Is ignorance the path to true riding enlightenment?(limiting skills by bike choice?)

Why? (And I'm not picking on you here Quiff, but aiming at the statement itself.)

Originally Posted by Quiff Wichard

I KNOW I would scare myself on one!.

I want one
but:

1. cant afford it

2 its more bike than my skill or experience..


so well done you for taking it easy.. must be tempting to spank it and overdo it.. (even if breakin it in) so.. keep that sensible head on .

Now that comment was made about ZombieJesus' new Gixxer. The bit I don't get I've put in bold.

So why?

Why do people put up barriers like this? I don't get it - it seems self-defeating and daft.

OK, so maybe I'm the idiot. Perhaps I cling to a child-like ignorance of what others dictate as limits...

... whilst still firmly believing in my own capabilities.

In which case more people should perhaps adopt the maxim 'Ignorance is bliss'.


What I'm driving at here (poorly I grant you ) is that beyond natural talent, skill is dictated by experience - so if you are going to limit your experience then you automatically limit your skill - but why?

I am honestly convinced that if you are capable of basically riding and controlling a motorbike (and if we are going to draw lines here, then lets say to the standard of passing your test) then you can ride one - ride 'em all, so don't stifle yourself.

OK, so you may be far, or even an eternity away, from exploiting the bikes fullest capabilities, but then that's called learning isn't it?

As your riding companion, shouldn't it be your bike who is, in part, your teacher? Your partner? A mentor? The further their capabilities are away from yours - the more they have to teach you, the more you can learn. So why stifle youself?

Perhaps, after this long morning's ramble, I have actually found my own answer...

... is it perhaps that you don't trust yourselves. Regardless of their current skill level, people will offer up this excuse to hide the fact that they simply couldn't trust themselves.

But, if you can't trust yourself - what are you doing on a bike in the first place? After all, it's just you and the bike out there - who else are you going to trust?

Sometimes it's good to ackowledge and admit that something is a bit more than you can handle and then treat accordingly. There is nothing worse than seeing some one parked up next to a VTR GixxerBusa Turbo SP-2 with them waffling on "How easy it handles" when 5 mnutes later you see them wobbling out of the car park. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for positive thinking but sometimes it's better to err on the side of caution. Afterall, 99.9% of the time our motorcycles can and will outride our capabilities.

[rictus01]

Whilst I see your point K, Here's a couple of other points for discussion.

1. / it's important to gain confidence on a "big" bike, if this means sticking to something more forgiving (like an SV) then you shouldn't move on just because you can (or peer pressure).

2. / more people have high performance machines and can't ride them anywhere near capacity than the other way around,But believe they can.

Cheers Mark.

I read that and thought something similar.

I went from my SV to a Falco, which was a hell of a difference and the Aprilia was a brute in comparison. But I lived with it and it taught me a lot about throttle control and learned a that I had to respect the bike for what it is. I look back on that now and realise what a good education it was.

True, some people do think they are better than they really are, and yes, a good education on something like an SV is a great start.

To evolve you must push the envelope, you need to get out of your comfort zone and try something else....

.

Or people take the leap and buy a high performance machine better equipped and setup and hope to grow into it. Some arguments seem to suggest you should only ride a machine right for you 'now'.

Don't mock the wobbling Blade rider, he may be quicker / better rider than you one day as he grows into the machine.

I beleive a leap to a bigger machine is what can be needed for some to 'come on'. Funny things can hold people back.

Personally Ive always been pretty ignorant of what I'm getting myself into. You find out soon what fits and what doesnt.

When I rode my 33bhp SV, it was really nice as I was in total control as it was so slow I always had plenty of time to make descions. It felt sooo safe.

I don't see the point buying a fireblade just for the sake of it. For the look of it. Rider skill has nothing to do with the bike you ride. Just how much you're willing to spend.

My next bike will be probably a 600 IL4 hornet/zzr/cbr because that is what I like to have. A fireblade would be simply overkill for the type of bimbling that I do. Also comfort...I would consider a good riding position far more than outright grunt. This was the achilles heel of my SVS as it was too wristy for day to day riding.

I think it depends on what you want to get out of biking.

If you want to buy a blade right after your DAS course so you can blast down straights and wobble around corners, fair enough.

If you want to learn to ride properly, you need to start with a smaller bike, so you can learn to walk before you can run.

[timwilky]

The landlady of my local bought an R1 after her DAS. much to my suprise she has stayed on it. which I guess adds support to K's argument.

However, I believe this is due more to not having rode anything but a CB500 for her test, she therefore started with no misconceptions as to her own ability. I think this is where so called experienced riders can fail when
moving up.

The better braking, suspension of modern superbikes can help a rider get out of trouble. However, the faster acceleration/top end can get them in it just as easily.

For me moving to my little gsxr, it is a learning curve again. Stop short shifting and use the whole rev range. So much quicker on acceleration than the SV. So not being as quick on the throttle coming out of corners. So now it is learning control instead of using what I had.

I moved to the gixer from the SV having re-joined the two wheel masses after a 16 year sabbatical. The SV made perfect sense for me, light, quick and good road manners. In 'part one' of my two wheel wanderings I've ridden machines from 125 to 1100cc settling later for the middleweight 600 - 750 mark for the handling and weight for 'spirited' riding.

I 'can' ride my gixer thou (K6) like the SV should I want, it's got loopy amounts of low end grunt, or I 'can' let the motor spin harder if I want my arms longer. The weight is about the same (wet) as the SV but it gives me much more choice on how I want to ride it. It's an easy bike to ride fast and equally easy to get into trouble, fortunately the spenders and stoppers ooze feel and are up to the job to help you out.

Note, I'm still learning.

So its impossible for someone* to learn to ride 'properly' on a Blade? I dount it.

*provisos mature, level headed, not idiot etc.