Now owing Rocket 3, how do you tolerate other bikes? What would your next bike be?

Poor roads, yeah I can relate. It's funny, when I'm driving my car around my local open road environment I find myself thinking about road positioning for upcoming corners and road surface issues etc ,as if I was on the bike. I'm like, move right for the start of this bridge because there's a big bump in the centre of the road, won't matter in the slightest to a 4 wheeler, but my brain is still on bike mode, prob wishing I was on the bike.
Same here with iron manhole covers. They like to put them on bend apexes. Many's the time I've seen one last second and had to hang off the bike and push it upright so I don't get high-sided.
 
Same here with iron manhole covers. They like to put them on bend apexes. Many's the time I've seen one last second and had to hang off the bike and push it upright so I don't get high-sided.

Out here we have what is called open range meaning cattle is going to be in the road so they use cattle guards (about 5 steel beams across the road in the road) not to bad in a straight line just a bump when you go over it.
but when it is in a bend it becomes a real pucker moment you have to try to stand the bike up while going over then back in the lean mode to make the corner.
 
It would be a YouTube moment for sure and probably not good for the internals at all with no road to push back.

Out here we have what is called open range meaning cattle is going to be in the road so they use cattle guards (about 5 steel beams across the road in the road) not to bad in a straight line just a bump when you go over it.
but when it is in a bend it becomes a real pucker moment you have to try to stand the bike up while going over then back in the lean mode to make the corner.
We have the same set up here, we call them Cattle Stops, usually 5-6 lengths of rail lines across the road. One in particular comes to mind & I'm sure Tal knows it too, there's a few cattle stops on the summit road in Christchurch, the one I'm thinking of is on the road from Sign of the Kiwi to Gebbies pass, just after you go through to the Governers bay side. It's on a corner and slippery as when wet. I always used to try & cross that one upright (ish)
 
cattle stops/cattle guards
in a right hand turn wet my el Camino turned side ways
in a straight on wet my sportster gained about 2000 rpm was like i hit a patch of ice
 
Out here we have what is called open range meaning cattle is going to be in the road so they use cattle guards (about 5 steel beams across the road in the road) not to bad in a straight line just a bump when you go over it.
but when it is in a bend it becomes a real pucker moment you have to try to stand the bike up while going over then back in the lean mode to make the corner.

We have them too. In the UK they're called Cattle Grids.

Take them totally straight & at 90degrees to the grid & no touchy brakey when passing over, or you're toast.
 
Being one of the lucky few with that absurd low-end torque, how do you tolerate bikes?
Is there any bike out there that could actually eclipse the Rocket in your eyes, what will be your next bike?
I test rode a speed twin 1200 yesterday.
It's an animal. The shove is instantaneous and more aggressive than the rocket.
It's quite lighter and has that 2 cylinder torque. Quite a violent motorcycle. Get a test ride and you'll see what I'm talking about.
 
Out here we have what is called open range meaning cattle is going to be in the road so they use cattle guards (about 5 steel beams across the road in the road) not to bad in a straight line just a bump when you go over it.
but when it is in a bend it becomes a real pucker moment you have to try to stand the bike up while going over then back in the lean mode to make the corner.
As Jagster says above we have them too - cattle grids. There's a lot on the moors where I live which is all open land. Usually they're on straight sections but there's a couple on bends on fast twisty sections. Luckily they're all marked with red triangle warning signs and there's always a gate next to them for horses and horse-drawn vehicles, so you should (should...) see them coming.

Round here, more dangerous than the ironmongery they build into the road surface is the road itself. Being moorland there are no visual clues where the road is going. No hedges, no walls, no telephone poles, no trees and the roads are full of tight bends and sudden dips. You should always only ride to the road you can see but wide open landscapes can play tricks on your sense of perspective. You could be approaching a crest and see the road beyond meandering away on what looks to be just the other side of the rise, appearing to be closer than it really is, and then when you crest the rise there's suddenly half a mile of sudden dips and tight bends in between that you weren't expecting. And often no roadside signs warning what's ahead. You really have to learn the roads and quite a few people come unstuck.
TBH these roads are not the Rocket's natural habitat. It's not a bike that welcomes a sudden change of plan at the last minute.
 
Back
Top