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The phone rings on a Saturday morning. Still half asleep, I sheepishly answer the phone. The person on the other end is a riding buddy, “Hey man, you on your way?” I look at the time, 11:00 AM, crap. My alarm did not go off, and I was supposed to meet these guys at 11:00 at a place more than an hour away. I tell him I will be there in an hour. I quickly brush my teeth, wash my face, and throw on my leathers. I run to the garage to find the GSXR patiently waiting, and I am off…

I manage to meet the guys at around 12:30 PM. We then made our way to the mountain on Highway 129 from 400. This is my first time riding with this particular group, so I am not sure what to expect. Just before the twisties, I get the go ahead to lead. In this particular part of the ride, there are two lanes that the rider can use. I go at a good clip, maintaining my pace, but staying in one lane. Each rider was right there every time I checked my mirrors.

After doing the mountain a couple times, we then stopped to grab something to eat at a local restaurant. As I was acquainting myself with my new comrades, I found one thing that really took me by surprise. Each one of them had been riding for a very short period of time, some as short as a month on a sportbike! After discovering this, I started in with a few questions since I wanted to be sure everyone was comfortable with the pace we were going. Everyone told me they felt comfortable, and then went on to explain their history with motor sports and their knowledge of the local roads. One rider in particular was an excellent rider for the very short time he has been on a sportbike. He was confident, looking through the corners, and aware of his surroundings. As we got to know each other a little better, I discovered that his roots/values were similar to mine. He grew up riding motocross bikes, and was just all about making sure everyone was having a good time.

I took some time to reflect on my experience with my new-found friend. I took what he said into consideration about knowing the roads and growing up on motocross bikes, but it still didn’t add up. Even though I have a strong motocross background, and was very familiar with the roads back in Minnesota, I know that I wasn’t near as comfortable as he was when I first started riding sportbikes. There must be a certain amount of what I call “motorcycle intuition” that is sketched in certain people’s DNA, or maybe it is just these, as one rider so eloquently put it, “mountain folk”, I am not sure. Whatever it is, I was very impressed with the skill level this particular rider possessed for his experience, or lack thereof.

The following day, he and I broke off to ride by ourselves for awhile, and the pace he led was quite fast. I studied his riding a bit, and for the most part he looked great. Body positioning and making sure all the braking is done before the corners were really the only things that I felt he needed to work on. He also needs a good set of leathers. Otherwise, he seemed very comfortable and rode as though he had years on a sportbike.

Cheers new friend, and may you have many great experiences on a motorcycle. I know that the more you will ride, the better you will become, and the more addicted you will be.

To all those who have not yet experienced the sportbike realm, I strongly suggest that you get involved, even if your interest is only marginal. You may be able to hop on a bike, and feel like it is a part of you immediately, which will only intensify the great experience of motorcycling.
I know that others out there share this unique ability to aggressively yet responsibly ride sportbikes well and comfortably with little seat time. I would love to see a rider come through the ranks with little or no racing history in the family and relatively little experience. Maybe some of you have seen this happen already, and I would love to hear about it, because this just proves the validity of my theory.