ShawnKing
Well-known member
Sport Bike.
Hooligan. Stunters. Wheelies. Young punks. Too much throttle, not enough sense...
All of the above and much more has been said about sport bikes and their riders. All are true, in one form or another, at one time or another.
But I am here today to sing the praises of, if not sport bikes in general than one particular sport bike rider - Sport Bike Guy.
I don't know who he is. I've never seen him before in my life. I'll probably never see him again. But, if I do, I owe him as many beverages of his choice he can suck down.
My wife and I had planned on riding with a bunch of "online friends" through the Catskills this past weekend but, due to her work, we had to bail. I spent Sunday morning, moping around the house until she yelled at me, "Go riding!"
I was probably out the door before she took her next breath...
I am both a fairly new rider and new to the Danbury, CT area. I've been lucky enough to meet up with some fellow riders who know the area well. They've taken me on some wonderful rides and one in particular I really enjoy (mostly cause I can find it by heart now) is Marcus Dairy, CT to Carmel, NY and then on to Cold Spring, NY where I reward myself at one of the local pubs with a chilled adult beverage.
So off I go.
At some point, I "pick up" another rider. He pulls up next to me at a stop light. I don't get a real good look at him but he's wearing full (and seemingly custom designed) leathers and riding what I think is a older Ducati. He looks at me and jokes, "Where's all the thunderstorms we were supposed to have?" I replied, "Let's go find them!"
Light turned green and off I went, thinking nothing more of it.
As we continued on our way, I kept checking my mirrors to see where he was. This route is very popular among riders in general and *fast* riders in particular but traffic can be a big problem and I don't want to slow him up - he's gonna have enough cagers in front of him, he doesn't need me in his way too. But he seemed perfectly content to hang back.
I passed a couple of cars and always checked to make sure he didn't want to get passed me. After a couple more passes, another sport bike joined up behind him. I make a pass and then pull to the right and wave them by, thinking that I'll tail them for a while.
And I did - for about 10 ft....!!!!
They took off like two scalded cats. I had *zero* chance of keeping up with them, even though I tried valiantly. It took all of about 2 turns for them to be absolutely and completely *gone* off my radar. So I dial it back to a leisurely cruise and enjoy the scenery.
After a couple miles or so, Sport Bike Guy was cruising along behind a sedan. I could see him check his mirrors so I knew he knew I was behind him. He signals and makes the pass on the sedan. I followed. He checks his mirrors. Signals and makes another pass.
I follow.
Now, I don't want anyone to think this is some kind of Rossi vs Stoner passing going on here. Sport Bike Guy was making safe, only slightly illegal turns at a moderate rate of (high) speed. He was obviously keeping me with him. But what for?
We are now cruising through the Clarence Fahnestock State Park, for those of you following along at home. Sport Bike Guy Starts signaling left - but there's no one in front of him....and no road to go down to the left...WTF?
He continues to signal for about 1/4 of a mile, all the while waggling his left index finger to the side. Then I see the road on my GPS and the street sign "Dennytown Rd".
The sign should have said, "Heaven for Shawn and his FJR". That would have helped make things clear. Instead, I started to wonder....
Who the hell is this guy? What road is he taking me down? Is he going to do something stupid like pull over and challenge me to a fight? Why? I didn't piss him off....He's pretty scrawny - I could take him.....But what if he has a gun? Seriously...all that stupidity and more ran through my brain in the 200 ft before I finally said, "Screw it.....follow the guy..."
And so it begins....
Sport Bike Guy - I don't know who you are, where you are or anything about you but thank you very much for the most fun 5 miles of road I've been on since my last ride on The Dragon 3 years ago!
This road had everything - off camber, dips, hills, nasty curves, blind corners *with* hills...dear God it was fun! And Sport Bike Guy seemed to know my limits and let me follow him at a pace that he set and was well below his abilities but just at the edge of mine. It was *glorious*. I was literally whooping and hollering, some from the fun, some from the fear, while riding the road. In a completely heterosexual kind of way, I have never been more focused on another's man's ass in my entire life! I never wanted it to end....
But of course it did. And it did in a very poetic way.
Near the end of the road, Sport Bike Guy passed a minvan. I don't have the cojones to make the same kind of pass so I had to bide my time. As we got to the end of the road, Sport Bike Guy zoomed past me going back up Dennytown Rd - he was going for another lap!
He gave me a head nod as he went past and I was determined to catch up to him to find out who he was and what kind of beverage I could buy him. But, by the time I got turned around, he was gone and, without me to slow him down, I had no hope of catching him.
I continued on my way to Cold Spring and stopped in at a pub. As I pulled in, my bike's odometer rolled over to 7000. I've had this bike for exactly 100 days and every mile has been better than the last. I went inside and ordered 2 beers.
Sport Bike Guy, you weren't there so I drank them both but, if you ever see a guy on a black FJR in the area again, pull over. I want to thank you, shake your hand an buy you a beer. You helped me learn things about my bike and myself as a rider. You helped me push the edges of my envelope and make it a little bigger. It ain't manila yet but I'm working on it!
Thanks!
Hooligan. Stunters. Wheelies. Young punks. Too much throttle, not enough sense...
All of the above and much more has been said about sport bikes and their riders. All are true, in one form or another, at one time or another.
But I am here today to sing the praises of, if not sport bikes in general than one particular sport bike rider - Sport Bike Guy.
I don't know who he is. I've never seen him before in my life. I'll probably never see him again. But, if I do, I owe him as many beverages of his choice he can suck down.
My wife and I had planned on riding with a bunch of "online friends" through the Catskills this past weekend but, due to her work, we had to bail. I spent Sunday morning, moping around the house until she yelled at me, "Go riding!"
I was probably out the door before she took her next breath...
I am both a fairly new rider and new to the Danbury, CT area. I've been lucky enough to meet up with some fellow riders who know the area well. They've taken me on some wonderful rides and one in particular I really enjoy (mostly cause I can find it by heart now) is Marcus Dairy, CT to Carmel, NY and then on to Cold Spring, NY where I reward myself at one of the local pubs with a chilled adult beverage.
So off I go.
At some point, I "pick up" another rider. He pulls up next to me at a stop light. I don't get a real good look at him but he's wearing full (and seemingly custom designed) leathers and riding what I think is a older Ducati. He looks at me and jokes, "Where's all the thunderstorms we were supposed to have?" I replied, "Let's go find them!"
Light turned green and off I went, thinking nothing more of it.
As we continued on our way, I kept checking my mirrors to see where he was. This route is very popular among riders in general and *fast* riders in particular but traffic can be a big problem and I don't want to slow him up - he's gonna have enough cagers in front of him, he doesn't need me in his way too. But he seemed perfectly content to hang back.
I passed a couple of cars and always checked to make sure he didn't want to get passed me. After a couple more passes, another sport bike joined up behind him. I make a pass and then pull to the right and wave them by, thinking that I'll tail them for a while.
And I did - for about 10 ft....!!!!
They took off like two scalded cats. I had *zero* chance of keeping up with them, even though I tried valiantly. It took all of about 2 turns for them to be absolutely and completely *gone* off my radar. So I dial it back to a leisurely cruise and enjoy the scenery.
After a couple miles or so, Sport Bike Guy was cruising along behind a sedan. I could see him check his mirrors so I knew he knew I was behind him. He signals and makes the pass on the sedan. I followed. He checks his mirrors. Signals and makes another pass.
I follow.
Now, I don't want anyone to think this is some kind of Rossi vs Stoner passing going on here. Sport Bike Guy was making safe, only slightly illegal turns at a moderate rate of (high) speed. He was obviously keeping me with him. But what for?
We are now cruising through the Clarence Fahnestock State Park, for those of you following along at home. Sport Bike Guy Starts signaling left - but there's no one in front of him....and no road to go down to the left...WTF?
He continues to signal for about 1/4 of a mile, all the while waggling his left index finger to the side. Then I see the road on my GPS and the street sign "Dennytown Rd".
The sign should have said, "Heaven for Shawn and his FJR". That would have helped make things clear. Instead, I started to wonder....
Who the hell is this guy? What road is he taking me down? Is he going to do something stupid like pull over and challenge me to a fight? Why? I didn't piss him off....He's pretty scrawny - I could take him.....But what if he has a gun? Seriously...all that stupidity and more ran through my brain in the 200 ft before I finally said, "Screw it.....follow the guy..."
And so it begins....
Sport Bike Guy - I don't know who you are, where you are or anything about you but thank you very much for the most fun 5 miles of road I've been on since my last ride on The Dragon 3 years ago!
This road had everything - off camber, dips, hills, nasty curves, blind corners *with* hills...dear God it was fun! And Sport Bike Guy seemed to know my limits and let me follow him at a pace that he set and was well below his abilities but just at the edge of mine. It was *glorious*. I was literally whooping and hollering, some from the fun, some from the fear, while riding the road. In a completely heterosexual kind of way, I have never been more focused on another's man's ass in my entire life! I never wanted it to end....
But of course it did. And it did in a very poetic way.
Near the end of the road, Sport Bike Guy passed a minvan. I don't have the cojones to make the same kind of pass so I had to bide my time. As we got to the end of the road, Sport Bike Guy zoomed past me going back up Dennytown Rd - he was going for another lap!
He gave me a head nod as he went past and I was determined to catch up to him to find out who he was and what kind of beverage I could buy him. But, by the time I got turned around, he was gone and, without me to slow him down, I had no hope of catching him.
I continued on my way to Cold Spring and stopped in at a pub. As I pulled in, my bike's odometer rolled over to 7000. I've had this bike for exactly 100 days and every mile has been better than the last. I went inside and ordered 2 beers.
Sport Bike Guy, you weren't there so I drank them both but, if you ever see a guy on a black FJR in the area again, pull over. I want to thank you, shake your hand an buy you a beer. You helped me learn things about my bike and myself as a rider. You helped me push the edges of my envelope and make it a little bigger. It ain't manila yet but I'm working on it!
Thanks!
Last edited by a moderator:
So cool.
