Riding twisties (waffling thread)

[notbike]

Anyone here frequent their local twisties?

I just went on a 100ish and 200+ mile ride yesterday and today all through twisties, well once we got outside of London that is. Apparently it took very long to do that distance because we didn't take any motorways.

There's lots of nice (and shit) roads between London and Nottingham. He knows the exact route, I was just following, so I dunno where exactly we did go but there were lots of bendy roads, no street lamps, and plenty of roadkill. Oh and at one point we managed to go off-road and get stuck and turn back up a hill by which point I'd nearly dropped the bike 3 times.

But yeah, twisties. Never done them before, was quite fun and also difficult to keep up with an SV1000 on my little 300. Some bikers were easily gunning it over 100mph and I was pootling along at 60/70ish like "holy shit". Needless to say it was actually a pretty eye opening experience for me. First time actually reading bends. Very surprised by how tiring it gets.

My arse is killing me from being in the saddle far too long, and I had to get earplugs because I found out that 80mph+ for more than an hour gets very tiring on your ears.

I sort of came to the realization at the end of it all, how I know for a fact I couldn't do that kind of riding very often.

How do you country dwellers cope with riding those roads as part of a daily commute? (Assuming you don't just motorway your entire commute)

Also how do you not get a sore arse from doing over 200 miles?

Keep hearing bikers with their iron bums spout this "haha 200 miles is a casual day for me! You novice hurhuehuehue" shit.

/coolstorybro

[kerr]

I generally hate straight roads, i lose the will to live on motorways, for me a bike is all about the twisty roads.

This is pretty much on my doorstep, fairly decent wee road, even better if the council paid more attention to the road surface in places, i generally use it whenever im heading to fife.

https://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii265/BIGKERR/Screenshot%204.png
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[TheSmiler]

Tintern twisties just around the corner, frequent it in the good weather a few every few weeks. Although it's not that good in the summer as you get a stupid amount of leotard cyclists.

https://goo.gl/maps/PCvLe
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[Beehive Bedlam]

I start feeling fatigue on my Fazer after 150 - 200 miles and need a rest the double bubble does nothing but direct wind straight into my skull which is probably why. I don't ever get a sore buttocks.

The Varadero 1000 or something very similar is going to be my next bike.

[Lord Percy]

I agree about straight roads being killer.

Although also I think a 200 mile journey will also always be killer.

I didn't even think it was a thing to get fatigued in the way you describe, but I did Yorkshire to Reading on a CBT so had to take A roads and navigate various other non-straight bits, it took about 8 hours and destroyed me.

Short twisty journeys are fine though.

I guess if it becomes a regular thing, the marathon journeys would be fine too. Like long distance running - you generally won't be able to cope until you've had a bit of training.

[talkToTheHat]

A quiet motorway or dual carriageway is hellishly boring to me. I'm lucky in that if I leave mine in one direction, I've hit a trunk route by the time the engine is warm, and turning the other way sees an NSL board and twisties in in a similar distance.

I regularly supplement the 5 or so miles I actually need my bike for with 10-20 miles of twisties because I can, and occaisonlly use a tankful because I had nowhere else to be.

I have M.E. and have to be careful just how much I take on and a few hours of riding twisties on a good day is something I will probably pay for the follwing days, but so long as I'm smooth then it's better than urban riding. Compare that to 45 minutes of 'endurance' racing lawnmowery karts at what i think was a reasonbly average indoor facility, which gave me severe difficulties holding on to my victory drink.

However, a lot of motorcycle discomfort is not caused by the physicality of riding unless one is riding like it was a track day and clearly not fit, but through how the bike is ridden and the clothes worn. Riding with muscles tensed up when they dont need to be not only hastens fatigue, but impairs control. Clothing that is too tight in a riding position or that becomes saturatred with sweat when riding hard will quickly make a ride painful.

Examples of this include leather trousers that are too tight across the thighs or backside, impairing circulation or proper muscle motion. Looser fitting touring jeans without stretch panels are paradoxically worse for this than sporty kit that fits closely but have adequate stretch panels. Textile kit with badly fitted thermal lining can bunch up and create pressure points. Choice of underwear is also a factor. Base layers that provide mild support and compression are useful on longer rides, it is easier to find thermal varieties for longer winter rides and milsurp longjohns or similar can work well for minimal investment in winter. I understand summer items made with coolmax exist, but beyond a few t-shirts from my cycling days this is something I have not really investigated as it is cold a lot more often than it is hot.

On longer distances and at higher speeds, managing windblast is probably a thing. I know 30 miles of strong side winds is more than enough for me and the effect of sportrsbike fairings at high speed is mentioned above. I don't have a solution for this beyond the thinking that my lack of a screen makes riding flat out for any length of time unattractive, and wondering whether a screen would just make my neck hurt more and cause windy days to throw my bike about more.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[wr6133]

[chickenstrip]

Twisties!

That's what biking is all about for me, always has been. That's where you you get to improve and test your riding skills, and it all becomes fun, rather than just a journey.

I think maybe you're talking about small B roads though? Depends on the state of them. Some are great, some are rough, bumpy little lanes covered in farm shit and with tractors around every blind bend, that are best avoided (most of the time). Wales has some great little B roads, and sometimes the scenery can compensate for a poor surface somewhat. All worth riding now and then, but depends on the mood.

But lining up the corners, flicking it in, powering out, point and squirt; that's where it's at, and if it's a bit of a rollercoaster, so much the better. There's one near me that is part of a circuit sometimes called the Charlbury TT - great in summer, but testing, potentially dangerous at speed, never max it out on that one, always keep a little bit in hand for the unexpected around a blind bend. But I've now learned which bits I can open it up a little on in relative safety, and where to be more cautious. Once you know the roads and what to expect, then you can relax a little.

My longest day ride just for fun, starting and finishing at home, was just shy of 500 miles. That was really just a bit too long for me, was knackered at the end of the day and threw a sickie from work next day to put my feet up But come the good summer weather, I'll happily do 350 in a day just for a spin. If the roads, the scenery, the company are good, I'll be disappointed when it's time to head for home on such a day.

Each to their own though; some folks don't like doing that kind of mileage just for a Sunday spin, nowt wrong with that. But the more you do it, the more you get used to it. I'm at a point now where long rides are tiring coming out of being on the bike less through the winter, but I'll soon get back in my stride.

Hmmm, might have taken the wafflin' a bit too far
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[Supermoto_Fan]

I've never found mileage a problem.

For example last year 3 of us rode up the Derbyshire dales for a long weekend.

Took all day going up there through the scenic country route, probably 6 - 7 hours in the saddle. But because we had to stop for fuel every so often it broke the distance up. And then when you factor in tea and lunch breaks you can easily break up a 300 mile day into doable chunks.

On the return journey from my summer tour abroad in August, we will be blasting back on the auto routes in 2 days, 400 miles each. Not fun but we would of had our fun coming down and spending a week on the riverera
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Yamaha MT-09 - Triple powerrrr

[Groove]

I live in suffolk. Suffolk aand Norfolk do not have motorways. Infact, the closest motorway from my doorstep is a shade over 100 miles I think.

There's the a12 and a14 which are long boring dual carriage ways but I tend to stick to the smaller roads.

Bikes are meant for corners.
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|| Past: 1991 Kawasaki ZXR 250 ~ 2003 Honda CBR 600 F Sport ~ 2004 Kawasaki ZX6R B1H 636 ~ 1999 Yamaha R1 ~ 1999 Kawasaki ZX6R J ~ 2004 Kawasaki ZX6R B1H 636 ~ 1998 Honda VTR1000F Firestorm ~ K1 GSXR 600 Track bike ~ K6 GSXR 1000 ~ 2006 Speed Triple 1050 || Current: 2005 R1 https://www.adrucore.co.uk

[mentalboy]

[J0Al1]

Twisty (rural), is all I do by choice. It's more natural to me, probably because I've grown up using country lanes.

Used to find busy urban roads daunting on a bike, esp lots of lane swapping. I can see that's a whole sifferent skill, one of which I'm happier with now, but will still be slow in unknown busy places.

[iooi]

To ease the arse... Get some cycling shorts with the padding in the right area

I find riding the country lanes/twisties far easier than any city commute.
As you do not need eye's in the back of your head looking at what everyone is doing.

And last.... DO NOT try to keep up with someone else and push yourself to a point beyond your abilities.
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[rideslikean00...]

Motorways are only fun at night when there's little to no traffic and you just want the thrill of speed, straight line hero style. Personally I prefer a bit less pace and a lot more bends.

Almost my entire work commute is twisty back roads, I absolutely love it. There's roadworks on a few of the ones I sometimes use at the moment but when they're all open I have a choice of which to pick, it's like they're on a difficulty curve of easy/medium/hard/only when the weather is really really good cos dangerous if not. I'm by no means a great rider yet (working on it), but I know where all the risk spots are, where I can and can't overtake slow moving traffic, how far I can lean in given dry tarmac (recently the answer is a lot more than I realised).

Two hundred miles is a fair old stretch, personally I'd stop every 50-70 miles and stretch legs, let the bike cool down a bit, as I did when I went up to Nottingham to see family last year.
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Previous/Current Bikes
2013 Yamaha YBR-125ED -> 1997 Yamaha YZF-1000R Thunderace -> 2009 Yamaha XJ-6 Diversion -> 2007 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer S2

[Dave70]

Twisties are the only thing that I miss about the IoM. Especially when on a 125 when someone on a bigger bike hoons off and leaves you behind, that is until you hit another twisty section and you catch them up to say "hello again", then they hoon off once more and you'd catch them up on the next section of twisties and so it'd go on and on it's even more fun if you are still displaying L plates

I've still yet to find a decent route that is full of twisties that I can make into a decent lap since moving back here. I guess I was spoiled over there, with having the TT course to play on 365 days a year.
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2012: R125 killed by white van. 2016 R125 killed by 30,000 miles of redline. Current: 2016 Kawasaki ER6f.

[Seb]

I was quicker along my local twisties on my GS500 than the old SP1

Sorted suspension, tyres you can trust and some faith in the road surface is far more important than 100+ bhp on the technical stuff

*edit* Real twisties!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qReENhjdes
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2010 Triumph 1050 Sprint ST

[grr666]

My last ride was 320+ miles across the course of a day.
Had to stop for a walk and a coffee at the services on the final leg of the run, I had a bit of cramp.
But I don't fit particularly well on my bike and find it cramped when I am in full leathers.
But I agree with the above points about twisties being the reason I ride
(and drive actually) I've always had sporty hatchbacks/cars and have always gotten the most out of them
on twisty roads/track days.
My car can cross country at frankly surprising pace because 265bhp, loads of grip in all weathers because quattro and
all in all it's a pretty effortless thing to be blatting along in. The biking is just a natural extension
of that but much more involved. I'm lucky to live less than a mile from some of Somersets loveliest riding/driving roads
and we are so spoilt for choice with twisties here with Wales a short hop away as well.
Looking for a new challenge this year so will be after my first litre bike. The 2015 Z1000SX is ticking my boxes right now.
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[notbike]

Judging from what a lot of you guys are saying it's probably down to preference and what you're used to.

I did like the fact that when you're on a country road you're mostly looking ahead rather than having to focus on what numpty is trying to shift into your lane and squish you. The whole eyes in the back of your head thing isn't as needed as in the city. Also what was interesting was actually having no traffic for once, and having a road that stretched on and on instead of suddenly becoming another T junction after half a mile. Lots of bloody roundabouts XD

The ninja was easy to flick around the corners and I'd catch up to the SV1000 in some of the bends but on the straights he'd disappear. There were a few hairy moments where I read bends wrong :S my friend told me "In slow accelerate out, in fast ambulance out" which eventually ended up sticking in my head.

It is great fun, but I couldn't do it every day. City riding isn't as fun but you get to see some funny shit every day.

[FlightRisk]

[Albigularis]

I have done some riding on twisties on the Street Triple which was awesome. Was great fun to just throw the bike about and not worry about PC Plod lurking in an unmarked car or hiding in a hedge somewhere.

Motorways are quite boring, although they can be made fun by maintaining a speed at least twice the limit. Mind you, small bottle-lid size holes and any bumpy sections turn into jumps at that speed.
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Biking history so far-
Aprilia RS125 - Kawasaki ZXR400 - Triumph Street Triple R - Suzuki GSXR1000 L3 - BMW R1200GS - Kawasaki Z1000 - Kawasaki ZX10R C1H - Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Touring - Suzuki Hayabusa

[notbike]

[rideslikean00...]

[The Tot]

The best game to play in the twsties is

"do not show your brake lights" - It's about being smooth and flowy. Don't go out riding twisties with the intention of aiming for corner speed or being a demon late-braker. If you're out riding with mates, just hold back a few hundred metres so that you have your "play-space". You'll find that if you have a more flowy ride, even if you're riding at 50%, you'd soon find yourself riding that bit quicker. Hazard perception and resisting the urge to fixate on targets or get distracted is the tricky bit for the roads.

But, with time and experience, you'd be able to read corners better and more importantly, enjoy your ride a bit more. If you haven't done so, try having watch of Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist 2.

Here's the youtube link and worth a read, especially if you're relatively new

Slow in - Fast out
Hold out until as late as possible/safe as possible before you turn in, in order to assess the bend and also having the most drive through and out of the corner(important in your case since you have only 300cc)
Enter the bend at the right speed and the right gear, and do all your speed adjustment before your turn in with weight evenly distrubuted on the front and rear tyres. Again - watch Twist

As for distance, I never found it to be an issue. I do a lot of mountain biking and weights, so my core and back are in fine fettle. It's really good what 45 mins of cycling to and work does for you each day, in addition to pressups and chinups.

PS London is boring - If you want good roads that aren't too far, head west. Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire all have very good roads. The cotswolds have many rolling hills and elevation changes. Relatively little traffic and I generally don't get too much hassle.
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[Wull]

I'm pretty jammy,where I live its nothing but twisties,on my doorstep for miles upon miles.

Best biking roads by far.
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"Scooters are for men who want to ride motorcycles but prefer to feel the wind on their vaginas"

[P.]

Should definitely come join us for some early morning rides down the south coat of Kent