And I'd have to admit too, that the now Obvious.. might not have entered My pretty-little head either :(

(Though it did enter.. on a matter of lesser importance: not a great idea to be idling around town on one's multi-cylinder *air* cooled machine when it's >90\ufffd outside.) Folks smarter than either of us - bought a cyl. head temp gauge!

I remember the RD-350: it was vastly too-fast for its Bad handling (a bad mix also with a ~16 yo newbie finding out the hard way about: short wheelbases and physics, at the same time).

Helped my SO get a new -250; it handled surprisingly well. Both showed what the Japanese could extract from a 2-stroke: eat lots of 'things' for lunch..

Another lunacy: coasting!

At top of a long wind-y downgrade. Kill engine, get: the Worst of both bicycling and [inert] motorcycling. Since it's a race, you have to keep sorta off the brakes yet still make the turns. I think.. it was a learning experience of a sort re. finding the very best line. For those who want to scare selves. Contrary to intuition (f=ma?) IIRC the lighter bikes usually won via ~ handling nearer to bicycles, further lean angles possible w/o power.. (not sure of that)


A Survivor