I need your help on this one. I know the answer seems obvious, but, please humor me. I would appreciate it if you could tell me why you think the way you do also. There is an epidemic of fatal motorcycle crashes here in Chicago. Have any of you all that are not from here heard about it? I know about the thread that DRU2 posted the other day. But, have any of you heard about it in the news where you are at? Has this been a problem anywhere else in the U.S.? Thanks in advance for you comments.
Riding on the track does make you a better rider on the street. Your less likely to take chances and usually wear better protection because of your track experience.
;)
David, my thought is it makes you more concious to what COULD happen with high speed on the street. Since I started bike racing in 99, I;ve slowed down to the point that 85 is about the fastest I go on the highway and thats just to pass. Hell I cruise pretty much at 70-75 on the interstate. We also have a better idea when and where it isnt a good idea to be goofing around. Also I've become more comfortable having a bike squirm around abit. That helped me a coupel weeks ago when I ran over a manhole and the bike went into a front wheel, then rear wheel slide (something was on the manhole). If I didnt race, I probably would had highsided it. Also you become less prone to panic in emergencies.
Just my thoughts
Riding on the track definitely makes you a better rider on the street because you go out on the street, see how dangerous it is... and only ride on the track from then on.
;)
I ditto what R/Rob said. :o
To clarify Dave's question, we've had a bunch of fatalities here in Chicago in just the last six weeks. He wanted to know if Chicago's accident wave had made the news outside of Chicago.
The current media blitz in Chicago has been most uncool. TV and newspapers have all been scrambling to outdo each other in sensationalizing "Murdercycles" and "Organ donor bikes." It's been pretty grim.
Of course the local bike community has been....um.... "interviewed." Several riders who Dave and I know, including former CCS racer Reese Golliday, have been quoted to worst possible advantage. Those b@$tards in the news media.... I've already talked to Reese about his awful portrayal on TV, and as I suspected, they cut 30 minutes of talk about protective gear, selecting the right time and place to open the throttle, ect, and just used (quoting loosely from memory here) "Speed is a thrill. It's the best feeling in the world!" Those %$#@ers just milk you for a sound byte, and don't give a @#$% if they spin doctor your words to make you say the complete opposite of what you meant. Even though I myself write for a newspaper, I shout for all to hear, "NEVER TRUST THE MEDIA!"
My first question to Reese after the news report was, "How does it feel to get *** raped by the media, and did you learn anything from the experience, sucka?" Another subtle message in the media is that every rider interviewed or otherwise portrayed was black. Obviously, no white people ride sportbikes like idiots....
This has been a very cold summer in Chicago. Right here at the end it finally got warm, so everybody's trying to make up for lost time. That's a recipe for disaster. Had the warm weather been more spread out, the usual Darwin effect would also have been more spread out, thus raising less attention from police and the media.
As a member of the lying media scum myself, I have often said in print that racing and track days make you a safer street rider. The media says what it must to promote their agenda, and my agenda is to popularize motorcycle racing. My own experience tells a slightly different story. Personally, I had become such a wild rider on the street that I turned to the track for safety's sake. It didn't take long once I started racing to quit the street entirely.
I haven't heard anything about deaths in Chicago here, but damn, it took them a week to stop talking about the guy who got a ticket doing 205 MPH... ::)
Okay, so I'll play 'nay-sayer'. Actually it's not a firm NO, but it's more of a "less of a yes than HELL YES".
Here are my points why it would make you a better rider:
1. Better gear
2. Understand the bike & cornering far better
3. Know how to crash
Here are my points why it would not...
1. Since starting racing 5 years ago, I have put on less than 1000 street miles. I just don't ride on the street anymore.
2. A racer on the street can get out of practice with simple things like being aware of things behind him/her, using blinkers, using both brakes.
3. A racer on the street can forget about hazards like little old ladies, sand, kids, etc.
The question is almost the same reversed. "Does being a WELL-SEASONED/experienced street rider help you as a racer". To some degree it does, to others it does not. I would say that both are a learned process...
I agree with Jeff, too. My F4i's battery actually died since I started racing. :)
-Brian
we had an outbrake of motorcycle deaths early this spring. but it was almost all drunk guys on harley's or other cruiser type bikes.
I answered yes, Dave...
Tho I ALWAYS keep things UNIQUE to ITSELF...
I rode on the streets for 17 yrs b4 racing, so I dont really think that racing made me a better street rider...
So, I'm saying that IT DEPENDS on how much street riding a person has done b4 racing...
I cant even say that I dont take some of the chances that I did on the street b4 racing (cuz I'm not a liar)
I will say that street riding (IMHO) is major MATURE DECISION MAKING TIME!!!! (it's MY life)(my skin)
(even tho I will turn it up, I consider myself to be totally focused (and in a mature decision making frame of mind, if that can be understood by some of you)
And since I did (and am still) learn from Racing, I will state that your (and my) mindset is key...
Ike
I've been riding bikes for over 30 years. I've been track riding for the last three of those. Am I a better street rider now? He11 yes! In fact, after I completed my first track day (which was on a Harley Dynaglide, belive it or not), when I went to ride home with my wife on the back, she commented on how smooth my cornering was - and what a change it was from the ride to the track. So did it help? He11 yes.
As far as not riding on the street much, and forgetting how to look for sand and old ladies and such, all I can say is: nice theory, unfortunately not reality. The reality is (at least for me) that I'm more attuned to the surface I'm on and what's around me now that I race than I ever was before.
So...whenever I run into (figuratively speaking, of course) anyone who is thinking about starting out riding on the street, my advice generally includes: an MSF course for sure; and ideally dirt riding first, followed by some track days on the new street bike. If ya can't do the dirt part, the track days are doable and a big help, imho.
:oYou mean there's people who ride motorcycles on the street!? ;) ;D
I personally stopped riding on the street regularly a few years ago because I found it so boring and usually had a feeling of being slightly paranoid about all the oblivious drivers on the road today. I have to agree somewhat with JeF4y that if you spend the majority of your time on a motorcycle at the track that you may get slightly out of practice with some of the situations encountered on the street. I also found that I had a tendency to go a bit faster around turns than I should be on the street and would instinctively accelerate rather briskly out of those turns.
I also have read about, and agree with the fact, that riding on the street can actually be detrimental to your racing. For me when I get on a motorcycle I know it's to go race and I only do on that bike what is encountered on the track. Street riding can help keep you in sync with being on 2 wheels, but also can develop and reinforce very deep seeded bad habits that don't apply to racing. Somewhat of a double-edged sword that can be argued into oblivion, but I think it's like anything in life 'if you learned only 1 thing from an experience that makes you an all around better rider then ultimately it's worth it'. Racing definately gives you experience in anticipating and reacting to situations at a much faster pace, which could be very valuable on the street.
I would rather race than ride on the street so in my opinion I think the bad habits reinforced on the street are not worth it to me. I remember Doug Chandler getting in trouble back in the 90's with Kawasaki because he was asked by a journalist why he didn't ride on the street and he responded by saying it was too dangerous to ride on the street, he also said that it was detrimental to his racing and would somewhat make you lose your racing focus. I think in the big picture racing and riding can both teach positive things that can cross over to the other, but on the other hand their 2 different animals that can interfere with each other.
Quote I also have read about, and agree with the fact, that riding on the street can actually be detrimental to your racing.
I can attest that different riding can definitely affect you. I had been ice riding and dirt riding quite a bit before racing this year. It messed me up in that instinctively, I was throwing the bike down (on the track) underneath me while I stayed upright. It caused much pain and expense when I finally ran out of rubber.....
Expensive lesson learned. I now have to *THINK* about how I'm cornering based on what bike I'm on..