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I am still trying to slow down the adrenaline rush to my brain. I had the opportunity to ride a 2011 Ducati 1198R and the new BMW S 1000 RR this afternoon. I rode the Duc first. 175HP, crankshaft I think. Fast, like the Ducs are. Then the new Beemer, oh jeez! 193 horse at the rear wheel and 450lbs road ready. You know how some things you ride (or drive) and get off/out of and you just shake for about five minutes from the excess adrenaline and nervous energy? I had to sit down to get straight My last fast bike was three years ago, a ZX-12R. This Beemer would yank its' heart out thru the air intake. It was about a religious experience. I used to tell people the 12 was a compressor; it would compress time and space and reveal all of your weaknesses. This RR will expose you as the poseur you really are. Now I have to figure out if it's worth postponing Africa for eighteen months or so... still shaky, Rich | ||
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Rich, you're too old. Me too. Make it a V-Twin cruiser. NRA Life Member, Band of Bubbas Charter Member, PGCA, DRSS. Shoot & hunt with vintage classics. | |||
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It isn't like I am selling my Fat Boy or anything, just taking a little walk on the wild side... Red Ryder!! Rich | |||
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I heard it was awesome. Go look at the Aprilia v four....lol. poor mans Desmosedici...but better! Chuck Warner Pistolsmith / | |||
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I wish they had them here. The local guy has Triumphs, Ducs and Beemers. 350 miles to Salt Lake City to test ride, buy and get service. Otherwise it would have been one of them instead of the ZX-12. Good thought, though... Rich | |||
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Gotta give you credit. The older I get (and I'm not nearly so old as you) the bigger my sense of self-preservation becomes. I'll still drive a car as quick or as fast as you can put me in. But f**k those two wheelers. I gotta have more between me and the Lord than my Levis. Wrap some steel around me and I'm fine. Might come from driving a truck every day. I see how many people can't see something that's 11 feet tall, weighs 13 tons and is covered with lights. Just had two cousins in Kalifornia have the rest of their lives ruined by a douche in a Wrangler who looked right at them coming then pulled out. Ride safe and enjoy them crotch rockets. Founder....the OTPG | |||
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I may as well shoot my self in the head as buy something like that, living in London I can't have a bike. After a couple of weeks I start giving it some, then it's just a matter of time till the crash. "When doing battle, seek a quick victory." | |||
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nobody lives forever... Rich | |||
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ISS, where did you ride this thing to shake it out? I have a hankering for a Kawasaki Concours. I used to have a Honda ST1100. Peter. Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong; | |||
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No. But I'm determined to die trying. Founder....the OTPG | |||
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LOL, I certainly can understand your feeling. This past summer, I got a chance to ride a Boss Hoss motorcycle. For those of you not familiar with this brand, they're hand built here in Tennessee, and they're powered by a GM 350 V8 engine! I've ridden motorcycles my entire life, but NEVER have I experience sheer POWER like that. And the accelleration wasn't bad either, 50 - 90 in a heartbeat... If it makes you happy and you can afford it, get one. Eat right, exercise daily, be cautious in your daily life, and guess what, you still die at the end! | |||
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Peter, just a short blast on a four mile straight about ten miles east of Boise. It was a near religious experience. All that remains is sneaking one home and getting back to Africa during 2011. Rich | |||
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I don't mind getting killed, I always assumed I'd die in a glorious flaming ball of V8 wreckage. It's the nearly getting killed that worries me now. "When doing battle, seek a quick victory." | |||
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Yes, but noreason to prompt it..... I have lost a number of friends on bikes, and it's just not worth it to me. You may be the best rider in existence and all it takes is one distracted teenager texting, to end it all. No thanks. It might be even worse if you survive. I completely understand the visceral experience bikes provide, so I built the next best thing, a lightweight rag top with 650 horsepower. Quite a bit safer, but still a visceral experience. "Ignorance you can correct, you can't fix stupid." JWP If stupidity hurt, a lot of people would be walking around screaming. Semper Fidelis "Building Carpal Tunnel one round at a time" | |||
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Marko, you are right. That is what is stopping me! Peter Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong; | |||
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Whitworth, you do not have to act a fool all the time. Let me offer you this scenario: 1. live on the edge when you choose to and perhaps die of injuries suffered in a. motorcycle accident b. safari gone bad (or not), Lion or Elephant or Cape Buffalo mauling c. wadding up a fast car at speed 2. live a more prudent existence and die of a. your third cancer surgery b. stroke or heart attack in some nursing home attended to by some high school dropouts or illegals. My lovely wife, is a Supervisor with the state Health and Welfare Dept. In 90+% of the cases her survey teams monitor yearly, the incidence of visits by family drops in half within a year and to about ten-percent after two years. So, if you take good enough care of yourself, don't have too much fun, OR tempt fate, you will live long enough to die in a nursing home. Forgotten by remaining family and all of your friends, victimized perhaps, by some direct care staff who will steal your wedding ring the first night. I was privileged to get to know Elmer Keith the last fifteen years of his life. When he had the second stroke he was in what they quaintly refer to as "a persistent vegative state". I got permission from his son Ted to visit him at the nursing home. I would go over a couple nights a week, as work and family scheduling allowed and just read some of the letters he got from fans. He would occasionally respond, mostly by grunting. There was a bushel or more every week for the first six months. Then, it slowed to fifteen or twenty a week. Then to a couple a week. He had hundreds of thousands of fans. He died alone, with his son and wife on their way over. If I die on the edge, at least I have truly LIVED! I'll take that, and gladly. Rich | |||
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Oh! Bullshit! ISS. False choices. Let me suggest that you could lose your leg in a motorcycle accident and spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair, or, you could live to 94 like my mother in law and die peacefully in your sleep (under hospice care) after having seen ALL your grandkids (and kids) when they came to visit you! Not only that, I hate to break it to you, but it is NOT all about YOU. Peter. Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong; | |||
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Peter, this is MY thread, so it is all about me and what I did. If that happens, I will "Man Up" and live with it. I am not afraid to die, because I am going to Heaven. regards, Rich Just how many of you were physically present when she passed away? I am not trying to be insensitive, but that is a very rare scenario. So is hospice. My brother passed away a month ago in his own home of Pancreatic Cancer. His wife and two sons were there, and so was I. The day before he had to be so heavily sedated to handle the pain, we talked about his life. He said then, he always wanted to do some of the crazy things I did, but he was the solid responsible one. He just never took any big risks or did anything silly. He was sixty-three. | |||
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if you make to 30 or so , then statistically you will make it to "old age". I dont intend making it to old age with no interesting or terrifying tales to tell, so I shall continue to ride motorcycles as and when I wish. I dont need to go as fast as the bike will go anymore , but I will continue to ride at a pace that I am happy with , in a manner that I consider safe and courteous to other road users , and will have a lot of fun doing it . If I have the misfortune of crashing - so be it . Most people die in their own bed , so I have also decided not to sleep in my own bed any more so that I may have a long and happy dotage , astride my motorcycle , thinking how much more fun this is than being sensible and BORING ... ________________________ Old enough to know better | |||
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Rich, I see that you are back to being your charming self. You are either making up for a boring youth or experiencing a serious case of midlife crisis. No one is criticizing you for your desire to ride fast bikes. I can completely understand. My Barracuda runs bottom-tens -- meaning that it will put a good arse whipping to any of these bikes in the quarter mile (they will only turn the number with a pro rider aboard). So, I can completely understand the desire to go fast. You posted, hoping to elicit responses and opinions -- otherwise you would not have gone public with this thread. That you don't like what you are hearing is the issue. You wanted to hear opinions, I gave you mine. I have raced cars since my teens and maybe we ran in different circles, but many of the guys I raced with ran bikes. And not some limp noodle factory bikes -- stretched frames, big slicks, turbos, nitrous oxide, etc. Several died. Just explaining why I feel strongly about this. If you don't want to hear others' opinions, I suggest not posting on a public forum. Aren't you a little long in the tooth to be talking about "living on the edge?" "Ignorance you can correct, you can't fix stupid." JWP If stupidity hurt, a lot of people would be walking around screaming. Semper Fidelis "Building Carpal Tunnel one round at a time" | |||
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