Video - Norton - Malibu Mountains

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... hBPo3639JY

At risk of being too Southern California "local" or "parochial," this was last Friday; the video is shot in the Malibu Mountains. For those who may know the area, it begins at the top of Stunt Road above and west of Mulholland, and we go down Sheuren Rd to Piuma Rd, then right and up to the ridge and back down to Malibu Canyon. The camera is on a Honda VFR and I’m following on the Commando. If, I’d have been thinking, I’d have charged the left side more, to make a better video. The VFR was making a good pace though.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... c7LDviH7ls

This a half hour later, we are now down at the beach having just turned off of Pacific Coast Highway and commencing to go up Mulholland Hwy from the beach at LA/Ventura county line or Leo Carrillo State Beach. The bike in front of the camera bike is a Husqvarna 610 SM, a good match for the 750 Commando; I’m leading him and chasing that VFR and a Kawi 1200/Lawson replica. While the Husky rider is boiling that short stroke 6 speed, I’m either bogging or redlining. Those more powerful bikes slip away from me as we gain elevation climbing up those switch backs from the coast. At the end, we stop just shy of the intersection of Mulholland Hwy and Decker Canyon.


Thanks to GPBandit1200 and Wheatie over at Burntheedge.com for making and posting the videos.

Thats pretty impressive riding.Was your footpeg touching down in some parts?

Yes the pegs and the head pipes are the first to touch but when they do it's laziness on my part as that can be avoided by hanging off and standing the bike up just a bit.

Xbacksideslider, great roads and looks like you were having fun, BUT I'm sorry, it's not good enough.

Borrow that camera from whoever owns it and mount it on your Norton. I want to see the needles move around the dials and hear the sound!!

Please

Ya man Xbuttscruber I was too tired to take it last night but could take the tension and flash backs this afternoon in glee with you. Great swoopy empty hwy ya don't have to back off much. After funs like that I feel temps of various components. I'm glad to know how far back the SNorts are heard and tickled how nicely a Commando can pull away from a modern within sane thrill speeds. Do it some more to us please. I've not yet got act together for ride video but yours sure inspires.

I had to break habit of foot down stuff as found if ya really need it on tarmac, expect foot to be jerked behind your head no matter the natural limits of knee and hip joint ligaments and tendons or to be snatched right under the bike, after caught>forced past peg first. I know about the innate reflex to put a foot down, but found it don't ever work as planned even on THE Gravel. I also know its fear based as I have gotten over the reflex spike by testing bike limits so have confidence it won't slip out within the loads and conditions I press on.

Although I couldn't hear the S'norton, I particularly enjoyed how the non-British bike had to upshift...upshift...upshift only to downshift...downshift...downshift thru those curves and straights. I'm sure our bikes would be in 3rd and 4th through most of that session!

Not sure if that was you, Xbacksideslier, putting your foot down in some of those apex approaches...if so, I would try and break that habit...don't think it really serves a purpose and can only lead to bad things...I t may serve folks like Rossi well, but then they're in a different league...JMHO.

hobot said:

I had to break habit of foot down stuff...

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I used to ride my '70 750 commando along those same roads in the late 70's. Thank you for that video. Very , very nice.

rwalker28 said:

I used to ride my '70 750 commando along those same roads in the late 70's. Thank you for that video. Very , very nice.

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I try to ride those Malibu roads once a month with my son. Miles of back roads. This weekend...no. Holiday weekends make those backs roads really crowded with rent a cars searching for the homes of the stars.
Here is one of me on the 'Snake'.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/capfacsurf/6629850113/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/capfacsurf/6629849707/

Great shot sole! There's goes some more chrome off peashooter.
That weight back off dangerous front to focus it through rear patch ain't wasted effort to me to view.

hobot said:

Great shot sole! There's goes some more chrome off peashooter.
That weight back off dangerous front to focus it through rear patch ain't wasted effort to me to view.

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I'm too cheap to buy the real photos. But, in my defense, I never scraped those pipes(I think?). . My Thruxton handles better but...it doesn't hold a candle to my Nortons power on delivery. Two fun motorcycles. Here's my Thruxton(another crappy picture do to me being too cheap). Same place on the "Snake"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/capfacsurf/6984453316/in/set-72157629937357509/

Great roads for some fast tight cornering, the bloke on the Haskie should learn to corner without his leg off the foot peg as he is looking for troubles, I ride my Featherbed 850 hard throught tight corners but I am lucky I have build it with high foot pegs and my exhausts are tucked right in so I don't have any problems with scraping at all and have taken my tyres right to the edge, I have scraped my handle bars a few time over the 32 years with the Featherbed and you know what that means ooch when the tyres have been pushed past their limits.

Would have been better it the camera was on your Norton, but you done well and you looked like you all were having lots of fun, even better if it was all British bikes.

Ashley

Thanks guys. Someday I'll buy or borrow a GoPro and shoot some video with gauges and sound to be seen and heard.
The foot down guy is on the Husky 610, I'm in front of him.

I've found a Commando tend to tip to the LH a bit faster/easier than RH, crank or tire spin or what??. Its subtle on tarmac but obvious on THE Gravel but only taking a bit of risk to flick 'hard' enough to notice reaction. One can't really flick hard on Gravel on just flicks right down. Leg will likely be broken at ankle &/or knee, hip w/o bothering or even time to stick it out first.

Had me going sole on the featherbed handle bar touch down, till end soaked in, ugh. Will be a trick to get Peel road stands out of the way. My seeming boasting on tri-linked and long range Roadholder Peel - is for when ya get weary of having to work hard or back off except for hazards in the way....

I think Trixie is up to a ride like this w/o delaying anyone much but that's about all I'd expect to do is just keep up and not blow up. Every now and then she reminds me she's still un-tammed so behave. I can't tell ya the joy to have a bike that only gently slides so far before stopping w/o pilot worrying with changing lean angle aims >>> for picking up the pace. I've stern discipline not to go into blinds that committed anymore. If ya keep picking up pace something funny will happen I grantee so make good decisions ahead of time every time.