rd347

Hi All,

It's nice to be among riders again. It's been four years since I interacted with motorcyclists. Work, kids, and more work I guess did it. Now I've 'slowed down' a bit, and that in a twisted way means riding fast.

Recently I had focused my automotive hormones on riding in cages; particularly in a 2009 S197 Ford Mustang. Enjoyed the car to its fullest, and learnt a lot on driving fast. It felt like a weapon of mass destruction, piloting 330hp at speeds over 240kmph (don't really know how much more since the speed read only till that). I would like to share with you a heart-rushing drive I went for along with two R8s, a Modena 550 and a RS4. Of course, with out a passenger.

After overtaking three cars, I was left attempting to catch up the driver of the red R8. I closed in on his rear at 230kmph in fifth, until his head tilted towards the rear-view mirror. That was soon followed by this subtle gust of dust near his exhausts signalling his downshift (to which gear I will never know), and all 400-something horses let loose. The Audi moved away from my nose like an RD350 in front of a Vespa. Gulp!

Having never driven a fast-food eating, mayo-dipping upsized American at those speeds, I too downshifted in some hallucination of actually closing in on the German autobahn figure skater. The ’Stang blipped, tach-needle wondered why, and swung reluctantly from 5,800rpm just to use up the remaining 200-odd revs left to redline. The car went a tad-faster, hit the cut-off at 6,000rpm, followed by a verbal abuse in the cabin, and back to fifth (yes, the top gear). The speedo-needle camped at the 240kmph limit, while the tach-needle continued its sway past five-large. Meanwhile, the mid-engined Teutonic wonder was enjoying a slightly banked left-hander at 295. Further back, the 3,000-km old, V8-engined behemoth’s suspension overheated due to more frequent vertical travel, even on an extremely smooth road, resulting in stability of an 80-foot yacht on calm sea. At 250+ smooth roads, well, aren’t.

My head has never had that much processing to do ever. Yes, of course on the race-track, but this was the street albeit inter-state highway. Ironically, I felt so unsafe and contemplated buying a car-racing helmet during those high-speed drives. Maybe even a six-point harness. Oh hell, let’s throw in a four-point roll-cage too. But you see it didn’t seem to end; it still never felt as safe as a motorcycle.

The Pony-car had to go. And my new addiction arrived on a Wing and a prayer – the CBR600RR.

I shall share a small piece on this bike with you guys.
Cheers,
Rado.

sunilg

Welcome to xBhp, Rado. Loved the way you write. Looking for more.

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sau007007

Welcome Rado

Tell more about your CBR600RR with pics.
Also where do you stay?

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anmol_1990

welcome bro to xbhp.

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rd347

@ Sunil: Thanks mate. Glad you like it. Surely post some more.

@ 007: Yep, more on the Ceebie coming soon. Its a new bike, so first 400km I was limiting to 7,000rpm. Just finished a oil-change at 400. Now limiting rpm to under 9k. Will 'feel' her up after the 1,000km oil & filter change. Will throw in a pre-test report soon. I live in Muscat, Oman. The summer may fry me, but hey the roads will be sticky as flypaper @ 50-deg C.

@ Anmol: Thanks!

need4torque

Engrossing read! Welcome to the forum rd347.
It would be great if you could tell us how you zeroed in on the 600cc ceeber.
Cheers
Titus

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sherry_unicornlover

Loved reading your Post.

Ceeber being one of my favorites, Congratulations man for owning the beauty i crave so badly.

So you had Mustang? Did i read that right?

And post few pics as well. Of Your cage and the wings

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rd347

@ Titus:

Thanks bud. Well, it’s a long story, so let's see if I can condense it.

After soaking myself in Yamaha-used oil, I went to 'learn' at Honda MCPP (MotorCycle & Power Prod.) in Dubai. Earlier, I had read enough about Soichiro Honda to believe there was something I could glean from his legacy - even if it only meant that he would teach me through the fit, finish and design of the bolts on his bikes. I’d say he did.

However, this should not mean that there was nothing to learn from contemporary Yams, Kwaks or Suzys, since my first learnings were on the tuning forks 30 years older (namely RDs). But to me Honda was one person – more than anyone else.

One of the earlier bikes I owned was the 2004 VTR1000SP2 (pic'ed). I had worked on SP1s at Honda and I know of the engineering that was needed to drive a 500cc cylinder to 10,000rpm! The SP1/SP2 was pretty much built by HRC (not just Honda). I felt, HRC was JAL and everyone else was NASA.

The VTR was a wonder. Imagine riding at 120kmph as displayed on the digital speedo, and being able to reduce the throttle just enough, to avoid the camera, so the speedo now reads 119. Then again turning it back just that little to make the speedo read 118. That was the precision of their engineering. Connecting something as precise as the human hand to a quantity as vague as fuel-air mixture. The 120-hp, V-Twin ate my friends ’02 R1 for lunch, and ZXs on corners for dessert, without any need for downshifts.

Why the CBR? Well, every one of the top four knows their stuff. But I guess, I’ve always seen Yamaha as someone trying to work on their handling; Kawasaki as always playing catch (expect when they first thought of the ZX12R); and Suzuki never good enough to attract great racers to mount them. Honda appears crazy enough to challenge logic through technology and trials. I mean Doohan rode them, and helped develop who they are today. Never afraid, protective of their respect and air.

Honestly, if you should buy any 600, you should buy the new 2011 GSX-R600. It’s a real thing of beauty and engineering. I didn’t because it not yet here – and I got a great deal on the RR. And of course Honda is way too reliable.
Why 600? Because, I’ve realised it’s more important to riders how much OF the throttle you twist, than JUST how much throttle you turn. We are children of excesses; more is never enough. More power, speed and acceleration. That’s how I bought the SP2. Bigger, faster, stronger equals better. It doesn’t. As they say, the weakest link on the bike IS the rider. The closer to the bike you fit, the closer to a fit the union becomes. Until you can lock that throttle, or floor that pedal, in first gear, and have enough ‘stillness’ in your mind to wonder about some woman’s mouth, you aren’t good enough.
Riding closer to your capabilities, beats lugging around another 400cc, 20kgs or 50hp that you will use only three per cent of the time. And hey it’s cheaper too!

Oh, I was supposed to condense that now wasn’t I?
Cheers,
Rado.

@ Sherry:
Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it.
Yep I HAD a Mustang GT.
Surely will post them up this weekend.
(Still figuring out the site...)

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abhijeet080808

Nice narrations! Welcome to xBhp.

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abhi_underdog

Nice read man ! Specially the quoted part , well put , precise and perfect !

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