It was all over in under a second…. and I never knew it could do it, but woza, was it ever a kick!
Once again the bike surprises me. I really dont think that the bulk of the 1800 Goldwing riders know what their bikes can do. I count myself totally in that camp by the way. Very, very few of us owners have the location and skills to see what it really can do.
Anyway, to get back to my little experience……..
I have one corner on the way to work… Ok, well, of course I have more than one corner to go around, but I have one that matters.
Its in a 50 MPH zone, so I try and hit it at 80 kph every morning…. you know, just do the limit. Nothing wrong with that……
Its a 90 deg corner, so its a good corner. The camber is not perfect, but its pretty consistent. The other thing of course is that it never changes…. So, twice a day (on the way to work, and on the way back to work from home for lunch), I get to try different things on the bike.
Because its consistent I get to try different things on the bike and I know from the feel and smoothness of the corner the result of the things I am trying….. Things like; weight on the inside foot peg, outside foot peg, no weight on the foot pegs, pressure on the inside knee, out side knee, inside butt cheek on the side of the seat, outside seat, push pressure on the inside handle bar, outside handle bar and so on and so forth in lots of different combination’s.
I am looking for smooth. Nothing better than when you get a beautiful smooth corner, it can make your day……
Ok, so here is what happen that lit up my little world… Yesterday morning I went around said corner in one gear lower than I have for the past year. That one simple change that I have never done before. Its always been a 3rd gear corner. As long as I have owned the bike and been riding to work its been a third gear corner. Roll the throttle on at the apex of the corner and pull cleanly out. Its been more a focus of body attitude in the past.
Dont know why I tried it in 2nd, I really cant tell you.
But this much I know………… When you roll the throttle open on 1.8 liters of Goldwing at 80kph in a 90 deg corner, you can spin the back wheel and set up a really sweet power slide!
Who knew.
