When did you realize you didn't care how fast you went?

I've never been into the speed thing - it's purely about maximizing lateral Gs for me. I very much prefer the slower tighter technical twisties to the faster sweepers - you can generate the same lateral Gs, which by definition are proportional to lean angle, but the consequences of error are much lower and more in line with my risk/reward comfort level.

Skiing since childhood schooled me in the harsh laws of Newtonian physics where kinetic energy is proportional to the square of velocity. So if you double your velocity:
- it takes 4x the distance to brake to a complete stop
- if you loose traction and go down, you will slide 4x the distance (in a straight line).
- if you are so unlucky as to hit an immoveable object, it will be with 4x the force.

Details, for those who care, in an old blog post at:

http://treadlife.blogspot.com/2009/07/dire-straights.html

First time I went fast down a lonely stretch of road. Realized the fun is in the twisties. That and most of my fun comes from exploring.

Speed bug does bit me, so I do start to look at the track for speed. But be honest, it doesn't but me that hard to pull the trigger, yet.

Jeez, Jerry!:eek1 If you can get hurt that badly on a track without running into somebody else, that does not bode well for mucking it up on the street.

One of my former bosses told me his best friend had wanted to do a track day for years as a "safe" alternative to riding aggressively on the streets. His wife acquiesced to his request for a track day as a birthday present, and my boss said his friend was on top of the world when he got his bike on the track. 15 minutes later he was dead after high-siding. His wife saw it happen.

I like going a little fast mainly just over the speed limit. I find that it causes me to concentrate on what I am doing and i forget about old age, painting the house, paying the bills, if the annoying person at work will die anytime soon, or if the government is going to run out of money. As you get older things of the universe occupy your mind. Waste of time!

Yep, 99% of the time I really don't care about being fast.
Honestly, after all these years on bikes, I still love the sheer kinetic thrill of just riding. I find myself concentrating on being as smooth as I can nowadays...

And a big yeah! to a nice bendy bit of road. That is always where it has been at for me. But even when I get to these bits of road I get more enjoyment out of smoothness and good lines than scratching.

1% of the time, on an appropriate bit of road where I can see clear ahead, and with no side junctions, I might let her rip a bit.

Every ride I enjoy the speed be it on the straights or bends, at one point, more often..I just do what feels good, that's usually way over any speed limits, the reason I got the 690 was so I could enjoy max revs without topping 200+kmh,I do miss those speeds and often dream Hyabusa etc.. :)

1996

2003 or so I was skiing like a madman. Best season ever.

Had a pair of Rossignol bandits-the faster they went, the better they carved. I was skiing fast,even beating the ski team times on the clocked GS-style course.

Amazing year, right up until a freak wind blew me off the trail. Came to w/ a concussion,dislocated thumb,separated shoulder,etc.
As soon as the sling came off, cast still on, I was back on the hill. Skiing fast. Made me think,WTF?

So I began to ski more technically. That Spring marked my return to motorcycling after several bike-less years.

Guess what? I was riding fast. Too fast.Took me a while, finally made the same decision to ride more technically.

Older,wiser,etc.

I prefer to ride fast through the twisties. Not sure why someone would think they are exclusive, I've always been told if you're doing it slow, you're doing it wrong. I figure if I get to the point where I'm only doing the speed limit, I may as well stop riding.

Every time you throw a leg over a motorcycle you risk a chance of ending up dead. Of course the same is true of stepping into the shower.

I've crashed at over 130 MPH on the track and walked away with a couple bruises. I was in a wreck on the street sitting still and ended up in the hospital for 2 months with a broken back. Shit happens and we don't get to control everything that happens to us.

Years riding: 45
Crashes on the track: 4
Crashes on the street: 0

I'll take my chances on the street, thanks.

There are a lot of good posts in this thread but this one best describes how I feel. I may be slowing down as I get older but I refuse to grow up or let the squid in me completely die. The bike I ride the most often is only 150cc and I ride the hell out of it. It may not be fast but it FEELS faster than it is.

I'm not advocating a risk-free lifestyle. As I told a family member, I could take it to the other extreme and stay home in bed with the curtains drawn all day... and then die of bed sores. You just have to manage your risks, but you'll never eliminate it. The are simply more variables on the street and therefore there is less margin for error, at least where I live.

BTW, Albie, you must be psychic. :huh I almost had a bad fall last night getting out of the shower. Foot hit the floor and went skating. No points for style, I'm afraid.

Forgot to add, JB, that a friend of mine low-sided at about 40 mph without hitting anything. I'm sure his gear was not as good as yours was, but when I read through your catalog of injuries, it was almost identical to his. But he's back in the saddle now.

When did I stop caring?

When I started reading ride reports, and seeing the pictures that people were taking of the places I rushed through at over 100 mph.

I kept wondering why I wasn't seeing all these great places, but I never slowed down to look.

Speed is fun, but a ride report that just says "1500 miles in 17 hours" isn't all that interesting.

To paraphrase a man I hate - "It's not speed that kills, it's the sudden stopping"


I don't care how fast I go, and that means how slowly I drive sometimes and how fast I drive sometimes. I don't pay any attention to the speedo, at all.

Of course, I'm living in a country where speeding tickets have not yet become the fashion, let alone efficient traffic policing.

So I drive according to conditions and am fast, but not suicidally fast, a lot of the time. But sometimes I'm slow, slow - not like a tiger

That may be the best reason of all.

The only times I care about speed/making time is when I am trying to gobble up massive amounts of slab in order to reach a fun destination.....or perhaps the dirt road equivalent, like on ruta 40 in Patagonia.

Let me be contrary:

I do enjoy the game of rapid transit. I live in western Canada which has many hundreds of kilometers of straight roads before one hits mountaims or twisties. I have learned to try to edge-walk the radar by trying to AVERAGE 10% over the speed limit for a tank of gas at a time.

small pleasures.

Lee

Ahhh but you do get survival points,