By Mywifedave on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 01:54 pm:

Can u believe my luck? Got a phone call from PB mag yesterday. Would I be interested in taking my RS250 to Cadwell this Mon & Tues to thrap it round the track, and ride 5 other bikes (ZXR400, GSXR600, race-prepped CBR6, new Blade and RSV-R), oh, and a new set of tyres chucked in.

Hmm, s'pose my arm could be twisted!

Only prob, I've only attempted to sit on a RSV once before, and feet were a good 8 inches off the ground either side! Any tips? Have dire worries about coming to a halt, trying to put my foot down and falling into an embarrassing heap, dinting expensive bike into the process. Any advice? Shall I just go for it? As long as someone's there to catch me when I get back into pitlane! Sorry, sound like such a wet girlie here, but you guys just don't get this dilemma! They ought to make all the decent bikes in different inside leg measurements!}  

By Spoof on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 04:06 pm:

I think your plan to have some folks to catch you in the pits sounds perfect. If not, skipping the Mille shouldn't stop you from riding the other bikes.

Either that or just pitch it into the courtesy tent when your'e done, smile demurely, and say "you knew i was short when you gave it to me"

But sounds like a damn fine time. Am I jealous? umm, yep.  

By Dangerous on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 04:06 pm:

Mywifedave,

You have a pretty wierd handle, can we use your real name in future, or even a made up realistic one? How about Davina for now?

So, Davina, you have got an amazing offer from PB, go for it!

As for tips on getting to grips with the RSV-R, you will need to put on your high heel boots on!
8 inches each side sounds like it may be too much even to ride sensibly. I am going to guess you must be in the order of 5ft tall (or is that 5ft short?).
As for things you could do to ride the thing; Thinner seat foam, lowering the ride height at the rear to the minimum, and pulling the forks through an equal amount at the front could help you with the leg reach problem but your stature must result in quite a stretch to reach ANY of the controls (hand or foot). Consequently you must be almost flat on the tank. I therefore believe you would not be getting the best from the bike or yourself, and may get yourself into some difficulty quite easily, especially at low speed because it can prove quite unweildly even for me at 5'10"!
Blow it, just go for it, and let us know how you got on! But as you say, make sure someone is ready to catch you when you get back!

Good luck! Oh you already had that!

Dangerous 

By Crmc33 on Saturday, May 25, 2002 - 10:05 am:

Most road racers are dwarf like and they 'get on' all right (sic pun). If theres no-one there to hold the bike then ride upto a suitable wall and lean it against it. Job done!

Go 4 it! 

By Mental_Trev on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 01:05 am:

---

Quote:

Any tips?

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By Richandall on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 02:24 am:

Riders of tall horses have a similar problem mounting & dismounting - and they use mounting blocks or a handy step. Or get someone to give them a leg-up (& sometimes -over, but that's another story...)

Have you thought of doing a Frankie Dettori in the pitlane and letting them catch the bike?

(See next post for Pitlane Frankie)

- Rich

 

By Richandall on Monday, May 27, 2002 - 02:46 am:

Here's how you do it...

- Rich



 

By Mywifedave on Tuesday, May 28, 2002 - 01:00 pm:

Talking of them, as they say "don't look a gift horse in the mouth". What an absolutely crap 2 days I've just wasted.

Managed 3 laps out first thing on my bike. A PB road-tester rode it for rest of the morning. I went to take it out later on - throttle cable snapped (in pitlane fortunately, and the good old AA came to fix it). Got one session on GSXR600, one on Blade. CBR6 didn't show, neither did ZXR400. Instead there was an RVF400 from Seastar Superbikes hire range, with shagged tyres and the dodgiest supsension set up I've ever seen

Took my bike out very last session and it seized up going down the hill to Mansfield - back wheel just locked up. V scary. Managed to grab clutch quick enough so didn't dump it, but that was the end of that.

PB didn't want to know me today, the editor didn't even come down to say hello til late in the afternoon, let alone offer me another bike to take out! Needless to say I can't somehow see these free tyres materialise (mind you, could be proved wrong if they read this!). Ho hum, anyone want to buy an RS250? I'm going back to an R6!  

By Mental_Trev on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 12:45 am:

By Richandall on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 12:52 am:

Q. How much luck can a girl get?

A. There are two kinds of luck.

Inheriting a fortune/winning at the gaming tables/looking like a god/goddess

Then there's the second kind: not falling off. (And if you do, picking yourself up)

I get the second kind. So did you. Be happy!


- Rich

 

By Crmc33 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 01:12 am:

yes,
be glad that it didnt seize 20 seconds earlier going round chris curve!

Ive done that b4...and lived! 

By Crmc33 on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 01:14 am:

I thort there was meant to be a RSV-R there too? So you didnt need the platform boots after all?  

By Benw on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 01:30 am:

I'm sure things will sort themselves out...
At least you didn't come off!

B.  

By Tekmonkey44 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 05:46 am:

mywifedave:

so you were offered free tracktime on bikes that didn't belong to you, you rode some of the bikes, and when you came to ride your own it seized. You've been promised some free tyres, and magazines normally offer to fix things if they break them. Have they done this? If not, fine, then you have reasonable cause to be a little unhappy. If they *have* then what exactly are you whining about?

Let's put things into perspective a little.
1: They pay for you for two days track time around Cadwell. Whether you spent that much time on the circuit is another matter. I assume you were allowed in whatever group you wanted to. (£95 per day)

2: They get you a set of tyres. (£200 a set)

3: They could well end up footing the bill or contributing to your expenses over the damage. (£100).

You could easily end up costing them £500, and what do they get in return? A couple of sessions on your timebomb RS250?

From where I'm sitting, I think *they* should be the ones who are moaning...

HTH  

By Prillerburd on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 08:32 am:

Hear hear! Tekmonkey44. To be honest mywifedave dear, you sound a bit ungrateful... I would love to have a go around the track on ANY ONE of those bikes, let alone a load of them!

Anyway, didn't it rain loads on Tuesday? That's probably more to do with your not going out than anything surely?  

By Crmc33 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 12:49 pm:

I doubt it and dont call me Shirley  

By Daz on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 02:21 pm:

Christ, LOOK PEOPLE, IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING POSITIVE OR ENCOURAGING TO SAY WILL YOU PLEASE NOT SAY ANYTHING. AAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!



mywifedave - I totally sympathise - fingers crossed PB do the decent thing and help with the repair costs.

Daz (most fed up with this site lately) 

By Tekmonkey44 on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 03:31 pm:

Sorry Daz, I mistook this for a public discussion forum/message board where people could air their thoughts and opinions.

I'll go back to lurking so you can enjoy your lovely unspoilt little world shall I?

ps, you can turn your caps lock off now.  

By Daz on Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 10:20 pm:

Not worth it. 

By Powermaster on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 03:14 am:

Daz, remember the Motto "it's what you make it".

Aprilia RiderSite is the only independent site out there, no adds, no
shopping carts, no hassles from the moderators. Let's keep it that way.
 

By Daz on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 04:39 am:

Hi Jorge, absolutely!!

It is what we make it... which was exactly the point I was trying to make. Ah well.  

By Taffrsv on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 04:45 am:

Could not agree more

Taff  

By Richandall on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 06:12 am:

Peace, Love, flowers & lots of happy icons
clipart{birthday}





- Rich

 

By Crmc33 on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 06:52 am:

what are those hamsters upto?  

By Crmc33 on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 06:56 am:

what are those hamsters upto?
Mind you, it could be worse.... 

By Richandall on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 07:21 am:

Hoping that this one would not present any unexpected dry cleaning bills...

- Rich

 

By Mywifedave on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 10:58 am:

Blimey, I can't do right for doing wrong! As it happens dear Tekmonkey and whoever else it was passing derogatory comments, I quite agree, if the offer was as stated it would have been cracking.

However I did 10 laps altogether on Monday, and none on Tuesday. It didn't rain until 4pm actually (and I don't have a problem riding in the rain, do you?).

They rode my bike out in most sessions (on my petrol).

As it happens they have now been very honourable. Originally they said they would source the parts cheaply for me, but now have offered to get the whole thing fixed, so I can't fault them over this. However there's been no mention of tyres, but I guess coz the bike didn't make it out on the second day it's not worth it.

So I'm sorry if I sound ungrateful you guys. Perhaps very disappointed is more appropriate.

I got a call last thing Thursday to see if I could make it for the Mon & Tues, and as it seemed such a good offer I frantically spent all Friday trying to get the time off work, persuading colleagues at the hospital where I work to see my patients for me. So not only did I waste 2 days holiday, I owe lots of favours, and have had to cancel my track day at Oulton coz the bike isn't going to be ready.