Motorcycles and ego

After reading the thread about the rich guys who own collections of classic vehicles. I thought I would say something about ego. The reason I sometimes road race is about ego, not about the adrenalin rush. The first time I crashed in front of a large crowd and looked stupid, I lost most of my ego, and I take beta-blockers to stop the adrenalin rush. My whole professional life has been about development of materials and processes. My Seeley 850 is just an extension of that - another mental exercise. The last time I raced the bike, I proved it is good enough to win. For me that is almost enough. When the fuel line popped off, I was in front with no hope of ever being caught. I can understand guys spending their lives touring and looking at the scenery, and also those who collect classic vehicles - but what are they really achieving ? When you own classic vehicles, you are only preserving them for the next guy. If you take only one and dramatically improve it without destroying it . . . ? I don't have a conscience about upgrading my bike, because I built it out of parts. Back in the era, it did not exist - it simply looks authentic.

yeah, leggo my eggo I mean ego.. when I ride one of my olde bikes or drive the 68 MGB or my wife's 79 Camaro I am in my late 20s and bulletproof that's ego I reckon (this week I was 68 1/2 but who is counting). ya'll stay safe/well////

That is the reason sponsors of road racers prefer young guys. Young guys are usually fresh and have not been hurt.

The signature on one of my other forums reads - “don’t twist your throttle with your ego”

Most Harley riders have big ego's, my mates I been riding with all my biking life (47 years now) and a lot of them now ride Harley's and are now just one sided when it comes to other bikes although they started and rode British bikes most of their lives, but every time I ride with then their whole additude changes, they put their angry face on, they become a different person to who they really are, I pulled up beside one of my best mate's I have known all my life at a set of lights and he had his angry face on and I just pissed myself laughing, later on that day he asked me what I was laughing at, I still haven't told him why lol.

Ashley

Every one gets pleasure their own way , I like to ride and work on my bikes , that equals pleasure for me , I don’t worry to much on others as I know it always has been different strokes for , ya know the rest ....

If you race, other peoples' ego can be a danger to you. If you blitz someone who has a lot of ego, they sometimes do stupid things. But motorcycles are great as a way of expressing yourself. The sense of freedom they create is really worth having.

Al I love my freedom when on my motorcycles but to me riding or racing around a track is not freedom to me, its like being a prisoner trapped and pacing the excise yard and not being able to get out, to me freedom is getting out on the bikes and exploring different places whether taking it easy or when out from nowhere to ride it as hard and pushing it to its limits (safely of course) now that's freedom, Al you have already told us you haven't been out on your bike for sometime now, well years if I remember right, so what freedom have you had, freedom is not memoirs of your past riding experiences if I was you I have your bike street rideable then you can have your freedom any day of the week and enjoy your bike and riding instead of thinking about your freedom.
If you ride alone then no need to worry about anyone's else ego except your own., sorry Al but that's my opinion, it wouldn't take much to make your bike road legal and be cheaper than racing around a track when you can.

Ashley

Ash, to make my bike road legal would be quite difficult, however what you are suggesting was also suggested by one of my mates. The carbs would have to be modified to use petrol. It would mean replacing them entirely. I would somehow have to fit lights and power them. The gearing would be totally unusable for road use. I could get jail for speeding without getting out of first gear. I could push-start the bike outside the pub, but if I fell over I would be suspected of drunken-ness.
The difference between you and me, is I grew-up and realised you cannot use a motorcycle on public roads in the way God intended. I rode on public roads until I was 27, but started having too many near-misses. So I went to where it is safer. When you race, if you crash you have usually done it to yourself. It is not some lady powdering her nose in the rear vision mirror who brings you undone. I remember visiting one of my mates in the motorcycle ward of the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. They were all happy in there - NOT ! A woman in a mini had simply cut him off - he ended up with a bar driven down inside his shin bone. To get it out after his leg healed, they grabbed the end with grips and tapped it out with a hammer.

I will tell you something about road riders. A friend of mine was sitting in a van looking out the back. Another one rode up behind the van and my friend waved at him. The guy on the bike did not see the guy in the back of the van waving at him. I've been in a group of motorcyclists and one has hit another from behind - fell asleep !

What I really dislike about riding on public roads is it is similar to the IOM. On a normal race circuit, you practice until you can handle the corners fast and safe. On public roads you often haven't seen the corners previously, so you ride on reflexes. When you do that, there is always more anxiety. When you road race on a circuit where you have not raced previously, you have to learn the circuit. I cannot imagine 37 miles of it. The first lap must be horrendous. I look at the crash of Connor Cummings on the IOM, and I think 'that could be me'. The way I ride that would be inevitable.

Well Al that's were you and I think differently, I been riding on the road for over 45 years now and I never think about crashing or being hit by other car drivers, if I did I would be like you not get to enjoy my bikes or ride them when I want, yes accidents do happen even on the track, its the risk we take same as driving a car or truck, its all about paying attention on everything that is happening around you, not just what's in front of you, I had a car run right over the top of me from behind when I was 17 years old stopped in the middle of the road to turn into my mate's place waiting for a car to past me before turning, put me out of action for 4 months, did it put me off riding on the road again, no way couldn't get back on the bike quick enough.
I have mates who we have been riding with each other for the same time I been riding, yes some have has serious accidents in those years but we are all still riding together when we can, if you love doing something even accidents won't stop me or my mates from doing it again, when you are afraid of doing something then that's when you do have accidents, I have had many fools do stupid things in front of me that could put my life in danger while on the bike, you just got to be one step of them to advoid being hit.

Ashley

Ash, I appreciate the pleasure you get from what you do. However I'm pretty sure you have never road raced. When you race, the most dangerous time is when you are just beginning - after that, it is extremely safe. On public roads, the risks are rarely minimised to a tolerable level. And why would you ride your motorcycle around a bend at 100 KPH when you can do it safely at 180 KPH ?

Your suggestion about putting the Seeley on the road was made to me by a friend several years ago. If you watch road racing, you might think the bikes are simply better road bikes. A decent race bike is very far removed from any road bike. Even with push-bikes, a race bike is different from a road bike. When you ride a racing push-bike on the road you need to be careful about the handling. A lot of modern motorcycles are derived from racers, but I suspect they are usually very detuned. If you put an inexperienced rider on most race bikes, they would be scared shitless. My brother raced speedway for years - one day he got on my Triton at Calder raceway and found he could not ride it around a corner. If you did not ride it aggressively, you would never get around. He ran off and all of his friends laughed at him. It wasn't his fsult - he just did not know what was needed.

Al you haven't rode with my mates its always a race when we know where the next tight fast corners are, and yes I have done plenty of track days at Lakeside race way in my younger days, my hot 850 in the Featherbed is set up for high speed handling in corners or high speed bends, the good thing about my mates and myself we been riding together for so long we know what the other is thinking, my Featherbed grips the road pretty good and is like riding on rails, it surprises a lot of modern bikes when up in the ranges.

Ashley

You obviously have bendy roads where you live and no police. In NE Victoria, most of the roads are long and straight, so with a motorcycle you drone down them forever, I had a road bike when I first came up here. I used to ride for miles before I found a road which was even slightly interesting. Even then, around here - the cops sit on the back roads with speed cameras. A while back I drove home the back way from the next town and copped a $350 fine for doing 103 KPH in a 100 KPH zone.

What really made me laugh, was a while back the cops chased a speeding motorcyclist. The rider simply turned the handle and made them look stupid - he did about 300 KPH. A few weeks later, the cops did a drug bust and found him.

My ego would fit in a thimble. I tried to go fast on my P11 after doing some motor work, but it was pathetic with the crappy brakes. Good way to get killed. Commando I had for a while was about the same in my opinion. I went through many other motorcycles that worked pretty good, but never raced any of them on a track. I had many a spirited street ride along with guys that did race on the track. Not the best idea in the world, but it was kind of fun at the time. That stuff is all way behind me. Wave the blue flag. I took up photography and started photographing the really fast guys.


I own a 1965 Chevy El Camino. It's not much of a collector car, but it does have some muscle. It'll leave black marks on the pavement until I let of the throttle or shift into second. I would never drag race it, road race it, or autocross race it. Ego in a thimble. I use to get more out of showing it and telling young bucks what worked for me if they had any interest. With the introduction of covid19, those days are over for me. I won't show a car with a damn mask on and people having to stand 6 feet away from me.

acotrel said:

A while back I drove home the back way from the next town and copped a $350 fine for doing 103 KPH in a 100 KPH zone.

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You should have got yourself a good lawyer, 103 kph is barely 10% more by my reckoning - its only 3%, so, HTF did they get away with that?

Each Aussie state has there own road rules and some take in how far you can go over the speed limit before getting a ticket but my state of Queensland the state GOV is broke and make a lot of money off us sucker motorist , so speed cameras etc use to be set a few kms over the speed limit but just last year they dropped it lower and now you just got to be 1km over and you get fined, they wouldn't say how far they lowed it but my mate works for a company who services the mobil speed cameras that are mounted on trailers and he told me they are calibrated at 1km over, they have also put up all fines and holding a mobil phone in your hands has gone up from $250 fine to now $1k, but of course they say its for safety but of course we all know its just another way of making more money off us suckers, blatant money grab, but of course don't speed and you won't have any problems, not.

Ashley

A few years ago in Victoria, Jeff Kennett passed a law that speeding tickets could not be disputed on the basis of speed camera calibration. The next thing that happened was thousands of motorists were booked when they were not speeding.