Modern motorcycles

I was watching a video about the modern Kawasaki H2R. Why would anyone want a motorcycle which does 200 miles per hour ? Most guys probably cannot use 60 BHP competently and do 120 MPH safely. Personally, I try to stay out of trouble.

acotrel said:

I was watching a video about the modern Kawasaki H2R. Why would anyone want a motorcycle which does 200 miles per hour ? Most guys probably cannot use 60 BHP competently and do 120 MPH safely. Personally, I try to stay out of trouble.

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Fun

Did you miss the part where it says track use only? All that power must be OK on the track as it has disc brakes.

MikeG said:

Did you miss the part where it says track use only? All that power must be OK on the track as it has disc brakes.

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....and a close ratio gearbox

acotrel said:

I was watching a video about the modern Kawasaki H2R. Why would anyone want a motorcycle which does 200 miles per hour ? Most guys probably cannot use 60 BHP competently and do 120 MPH safely. Personally, I try to stay out of trouble.

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Al, clearly the H2R is not meant for "most guys".

You have been mind conditioned neutered.

My brother uses Kawasaki two stroke motors in speedway side cars. he has both H1 and H2 and both are methanol fuelled - he can win any race with the 500cc H1. He won the Australian Long Track Championship with it in 2001. The 750cc H2 is simply absurd. If it drops off power, when it comes on song again, it takes a huge leap forward - it is extremely dangerous. Personally, I would not attempt to race a modern bike - I like living. One of my mates gave up racing Formula 5000 cars and tried to race a 600cc sports bike. I have a fair bit of experience and I knew what was going to happen to him. But he would not listen to me. It was not a good result. He smashed the shit out of himself. The golden staph was the worst part.

acotrel said:

My brother uses Kawasaki two stroke motors in speedway side cars. he has both H1 and H2 and both are methanol fuelled - he can win any race with the 500cc H1. He won the Australian Long Track Championship with it in 2001. The 750cc H2 is simply absurd. If it drops off power, when it comes on song again, it takes a huge leap forward - it is extremely dangerous. Personally, I would not attempt to race a modern bike - I like living. One of my mates gave up racing Formula 5000 cars and tried to race a 600cc sports bike. I have a fair bit of experience and I knew what was going to happen to him. But he would not listen to me. It was not a good result. He smashed the shit out of himself. The golden staph was the worst part.

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Best to just stay at home mate , don't try anything that scares you
It's a lot safer

Well AL if you rode a modern bike you might be surprised in how good they are, great brakes, handle pretty good and great FI for smooth riding and more HP to boot, smoother riding and great on long trips without doing anything to them, nothing falls off, but then you don't ride on the road.

baz said:

Best to just stay at home mate , don't try anything that scares you
It's a lot safer

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I think he is already doing that and has been for over 10+ years, his riding these days is in front of the big screen watching too much YouTube, sorry Al you need to not to be scared and just get on your bike if they still let you on the track.
There is more to motorcycling than living in the pass or talking about what you did in the days when you did put a leg over a bike, I love my old as well my modern bike riding, well my Thruxton 1200 S is now 8 years old and I enjoy riding both bikes instead of talking about it.
For an old man and not been on a bike for so long you do go on about it, but then maybe it be safer for all of us if you stayed home, or sell your race bike and buy a cheap second hand modern bike and get out on it and enjoy riding again, the roads are only scary, if you let it scare you, old age and not be scared to ride on the road is not going to stop me enjoying what I like best in life, live to ride till the day I die is my plan.

Ashley

When I was 20 I bought a brand new GSXR 750 Slingshot when they first came out. It was a rocket ship in its day!

But I was also into old Brit bikes and frequented old bike meets etc.

I attended one once, and whilst walking around I noticed a couple of old boys looking at my new Gixer, so I listened in without them realising it was mine.

One of the old boys was saying “they still can’t beat my Goldie you know. They try and keep up with me on these Jap sports bikes but they just fall off trying” !!

I pissed myself laughing, the image of a stretch of road littered with crashed GSXRs and RC30s etc behind this uncatchable old Beezer was hilarious!

Can’t help wundrin if that bloke was related to someone on this forum…?!?

Something I posted about five years ago is appropriate I think: https://www.accessnorton.com/Norton...n-different-genres-of-music.29790/post-487322

The thing which inhibits me the most about riding motorcycles is grief. In the 1970s in Melbourne, Peter Stevens as a main dealer. He sponsored guys on superbikes, so I did have much to do with them. His name is Steve Chiodo. I found out today that his son John has just been killed while riding a motorcycle on public roads. I was married when I was 23. By that time I could name about twenty guys who had been killed on public roads while riding motorcycles. I did not expect to live past age 29, however at age 29, I finished my first diploma, and I began road racing. Being killed while road racing is not an issue - it is a very rare occurrence. However being injured at age 83 is not smart, when your wife tells you that if you are injured she will not care for you. I would end-up in an aged care facility - that is a fate worse than death. I am not afraid of dying, because I am not religious. The burning fires of hell mean nothing to me.
I had to laugh. When I began building the Seeley 850, I sold my Triton 500 to my mate who had built it in about 1957. He sold it to a young guy in the next town to me. He fired it up and decided to ride it on one of our better back-roads and scared himself shitless. He decided to race it. On the start line he looked around at all the old bearded idiots, and thought he was in with a chance. He then found out that he did not know how to ride a motorcycle. He had ridden a variety of large motorcycles on public roads for about 20 years. I am kind to people who have never road-raced. What you see is not what you get. Old bikes on a race circuit always look slow. Apparently the most dangerous motorcycle ever was the SS100 Brough Superior. Modern motorcycles are much easier, unless you believe you can really twist their neck on a race track. When Minogue bent himself, I know what he did. When you drive a Formula 5000 car over Lukey Heights, it can be given heaps. On the 600cc sports bike, he immediately lost the front. I am supposed to feel sorry for him - but in his case, everybody else is an idiot. Racing car drivers all want to be John Surtees. World champions on both 2 and 4 wheels.

I have had three pieces of advice from old riders which have helped. Baldo Meli worked for Triumph, and got a 12th on the IOM on a Tiger 100 in about 1948. He said 'when you start racing, force yourself to go slow'. Hugh Anderson was world champion on Suzukis - he said 'on your day when you good, nobody can beat you'. Jack Casey is one of our oldest riders - he said 'you need a lot of racing miles under your belt, and the bike must do something for you'. In my case that last bit has been the most important. My bike is very deceptive in what it can do. I should have known more about machine set-up and handling, At one stage I was involved in tuning motocross bikes and knew how the suspension adjustments work. I thought the use of monoshock rear suspension on Yamaha road racers was silly, but it wasn't. When the back goes down, many bikes oversteer, and can be gassed harder.