True confession: and I feel guilty (seriously), but I was late for an appointment and rode that K1300GT wicked fast and grossly irresponsibly. If any car made any unexpected move—intentionally or otherwise—that would have been curtains for me.

Of course, the bike will do nothing to discourage such behavior; the engine comes alive and only encourages you to push it further. If the bike wasn’t so well engineered, I’d probably be dead now. Handling, stability in every condition, and superior brakes saved my bacon.

I cannot ride like this again ever. I feel like I perverted motorcycling by putting forth a reinforcing image that motorcycling is irresponsible. Terrible. At 57 years of age I know better, or I should, anyhow.

I bet you were still grinning as you wrote this.

Ok James, one Our Father and three Hail Marys should do it. Now get out there and twist that grip but just remember, the badging on the side does say GT!



Pat

Watching the movie, “Faster” right now. What’s amazing to me is modern day sport bikes will give these moto-go bikes of 15 years ago a good run around the track. The BMW S1000R or a top of the line Ducati or an R1, it’s be interesting to see.

Seeing all these motorcycle road race crashes is sobering. I certainly cannot afford to experience that in my life. So I need to slow down!

Ten years away from the sport may have changed the enjoyment level you once received from it. FYI, there's nothing to be ashamed of in that. It sounds like you're questioning yourself, big-time.

Pat

Your still alive so you have been forgiven but don't use up all your forgivens foolishly.

My skills have hugely deteriorated over the past decade. I find I often have to verbally remind myself to countersteer whereas it used to come naturally. I feel terribly guilty when I know I have ridden over my head as I have people who depend on me to exercise good sense to stay alive. I cannot allow myself to let them down. Slowly, ride by ride, my skills are coming back.

Yes, your skill set will sharpen with every ride. By now it's pretty obvious you have re-entered a sport that has become more dangerous than it was ten years ago, IMO anyway. With all the added distractions drivers are tempted with and on top of that, the ones that just CDFS, you need to be on your game 100%, all the time. It's a big judgment call on whether the risk is worth the reward. It's an even tougher call to make when people absolutely depend on you.

Pat

Interesting. I too spent 10 years away from riding. I had about 50 years experience on two wheels when, in 2007, I stopped riding because a job assignment prevented it. Last year, I took up riding again. I am not aware of any loss of ability. In fact, if anything I may be a better rider now than when I stopped 10 years ago. I spend more time now consciously working on my skills, whereas before, riding was more a matter of transportation.