Anybody lowered floorboards?
- Thread starter DodahMan
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barbagris
Mad Scientist
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- Aug 1, 2010
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- On the verge of insanity
- Ride
- 1979 Guzzi V1000G5 - 2018 KTM 790 Duke
It's all down to the old adage - "Horses for courses". For it's size and geometry (and to some extent weight) the R3 is surprisingly nimble. It really is. I have ridden lighter bikes that are very sluggish and for no obvious reason.
But it does depend on your skills and experience (and to no small extent - mind set) - But no doubt at all there are indeed roads where it is simply not as easy to ride fast safely. AND there is no doubt at all in my mind - you NEED TO BE 100% comfortably seated to ride fast safely. If you feel the bars are a bit too high, wide, otherwise odd : you do not have full control. Ditto feet and bum. Ride without this being the case - this is 100% your fault - not the bike's. But lowering the boards would be my last recourse. Not my first. Ground clearance is finite.
Around me here - the majority of roads are R3 friendly - but turn off onto the back roads and it very quickly becomes unwieldy. This includes my route options to work. The wheelbase is too long and various other factors conspire to make it less useful than my 1979 Guzzi.
The R3 is also (ime) a terrible bike for use in city traffic. I'd rather ride a Honda Cub.
Where my mum lives in the UK - pretty much all the roads are narrow, poorly surfaced and otherwise R3-unfriendly.
OK some of this has to do with familiarity - I have had the Guzzi since 1982 and learned to do back-laning on Guzzis - but can also attest to the fact that on those same lanes (then as now) similarly aged Ducati's will have issues whereas Laverdas will blast through.
I am not what I consider (from my group riding experience in the UK) a hard rider. I do NOT like touching down at all. And with age has come a a sense of calm that will NOT allow adrenaline to take over. But over distance I am fast. I cover distances way faster than my peers here (and before in the UK too) - I cant say I have peer-peer experience as I now ride alone - always.
But it does depend on your skills and experience (and to no small extent - mind set) - But no doubt at all there are indeed roads where it is simply not as easy to ride fast safely. AND there is no doubt at all in my mind - you NEED TO BE 100% comfortably seated to ride fast safely. If you feel the bars are a bit too high, wide, otherwise odd : you do not have full control. Ditto feet and bum. Ride without this being the case - this is 100% your fault - not the bike's. But lowering the boards would be my last recourse. Not my first. Ground clearance is finite.
Around me here - the majority of roads are R3 friendly - but turn off onto the back roads and it very quickly becomes unwieldy. This includes my route options to work. The wheelbase is too long and various other factors conspire to make it less useful than my 1979 Guzzi.
The R3 is also (ime) a terrible bike for use in city traffic. I'd rather ride a Honda Cub.
Where my mum lives in the UK - pretty much all the roads are narrow, poorly surfaced and otherwise R3-unfriendly.
OK some of this has to do with familiarity - I have had the Guzzi since 1982 and learned to do back-laning on Guzzis - but can also attest to the fact that on those same lanes (then as now) similarly aged Ducati's will have issues whereas Laverdas will blast through.
I am not what I consider (from my group riding experience in the UK) a hard rider. I do NOT like touching down at all. And with age has come a a sense of calm that will NOT allow adrenaline to take over. But over distance I am fast. I cover distances way faster than my peers here (and before in the UK too) - I cant say I have peer-peer experience as I now ride alone - always.
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