From:  gayathri <gayathri@world.std.com>
Date:  Sun Mar 11, 2001 11:08pm
Subject:  completely OT... goin' fast.

I find it kinda interesting the number of folks who say they'd want a
fast car -- how many of y'all actually drive a 'fast car' (you can
define what fast car means to you...)? Any of you do any closed course
racing, taken any track schools, or raced gokarts?

Going fast was never a problem for me since I started riding
sportbikes, its pretty easy to ride 'fast'. The first sportbike I ever
rode (the third _bike_ I ever rode), was capable of doing 150+ mph. My
current ride can do 160+. When a plane takes off, that's about 170-175
mph...

But going fast in a straight line isn't all that much fun or all that
interesting to me, 'cause its not about going fast, its about being in
control. (and that's how my life is too... living in the moment,
coaxing every little bit out of what I have... ) But with motorcycles,
that means corners. Lots of 'em.

	A few years ago, a couple of friends and I went thru southern
Utah on a motorcycle trip that was full of magic and mayhem and
rainbows. There's a stretch of road that is straight, for miles and
miles of sand in every direction you can see, and the slowest bike
there could do 140 mph. Most of us could do 150 plus. One had a
Hayabusa (named after the fastest hawk in the world) that had been
shown to do 172 off the showroom floor. (remember that plane taking off?)

	we all went fast. That was amazing, seeing the motorcycle
pegging at 160plus (there's a 14% error in my speedo at that speed),
but after a few minutes of 'holy sh*t!', my mind started to
wander. There really isnt much to do at that speed but hang
on... *yawn* Seriously, I was bored. 

Then we hit some curves.  (ok, at a sane speed, they wouldnt have been
curves,) but here we were, a pack of bikes like birds in a formation,
or jetfighters screaming along, taking these curves at 100
plus. That's the coolest thing about the track for me -- 'cause where
else is it ok to really go on my little 400 cc, 60 hp, 12 year old
bike at 135 mph, knee almost touching the ground, and foot pegs
scraping, throttle pinned, looking for that downshift marker as you
lose revs just from having the bike leaned over, and you can feel the
rear end slipping, maybe its losing traction? Maybe I'm gonna land in
those weeds... *bam!* downshift, lean more, look thru that next turn
and tuck in down the front straight. 

	And tto do that while getting passed by a 1000cc, 150 hp,
weighs 100 lbs LESS then I do superbike going 175mph. You feel like
you should just get off and walk... that, to me, is what real speed is
all about. 

A Ferrari, Viper or similar car in untrained hands will indeed just
break down, or worse, send you spinning into the weeds, or off a
cliff.  I've never driven one, but I know those cars are also all
about control and judicious use of the right foot... and you'd be
amazed at what a Ford Taurus in the right hands can do. (I love when
squidboy would take a 6 cyl. Ford F150 fully loaded with over 1000lbs
of stuff, and pass BMW 5 series cars on the Crest. )

Remember, its not about power or speed, its about control. :)

Gayathri
>--------------------------------------------------------------
 gayathri@w... Calamari Club #002, CCS/WSMC #98
'88 FZR400 ('gurlzbike')        '98 T595 Daytona, "huckleberry"

	"I don't want people who want to dance. I want people who 
	have to dance."  - George Balanchine