(fast)Fred,
I'm thinking that this little Bonneville of mine is a blessing in disguise. I have already begun to think EXACTLY what you have now confirmed for me. I've been thinking that the Bonnie' might be telegraphing things (my bad habits) to me that were HIDDEN by the very street worthy BMW Roadster I just put 60,000 miles on.
For instance, I've noticed that my old habit of 'PULLING' one side of the handlebar, as opposed to 'PUSHING' the other side, as in "counter" steering....... has now become a technique that can be likened to a push/pull fight! The result on the Bonnie' has been a feeling of my frame flexing in the middle. (I've got Hagons up front & Hagon Nitros in the rear, so I don't think it's mis-matched damping)
This weekend, I rode Hwy 1 by exercising a technique of pointing my chin up, into, and through an upcoming turn. I then began to exaggerate jutting my chin AND pointing my chest into the turns. I noticed that my body language was actually pushing my inside arm into a position of pushing the handlebar, and that the resulting counter-steering pushed me through the turns with minimal effort!!!!
In short, my worst habit is a tendency to stiff-arm my bike. The ONLY time I don't is when I'm riding aggressively up a steep hill..... as I tend to lean forward with bent arms and use more body language than ANY other time on the bike. DOWNHILL, my habits are laughably conspicuous!
The timing of your post is perfect, and I look forward to more tid-bits of wisdom/instruction that I might benefit from. By the way, is this YOUR bike?
[ This message was edited by: FattRat on 2005-11-21 22:12 ]
