safety riding SilverWing and aging

First topic message reminder :

At 75, this year so far ridden 24-25,000 scooter miles and another 4-5,000 motorcycle miles (TU250), have Bsc Safety Degree, been at this 61 years. I ride everyday and in all weathers and always have since 1955.

Passing on recent experience: Many who buy maxi-scooter are old farts who never were really good on bikes and maybe think scooter is easy/easier....I find SilverWing/Burgman 400 in time become harder to ride and take away some 2 wheel skills! And you need to watch yourself..

1. Autoclutch----hurts fine slow speed control. Take can surprise!

2. Linked brakes can cause slow speed disaster---think feet up U turn on narrow road---topple. I much prefer foot rear brake as Helix or old Vespa.

3. SilverWing is heavy and top heavy loaded for trip, Givi box makes matters worse. SilverWing near 600 lbs, Burgman 400 maybe 150 lbs lighter. No provision for plastic protection in top over=BAD. My Daelim in Korea 360 degree heavy protection for plastic.

4. Feet forward/high handlebars/no tank to grip with knees or foot pegs to stand on, take away from bike control on maxi scooters.

My TMAX was much better in the handling dept,period.


Point: as experienced, rider who spent a lot of the summer riding scooter(maybe 20,000miles)- and not touching motorcycle, I found my skills sloppy/even cornering skills not up to par and sometimes almost freaking me out-----my case I have the luxury of spare bike, motorcycle. When I returned home----from AK, got my TU250 Suzuki out-----ride it/concentrate on real 2 wheel skills/enjoy it---try some challenging roads/.

Bottom Line: I find working on skills/some practice high speed braking/cornering, etc. On motorcycle really makes up for some of the problems associated with aging on 2 wheels---even if you have not taken a riding skills course, take one---you are bound to get something positive out of it.

Based on what I have said....What will my next scooter/bike be?? Maybe new(already had SR500 in 1979) SR400 Yamaha.... Scooter?I see nothing that interests me---I like Vespa, but no dealers/Italian parts service is scary. I plan to ride my Silver Wing to 40 or 50,000 miles-----TU 250 will be around quite awhile as it is easy to work on, great gas mileage, etc but lacks center stand---enjoyable basic bike.

Be Safe.

I really enjoy posts from old fellas on scooter forums telling everyone how fast they ride. Whether it's actually true or not it's hard to say.

True enough I'm still somewhere in the 50's. Hands sometimes hurt from wrenching for so long hard to pulling in that clutch all day that's why twist and go bikes are so nice. I'm not so fast many have much better skills or bigger balls than me.

Meldrew wrote:

I really enjoy posts from old fellas on scooter forums telling everyone how fast they ride. Whether it's actually true or not it's hard to say.

it's ok to ride fast, just not half fast.

I was thinking more of those posts where old boys on maxi scooters tell tall tales of how they deal with bike riders who have have the audacity to overtake them. They catch them, overtake them, and then completely lose them on the bendy bits.  Or they're organising a scooter ride out where they're going to be setting such a fast pace, if you can't keep up then sign up with the wusses in the slow group.  

Talking of slow, I was out yesterday afternoon on my regular cycle ride and I was overtaken by a little old lady who looked remarkably like Mrs Landingham in 'The West Wing'. I only got a quick look at her before she proceeded to ride off into the distance.

Sometimes Meldrew, you bring me back down to earth with your philosophy. I just had a guy on a new, powerful twin street/tourers overtake me while I was overtaking, uphill. I know the road well and so I stayed with him up the hill but he had gained some distance by this time, as we went round a 90 degree bend and onto the long straight.

I was rather 'disappointed' that another biker would do that and I stayed at his pace (100mph) on the long straight before the 40mph zone half a mile ahead. As we approached traffic coming into the 40mph zone, I am sure that this guy in front deliberately waited until the last second before braking. Man, I was on him in a second but my brakes proved themselves admirably. This guy then proceeded to overtake everything in front of him regardless of oncoming traffic and zoomed off out of the 40mph zone. I left him to it.

The thing is, this was not about speed, (I had no chance of catching him), in fact I don't know what it was about. I would like to have had a friendly word with him if the chance arose. I'm still reeling from my stupidity, however, having just done a ton of work on new brakes, fitting Dr Pulley sliders and sliding pieces, final drive oil change and a general drive train clean-up, it's good to know that my hard work has paid off. For those members who are new to scootering on the Silverwing, I believe that it will meet most if not all of your expectations. At no point did I feel 'uncomfortable' as far as the bike performance goes.

I do, however, need a serious reprimand from you Meldrew. I know better than to pull stunts like this and I promise, 'your honour', never to do it again. Did I behave like this other guy when I was young? Damn it, I can't remember but I won't forget today any time soon.

Taken from the words of the famous "Desiderata" poem...........

If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter ; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X8YnCq6UME

Wise words indeed. I've always thought that the SW is rather a 'serene' ride when ridden in the way it was intended. Deep breath and rise above it.

I still think I deserve a 'virtual' slap across the face

Loosemarbles wrote:

I still think I deserve a 'virtual' slap across the face

Ok, if you insist

Naw, maybe just a dope slap.

Tim, how did you get hold of my passport photo?

Slaps taken...

Hey, Loosemarbles... Don't be so hard on yourself... sometimes it's fun, thrilling, and/or just a plain old "BLAST", to let it all hang out there once in a while... Yeah, so you took a chance... it's all part of life... So enjoy it all ...!!!!!

DickO wrote:

Hey, Loosemarbles...  Don't be so hard on yourself... sometimes it's fun, thrilling, and/or just a plain old "BLAST", to let it all hang out there once in a while... Yeah, so you took a chance... it's all part of life... So enjoy it all ...!!!!!

Hey DickO, you're nearer 80 than 70, over here you'd have to reapply for your driving licence every three years and have good eyesight and health. You're riding round with an obscure car tyre levered onto the rear wheel wheel of your Silver Wing which is non road legal and would invalidate your insurance in the UK.

In my humble opinion exactly the type of old bloke I was thinking of in my original post.

Thank you all, John, meldrew, and all the other correspondents from as far afield as the UK, USA, Aus etc. You have made my day once again and I might revisit my previous intention to sell my Japan spec'd Silverwing (you know, the one with the T switch, proper screen and all).
Thoroughly enjoyed the various points of view and I didn't think anyone was being disrespectful at all, just voicing a different opinion from a different viewpoint. For me, I will just keep on riding my occasional trip on the weekends and the even less frequent 600 k's or so to get the cobwebs out of my system. It would help me if I was a more frequent user though !! Just saying.

pgnz wrote:

Thank you all, John, meldrew, and all the other correspondents from as far afield as the UK, USA, Aus etc. You have made my day once again and.................................... It would help me if I was a more frequent user though !! Just saying.

I'm inclined to agree with the whole post, especially the last bit, having ridden a mere 1377 miles on the Silverwing since March last year.

I don't even filter to the front of queues at traffic-lights these days, content to sit and wait rather than beat all the cars away unless, of course, the queue is very long and that doesn't happen in sunny Seaham.

I've just realised I've ridden nearly half that mileage on HAL since the beginning of October - 655 miles!

It still only adds up to two thousand miles on two wheels, not nearly enough.

I can't say that I didn't enjoy the BLAST, I like the fact that it focusses ones attention to the limit and as I said before, it's good to know how the SW behaves at its limits.

I will be 60 in October so if I'm still riding in 10 or even 20 years' time, I will be a very happy rider.

I use my SW whenever I can, 3 to 4 days a week, simply because I cannot bear to drive cars. I feel like I'm in a cage and I don't have so much road to use. As anybody in suburban UK will know; we no longer drive on roads, we drive on car parks which have a tiny gap along the middle in which to fight for the right to actually get to where we want to be. Given a choice I'll take the bike every time.

Well, Meldrew, I realize we're not all as experienced and knowledgeable as you... but some of us do have an idea on how we decide to live our lives... So sorry that doesn't go along on how you think the world should be... So, while I don't meet your guidelines on what "type of old bloke" you think I ought to be, then you'll just have to take a big deep breath, suck-it-up, turn around, and be on your merry way... because, sir, I just don't give a royal $h*t about what you think... have a good day...

Better to burn out than fade away. WE all take a much bigger risk than in a cage-auto every time we ride. Everybody rides at their own risk level.....   First ride of the season today a bit rusty after 5 months 5 miles later I'm back to normal just rolled 28K.    Enjoy what's here Free speech and Opinions differ.
Ride On.  

Good points, "mech"... thanks...

Mech 1 twa wrote:

  First ride of the season today a bit rusty after 5 months 
Ride On.  

... and there dear fellow is where we will always differ.  The 'season' is non existent and never has been for me.  I'm taxed and insured to ride all year round, all that changes with the seasons is my riding gear. 

It's 4 days since I was last out on the Forza and the winter textile suit has been swapped for jacket and jeans. I'll be wearing open face helmet again as we head into April.

Well if you got 60 inches of snow this winter that might change your riding a bit. Rode about 7,800 miles last year thanks to Covid a great summer for me was getting a bit tired toward Fall season and parked it early November.  I have some gear and only a weekend rider when working 5 a week.

I still like to ride but it's not quite as much fun as it was when my wife was alive. We made two trips to FL from MN on two wheels which was really fun. Plus, we'd do day runs to somewhere just to go and have breakfast or lunch in some town we hadn't been to and a cafe we've never been in just for the heck of it.
Now I ride single but I swear sometimes I can still feel her on the back. My youngest son now has a bike so we'll probably do a few rides this summer.

"Judging others is easy because it distracts us from the responsibility of judging ourselves.”

Charles F. Glassman