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It
all started at the Nurburgring. The year is 2001 and John is on
his hot poop Ducati 998R, bellowing out of bends and shredding back
tyres, at one with the world. Until he looks in his mirror and espies
young Chapman sitting 2 feet behind, whistling quietly to himself
and taking a line at least 10' tighter through the bends.
Try as he might through the ensuing turns, and with
the benefit of countless Ringmeister courses, John can not turn
as tight as the upstart Chapper's GSXR750 trackday special.
Now John is not one to be out-turned lightly. Suddenly
the Ducati was a slow steering old shed and something had to be
done, he couldn't have everyone steaming up his inside. Forgetting
such relevant topics as counter-steering, upper body strength and
sheer aggression, he blamed his misfortune on the Duke.
Normal
logic would dictate that, as it was a GSXR750 turning so tightly,
he would plump for a similar bolide. But no, John's logic dictated
that if a Gixer 750 could do that, a GSXR600 would do even better.
So the Ducati was consigned to oblivion, replaced by a spanky new
blue and white 600. One just had a slight doubt about the suitability
of a 600 to John's riding style. Always a man to preach the slow
in, fast out mantra, he could get away with this on a torque monster
Ducati, but a 600 requires rather more of the fast in, less fast
out method. Initial impressions on the road were OK, but he wasn't
getting away from the following lads as envisaged.
So, off to the Ring, which after all was the whole
reason for buying the Gixer. The bike was trailered so no screaming
600 for 300 miles of flat out motorway. And at the circuit? Hmm,
a qualified success perhaps, but I've never found it easier to follow
John. Suffice to say, the 600 has been removed from John's affections
as he suddenly realised that the 1000 he already owns handles nearly
as well but has ten times more torque. Doh.
On the road the bike is good, although a bit of
a pain in heavy traffic when 600cc torque makes opportunistic queue
hopping a bit of an effort, but it's fun watching the rider revving
the nuts off it to get some decent forward motion. The advantage
of a 600 doesn't really show on the Queen's public highway, there's
not enough space or grip to really exploit its potential for barelling
into bends at ludicrous speeds. Fat torque is more use, but think
of those insurance premiums ....
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