Hellos .
So as you may know i'm pretty new to my duke but logging up some miles. Had been riding an Ascot 500 v-twin for a year and a half previously and pushed it pretty hard. Getting the SD was a whole different world for me ( speed / throttle control / power delivery / doing well over 100 in the blink of an eye ) the learning curve has been more than i expected i suppose and that's all ok . learning is ok by me.
a couple months back when i had just gotten the SD i was reading and watching videos on the bike as much as possible . Particularly found interest watching ( if i remember correctly ) Superduke Battle on youtube . There was a spot in the video where this guy's coming around a corner and i immediately thought to myself " Man this guy has a different riding style than most others " ... He looked way forward on the bike and kinda leaned into the bike with a kinda arched back look ( arms well bent too ). anyway - not to make a long story....
So riding the hell out of my SD and wearing the front tyre down already and the rear almost , i've still been strugling kinda with figuring this bike out and how to ride it more optimally. Sometimes i would press away from the gas tank when going into turns and get a bit straight armed in the process while trying to muscle the bike into the turn like i did with my Ascot v-twin. Hasn't been working with the SD though , i'd sure as hell FOOK up my lines and get wobbly ....
I started realizing i was actually pushing away from the gas tank and decided i'd work on NOT doing that so i'd stay closer to the front of the bike .. I've not liked doing that previously because i've always felt like if i push the bike the front will wash out and with my face forward sure as hell if i go down on the front my face is going to be the first thing to hit the ground ( at least that was my feelin ) ---- anyway ----- back to Leaning forward ...
so yesterday i'm riding and riding pretty hard as i usually do and as i started NOT pushing away from the gas tank i actually started letting my belly contact the tank more. That had a positive effect on SD geometry and handling. So starting to get more confidence with the improvement in handling i was anxious to go out again today for some spirited riding ( had almost all fookin day to ride ) .... So i start really laying myself on the gas tank and the more comfortable with that i got the better the riding got. Smoother ! I keep refining the body position - found myself actually leaning way forward and just pressing my whole stomach against the tank and really kinda arching my back ( my spine ) which drops more of my body weight forward onto the tank ( lower center of gravity feel too ). And i start steering the bike with my belly contact on the gas tank - and it's KILLER..... I got no more straight arming on the handlebars - body weight more forward on the bike making the front tyre feel like it's really planted on the ground and it's like i just let the bike take care of itself without me man handling the bars . This is working really GOOD and then i suddenly realised i was probably doing the same thing i saw that guy doing in the SuperDuke Battle Video's on youtube with his really unique riding style.
Granted his style is a bit more pronounced as i think he is rather tall which made it more striking of a style. Anyway - i'm stoked !!! Lots of confidence boost from this and really hitting and flying into turns now quite a bit more than before. Actually starting to Back into some of the turns that i'm hitting pretty hard at about 70mph.
Anybody else relate to this and have something more to enlighten ? I'd like to be able to figure out how to keep the "Drifting" (backing into) the turns going - i don't know quite what to do yet once the rear wheel starts drifting , i'll get about 5ft of drift then i don't twist the throttle and instead wait for the rear to hook back up - What can i do to improve this
On another note - just for more conversation - coming up one of the popular twisty roads today there's a section about 3/4 mile close to the top by Alices Restaurant that kinda straightens out for a quarter mile at most - just enough to CRANK the hell out of the throttle which i eagerly did. some woopty dooo's in the road and about 75mph the front wheel violently threw itself up in the air faster than i expected ROFL..... it's all good ! but later in the day in a totally different location i Hit the throttle again on a 3/4 mile straight ALSO some woopties and this time 3rd gear at about 95mph same result - front coming way up in the air , surprised the hell out of me - fastest i've ever done a wheelie in third and while so hard on the throttle .... I'm really having a blast with this bike ..... And all this also makes me think what a FOOKIN HELL of a ride that RC8 must be with it's 30nm more torque and 175 rear wheel HP - that's some serious power i can just imagine !
OK NUFF SAID
Johnny
So as you may know i'm pretty new to my duke but logging up some miles. Had been riding an Ascot 500 v-twin for a year and a half previously and pushed it pretty hard. Getting the SD was a whole different world for me ( speed / throttle control / power delivery / doing well over 100 in the blink of an eye ) the learning curve has been more than i expected i suppose and that's all ok . learning is ok by me.
a couple months back when i had just gotten the SD i was reading and watching videos on the bike as much as possible . Particularly found interest watching ( if i remember correctly ) Superduke Battle on youtube . There was a spot in the video where this guy's coming around a corner and i immediately thought to myself " Man this guy has a different riding style than most others " ... He looked way forward on the bike and kinda leaned into the bike with a kinda arched back look ( arms well bent too ). anyway - not to make a long story....
So riding the hell out of my SD and wearing the front tyre down already and the rear almost , i've still been strugling kinda with figuring this bike out and how to ride it more optimally. Sometimes i would press away from the gas tank when going into turns and get a bit straight armed in the process while trying to muscle the bike into the turn like i did with my Ascot v-twin. Hasn't been working with the SD though , i'd sure as hell FOOK up my lines and get wobbly ....
I started realizing i was actually pushing away from the gas tank and decided i'd work on NOT doing that so i'd stay closer to the front of the bike .. I've not liked doing that previously because i've always felt like if i push the bike the front will wash out and with my face forward sure as hell if i go down on the front my face is going to be the first thing to hit the ground ( at least that was my feelin ) ---- anyway ----- back to Leaning forward ...
so yesterday i'm riding and riding pretty hard as i usually do and as i started NOT pushing away from the gas tank i actually started letting my belly contact the tank more. That had a positive effect on SD geometry and handling. So starting to get more confidence with the improvement in handling i was anxious to go out again today for some spirited riding ( had almost all fookin day to ride ) .... So i start really laying myself on the gas tank and the more comfortable with that i got the better the riding got. Smoother ! I keep refining the body position - found myself actually leaning way forward and just pressing my whole stomach against the tank and really kinda arching my back ( my spine ) which drops more of my body weight forward onto the tank ( lower center of gravity feel too ). And i start steering the bike with my belly contact on the gas tank - and it's KILLER..... I got no more straight arming on the handlebars - body weight more forward on the bike making the front tyre feel like it's really planted on the ground and it's like i just let the bike take care of itself without me man handling the bars . This is working really GOOD and then i suddenly realised i was probably doing the same thing i saw that guy doing in the SuperDuke Battle Video's on youtube with his really unique riding style.
Granted his style is a bit more pronounced as i think he is rather tall which made it more striking of a style. Anyway - i'm stoked !!! Lots of confidence boost from this and really hitting and flying into turns now quite a bit more than before. Actually starting to Back into some of the turns that i'm hitting pretty hard at about 70mph.
Anybody else relate to this and have something more to enlighten ? I'd like to be able to figure out how to keep the "Drifting" (backing into) the turns going - i don't know quite what to do yet once the rear wheel starts drifting , i'll get about 5ft of drift then i don't twist the throttle and instead wait for the rear to hook back up - What can i do to improve this
On another note - just for more conversation - coming up one of the popular twisty roads today there's a section about 3/4 mile close to the top by Alices Restaurant that kinda straightens out for a quarter mile at most - just enough to CRANK the hell out of the throttle which i eagerly did. some woopty dooo's in the road and about 75mph the front wheel violently threw itself up in the air faster than i expected ROFL..... it's all good ! but later in the day in a totally different location i Hit the throttle again on a 3/4 mile straight ALSO some woopties and this time 3rd gear at about 95mph same result - front coming way up in the air , surprised the hell out of me - fastest i've ever done a wheelie in third and while so hard on the throttle .... I'm really having a blast with this bike ..... And all this also makes me think what a FOOKIN HELL of a ride that RC8 must be with it's 30nm more torque and 175 rear wheel HP - that's some serious power i can just imagine !
OK NUFF SAID
Johnny