Yesterday was the first time riding my RT that I was not happy doing so. My morning and afternoon commutes were filled with missed gear changes, improper curve entry and exit alignment, bad lane change decisions and staggering around at stop lights like a drunken sailor.
To clarify, this is not my normal riding behaviour (most days, anyways). I consider myself a competent rider, doing about 15,000 miles per year between my daily 40 mile commute and other longer rides. I have been riding for about 15 years on and off and constantly for the last five years.
So - about yesterday. I hadn't been drinking or on medication, mentally I was well-prepared (as well as one can be when commuting to work without coffee), the weather was near-perfect and everything should have been in place for a normal riding experience.
What was different? A new windshield. I won't mention the name of the manufacturer as there was nothing wrong with the windshield itself; it was a high quality product, designed and manufactured specifically for the R1200RT and widely distributed and praised throughout the RT community. It just didn't work for me.
Analyzing the 2-3 hours that I spent riding with the new windshield, I wanted to know what was making me ride like a slightly intoxicated orangutan. The only thing I can come up with is that, despite the windshield performing as designed and expected, it was too much of a change for me to be able to concentrate on riding. The changes in airflow, sight pattern, noise and pressures completely threw me off at a subconscious level.
I know some of you are saying "if you can't adapt quickly to a changed environment, you shouldn't be riding a motorbike." While there is a certain level of veracity to that statement, the changes I was dealing with weren't acute or immediately definable. As a rider, you have to be able to recognize, process, adapt and react to a countless myriad of changes every mile. When a change is systemic and not overtly recognizable, the brain can get sidetracked while trying to sort things out and you aren't consciously aware of the situation inside your skull.
I swapped back to my stock windshield this morning and today's ride was back to it's normal pleasurable experience and technically the ride went smoothly (only had to blip the horn at an encroaching cager once).
So, note to self: a seemingly minor change can cause ripples that we don't immediately recognize.
To clarify, this is not my normal riding behaviour (most days, anyways). I consider myself a competent rider, doing about 15,000 miles per year between my daily 40 mile commute and other longer rides. I have been riding for about 15 years on and off and constantly for the last five years.
So - about yesterday. I hadn't been drinking or on medication, mentally I was well-prepared (as well as one can be when commuting to work without coffee), the weather was near-perfect and everything should have been in place for a normal riding experience.
What was different? A new windshield. I won't mention the name of the manufacturer as there was nothing wrong with the windshield itself; it was a high quality product, designed and manufactured specifically for the R1200RT and widely distributed and praised throughout the RT community. It just didn't work for me.
Analyzing the 2-3 hours that I spent riding with the new windshield, I wanted to know what was making me ride like a slightly intoxicated orangutan. The only thing I can come up with is that, despite the windshield performing as designed and expected, it was too much of a change for me to be able to concentrate on riding. The changes in airflow, sight pattern, noise and pressures completely threw me off at a subconscious level.
I know some of you are saying "if you can't adapt quickly to a changed environment, you shouldn't be riding a motorbike." While there is a certain level of veracity to that statement, the changes I was dealing with weren't acute or immediately definable. As a rider, you have to be able to recognize, process, adapt and react to a countless myriad of changes every mile. When a change is systemic and not overtly recognizable, the brain can get sidetracked while trying to sort things out and you aren't consciously aware of the situation inside your skull.
I swapped back to my stock windshield this morning and today's ride was back to it's normal pleasurable experience and technically the ride went smoothly (only had to blip the horn at an encroaching cager once).
So, note to self: a seemingly minor change can cause ripples that we don't immediately recognize.
