Lets Make Some Noise
Lets Make Some Noise
My neighbour, and wifes hairdresser, Emma suggested riding out on the motorbikes this weekend if the weather was ok. As it turned out Saturday was very sunny if a little cold and damp on the roads still. So it was after some cajoling I was persuaded to get the Z750 out and start it up for a ride out.
Emma came around on her Yamaha R1 and I fired up the beast and got on my jeans, jacket and boots. The first stop was the garage for fuel, and then Emma led the way, following a route along the A5 towards Towcester. It was at this point I realised that Emmas Idea of a slow and steady ride differed by about 20 miles per hour from mine.
As soon as we hit the dual carriageway from Milton Keynes north towards Towcester the R1 was in the outside lane, and I was trying to follow on a 30 year old Kawasaki twin. I watched the road, glancing at the speedo from time to time to see it hit around 90 mph at which point I decided to back off a little and pull back in among the cars. The R1 ridden by Emma also pulled back in and settled to a steady 80 as I passed another car to get behind her again.
Single carriageways were not so bad up to Towcester as long as I could coax the Z750 twin to a speed to pass the cars to keep up with Emma. At least she waited after I fell a few cars behind. And it was nice and gentle through Towcester itself, before we turned towards Silverstone on the A43 dual carriageway, at which point I was holding up the R1 again, at my slow and steady 75-80 meaning Emma had to slow the R1 and wait for me again.
As we passed Silverstone racing circuit and out into the damp twisty lanes of the villages around it, I found myself needing a bit more bottle to keep up with the R1 or at least to hold a bit more speed in the corners but as the Z750 refused to turn in on a couple of the bumpier bends, I decided better to let discretion take over. Kindly Emma reigned in the R1 again.
As we came out of Buckingham onto a slightly larger road back towards home, I was holding a steady 60-70 through the bends, and still watching the Yamaha disappearing.
Still I got home having had a fun ride out on the Z750 which performed as well as ever. Hopefully Emma wasn’t too pissed off at waiting for me along the way, I look forward to more rideouts, but next time I think I’ll choose a slower riding partner, like James Toseland or Jamie Witham.