It’s What We Do

This entry is part 23 of 24 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #3

I don’t know whether I’m getting soft or smart.Lately I’ve been riding a few bikes with anti-lock braking systems (ABS) and traction control, and I find more and more I’m expecting those rider aids to work, and work well. I’m a little at sixes and sevens as to how I feel about that.

It seems like only a few years ago early ABS was a primitive hammering under the boot that caused so much distraction it just wasn’t worth having. It felt like riding over nasty corrugations. Traction control is newer in adventure bikes, and it seems as though it’s hit consumer bikes in a far more refined state than ABS did, but it can still be an unwanted limiting factor in certain situations.

Lately those situations seem to occur less and less often. Rider aids have become so good I find myself riding in expectation of them saving my bacon. I ride harder into turns knowing the ABS will keep me from my usual monumental cockup-lockup, and I know I can crack open the throttle of a big-horsepower bike as early as I dare and the traction control will keep me from harm. Not only that, but these systems are getting so good that in a lot of situations I don’t know if I’d achieve anything extra relying on my own judgment.

So I trial them, work out which settings are best for me, and off I go.

Does that make me soft? All those MotoGP guys are using that technology, and they wouldn’t do it if it didn’t make them faster. And I know from experience that good riders can perform much better with those things working for them. They have the talent to understand the potential and use the rider aids to add to their performance.

My problem is, I feel as though I’m cheating, or doing something sneaky, if I don’t judge the pressure on the brake or the twist of throttle to find the limit of traction myself.

So am I soft or smart? I guess I’m a little of both.I’m a huge fan of anything that keeps me from injury, and I’m not the stallion of man that I once wished I’d been (but never was), so I’m smart for using good equipment when it’s available. Not only that, everyone else is using it. I’d be a mug to let pride stand in the way of making it through the tough rides or covering the big distances, when in reality, a lot of other riders wouldn’t look that great either if they weren’t making use of what the bike had to offer. Or looking at it another way, those rider aids will mean I can do tougher rides, cover even longer distances, and when I need to, safely run at higher speeds.

I’m thinking I’m smart to embrace these new technologies, and the ones that are coming. If you’re smart, you will too.

Series NavigationCape York >>