Why are there no PWC/ Jet Skis with V-Twin Harley-Style Engines?

[Landlubber]

Apex,

I do not need to know your biking experience mate, you stated that you cannot brake in a corner, that comment immediately rings bells to me. In my past life I lived in Adelaide, ran a bike shop there selling Honda but also BMW and Triumph, and was a sponsored rider, so hard braking in corners on the track is standard procedure, same as it is on the road unless you are pottering about....many riders never really get into hard riding, I have had some blokes come into my shop with the front tyres washed out from their street antics, yet they do not race, others just wear out the centre tread, and the sides are still shiny after 10,000k.....we never got more than 3000 k from hard street use in those days.

Sorry if I twitched your nose mate, not meant to be personal or nasty, just stating it as it is.

[Landlubber]

Oh...today, I am one of those that have the sides still shiny after 10,000.......my bikes are far more sedate and so is my desire to meet my maker before time....when we are younger, we rule the roads.....

[Chris Ostlind]

The center of the argument, Richard, is this: You made some flat-out statements that are patently untrue. Later, now, you wish to further qualify them with additional information. Unfortunately, you have not retracted the original comments and they remain your collected argument, addendum, or not.

I'm happy that you are safe and not banged-up from your input, or the input of another, which would have been well out of your control. It's nice to hear of riders who are free of road rash. But, it does not change the world of riding, just because you'd like to think it does.

The trail-braking technique is used all the time on the street and well after my time as a road racing rider, I continued to ride in that fashion, minus the high speed and drifting corners.

Go out and park yourself on the high side of any decreasing radius corner and watch how the better riders come flowing past your position. This is a corner setup, in which there might be several apex scenarios, OR a steady speed reducing movement through the curve, though the latter is not going to be the quickest.

At each individual apex within the greater curve, there will be braking and acceleration in various combinations until one sets-up for the drive out of the corner.

This isn't at all about whether or not I feel that you know how to ride safely. In fact, I assume that you do. It's about the making of a grossly general blanket statement that is simply not supportable. Since you did not make any specific qualifications, I also do not. All I have to do is prove that the issue is, in fact, taking place... which it is. No further qualifiers are necessary.

I trust that this will put the issue to bed, as it were and please.... Happy Riding to You.

[kroberts]

I've kept out of this cornering thing until Chris' last post.

I have never really paid much attention to how I ride the bike. I just do. I'm neither the guy who wears out his sidewalls at 3k, nor the guy whose sidewalls are still shiny at 10k. Somewhere in the middle, I guess. My sidewalls get about the same wear for most of the tread, but not so much at the extreme edges. I get lots more than 3k miles out of my tires.

The problem for me, when I get on the bike I just get into a zen mode, at one with the road and watching traffic, and driving. I never remember to check if I brake at or after the apex, I just anticipate the needs as I can and react to changing situations accordingly.

Now, with that decreasing radius statement, I can say for a fact that I brake in that fashion. I just realize that braking AND turning is putting an additional force on the bike, and you have to lean accordingly, and pay attention to the bike and the road.

Braking in a turn puts an additional force both in terms of momentum and a bigger turning force on the front tire, since the fork is reverse-caster and braking causes the bike to want to turn sharper, which would throw you like Richard says. If you're ready for it though, you can brace against that. And I do. Probably not like some of these other rocket pilots, I like to go fast but I don't like to die doing it.

I can definitely see where, if your first time braking in an apex was going super fast, that you would be in big trouble if you did it wrong.

When it comes to riding fast - I'm listening to Kenny Roberts!


but I want this guy's ride!

[Landlubber]

gees Mark, ya would think if he could afford two girls, he could afford a motor as well.