Wave Fronts

Bringing back old muscle memories

Contrasting the Yamaha R6 with a Bultaco Metralla has been an interesting exercise, both mental and muscular, as the R6 has about 120 pounds on the Metralla and is taller in the saddle, if memory serves, so I can only move the R6 with the ends of my feet. My left forearm muscles aren't sore, but my right hand is positively weak from practice of resisting the throttle return spring for extended periods of time. Did they have to use recycled bear trap parts for that spring? Must be some safety feature for a Yamaha exec's slide set ("Chilren can't possibly hold throttle for long. Excellent conclusion: lesser probability of inopportune episode involving inadvisable acceleration or velocity!").

Working out the stock R6 ratios, for the factory suggested 600 mile break-in rpm limit of 10k I get 110mph in 6th gear (i.e. 109mph stays on the right side of the recommended limit). That turns out to be close to the top end of a Metralla on level ground. I wonder if I owned any goggles or a face plate for my open face helmet while running the Metralla at it's maximum speed? Oh, it had to be goggles, 'cause I wore contact lenses then and they wouldn't stay in with wind blasts, even with a snap-on shield. In fact I recall now that one lense fell out once and landed on my fuel tank (how is it possible I never lost a lens in my life?).

But the "break-in limit" for the R6 seems perfect, as based on the data it appears the R6 engine is only starting to wake up at that speed. This is good. I need lots of experience with handling to get to the "second skin" level of familiarity I achieved with the Metralla before experiencing peak power on the R6. There seems to be plenty of time, as I'm still scraping together money for body armor, gloves, boots, and well armored leathers with puck holders that match the safety level of my X11 helmet. Oh, and I know now that the leathers need to fit me like they were sprayed on. I can stand a lot of hassle with getting one piece suits on and off in return for not being beaten bodily by any loose bits flapping. I need to be able to stay almost fully relaxed and avoid distractions at all times to tame an R6. This leans me toward a visit to BTK for a final fitting. I'll have figured out where my weight and shape is going to stabilize at by then (weight oscillating between 175 and 178, but my "love handles" aren't burned off completely and I haven't started strength training yet).

I'm living each day as fully as I can.

Posted at 08:11AM Sep 10, 2006 by microwaves in Motorcycle Road Racing  |  Comments[2]