though not with Spin yet, but hopefully that will change one day soon) and the basics are the same - information (road signs and markings and lots more) road positioning (ride to see and be seen) and hazard awareness (e.g. overtaking past junctions).

[mangocrazy]

It used to bother me if I wasn't at least as fast as my mates (and preferably faster) but these days I rarely ride in groups so now that competitive thing is less present. I still don't like going slow and I doubt I ever will, but I tend to get my fun in the up to 100mph zone on the roads, rather than in the 80-140mph zone of yesteryear. These days I'm far more aware of what could go wrong when you're doing silly speeds and try and limit the risk. Also I'm a real pussy when it comes to pain...

It was one of the reasons that I bought the Duke 690. Speeds of much over 90mph are hard work, due to the lack of wind protection, so that makes me seek out roads where the going is tighter and lower speed. It was a conscious decision to try and make me get my fun at lower speeds. But once I'm on my favourite roads, the horns do still sprout and I'll try and get down them as fast as is safely possible. It's one of the reasons I ride bikes and I can't really see that changing much. It's just that as I get older, what is safe gets progressively slower, I guess.

[Taipan]

I just wish I'd done all this at least 10 years ago. I have always been a boring sensible driver/rider. I rarely push on beyond my limits - which are fairly low. I get more of a buzz stringing corners together on nice roads than going after pure speed.

Same here. There's a great article written by Nick Lenatsch for Motorcycling World, IIRC, which I'll find a link to. It highlights how I like to ride and probably why I only like riding solo. I learned a number of years ago that the majority of my close calls, were when I was trying to keep up with faster riders, or riding in groups where it seems inevitable that riders try to outdo each other.

*Edit* link added https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/pace/

[tricol]

Maybe that's why I've not made a real effort to meet others and ride in groups. I'd be picky and want riders who are similar to me. I like sharing my passion with people, but I get the impression that lots of people would be out to ride quickly and not appreciate the other aspects of riding.

[mangocrazy]

Very much like that 'The Pace' article. It crystallizes a lot of what I find enjoyable in riding. On thinking about it, what I enjoy most is getting what I can only describe as The Flow working. Corners become interlinked and you're concentrating more on stringing the varying demands of a ribbon of road together and keeping everything smooth and in sync. And to do that you don't want full throttle acceleration and 10/10ths braking, you want to modulate the controls to keep the bike balanced and operating in its (and your) comfort zone.

[Skub]

Maybe that's why I've not made a real effort to meet others and ride in groups. I'd be picky and want riders who are similar to me. I like sharing my passion with people, but I get the impression that lots of people would be out to ride quickly and not appreciate the other aspects of riding.

It's hard to get other riders who want the same as you. On any given day a single rider can be many things.
If you take into consideration,whatever mood you are in,some days you want to chill and just flow,other days you have a silly head on,then there are the days when you just know to stay well within your abilities.

In all my time riding,there have been two,maybe three others I enjoyed riding with and even then sometimes there was a mood clash.

My favourite wingman was killed aged 30,so now I ride alone and suit myself.

[The Spin Doctor]

1. Reaction times are slower.

Yes... and no.

I did some looking into this not too long ago and reaction times ARE longer from the mid-20s onwards, but the added time is measured in milliseconds.

It's usually compensated for by much quicker RECOGNITION time - which is the cognitive delay that never gets talked about. This is the time it takes for the brain to subconsciously analyse a developing situation and realise that a response is actually needed, and it can be measure in seconds. It's what catches inexperienced riders and drivers out more than anything - they simply don't spot the fact that they need to react till it's too late.