OP
UTC

Hooked
2019 MP3 500 Sport
Joined: UTC
Posts: 258
Location: California
 
Hooked
2019 MP3 500 Sport
Joined: UTC
Posts: 258
Location: California
UTC quote
Yesterday, work gave me a perfect excuse to take California Bay Area's famous "Skyline" ("highways" 9-35 92). It was my first time taking the MP3 500 that way, typically I'd leave it for the sportier bike.

That said, the MP3 was a ton of fun. The Skyline ride is fraught with deer and moisture patches and poor road surface sectors... which the MP3 gives one a lot of confidence on. While the Skyline has a big reputation in the California Bay Area among sports motorcycles and sports car drivers (tons of zillionaires around here, so there always is a contingent of Porsches and Ferraris and what not there), in all honesty I think 80% of it could be done at over 100mph flat provided you flaunt speed limits and you ride like it's a video game and you have extra lives - there is zero run off and often 200ft drop offs right off the road...

But I LOVED how planted the MP3 is. I did touch the center stand three or four times, and never felt I was pushing it.

The funniest part was: as I was headed north, I stopped at what we call "4 corners" to hydrate (non alcoholic of course). As I went back onto 35, a Ferrari drove by, then I entered 35. I swear I wasn't trying to catch it or in any way race it (in the hands of a competent driver I hold no illusions whatsoever about the fact it'd leave me in the dust), but it was absolutely funny: I caught up with it on a very twisty and shady bit. Every time there was a straight, the Ferrari would launch off. Every time it got twisty, I'd catch up. I am not naive: I know a Ferrari can hold much higher corner speed than any motorcycle, and trust me, I hold a big safety margin. In a nutshell, the MP3 had me smiling the whole ride.

The Ferrari driver didn't seem pleased though. Towards the end it was clear *he* thought I was trying to race. And as we got onto the real highway at the end of the ride, he blasted off into the distance on a straight at very illegal speeds.

The mileage I got during that ride was pretty awful though, I wish I'd reset things so I could accurately tell, but it was definitely around 40mpg, tops. And I don't think I touched the brakes often, it was all very smooth and zen, I wasn't wringing the throttle at all.

The only thing I think an MP3 doesn't like are surface irregularities at a certain "frequency" especially on a straight line. It can try to stubbornly follow such irregularities o the road.
UTC

Hooked
2016 Mp3 500ie Sport
Joined: UTC
Posts: 305
Location: California
 
Hooked
2016 Mp3 500ie Sport
Joined: UTC
Posts: 305
Location: California
UTC quote
Thats my regular stomping ground. The Mp3 will never win a straight race but its a beast on those curvy mountain roads. I cannot keep up with the super-sports and skilled riders but everyone else I can keep up with or pass.

Send me a DM if you want to try and do a dual Mp3 ride around the Santa Cruz mountains.

Update - I'm on my other computer and was able to pull up a thread I shared at work from a couple months ago. I encountered a sport-bike going up Hwy 9 from Boulder creed towards the Hwy 9 / Hwy 35 (skyline) junction. As noted the Mp3 is not a fast bike, but its often greatly underestimated just how fast it can be and on that day a sport bike rider learned just that.
Quote:
A curious race on the Mp3
It was 4:30pm going north on Hwy 9 this Sunday just after the junction with 236, it was getting colder and so I was making haste to get home and warm up. I was wearing mesh with no liner and the temperature was dropping quick in the mountains.

About a mile up the road I encountered a fast looking sport bike, the rider was in full racing gear and was leaning into the turns. Behind me was some kind of large ADV bike, the rider was holding pace with me but seemed in no hurry to pass or be fast.

I pulled up in formation behind the sport bike intending to pass at the next safe straight away. I kept back a bit so as to not crowd him but kept him in site and signaled I wanted to pass. The sport-bike rider checked his mirrors, saw me, then sped up.

Oh I thought, he wants to go fast too. So I twisted the throttle and held my position up through the turns and up the straights.

A mile later he slowed down and leaned back to relax. I was still in formation and was now closing the distance intending too pass him at the next straight I new to be up ahead. Behind me the ADV rider appeared in my mirrors but was not making moves to pass or try and close the distance.
This is where things got strange.

The sport-bike rider twisted around and looked right at me. Then he crouched down, got back on the throttle and took off again.

I still wanted to go fast so I put on throttle and sped up too. Easily matching him and gaining on him through the turns and twists.

Again he soon let off the throttle and started to relax. But this time he looked in his mirrors and saw me still holding formation with him. He glanced over his shoulder again and put on more throttle. The ADV bike was nowhere to be seen behind me.

This time he did not relent and kept pushing his bike faster right up until the junction of Hw9 and Skyline blvd. He glance over his shoulder one last time then turned left on Skyline heading for Alice's Restaurant. Reaching the stop sign I paused for a bit to let traffic clear and the ADV rider finally made an appearance coming around the last turn behind me.

To draw a conclusion, I think sport-bike rider thought he was fast and each time he "relaxed" he'd imagined he had been so fast that everyone else was far behind him. Rather than "ride his own ride" and allow faster-traffic to pass he instead pushed himself faster and harder rather than yield to another rider. Thing is, the Mp3 is NOT fast as I'm regularly passed by all kinds of bikes.
OP
UTC

Hooked
2019 MP3 500 Sport
Joined: UTC
Posts: 258
Location: California
 
Hooked
2019 MP3 500 Sport
Joined: UTC
Posts: 258
Location: California
UTC quote
I'll definitely reach out - I typically take my BMW R1100S up Skyline but don't go there often these days. Especially on weekends it gets silly too often.

The twisty bits are fun, and especially going downhill and when the road is cold and moist and perhaps has some leaves on it, the MP3 has a downright unfair advantage. If I dicn't care about the bike, I'd be really curious to push the front end over gravel to see what happens when it gives out some...
UTC

Molto Verboso
2015 MP3 500 ie Business
Joined: UTC
Posts: 1095
Location: Belgium
 
Molto Verboso
2015 MP3 500 ie Business
Joined: UTC
Posts: 1095
Location: Belgium
UTC quote
Shame on the Ferrari driver for daring to take his ride out and putting a few miles on the clock.

Doesn't he realize for every mile that goes on the odometer, he's losing at least $20 in loss of resale value.

Ferraris (and other exotic cars) are meant to be kept in a garage and rubbed with a diaper.

I know Ferraris guys that pay to have their car trailered to the dealership for the regular service just to keep the miles off the odometer.
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