"This is not only a piece of metal - there is a soul." - Valentino Rossi
Sportbikes are designed for speed and agile maneuverability. These powerful and comparatively lightweight machines require a rider to be able to perform precisely and fluidly at high speeds. Any rider will tell you the margin of error on a sportbike is extremely narrow. They can be tremendously unforgiving, even in the hands of expert riders. The ability to combine the respect they demand and the speed that they beg for can result in one of the most exhiliarating experiences of a rider's lifetime. Alternatively, a moment's lapse in concentration can, and much too often does, end in tragedy.
Sportbikes are best suited for the race track even though most production bikes are used for street riding, canyon carving and even daily commuting. Safety should be every rider's number one priority. With all of the elements we face daily on public roads, street bike riders suffer from general disadvantages on many levels to begin with. Cage drivers (car drivers) often don't see us, we don't have seat belts and/or airbags to help protect us, and to top it off, we are essentially straddling 400 lbs. of machine that can be thumped off the road by a wayward piece of gravel. Ultimately, we choose to ride finely-tuned, tightly-wound, twitchy performance machines with power-to-weight ratios that make even the most responsible riders prone to pull idiotic moves.... I'm guilty!!
One of the things we do have going for us is fantastically affordable, amazingly engineered, easily obtainable PROTECTIVE GEAR. The dangers of our addiction are a harsh reality. For most sportbike riders, it's not a matter of IF you go down, it's a matter of WHEN and how bad (some of us can even toss in HOW MANY TIMES). A helmet and leathers will not guarantee your survival in the case of an accident, but they will greatly increase your odds.
Follow the examples of the professional sportbike racing icons we have all come to respect and admire. You would never see MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden or Casey Stoner rocketing around the Twin Rings of Motegi in jeans and a t shirt without a helmet.
We all have a sportbike of choice. For some it is the high revving, small displacement super sport bikes like the Honda CBR600, for others, the performace geared, liter class, super bikes like the Suzuki GSX-R1000, and the real speed demons might go for the hyper sport bikes such as the Kawasaki ZX-14 or the Suzuki Hayabusa which are built with a stronger emphasis on top speed and acceleration. Whatever sport bike you choose to ride....
learn it, respect it, live it, love it, GEAR UP and ride!!
Kristen on her 2007 Honda CBR 1000RR
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