Well, I wish I could say I took the better route like most of the ones have posted above ... by letting my maturity tell me when fast enough is fast enough .... But I personally took the hard route :\ .... I didn't have a family to think about, experience to tell me "Hey, I really shouldn't be doin this ... this is a really bad idea", or even the good sense to know when I was being really stupid ...

What slows me down? ... well, I just remember the wrecks I've been through on two of my bikes and all the pain and suffering I went through for abso-freaking-lutely nothing to be gained ..... and the fact that in the first few years I owned my first bike (99 CBR600F4) I spent almost what I bought the bike for in tickets (still didn't quite learn) ... not till I spent ~$2,400 bucks to get my damn license back after it was suspended when I couldn't afford to pay the stupid tickets I kept getting, did I learn what has just been stated above .... that you can have just as much (if not 3 x's as much) fun taking a nice, fun road at the speed limit rather than blasting around at mach 9 and runnin from the good ol' LEO's .... (you'll never get away all the time .... please believe what I say ...) ... This ain't sayin I don't get squirrelly on the bike occasionally now and then (I still remember how to have fun), but I'm reminded everyday I look in the mirror and see the scars of a wreck or recall the memories of what it felt like to pop out fake teeth before I got my permanent ones now (lemme tell ya i looked like some kinda hillbilly retard) rotflmao ... But I save all that for the track now ...

My hat is off to all of you riders who have learned this the easier way ... I wish I woulda done it that way for sure ... lol ... and reading through what I just wrote makes it look like I'm some really old guy writing about his whole life experiences ... I'm not an old rider by far (hell I'm only 24) but I wanna live to be one ... This is just me tellin my lil part in what's slowed me down back to reality ...

 

resist? I dont. track days are regular, and on the road, i pick my spots wisely, to limit potential danger to myself or others.

 

I do not 'resist the urge,' I just plan it which is not really any better. Whether you are weaving in and out of traffic or on a lonely 2 lane road, the consequences are the same and very real, and your time WILL come.

I always scout the road 1st for turnoffs, debris, tar snakes, driving culture, etc. When you do that it really reduces the opportunities to 'push the limits'.

If i am going to push it, I leave my house knowing exactly where and how I intend to do it, top speed run, or twisties.

Guess you haven't come around a corner(even a slight bend in the road) in a 45 to a semi trailer going up hill in 1st gear? you have 3 options, 1 brake while turning, 2 blindly pass, 3 go off a cliff or into the side. And those 3 assume you do not dump it.

 

i don't...

 

Ok, ok...Tucson has got a point. I'm guilty. I just didn't want to give the wrong encouragement.

I do have a couple of really twisty, tight radius country roads that I go to on sunday mornings, early. With no traffic on them, I have been known to thrash them up a little.

Red Bud Valley, here in Tulsa is one of my faves. All the turns have a long sight radius and at 45-50 mph, you are dragging knees.

Another place I let the beast out of the cage is Mohawk Park Golf course (I only do it on Thanksgiving morning (early again, who plays golf Thanksgiving morning?)) Everyone is in church or stuffing their faces. It makes for a great ride (and in late November the temp is usually about 28-30 degrees, so the bike is shedding heat great and the air is so dense it's going into the air-box in massive chunks of HP).

But, I do PLAN those moments, not give in to the 'dark-side', so to speak.

Ern

 

My Grandpa, a pastor who was nearly kicked out of seminary because he'd skip church on Sundays to go drag race his Chevelle, always told my Mom while she was growing up, "Only drive as fast as you can afford."

I grew up with those words too. I can't afford the affects of a ticket on my record, and moreover, I can't afford the pain to my family that being reckless makes more probable. With a father who's a lineman I've always had safety hammered home, and for that I'm grateful.

 

It’s easy for me. Just get on the Sportster instead of the 929. John Burns who writes for Cycle World said it best. He was referring to a Yamaha 800VTX but it also applies to my Sporty “ ….Driven conservatively it will get you there eventually… Driven enthusiastically it will quickly convert you to conservatism.”

 

Obviously motorcycle riding is risky. I rate the risks in increasing order of magnitude: 1) trouble with the law, 2) damage to the bike, 3) injury or death to yourself or another person. There's a reason why everybody says, "Ride the track, save it for race day." Unfortunately not all of us have that luxury, and so I have some simple rules I developed as a result of past experiences.

Avoid speeding on the highway or on any road heavily patrolled by the police.

Avoid speeding or recklessness in populated or congested areas (e.g city and suburbs).

Do not excessively speed on roads dotted by too many homes and driveways (e.g. semi-rural).

Do not excessively speed on roads that are crossed by too many other roads, or reduce speed as the intersection approaches.

Do not engage in risky behavior on strange roads.

Find good roads and reconnoiter them. Get acquainted, get familiar.

Good roads should be smooth, devoid of too many different pavement types, gravel, potholes, cracks, and other such dangers.

Good roads should not have much traffic.

However, I am not foolish enough to believe these rules will save me. I only hope to mitigate potential dangers. Frankly, I leave my house, head directly to the highway, and ride for an hour just to get to roads that meet all these requirements.

 

I just take it to the track regularly, about 1-2x a month. REALLY CHEAP at $90-150/day compared to getting a SINGLE ticket!!! There, I can explore much closer to the limits safely at 95-98%. Even if I was to go over the limit (not yet), the consequences would be much, much less severe. There's no kerbs, light-poles, fences or fire hydrants to slam into, much less cliffs or mountains to fly off of.

Once you've explored the bike's limits at the track, and knowing exactly where those limits are, there's much less motivation to push it on the streets.

 

A lot of this is the best advice. I don't do track days but i have plenty of superslab and mountain twisties to play on.
Mountain roads...Any configuration you can think of in Colorado. Play to what you are capable of. Remember deer,elk, fox and so on.Tar snakes on your line in the curves. Think about if you miss, your next stop could be ( on the inside ) an 18 wheeler or a vette doing the same thing going the other way. On the outside 300 feet down. How good are you really?When Rossi misses he runs into an air wall or a sandpit.
Super slab. Colorado state troopers on c14s. They WILL catch you. Some still have the mustangs.What is traffic like. If I am doing triple digits, most cagers cannot percieve my speed and if one swapps lanes? Thing is,when they looked, IF they looked, I wasnt there ! Where are the LEOs? on the overpass with another car over the hill? Is there another LEO over the hill..
On the streets ..are you kidding? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
All that said I still "get my fix". I bought 1000cc bikes for a reason. But it is well, very well considered before I "light'em up".
Last I am a single dad with two beautiful children that depend on me. I have my fun, but I know I have to make it home EVERY night.
I saw a Honda sticker that I would love to have that says "STUPID HURTS". No truer words ...Like most of us, I have stories that (I didn't know) forum rules prohibit, but each one gained a bit of insight and wisdom.