Ability Vs Bike.

[Nick_Giles]

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How many people consider that their bike is governing their ride over the other way round of the bike is far more capable than they are.?

I can fully understand why people wish to own and ride a top end machine and not ride it to the maximum. - 'Because they can' is IMHO a good enough and valid reason.

Has anyone 'overbiked' themselves too soon.?

Or do they feel that their present ride is not enough and their abilities are greater than their bikes.?

Me.! .......... Well I ride a 600 Hornet and I am the first to admit it's capabilities are far, far in excess of any that I posess.


Nick
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Peter Cook: "I have learned from my mistakes, and I am sure I can repeat them exactly".

[martyn107]

I love riding but I can definitely say that the bike isn't holding me back lol

[UrbanRacer]

I own a BMW S1000RR and i would definitely say the bike is holding me back.

[fozzym]

I'd say the limiting factor is the road more than the bike or the rider. I wouldn't imagine that anyone on a any machine above 125cc is capable of taking their bike to anywhere near the limit if they are observing the laws of the road. And even if riding without regard to the law the road conditions and other road users limit what you can do greatly if you want to stay alive.

Take a bike on the track and thats a different matter, I'd say that very few riders even in the fast group of a track day have the ability to use the bike to the limit around the whole of a lap and then consistently lap after lap.
Plenty of track day riders in all groups have the ability to take their bike to the limit but can't do it consistently and don't have the ability to ride the track in such a way to really push the bike to the absolute edge.

The quick answer is that in general the bike is lots better than the rider!

[Musketeer]

ZX-6R seem to be enough bike for me. Not as exciting as it used to be though.

I need to do some track days I think.
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Current Bike: Yamaha XSR900 Previous bikes: Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja, Aprilia RS125 2-stroke

[Slacker24seve...]

It took me about 18 months to feel like I'd really outgrown my Hornet. I was by no means using all of its capabilities but I was getting to the point where the suspension was getting into a flap and I wanted more go. I'd also stopped crashing, which was a good sign.

I think my Daytona is spot on for where I am now; its still silly fast and more than enough for me. I have no real interest in getting a thou, I've been on 6 or so and would lose my licence or some limbs and braincells. I would probably consider an 848 next or, if I came into some money, the new MV 800. My current bike will do everything I ask of it, including trackdays, so I'm very happy. I certainly don't think I wish I was going faster on the road.

I don't think you'll find many people who will say they've gone too big too early. The majority will be extremely happy and riding around like their bollocks on fire and the others won't be here to post.
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Triumph Daytona 675 track bike + girlfriend's Honda Hornet 600
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Banger rallies are ace

[DrSnoosnoo]

A guy I know said his ZZR6E was holding him back, he "could make it do anything he wanted" . So he got a ZX6R. 2 weeks passed and he lowsided it into the side of a car....
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I'm Sam; Northern, Ginger, Lover
Did have: '95 ZZR600 '83 CG125 '97 ZZR1100 '15 Hypermotard 821 SP Do Have: '10 ZX10R

[Rogerborg]

[maxp]

If you're talking about track days, then I will raise both my hands and say without a shadow of a doubt a better man would easily outride me (even on my zxr400).

However, unless you ride an absolute putt putt, keeping within the boundaries of mr highway code should rarely see the bike 'holding the rider back'.

[Teflon-Mike]

"Capability" is very subjective.
Motorcycles have many 'capabilities'... accross a broad spectrum of both their performance & their use.

My trials bike has fantastic 'off-road' 'performance' capabilities - it has very little 'capability' to comfortably carry a pillion... (or even a rider, one might suggest!)

My 125 has very limited performance capabilities, but pretty impressive ecconomy capability.

The 750, has a wonderfull 'all-round' capability... though not particular area of excellence in any.

Can I, Do I get the 'most' out of my machine? Do I use ALL its capability?

Well, without being a bit more specific about which particular capability... you cant say.

I could get 100% of the performance capability from the 125 Super-Dream.... possibly a tad more.... but whilst doing it... I wouldn't be getting the full ecconomy capabilityh, and I sure as heck wouldn;t be doing it whilst utilising its capability to carry a passenger and luggage in the top box!

Trials Bike? and 'performance capabilities'... now there is an interesting question; because I have owned and competed that bike, without significant change, other than repairing damage, for quarter of a century.

Good reason for that; eliminating variables. And trials is a sport where you can do that; it's not machine dependant. So, I have been able to consistantly measure MY ability by my results in competition over the years, which have not been influenced by having a better bike or making a bad mod to it.

Now. I've owned that bike quarter of a century, and it wasn't new when I bought it. 1981 Montesa Cota 248, it was that years over-the counter clubman machine, the factory 'Replica' of the bike Ulf Karlsson won that years World Championship on. So state of the art about thirty something years ago! And one of the last World-Class Competative 'Twin-Shock' trials bikes, it was rendered obsolete even as a clubman tool in 'contemprary' competition within five years, by the evolution of the mono-shock bikes. Conveniently, within five years of me buying it, they created a new 'budget' class for the old T-Shocks, which made my bike reasonably competative, in a 'frozen' field where technology.... theoretically... ought not move on.... It has... and as the class has become more of a classic one than a budget one, we now often see a split field, of folk running show-room resto-jobs for fun, and dead keep super-regulation-specials, that have got the latest Mikuni-Carbs, and Yamaha Reed-blocks milled into thier old air-cooled barel bases, that were originally piston ported and fed with a crude Bing, and ignited by programmeable electronic ignition, rather than static timed points & condenser... but hey ho.

Over the years, steadily improving my field rankings, to start actually start getting the odd placing in some events, I'm a fairly competant rider.

Is the bike holding me back? Yes and no. Kept stock, yes I could find improvements by getting more seriouse and doing some of the more involved regulation-special mods..... but at the same time, there are riders in class, I know I could climb on my bike and still show me more than a thing or two.

And I think that, if we were ever truly honest with ourselves; THAT is the reality for most people, no matter how good they are or think they are.

You get to a level, and unless it is the top flite, front line of factory competition, where you are an aknowledged 'ace' amongst aces... you will always have room for improvement. Even teh greats were looking for ways to be better riders and get that extra 'nth' from whatever they had, whilst thier mechanics were doing likewise trying to find a similar n'th of extra from the bike.

At the level of Moto-GP... those n'ths are microscopic, 100ths of a second a lap differences, where every one counts when the chequered flag is in sight....

At the level of the typical road-rider.... those margins for improvement are pretty huge, and within the realms of real-world road riding? No... if you are even TRYING to give it 10/10ths of your ability, let alone the bikes, you aren't long for this world!

I mean even Joey talking about road-racing on the island, said, you may TRY and give it all you have, but you always have that tiny margin for error holding you back, unlike a closed circuit race where you can give it 11/10th secure in the knowledge that there's a wide run off, a gravel trap and a marshall on hand if all goes wrong!

So, yeah... I'll say, that its pretty much given, NO-ONE uses 100% of their bikes capability..... because as said... capacility covers a multitude of metrics, and some are simply mutually exclusive; you have max speed AND max economy at the same time, and both are 'capabilities' of the bike..... while unless you are Pro Moto-GP Ace, there is still room for rider improvement, as even THEY are looking for it.
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Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Alpha-9]

I love my bike
But if I had got any other bike i'd be saying
I love my bike

It's a bit heavy though, not bothered about riding to it's potential it's an inanimate object and a commuter so who gives a shit, long as I can scrape the pegs and not crash it i'm happy

I just wish the speed limits were higher
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Fzr-600 1999

[T0MMY]

The thing is, even the top MotoGP riders are not getting everything out of their bikes unless you believe that at any point they are literally riding perfectly and it would be physically impossible to go any faster.

If buying a more capable bike allows you to go faster (on a track I'm meaning) then you could happily say the bike was indeed holding you back, even if technically you could have gone faster on it.

I thought about this a bit when I went from my venerable ZX6R to my swanky CBR6RR...I could have probably gone a bit faster on the ZX6 but you get to a point where you stop improving and therein lies the limit of your ability Of course if you go no quicker on a more capable bike then it is you that's the weak link, not the machine

I would dearly love to know what lap time someone like Pedrosa could get out of a standard bike like mine around a track I've done...would be interesting to know just what difference that level of skill could produce. Anyone know of anything like that being done by a bike magazine or something on a UK track?
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ZX6R + CBR600RR

[Turkish]

I have inch wide chicken strips; I don't think the bike is holding me back.
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ZX-6R G2
CBR125R RW6

[pinkyfloyd]

I was holding my Firestorm back. I know it could have cornered, ridden, etc better than I could on it. When I backed off she would have happily kept going.

The XJ6 I find myself a lot more comfortable on it and I can throw it around a lot easier than I could the Storm. But I would still say I do not get the full potential out of the bike yet she gets the full potential out of me.

Although that potential is improving and the distance between my ability and the bikes limit is slowly getting less.
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illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[1cyl]

As i can now knee down the 125 everytime i go out (got a perfect bend at bottom of my road ) and scrub off speed without crashing in a steadily improving manner, i'm pretty sure its capabilitys are nearly maxed by my ability .

SMC.......
Well, This is me:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFd4t0M_XmU

In my dreams
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The SMC | The Pit | Stable

[Sako]

[Sload]

I highly doubt any of you are being held back by your bike in reality ( that includes me). The bike will undoubtedly go faster then you can manage, but the more capable the bike, the easier it is.

For an unscientific view, look at F1 drivers versus the regulars in the top gear car test times.

For me personally, in a straight line I cant really coax much more out of it, in the corners I have much to learn and the bike excels far beyond my ability.
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Honda Varadero >> Triumph Speed Four >> Honda CBR1100xx

[Matt94]

I think I COULD get knee down.. but every time I get to a certain angle of lean something scrapes along the floor and I honestly don't have a clue..

The only thing I think of is footpegs but there's no sign of visible scraping..
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current; beemer 5 series!

[Old Git Racing]

[johnsmith222]

[evoboy]

I have had to change the shock and forks on my Z750 as it was getting very out of shape after only owning it a month or 2 .

Doesnt feel like im 'on the limit' as much anymore.

Not really sure what people mean by 'being held back' by the bike.
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Suzuki GT250 x7------- Fazer 600------CB250RS------Aprilia Rally 70----- Bandit 600

APT Motorcycles

[T0MMY]

[recman]

I'm reasonably happy with my cornering abilities at the moment although I know the bike is way more capable than I'll ever be.
I'm also happy that I've only taken the rev counter up to about 9 to 10k, again well within its maximum but usually enough to keep pace with most legal ride-outs.
I'm not trying to preserve the bike at all, its just that I know it has much more fun inside than I'll ever need.

[evoboy]

[C1REX]

I own a nc700s and it's way more than enough for me.

I'm also very happy with my choice.
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