yes I know this isn't FAST BIKES MAG ,and I know bla bla bla speed awareness course bla bla completed ,but I've had well over 90 odd bikes many fast road bikes in there time ,and travelled to silverstone assen the TT brands Mallory etc and many miles in between about 9000 a year at one time just for pleasure ,and always I had between 20/30 cruising speed advantage over other traffic and 5/10 mph quicker than most motorcyclist come rain or shine ,cars well you would just eat them up comfortably on rout to my destination .
l recal older seasoned motorcycle friends in there day saying roads were quieter on there triumphs and Norton's Honda cb750s I remember there not as busy now a steady increase in volume ,but what recently got me after a lay off of a few years is the speed traffic is moving I can still travel at the same rate I used to .On a Honda vfr800 recently these AUDI MERC BMWs are now traveling at 80/90mph on open roads and I'm not prepared to cruise at 90/100 on the same old roads I used way back there not as quick around the twisty bits as the bike but there isn't much in it ,so now my progress is interrupted by some and a lot of the pleasure has been robbed flowing through twisty rural landscapes as I sit in a flow of traffic for miles following a car boot
so that's wye for the moment I ride the Harley on the open roads and get my kicks hanging on to the scrambler and ? At Any other time ,So now I'm happy to trundle along at 50/60 and get busted for speeding ahem .i still technically have a fast bike the 1098s Ducati sitting in the conservatory at home a long term investment this thing will do over 175mph and you can't engage second gear below 35mph with only 4000 miles on the clock no wonder ,turn a few heads at Paignton bike night but thirteen miles from home to meet in first /second gear nah !
I bought my first 'big' bike in 1980 (a BMW R100RS that I still have) and shortly afterwards set off to Bristol to the Dirt Bike Show. I cruised up the motorway at around 80-85 mph and was only passed by one car the entire way. Moving the clock forward about twenty five years to when I last rode that bike and, on a similar journey at similar speeds, the world and his wife overtook me . I now use a different BMW for long distances (R1150GS) yet cruise at the same speed I did all that time ago. However, just as everything seems to be going faster there is a whole lot more of them.
Modern cars have become a lot more efficient but this efficiency can be used for either improved fuel consumption or speed and I do wonder sometimes whether the drivers actually know just how fast they're going; I recall one time hitting the bottom of Telegraph hill at around 80 when I was overtaken as though I were standing still. The car was driven by a woman who had two unsecured children kneeling on the rear seat cheerfully waving out the back window at everything they passed. Did she know she was probably just shy of the ton? I suspect not.
That's one reason I sold the road bike. I don't enjoy riding on the tarmac any more. Too much traffic, of which probably 80% are completely oblivious to you being there. Too many speed camera's (not that I ever used to speed ).
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I still love road bikes and if I'm honest, prefer it over green-laning Yep, the roads are busier and there are more numpties about, but I just love riding on the tarmac - doesn't matter if it's motorway or twisty stuff, I like either. Towns are a nightmare though, and the traffic is usually mental in this environment, but I filter where I can fit my bike Of course, summer riding is better than winter!
Kerry - didn't know you had a 1098S, nice bike! But only 175mph? (Just joking ).
Perhaps a TRF road bike ride out is in order at some point...
I'm a big fan of the Range Rover in snow. Love my road bike but riding is limited at this of year by force 9 cross winds and horizontal rain. Fast bikes are not dangerous, some riders use them dangerously though. Throttle goes both ways....
Went out on a police job the other night. Nobody injured, car had been rolled 30 feet off the road into a bog. Modern cars are very safe, first time i had seen lateral airbags deployed. They did their job. Even the dog was uninjured!
. I now use a different BMW for long distances (R1150GS) yet cruise at the same speed I did all that time ago. However, just as everything seems to be going faster there is a whole lot more of them.
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Yep, the roads are busier and there are more numpties about, but I just love riding on the tarmac - doesn't matter if it's motorway or twisty stuff, I like either. Towns are a nightmare though, and the traffic is usually mental in this environment, but I filter where I can fit my bike 
Of course, summer riding is better than winter!
