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A while back I had the opportunity to go for a ride through the twisties with some buddies. The route was Bagdad to Prescott (up & down a few times) then back home through Yarnell. What made this a unique ride is that I was the lone rider. Everyone else was in a cage: IS300, C230 Kompressor Coupe, Matrix XRS, & Miata. Yeah, it was cold at elevation and I was in my leathers while these sissies were in shorts and a T-shirt with the heat on…a little…probably set at a nice 75F.

Going into this I was not to sure how this would work, but I was sure that I would be waiting A LOT. It should be noted that these are all capable drivers / co-workers from our Proving Ground - most of which were in the Ride & Handling Group (go figure). Anyway, the trip went a helluva lot better than I expected. The results went like this:

Cage Advantages

• Comfort of course - Its 100 miles to the good stuff from my house. It was cold and I was tucked for most of that part.
• Entrance and mid-turn speed - they were actually a little faster ‘in’ the turns to my surprise.
• Interior sound - playing your favorite tunes while shredding rubber must be nice.

Bike Advantages

• Power to weight ratio - short straight-aways or any opportunity to accelerate clearly went to the bike.
• Traffic management - passing in the twisties almost made it trivial if we came upon ‘lapped’ traffic for how easy it is to overtake on a bike versus a car.
• I think I had a braking advantage with regard to fade.
• Exterior sound - All of these guys except one had stock exhaust which was no match for the beautiful sound of a twin with a full system and race air box.
• Fuel economy - almost 40mpg at full tilt!

Again, I have to admit that when we got into the tight stuff, I was pleasantly surprised as to their ability to slowly reel me back in. As the road opened back up, I would slowly gap them. All said and done, it was a lot better time than I thought. I was a little humbled, to be honest, at how quick talented drivers with good vehicles could push through the twisties. I wonder how my Rodeo would do…