Sunday, March 2, 2008

Up up and away!!!

Okay... Riding update... As I had planned earlier on, I couldn't stick to the 40 km/hr limit, and am upto 60, that too if i am in a mood for it. The bike's pretty rattled up right now, although i am still pushing it. I think I'll have to taker her to the doc soon. There have been a lot more accidental foot-peg scrapings (banking so hard that they touch the road ie, banking till almost 30 degrees to the horizontal) and I am loving it. Though today I did have a near miss when I banked with a pillion n my bike pivoted about something that scraped the road (I think it was my main-stand, cause that's what usually scrapes first when I'm with a pillion) The rear tyre lost traction, but instinctively I kicked the road n we straightened out again. Man that was close.
Slow speeds doesn't mean I can't have fun. The other day I was coming back home with a friend of mine... The Kid... and I tried taking off from a speed breaker. I have tried this a million time, but my landings were never smooth. My front end would always come down really hard. But when I had an audience (The Kid) I put on my best show n did not let go of the throttle till the very end. This along with the way I balanced my weight threw me up (according to The Kid) at least 2 feet high. I was up there so long that for the first time my bike revved up (and red lined) when I was in the air. In case you are wondering what's the big deal with 2 feet, I'd like you to know that 300 Kgs of man n machine hurled up 2 feet, on the softest suspension settings the bike can have, is a big deal, for me atleast. And did I mention I was still within my new speed limit.
With all the banking and jumping, I should probably set up my suspension harder... but I still prefer the softer setting because the roads in this city give me a back ache... What's more, the (little bit) off-roading that I do would no longer be that fun.

No comments: