Which One?

[mboy]

You don't know this island very well.

Not as well as you obviously... You live there!

Been there a handful of times, driven all over the island, cycled much of it too... Not ridden there on a motorbike, would love to though, some fantastic twisting roads in places.

My mate has a GSXR1000... It'll do 120 in 2nd gear... I didn't find a road in Lanzarote when I was there where 120mph would have been safe/sensible/feasible at any point to be honest, which is more my point, and largely why sports bikes are just irrelevant on the roads these days. They can't really be enjoyed at anywhere vaguely near sensible speeds.

[Yorick]

You don't know this island very well.

Not as well as you obviously... You live there!

Been there a handful of times, driven all over the island, cycled much of it too... Not ridden there on a motorbike, would love to though, some fantastic twisting roads in places.

My mate has a GSXR1000... It'll do 120 in 2nd gear... I didn't find a road in Lanzarote when I was there where 120mph would have been safe/sensible/feasible at any point to be honest, which is more my point, and largely why sports bikes are just irrelevant on the roads these days. They can't really be enjoyed at anywhere vaguely near sensible speeds.

I've maxed mine out on 3 different roads here. Could do more if I CBA.

Maybe you can't ride a sports bike well enough to enjoy it.
Thankfully I can.

I've done 230 miles today and never ever thought I was on the wrong bike.

And not even 1 bend where a 690/700 SM would have been better.

[mboy]

I've maxed mine out on 3 different roads here. Could do more if I CBA.

Maybe you can't ride a sports bike well enough to enjoy it.
Thankfully I can.

I've done 230 miles today and never ever thought I was on the wrong bike.

And not even 1 bend where a 690/700 SM would have been better.

I wasn't aware we'd entered into a pissing contest...

You're right though, on a PUBLIC ROAD I absolutely can't ride a sports bike well enough to particularly enjoy it... Was down between Brecon Beacons and Builth Wells over the weekend with my mates on our Adventure Bikes, left the sports bike riders for dead cos we had better visibility, weren't getting bucked out of our seats over bumpy road surfaces, and the performance of our bikes was more easily accessible... On a racetrack of course, well obviously that would be reversed, but this was some twisty B roads in Welsh Wales, not a private racetrack.

Was chatting to a friend of a friend earlier today who was a former British Supersport and Superstock front runner back in the early 00's and by all accounts is still extremely handy on a bike now. He was saying he never understands why people feel the need to prove how fast they can ride a bike on the road, it's a totally irrelevant exercise with no winners, only losers...

Maybe you could post the times you're planning on maxxing your Gixxer out on public roads in future so any of us minding our own business can make sure we're not in your immediate vicinity...? Just a thought...

Glad you enjoyed your ride today! Seems you already had your perfect bike, which should have saved you some money at least!

[Yorick]

Bugger. For many reasons the Grom has gone.
The missus has no desire to ride on road with me and her pal. So only shopping trips for it.

But a while ago we did a long enduro to very north of island.
It was hot and Pen was tired, so we came straight home on tarmac.
I picked bendy bits and was awesome
Had front sliding under braking and rear struggling on exit.
Riding position is perfect for 50 ish cruising and engine is awesome.

I've been using it for nipping around, rather than the GSXR. It makes me giggle.

Only downside is that all my buggering about took edges off front tyre and on the enduro ride yesterday, the front almost tooked a few times.

Hmm. Maybe it will cost lots in front tyres, but this is what I like.

I need to check summat tmrw and if that works, I'll be getting another with road wheels and tyres.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Learn to change tyres your self and buy some Trail Wings, they're fine on tarmac, and come in dirt bike sizes.

[Yorick]

Learn to change tyres your self and buy some Trail Wings, they're fine on tarmac, and come in dirt bike sizes.

I can change tyres. It's the tyre locks thingies that fuck me up.

And I want the option to just walk in and pick a bike for a ride.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

You don't need tyre locks unless you're running low pressures, anything over 20psi will stop the tyre moving

[Yorick]

You don't need tyre locks unless you're running low pressures, anything over 20psi will stop the tyre moving

We run 10 psi on enduro tyres.

I'll buy a new front wheel and road tyre if I don't buy a separate bike

[Couchy]

Yup get another proper enduro, road tyres and slightly taller gearing, if you want proper fun just do the front tyre but the rear won’t last long
You can also get slightly bigger tanks and small screens, you’ve then got what you want

[Yorick]

Yup get another proper enduro, road tyres and slightly taller gearing, if you want proper fun just do the front tyre but the rear won’t last long
You can also get slightly bigger tanks and small screens, you’ve then got what you want

I just love pottering about at 50 or 60 then going silly in corners

[Yorick]

You don't need tyre locks unless you're running low pressures, anything over 20psi will stop the tyre moving

We run 10 psi on enduro tyres.

I'll buy a new front wheel and road tyre if I don't buy a separate bike

That seems low to me, I'd sometimes run low pressures if we were racing in mud but usually tried to keep them above 15psi or I tended to get punctures a lot. I wouldn't dream of running enduro or off road tyres on the road at 10psi, that's guaranteed to move around way too much - well saying that maybe I'm out of date, I stopped racing ten years ago and perhaps tyres have moved on?

We run them low for max grip on the slow technical stuff. Some is like trials riding.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

10psi sounds about right for hard rocky and sandy terrain, if anything I'd say it was a little high, I never really bothered with low pressures on the front as I didn't like how it felt, but rocks are very rare in East Anglia, but we have got plenty of sand.

[Yorick]

We run them low for max grip on the slow technical stuff. Some is like trials riding.

Trials riding is different, but 10psi on fast enduro over rocks would smash your rims to bits and you'd get punctures every two minutes.

The rocky bits are the slow bits. Usually dry river beds.

[Yorick]

Blimey. He's offered to pick us up at Leeds/Bradford Airport and take us and bike to Cadwell
And hooked in some other dopey racer pals.

This is a goer. Need to lose weight to fit in my levvers

It's definitely still on the table, but my anxiety is hitting high levels.

So much to plan and Dave having 2 days off work.
Reverse gear change is bugging me.
And Cadwell always rains

Told him that I'm doing Gran Canaria in 2 weeks and if that goes well, I'm going to Portimao.
He just told me he's going if I do.
Hrs raced all the European circuits apart from Portimao.

So Cadwell is 30% probable.

Portimao is 80% probable

[weeksy]

Cadwell is a long way from being Portimao

[Yorick]

Cadwell is a long way from being Portimao

I've done thousands of laps
It might rain.
My anxiety is mega high

Portimao is my best choice.

2 pals just said they'll fly over and make it a boys trip