If you were pointing at me, no sir you're looking in the wrong direction! I'm as mature as a mating baboon..

I was referrin to Leon, now that was some mature talk won't you agree?

chill dude...

Chicks... Never really... But frankly...twice...

I agree with Leon that we can talk in more friendly way.

So here is what I am trying to say with out pointing any fingers....

I switched from Pulsar 150 to SV650s ...I was scared for the 1st time...even 2nd and 3rd time.. when I was riding SV. But within a week I got used to the power, throttle control and riding position...after that It was cool riding in the city streets or Freeways. So...anybody with 100cc bike exp or even bicycle exp will get used to a Sports Bike within a week or a month for RIDING IT ON CITY ROADS OR STRAIGHT ROADS.

After a month or so riding my SV...I joined a local motorcycle forum and went for a group ride in the HILLS. Ride was on hwy 9,35,84. I didn't care what hwy is it and went for it. Being first group ride on a sports bike I decided to join the slowest group.."C" group.

Hwy 9,35,84 are all twisties....they are like public race tracks...all twisties...and twisties.........and twisties....you will bag for a stright road and you won't see till hwy ends.

C group means 10-15 mph above the speed limit. I was scared taking those turns at that speed. My 2 years of Pulsar riding exp and street riding exp of SV was of no use....I was taking every turn at speed limit or -5 mph from speed limit....I wasn't able to keep up with the "C" group and guys on Ninja250 keep passing me...and I was LEFT BEHIND.

Riding a good speed through turns needs SKILLS....which can not be built using riding stright roads....and those skills can not be built in a month or two. It needs practicing the right technique for years.

Now, after riding my SV 7,000 miles in 6 months out of which around 80% miles were added riding twisties..and riding 2 days at Infineon race track....I feel LITTLE more comfortable on those twisties....I can ride C+ pace on those twisties....for coming up to B or B+ ...It will take years and a lot more trackdays.

Now consider...If I buy a R1 as my first sports bike...I will get used to it for city riding in a month or two. But, what will happen when I go for twisties....

R1 has more power and more weight....it needs more skills to handle it in twisties. When bike is leaned in a turn....any simple mistake can be dangerous....with power of liter bike my simple mistake will become BIG mistake and with weight of R1...I have less chances to correct the mistake.

Every year so many riders crash on hwy 9,35,84...some of them dies... and Most of them are new riders with big bikes.

The real fun of a sports bike lies in twisties...Ever wondered why the race tracks have so many truns ??

So...my lesson is...

Start small ...keep learning and have fun at twisties...then move to BIG
OR
Start big.... always ride straight roads
OR
Start big... ride twisties and pay heavily for every mistak as a rider

You choose.

Well narrated buddy.

Filling the tank with high octane... and going on highways ...and being back home before the tank gets empty is nothing.

Got to know the importance of track last week when i went to chennai track. A special thanks to yamaha.

I know track is a different game altogether....

@Samy: Nice, informative post. So, did you manage to get that knee to 'touch-down'?

@Leon: Thanks! The xPolice effect is still on, I see..

Nice. You have a little edge being in India as passenger can ride without helmet....or Helmet rules are not stickily enforced.

I know how many GOLDEN chances I have missed because I didn't have an extra helmet on the spot.
Not yet...Look at my Avatar...I am not hanging off the bike when taking the turn...that was my mistake . The instructor who was following me said..I am leaning good angle for touch down but my body position is not correct...I need to hang off the bike little more.

Lesson learned...will do the right thing next time.

Oh yes, I'd almost forgotten! Wheres the xPolice logo anyway?

Super Informative. Right said Samy. Managing your own liter super bike when you have paid through your nose and when you have so much knowledge about its fatal power, is very easy. I really think a 100cc biker can manage riding an SBK(I'v heard that from a lot of SBK owners-riding an SBK is easy,not dropping the bike, because of that addictive power is difficult.).He may not be able to go as fast as he went on his 100cc bike with his liter SBK, and if he does try to,he may end up kissing the tarmac quite easily.

Where is Rossiter, i'm sure he has a lot to talk about Track Days!

My take on this is, it just depends on the track configuration. A 600cc would be much faster than a 1000cc on a track like MMSC or for that matter most of the ones in the Bay Area, with the exception of the ultra fast Willow Springs.

Samy, you should head there just to get a change in terms of type of track

As for track days, there is very little 1st hand info that I can share about litre bikes on tracks

Agree with Rossitier, it depends on circut config and also rider skills.

A 600 will be faster than a litre bike on a twisty track anyday if the skill levels of both the riders are the same.

If the track has long sweeping fast sections and really long straights then the litre will be hard to catch.

Thanks Rossi. I think it was on You Tube when i saw the R6 struggling to get past the SV650 on a track day because of the twisty nature of the track,the torque of the 650 was enough to keep it ahead of the R6. But then that was the old R6,and we all know what plagued the old R6's power characteristics.
It's been a while since we had a g2g man.Lets at least have a city g2g meet ,maybe this sunday, ill call John and plan for one.

Mayb the guy riding the sv650, in the video, was rossi.

Most of the time on the track it's all about rider's skills. I passed a lot of guys on R6, CBR600, and liter gixxer on my trackday and was passed by a very fast rider on SV650s.

Track riding is much much more about skills of the rider than horses of the bike.

Tracks like Laguna seca has some straights where new riders on liter bikes do take over but they get passed on turns again.

@KrisDaz: Maybe

@Samy: Post some pictures of your ride mate

I posted some pics in Intro section. Here is the link....



Track day pics are on the way