bic_bicknell
Yesterday I rode 195 miles return trip from my house to my solicitors in Oxford and back. Didn't do any motorway miles but stuck to A and B roads the whole journey and just enjoyed getting lost, the unknown roads and the first feeling of spring this year.
It was my birthday the day before so I set off a little bit hungover and tired but by ten o'clock the bike and road had blown that away and I was settled into fast, road riding mode and blitzing every other vehicle in sight and just winding in the miles on roads that were really pretty blessed, dry, free from winter crap and good surfaces. SD was in the groove and the most limiting factor was definitely my ageing body and the problems I'm having with my elbows and knees. Arms and elbows are the limiting factor in how hard I can brake now, not the bike!
So, after 50 miles I was really in the groove and nailing the throttle in every gear, looking for every opportunity for wheelies and minor hooliganism at junctions etc and going maybe as fast as I possible can for the road conditions. I'm often thinking Klinky and Shade would be towing me faster but on my own there is a limit to what I can manage. With my SD as it is, Motorhooilgan airbox, Akras, quickshifter etc. this bike revs and revs producing usable power from 3,000rpm right through to the red line. Torque is awesome as well as revs so you get to take your pick about short shifting or thrashing it, just doesn't matter. It's very forgiving and the slipper clutch lets you be really sloppy if you want without getting into trouble. (not that I am sloppy being a long time lover of throttle blipping and clutch feathering)
So I'm just riding and making progress and sometimes getting really, really into the maximum this bike can do.
And I'm just not sure what more I need. To have a really good blast. The 1290 offers soooooooo much more in the engine department. But how much more could I have used or enjoyed?
If I spent another £14K then I could have what? More top end? Believe me I couldn't have used it safely, really.
How fast it got there? My Superduke accelerates as fast as I can mentally process and I'm using maximum throttle only infrequently. I have the quickest cam on the throttle and I nail it when I can. But really analysing when I did this it's not that often. Maybe it's my riding style - but I tend to feed the power smoothly and all too often I'm backing off before it's fully nailed - UK roads are not drag strips!!!
Torque is another matter but if I was given more just what would I do with it? My SD is so tractable and forgiving already. It pulls out of corners in the wrong gear so often that it humbles me compared to memories of early 1980s IL4s that would simply have given up and stopped working as a punishment for sloppy gear selection. Just the sound of the intake and exhaust when nail it at lower revs inspires to just use the throttle instead of the gearbox, - my bike has always had great fuelling and it's an awesome way that the power is delivered to you. Better than all the Ducatis I've owned.
I know you will all come back and say power and torque increases are mandatory for a better bike and that the old SD is outdated and outclassed. But I say by what are you judging this on? Because it's not on enjoyment or speed on the road and probably not that much on the track either. It's certainly not worth forking out £14,000 for.
Which is why I'm going to buy a BSA as my other bike because my 990 still does everything I ever wanted.
It was my birthday the day before so I set off a little bit hungover and tired but by ten o'clock the bike and road had blown that away and I was settled into fast, road riding mode and blitzing every other vehicle in sight and just winding in the miles on roads that were really pretty blessed, dry, free from winter crap and good surfaces. SD was in the groove and the most limiting factor was definitely my ageing body and the problems I'm having with my elbows and knees. Arms and elbows are the limiting factor in how hard I can brake now, not the bike!
So, after 50 miles I was really in the groove and nailing the throttle in every gear, looking for every opportunity for wheelies and minor hooliganism at junctions etc and going maybe as fast as I possible can for the road conditions. I'm often thinking Klinky and Shade would be towing me faster but on my own there is a limit to what I can manage. With my SD as it is, Motorhooilgan airbox, Akras, quickshifter etc. this bike revs and revs producing usable power from 3,000rpm right through to the red line. Torque is awesome as well as revs so you get to take your pick about short shifting or thrashing it, just doesn't matter. It's very forgiving and the slipper clutch lets you be really sloppy if you want without getting into trouble. (not that I am sloppy being a long time lover of throttle blipping and clutch feathering)
So I'm just riding and making progress and sometimes getting really, really into the maximum this bike can do.
And I'm just not sure what more I need. To have a really good blast. The 1290 offers soooooooo much more in the engine department. But how much more could I have used or enjoyed?
If I spent another £14K then I could have what? More top end? Believe me I couldn't have used it safely, really.
How fast it got there? My Superduke accelerates as fast as I can mentally process and I'm using maximum throttle only infrequently. I have the quickest cam on the throttle and I nail it when I can. But really analysing when I did this it's not that often. Maybe it's my riding style - but I tend to feed the power smoothly and all too often I'm backing off before it's fully nailed - UK roads are not drag strips!!!
Torque is another matter but if I was given more just what would I do with it? My SD is so tractable and forgiving already. It pulls out of corners in the wrong gear so often that it humbles me compared to memories of early 1980s IL4s that would simply have given up and stopped working as a punishment for sloppy gear selection. Just the sound of the intake and exhaust when nail it at lower revs inspires to just use the throttle instead of the gearbox, - my bike has always had great fuelling and it's an awesome way that the power is delivered to you. Better than all the Ducatis I've owned.
I know you will all come back and say power and torque increases are mandatory for a better bike and that the old SD is outdated and outclassed. But I say by what are you judging this on? Because it's not on enjoyment or speed on the road and probably not that much on the track either. It's certainly not worth forking out £14,000 for.
Which is why I'm going to buy a BSA as my other bike because my 990 still does everything I ever wanted.