Road riding - do you still enjoy it?

[WizzBang]

Sold my R1 (my perfect road biased sports bike) in January this year after riding on the road less and less.  There were obvious events that led to road riding becoming a lot less enjoyable, the main one doesn't need bringing up again, but track riding over the past years has certainly made me see road riding in a completely different light from when I first passed my test.

It's now been nearly a year since I've ridden on the road, and I haven't missed it one bit, although I've been hankering after more 2 wheel shenanigans other than trackdays.

[Farmer Giles]

Im loving it again after getting myself off of a sports bike..  No need to silly speeds any more on the FZ8, it just as much fun riding around and you get the bonus of not having a sore arse, wrists, neck etc etc from being the prone position all the time..

[Steve R1]

i love riding my bike on the road despite how shit they are in this part of the world
just the fact i'm on a motorbike rather than stuck in a car is reason enough for me
if the buzz of going fast is only reason you own a bike then stick to the track
but if you ride a bike because you love motorbikes and love the freedom it brings it shouldn't matter how fast your riding
this is first year in a few years i have had alternative transport to the bike over the winter
but i've still managed to get on the bike at least once a week and still fucking love it and come home with big smile on my face

Plus 1.

Totally agree. We all ride because we love it, track or road it both, sports bikes, naked whatever .... You ride whatever bike you like we are all different. I love road and track but they are both different, you can't rude them the same.

You need to think road is road..... Track is track..... You don't ride on track like you do on the road and vice versa....... Simples as the mere cats would say.

Just enjoy your bike.

For me I could afford perhaps a track day a month, over the summer that's perhaps 8 track days, ok take the British weather into account and it may be 5 dry days. I could not survive a year only riding for 8 days. Knowing the bikes are in the garage and I can take them out whenever I want, and I ride 5 to 6 days a week, is what keeps me sane. I just love being in the bike free from traffic. The bike is my first choice of transport, the car only comes out at weekend when I have to take my wife or mum shopping. ....where I work is bike friendly..... I visit a lot if head teachers in my job and they remember me as do their governors as the biker man.... When I turn up in the car they are shocked and their first question is where is the bike.

[ninjabob]

I have never done a track day mainly because I only have textiles (Rukka) and I am too mean to buy a set of leathers and do not want to wear someone else's sweaty cast offs. However I do ride on the road for pleasure both in the UK and in Europe. I am well aware I could get badly hurt, die or get away "scott free" from riding motorcycles.

Track Days
Let's take a track day at Brands Hatch on the Indy circuit – I am going to leave the pit area and turn right downhill and then turn sharp right then turn slight left followed by another slight left then an uphill right and then another right onto the straight I started off on and repeat ad infinitum for 20 mins. Now it is not going to take me long to remember this and after a while unless I am completely useless I am going to get better and probably end up in "Inters". I might even end up in the "Fast Group" until I push so hard cos I think I am good and I enter the "kiity litter" at "warp speed" and damage myself and the bike.

Road Riding
On the weekend if I rise from my cot very early – say 07:00 and If I go and do a loop of Finchingfield from where I live in Kent I am going to do a 15 minute very boring bit of motorway until I get to the A12 turnoff then I am going to be on some of the finest and technical motorcycling roads the "sarf" of England can throw at me. I am not going to be able to remember every one of the hundreds of bends the 130mile Round Robin I have devised and I am going to be sorely tested on my motorcycling prowess as well as my ability to stay alive, not get nicked or SMIDSEY'd. I will eat my cake at Bosworths and then continue on slowly through picture postcard villages  with unlikely names such as Steeple Bumpstead only to emerge onto more fantastic roads. I will arrive back home with my mates in tow and if time allows will down a pint in a local hostelry whilst discussing any "near death" experiences any of us might of encountered. I will sit at home in the evening and contemplate on whether it was a really sensible thing to do at my ripe old age of sixty and should I really be doing this? I will probably conclude that I actually feel alive because of it and have thoroughly enjoyed the day.
The same mates will venture out on summer Wednesday evenings meeting up about 18:00 when we will choose who leads and head south towards the coast. By about 19:00 we will be on the motorcycling equivalent of "cloud nine" as the traffic will have disappeared and all be at home watching Emmerdale or Corrie whilst we venture along the A264 and then turn south down towards the south coast possibly Rye then back through some great empty roads o join up with the A21 when it gets dark and home via the pub.

Several times in the Spring and Summer months we will embark on European trips avoiding motorways and riding the "N" roads as much as is possible or as time allows. Destinations will include Albert in the Somme, The Vosges and The Eifel. The ZZR will really stretch its legs on these trips. We will obey the speed limits through the towns if nothing else as a mark of respect to the indigenous population but once out of the towns we will enjoy those roads that can only be experienced in Europe. We will encounter long straights, sharpish bends, coat hanger bends, constant radius bends and all will test our abilities.

So Road Riding or Track days?

I will now quote several idioms - Horses for courses – You pays your money (and you takes your choice)

For me it has always been Road Riding since I was sixteen.

[Foo]

I've kinda gone full circle, started off road riding, then went onto track and disliked road riding, then cba with track riding, and have a new found love for road riding.

For me the road is more about the social side. Track was about the buzz, I actually can't be bothered with the stress of track riding (and staying upright).

[Taqman]

I've kinda gone full circle, started off road riding, then went onto track and disliked road riding, then cba with track riding, and have a new found love for road riding.

For me the road is more about the social side. Track was about the buzz, I actually can't be bothered with the stress of track riding (and staying upright).

Exactly where I'm at right now, Used to do 10+trackdays a year, and haven't ridden the roads for last 2 years.
This year, just couldn't be arsed with trackdays and have been reviving my old Falco from 2 years of neglect, going back to the roads to see if I can rekindle the spirit, otherwise the whole lot will be on Ebay.

[Gobert]

I have never done a track day mainly because I only have textiles (Rukka) and I am too mean to buy a set of leathers and do not want to wear someone else's sweaty cast offs. However I do ride on the road for pleasure both in the UK and in Europe. I am well aware I could get badly hurt, die or get away "scott free" from riding motorcycles.

Track Days
Let's take a track day at Brands Hatch on the Indy circuit – I am going to leave the pit area and turn right downhill and then turn sharp right then turn slight left followed by another slight left then an uphill right and then another right onto the straight I started off on and repeat ad infinitum for 20 mins. Now it is not going to take me long to remember this and after a while unless I am completely useless I am going to get better and probably end up in "Inters". I might even end up in the "Fast Group" until I push so hard cos I think I am good and I enter the "kiity litter" at "warp speed" and damage myself and the bike.

That's a lot of assumptions about track days considering you have never done one.............

I still enjoy both but riding on road has changed since I got quicker on track due to the fact I need to go faster to get the same enjoyment. The one thing track riding has done is raise my skill levels meaning riding at the pace I used to is now further away from my personnel limit meaning it's actually safer.

I do quite a few track days each year - I average about 15 - but if I had to choose road or track then I'd still choose road but it would be close. I'll be honest and say I struggle to see how people get enough riding from a handful of track days a year.

In the end there's no right answer - it depends what the individual wants from the each type of riding..............

[Alzo]

Everyone would benefit from Track time...it allows you to ride more to the machines capacity...and makes the rider more aware of what can be achieved...many accidents on the roads are due to riders overshooting bends thinking that the bike wont make it...when in fact it would have with margins to spare.

[komp]

Everyone would benefit from Track time...it allows you to ride more to the machines capacity...and makes the rider more aware of what can be achieved...many accidents on the roads are due to riders overshooting bends thinking that the bike wont make it...when in fact it would have with margins to spare.

this is why I always do track days on my road bike
its the only opportunity to get to learn its limits and capabilities and use it to anywhere near its capacity.. although still way below what it could do no doubt

[Fastas......]

I still enjoy road riding after 30 plus years. I also enjoy track days, something I've come to pretty late in my riding career and these have undoubtedly honed my road riding skills. On the few occasions that I can actually afford a track day I've used my road bike, a 10 year old B1 with minimal fettling, a can, braided hoses and decent pads. I tend to use Pirelli Supercorsa tyres for road and track (I don't ride in the winter as I ride to enjoy, not endure!) and I can safely say that the only limits I've found are in my head, the bike is still infinitely more capable than I am! That's not because I'm slow, I ride in the faster end of inters and could hold my own in fast group I reckon. Has that made me faster/better on the road? Without question it has, but my speed is always "appropriate" to the situation.

[Tucker Hauser]

Love the roads even in the shitty weather! As long as I can keep my feet/hands warm! Was out on Boxing Day the Pennines looks stunning! All about riding to the conditions and your mood!
100 quid of petrol in the panzer gets me 600miles on the roads:-)
I don't get the buzz from track riding cos I'm not interested in passing folk, if it was a empty track to time trial different matter

No tracks near me anyway but miles and miles of fantastic roads

[mc101]

Used to road ride for about 10 years. 

Then discovered trackdays -> road riding become very dull.

Then discovered racing -> trackdays become very dull/dangerous.

Theres no doubt that developing the right track skills (as opposed to the wrong track skills) helps with riding and driving on the roads. It reduces your tendency to have a panic reaction to events and importantly gives you much better insight and confidence in just whats possible on a modern motorcycle.

[ash]

When my mate wrote off my G1, I rode his K6 gixxer thou virtually every day from March to Nov (about 5k )
WHen he claimed it back I had the choice to go with the bigger cubes or back to a 600 and I took the latter. Whilst in reality, the B1 is still too much for the road when ridden hard, you have to really wring its neck to get up to silly speeds. No intention of ever selling it though, but may one day streetfighter it when I can no longer live with the riding position. 

[coop]

Ride on road and track (slowly) all year on a sports bike. I love every minute.
like Alzo says our roads are good up here and easily accessible.

[rhino]

For me its got to be the road, we're spoilt up here with our roads. However the trade off is only one proper circuit (Knockhill) and after doing a dozen track days I was fairly bored. After owning a few ninjas (4) I've found the perfect bike for me, the Speed triple.