Are you "wasting" your bike?
 

A not-so-interesting post on a BMW forum has generated some interesting (to me) replies. A guy is worried about taking his s1000rr on his 1st track day and dumping it, since it's likely his insurance won't cover a trackday.

Seems like a valid concern to me. But some of the replies seem to be chest thumpers with too much money in their bank accounts asking why he bought a 190 hp bike and is scared to use it for its "intended" purpose (yeah, heated grips were prolly the 1st mod motogp racers demanded their mechanics put on). Some of the replies are downright belittling.

I own a s1k and she hasn't seen a track yet. My particular concern isn't about dumping Yolie without insurance (NJMP offers trackday insurance to my knowledge). But the replies are starting to rile me up a bit. The "RR" stamped on the sides of even our 600s stands for Race Replica. And anyone that's honest with themselves will admit anything above a 250cc bike has more power available than can be reasonably (and legally) be used on the streets. Yet very, very few ppl go out and buy a brand new 600 or 1000 to turn strictly into a track bike.

Most everyone here rides at least a 600. So unless you're at the track every weekend, do you feel like you're wasting your bike? Again, seeing how our bikes have more power than the streets call for there's some validity to the "intended purpose" argument. Yet our bikes also come with many features targetting the streets, a huge spotlight in reviews falls on street performance and strangely enough none come stock with racing slicks :p

What's your take?

I ride a 250, so no, I'm not wasting it :D

But when I finish building my 600 it'll be a stunt bike, in which case again no, I will not be wasting it.

First of all, the purpose of the S1000RR was for BMW to sell it and sell it they have. Did you know BMW could and would possibly void your warranty if they knew it was on a track? Now that I have done a few days my S1krr, yeah, it feels like it's a bit of a waste as a commuter, but it's not gonna stop me from doing it as my RC51 is undergoing "stage 2" of development. I've been loving my heated grips this past week, btw.

These bikes aren't very practical as commuters considering the maintenance costs and power, but hey, it's your dough.

^ :D LOL - good one TGIM - too funny

Kuro it's an interesting question - thing is though you can get to 60 faster than
some jock in a muscle car & we know how great that is - so it's not all wasted man :)

Correct, standard street insurance does NOT cover trackdays.

There are valid concerns regarding taking *any* bike to the track. While you can control what you do (or should anyway), you still have to worry about the other riders.

I was on turn 3 at Willow when another rider decided they could pass me after the last cone of the braking zone b/f the apex. I had to go off line & off track to not hit them. If I'd had little to no experience on the track, this would've been a bad scene w/ the speeds at that track. Point is, it's not always your actions that might cause you to crash but b/c of someone else's mistake.

When you take it to the track, you have to acknowledge that anything can happen...& might. That's just part of track riding. Sure, there are rules, track officials, control-riders, etc, but ultimately it is what it is. So -yes- it's a valid concern no matter what bike you're on.

It's an individual decision whether someone takes their bike to the track or not. Anybody else's criticism regarding that decision means zero. They can make up their mind what they want to do w/ their bike, I'll make my own decision as well.

Further, to ans your question... No, I'm not "wasting" my bike(s) b/c they are used the way I see fit...whether that's track, twisties, daily commuting, sport-touring, etc. Anything further, see previous statements.

I think the original guys post has a valid point. Even with pristine conditions situations occur and if he's not sure about insurance coverage he shouldn't use it. But is it wasted because he's not willing to end up with a 15000 dollar lawn ornament. No.

All it boils down to is a bunch of internet professionals giving him undue b.s. we all have toys that are more than what is necessary, does that mean they are a waste?

I have rifles that could kill anything that moves from a mile away. Because I don't take mile long shots with them is it wasted? No. It serves the purpose I intended it to and that is good enough for me.

Should be good enough for him.

But it's a great commuter! Yolie can easily knock 10 minutes off my 20 min commute :p But she also makes the commute safer, as she demonstrated when the rear started to slip on leaves of all things. Seriously, that chit is almost worse than sand. Traction control kicked in and she smoothed right out.

Something else I've firmly held since ABS was introduced on the CBR 600RR and 1000RR: the point where ABS and Traction Control systems kick in are according to tolerances set by engineers. But a good racer can and might exceed those tolerances without crashing, gaining seconds over someone who is using those systems. So who is the target audience for the systems: the track rider or the street rider? ABS and TC are becoming major selling points on bikes now.

Yolie can accelerate so fast she literally makes a blur of blurs. Cbr1000rrs, ZX10s, R1s and the Panigale are fractionally behind according to the reviews. I know I don't have what it takes to handle that type of power even on the track. On any of the liters. The guys that can use the full capacity of a liter bike, and even the 600s, do... on tv. So I doubt most ppl who say someone is wasting 190 hp realize they do so as well.

I just think most of us are Enthusiasts, like it says on OUR forum header. Don't see how ppl can knock someone on how he chooses to use his bike when they themselves can't wring their bike's neck without it snapping theirs like a twig in return.

you may find my thoughts about it interesting..please read!!
in 93 i bought my first 900, before that i owned four 600's and one 750, but the first nine i ever drove was like "oh my god" i've race'd lots of cars and obviuosly bikes.. not lately, when i was young.. but the power of anything over a 750 and i know its a animal... so much so, that i've always wanted to, if i had the money and space in my house... to put one of those original nines up on a mantle, in my "man town" area of the house.. why, well just because.. thats why.. and if someone desides to streetfighter their machine, including their bmw's well thats between them and the bike and its their business.. just like me and my mantle... i would say : piss off.. whats on your mantle???
and by the way if some of those rich a-holes on the other site need something to spend their money on, you should tell them we have a american soldier over here on this site, who just lost everything in a fire and isnt even allowed home to take care of his wife and whats left to his belongings...
other than that!!! i really have no strong feelings on the subject ;)

i kinda have mixed feelings about this, no i dont think hes wasting the bike by not taking it to a track. but i dont see why he would get such a powerful bike with so much potential and not take it to a track. yes there are risks in doing so, but a track is a much more controlled environment than the street is. and unless the guy is braindead, he wont take the bike near its full potential on public roads.
but personally, i dont really see a need for a superbike for the street, my 14 year old 600 is more than enough for the street.

TBH, if I can't get to the low 1:30s around Thunderbolt @ NJMP next year, I plan on selling the S1000RR next year for a 600rr. Is it because I'm "wasting" my s1000rr with my limited talent? Yeah, a bit. But it's also because I'll probably learn to be a fast rider at a faster rate on a 600. And yeah, she does well enough as a commuter, but I still prefer my street fighter where 100 mph feels like 100 mph rather than my s1krr where 100 mph feels like 60.

And consider how many people even on this forum hate on people who extend swing arms and chrome out their wheels/frames. I've had plenty of people tell me how they really feel about what I did to my RC51, but meh. To them I wasted a piece of racing heritage. To me, I took a terrific platform and made it a hundred times more user friendly in terms of commuting and long distance traveling. Different strokes for different folks... I say you should just ride your own ride.

BTW, I better see you down at NJMP next year. :D
Don't worry about the insurance coverage, I've got Rider as well and they told me that as long as it's not a "timed event", you're covered. That track insurance just means you get your trackday payment back if you have mechanical issues or rain.

My reasonable not tracking Yolie YET is I'm still not comfortable with her in every situation. Every once in a while I get the feeling she's glaring at me when I get off, saying "dude wtf?!? You trying to kill us" :D

I've already done $7.5k worth of damage to her so the street has already scrubbed off that new bike smell. If anyone asked me why I bought such a powerful bike and not ride it to its potential I'd Prolly collapse laughing.

I have my egotistical moments. But I'm not delusional enough to think I'll ever have the skill to come anywhere near her potential. Near my potential? Definitely. Hers? Hell no. So I can't waste her. Every time I ride, Yolie is teaching me. Slowest I can stably ride her is 4 mph. Took a lot of work with throttle control, friction zone and brakes to get there. The TC light only comes on when I get happy with the throttle on takeoffs (and the occasional pile of leaves in the middle of a turn).

And dammit I look GOOD riding a BMW. Definitely no waste here :D

Kuro,, im a bit qurious.. does yours have traction control?? and do you use it.. whats it feel like???

edit: scratch that... i get the TC refernce.. anyway, whats it feel like???? Tc

I'd buy a 1000cc bike for the same reason anyone would have a trophy wife; more trouble than she's worth and probably 'wasted' on me, but dang she'd be pretty to look at and I'd have fun!

No matter what you do someone will always have a problem with you doing it, so do what makes you happy and defend that.

If you aren't hurting anyone or breaking the law, why is it anyone else's business anyway?

My opinion, the owner is allowed to whatever he/she wants. I bet about 25% of the people that are riding him hard for being worried have been to a trackday, just like we see here on this forum. The rest are just bluster and people who like to talk big on the interwebz.

If BMW's intention for this bike were for it to be put on a track, they wouldn't have bothered with making it street legal. If they wanted they could produce a track only version of the bike, stripped of the lighting, and with lightweight fiberglass race fairings.

they didn't do that - they built a bike that was created to be ridden on public streets, even though it has extremely good racetrack ability, this is a street bike, and the owner has the right to decide where/when he wants to use it. It's his wallet.

edit: forgot to add if my bike is being "wasted" - No, cause even though our bikes are capable of a lot more, it is a mode of transportation, and an escape for nice days. You don't have to be dragging knee everywhere to enjoy a quick bike. Hell, even Harley riders enjoy going fast from time to time.

Not with the coastal road on my island, it's huge! Great scenery and a few tight twisties, I get much pleasure from taking that ride no matter how much power I use.

Traction control on the S1000RR basically adjusts power transmission based on wheel speed differential. When you get happy in gears 1-3 and your front wheel decides to take off, the power cuts off and it plants you back on the ground (a couple times I've had my bike pogo 3-4 times because I was a bit toooo enthusiastic in lower gears). When you're going over rough pavement/gravel/leaves or whatever have you and you're straight up and down, it feels like the worst bog ever... almost like the engine decided to up and die on you. When you're in a clean corner and you decide to hammer it a bit too hard around the apex, you can't really tell, it's like a progressive rotating slide that's being managed (kind of like loading the front in a car through a turn) with just the TC light flashing in your face telling you that you're doing something wrong (or something really right :icon_headbang:). Let me tell you, this last situation has happened to me a couple times and it made me feel like a ****in rock star.

I've had it only cut in a few times on me and since using Michelin Power Ones I haven't seen it once on the track... although I did slip on some slimy stuff through an intersection where I got that nasty bog.

Damn good description Ray. Especially the bog... tho straight up on a manhole cover, it feels more like "damn dude, you owe me one".

I am going to say..

dont track your vehicle if you cannot afford to write it off.

i get out of my stuff what i want to get out of it, so NO, it isn't wasted. what other people do with their own property is no concern of mine, and their opinion about me is equally irrelevant. if getting the maximum intended output out of something were the requirement for owning it, we'd all have nothing.

Spot on!

Years ago when I bounced better, I took my brand new Suzuki TL1000s to a track day and binned it. My fault totally. But I just trailered it home, took off all the broken bits, ordered the new ones - not insured for the track so, $5,500 later (in 1997), I had a spanker with lots of new carbon fibre bits. Rode the bike for years before parking it.

Still have the bike, just bought a carbon fibre lower fairing for it and plan to race it on the salt next year - straight line 'cause I don't do corners so well any more :D

You have to know your limits and track days are good for finding them. But don't push to those limits if your afraid of scraping the fairings or bending metal - or can't afford the repairs.

Cheers, SB

Ask those BMW guys how many have M3's and M5/6's and how many of those go to the nurburgring. How many people who own old warplanes actually bomb things and shoot down other planes? I have a large military gun collection yet I don't kill anyone, am I wasting them as well?

Don't get it wrong. There are a bunch of good guys over there. Very knowledgeable, ride sensibly on the street and can prolly take most ppl on the track... then there are the twits that almost make me wish for mod powers there.

I lean towards Nick Ienatsch's The Pace. Entirely possible to both thrill and test yourself while, at worst, bending the laws. I've opened up Yolie. Who can honestly say they could resist the temptation. And doing so, realized short of the Texas Mile Yolie's top end is wholely and completely unnecessary. If anyone wasted her, it's the engineers at BMW.

They created a true beast... then shoved it in a cage by selling it to the general public for street use. And no worries, I haven't opened Yolie up since. There's no need...

And it was terrifyingly exciting. Don't wanna get used to that.

No, definitely not. I have kept all of my bikes since I started riding on the road and buying my own bikes - 36 years ago! I have a big shed :D

They all bring back memories of trips/experiences/crashes/rebuilds - and I would have great difficulty parting with any of them. Some are used sporadically, some daily and others will remain parked until I shuffle off this mortal coil!

Cheers, SB

I have an '08 CBR1000RR. If anything, I "waste" its potential on the street but I bought it not so much for what I planned on doing with it but rather what it CAN do.

I love riding around at close to the speed limit, knowing the potential of what I'm sitting on can do if I twist my wrist a little. That gives me about as much satisfaction than if I actually did it.

Hard to say the majority of the biker population are "wasting" their bikes,
since trackers are such a tiny subset of the whole.

If that's why you bought it...and it sits (with your leathers) in the garage gathering
dust, year after year...well, yeah, that's a waste. Especially, if you scuff the side-walls
and your leathers with sandpaper, so you can brag to your buddies at the bar...lol

Ern

My bike gets me extra cool points at *$'s so technical answer to your question is no it is not wasted. ;)

I dont think Im wasting mine at all. Ill admit there is always more potential to be unlocked with these bikes, there always is, for everybody.. but I (once in a blue moon) do operate them how they were intended when nobody is around. I wont lie one bit (and sorry if riders like myself increase insurance costs, I pay it too), I redline and run 125+ from time to time. I ride everyday in the dark basically working 12 hour shifts, 30 miles, if Im on an empty highway for miles.. well there you go. And I bet nobody on this forum can say they have never had a "squid" moment or two. Maybe thats not these bikes are for but.. I think anybody would agree the thrill and exhilaration is what usually attracts a person to a sport bike. If you have fun, you're not wasting your bike.

As for the guy that wont ride his bike on the track, big deal I wouldnt give him **** but I would agree that if you have significant fear or doubt at all, a litre bike is not for you. And Im not "chest pounding" Im just stating my personal opinion.

Guys who let there bike sit in the garage or outside for months on end, thats wasting a motorcycle.

I'm not wasting my bikes by keeping them off the track, I'm wasting them by barely riding much in the first place. Yarr!

I would absolutely love to take my bike to track and learn how to properly track it. But there aren't any real tracks around my area :(.

And no I don't feel like I waste it. Gas is basically 4 dollars a gallon up here and she saves me a ton!

Of course its 15 years old and its 32 degrees outside....