gunner
Needs a life
Posts: 5778
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posted September 05, 2005 11:56 AM
Rode the 12R yesterday. Part II of 238's ride
After a couple of weeks with my primary 12 laying in pieces all over the shop for a little mid summer updates yesterday was the day for it's long awaited cooler weather coming out. I worked till 2:30 in the morning putting on the finishing touches and got up early in the AM to meet up with my group for a ride over to Ashville to get on the Blueridge Parkway for a trip back to Cherokee. I rolled out with new and untested brakes and a new clutch from the Basket out also untested. Good news is everything worked well except the brakes still leave a lot to be desired. Maybe the new CM66 pads from Braking aren't agressive enough I don't know but I will find out.
The ride was fun but BORING like normal  There just isn't anything up on the hill that can hang with the 12R on these type of corners! The 12 is purpose built for this type of road and the Cherohala Skyway. The Gap is another story all together, but she still holds her own there in the right hands. Riding the 12R at or near it's limits makes you feel what it's like to be alone at the top. As I stand at the top of the Hill and hope and pray for just something to come along and want to challenge I think of getting a lesser bike just so I can mingle. I laugh as the Busa boys all roll in with their stretched and lowered PIGS and brag about how fast they are. Of course they're not going to be fast on the hill and that's exactly why they're there. They're safe up there because now they have an excuse for being slow. I contend to them as always that we're riding sportbikes and not dragracers. DO one or the other.
Anyone who thinks the 12R isn't the meanest SOB ever made in the right hand just needs to find there way to a couple of these hills and their opinions will change. She's Hell in the straits but that's not truely how and where to measure the 12. As in any sport the rider factors in the equasion because he or she holds all the control in their hands. Take a fast rider and put him on a slow bike and you still got a fast lap time. Put that same fast / skilled rider and put him on the MIGHTY 12R and you have a combination that's nearly unbeatable.
Unless Kawasaki give us something that's just unreal the 12 is where I'll stay. How do you improve upon perfection? It's lonely at the TOP and we sometimes think we have been left behind when in fact no one has caught up yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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There's no such thing as a motor with no more power to give only people with no more intelligence to get it
  
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238mph
Pro
Posts: 1145
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posted September 05, 2005 01:57 PM
Gunner... I have to ask, and be truthful... what tires do you run...???
I use to run Dunlops... till I tried these new Michelin Pilot Powers... unreal difference!!!
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gunner
Needs a life
Posts: 5778
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posted September 05, 2005 02:13 PM
Jere I'll tell you anything you ask and never lie about the bikes. Now if you ask about the bitches I'll send you on a wild goose chase. LOL!!!!!!!!!
Bridgestone 014's is all I have ever had on my 12. I never rode 1 mile on the Dunslops. When I'm done I'm done and I was done with the Dun's long ago. They may be good tires, but I'll never know. From what I'm hearing from guys like yourself Jere who have stayed loyal to them and finally made the switch I 'M STILL DONE WITH THEM.
You will probably see in the next few days that you really don't need a new bike! You may want one just because you do, but you haven't started to tap the 12's reserves if you have been on Dunslops. She's got a lot of power out of the corners and it takes tires like what you now have to use it. It's like being on a damn circus ride when it's all hooked up and workin.
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There's no such thing as a motor with no more power to give only people with no more intelligence to get it
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gunner
Needs a life
Posts: 5778
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posted September 05, 2005 02:15 PM
By the way if I don't sell the second 12 in the first few days I'm going to try a set of Powers on it back to back against my 014's. That would be interesting to stack them up like that.
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There's no such thing as a motor with no more power to give only people with no more intelligence to get it
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Connman
Zone Head
Posts: 506
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posted September 05, 2005 02:17 PM
So should I get a set of 014's or Pilot Powers? They're almost exactly the same price where I'm looking. 014's-$155(190), and $105, PP's-$154(190), and $105
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gunner
Needs a life
Posts: 5778
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posted September 05, 2005 02:27 PM
I was thinking that Rokitt1200 saide he could get the 014's for like 230 to the door from somewhere. Chapparal maybe?
Honestly Conn you can't co wrong either way.
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There's no such thing as a motor with no more power to give only people with no more intelligence to get it
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gunner
Needs a life
Posts: 5778
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posted September 05, 2005 02:43 PM
John (Rocket) has the Powers and we ran nose to tail for a whole day and I never seen him have any troubles out of his tires. You can't go wrong with either tire. Your riding style will have a large impact upon your tires as well. I hang off alot in order to keep the tire contact patch as strait up as possible. Hanging off is done for alot more reasons than just trying to look Rickey Racer. In the rain or wet conditions it's about the only way to go fast. You have to keep the contact patch a large as possible, and this is done with min lean angle. On the 12R it has so Much Power that it's like being in the rain all the time almost. It can spin the tire at will so as a rider you do certain things to help out this problem. Putting your body at risk by hanging off is one of them. Once you're committed to having your body in a position that will best serve the lack of traction situation YOU'RE FUCKED IF YOU DO FALL!!! There will be months of recovery and probably lot's of visits to a doc to get Humpty Dumpty put back together again. The body position needed for rapid corner speeds on the 12 is totally awkward if you do Hump the POOCH. You won't be able to pick a position to land best. The 12 is very capable of spanking ASS in the right hands, or in the wrong hands it capable of over shooting a corner and introducing you to Jesus.
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There's no such thing as a motor with no more power to give only people with no more intelligence to get it
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238mph
Pro
Posts: 1145
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posted September 05, 2005 05:02 PM
One of the biggest reasons I ride (off the bike) is that when my knee goes down
in the turns, I become a tripod... three points of contact on the ground... if my rear
starts to slide out, which was often the case on dunlops, I simply push down on my
knee, which tilts the bike up for more tread contact, and iin a very stabel manner the
rear end hooks back up... Now that was very predictable with the dunlops, I'm afraid
that the pilots will simply hook up radically and high side me... we'll see...
I have company in now for the holiday, and it's killing me...  I only got a 5 mins on the
new tires before I had to put it away... If there are as good as I think, I can say I have
two brand new 208s for the rear (200s) that are for sale...
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gunner
Needs a life
Posts: 5778
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posted September 05, 2005 06:33 PM
Ah Hell! Make a tire swing out of them, or a chew toy for a Pitt Bull  About all they're fit for and even at that the dog would probably choke to death on them.
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There's no such thing as a motor with no more power to give only people with no more intelligence to get it
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