Cali vs. the US...

flipstyledsm22

flipstyledsm22

Lets go fishing!
I have to say, riding a motorcycle in California is AMAZING. I do it as much as possible and love riding all of my bikes, all the dang time!

With that being said, I've also noticed majority of the riders I've ridden with, are very impressive riders. I am no pro either... not even close to being a fast rider. I typically ride in the back of the pack... but I've ridden with the front pack a few times and damn... y'all can get down!!!

I know this is a loaded question, but do you guys/gals think that because of the plentiful riding opportunities out here, that y'all maybe the best riders in the US? The variety of different bikes in these group rides are just as impressive, especially when they are hanging with the bikes in the front of the pack :wow
 
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Pushrod

Pushrod

Well-known member
I'll go with the moto-culture is amped up more so in California than most other parts of the U.S. (As is everything else on the west coast). Even your plastic surgeons pack more into every effort they do.

But as to the 'why'. . . .I dunno. But thanks for giving us something to aspire to.
 
Slow Goat

Slow Goat

Fun Junkie
Could be the roads; the options are great compared to the majority of the US. Plus the year round riding weather.

These things drive the passion to be a better rider, I’d think.
 
ScottRNelson

ScottRNelson

Mr. Dual Sport Rider
BURNROPE said:
Am I the only native Californian who hates at the term "Cali"?
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I'm not a native Californian, but I strongly dislike the term too. :laughing

Now that I live out of California, I find it hard to find good riders to ride with. There are a much higher percentage of cruiser riders compared to other bike types as well as more adventure and dual sport bikes. It's hard to find good twisty roads, but the dirt riding is way better than even the stuff in the Sierras. I'm enjoying that.
 
HardBodyNinja

HardBodyNinja

Throttle Therapist
Grew up on the east coast and most of the roads are straight and flat where I'm from at least. That could contribute to California having better riders. I also think there is more access to track days/ riding schools out here.
 
Butch

Butch

poseur
Staff member
Good roads, good weather, an abundance of trackdays... we certainly have the opportunities to develop our skills.

I think riding well promotes others well.
 
berth

berth

Well-known member
Butch said:
Good roads, good weather, an abundance of trackdays... we certainly have the opportunities to develop our skills.
Click to expand...

The other thing is that we've been densely populated, especially in contrast to the rest of the country, for some time.

So a lot of our roads are older.

There are a lot of roads in California today that would not have been built today.

A simple example is Los Angeles. The bulk of the freeways were built aside, or simply over (i.e. above), existing roads. We still have pretty much all of our old highways and such that interconnect the distributed communities of Southern California.

Some of these roads are twisty turning goat paths, others are just historic areas with old small town charm.

Other parts of the country developed later, with more mature road technology, and just more knowledge about master planning, city design, etc. etc.

Before we paved old trading trails, nowadays we just cut straight paths through mountains.

That history and diversity is captured in a lot of our roads today.
 
WoodsChick

WoodsChick

I Don't Do GPS
I've noticed this on the dirt side of things when riding in other states. Our AMA District 36 is huge, and very competitive. Same with the SoCal desert racing scene. There's always been a ton of talent here. 20 years ago we started riding in other states, sometimes racing and sometimes just riding for fun. What we discovered was that a solid C rider here in a class of, say, 50 other riders was capable of smoking the smaller B classes elsewhere. Our first experience with this was when riding the very technical single track trails in Idaho. We'd have a few riders show up who'd just won the A class in their last enduro in Kansas, or the B enduro champ from Missouri, or ECEA riders. Judging from how the rides would go there's no way they'd be able to replicate that success here in California...not Cali. I did 2 4-hour GP races in WA state about 15 years ago. I won the first race by several laps, and finished 2nd in the next race. The winner of that 2nd race was the WA state cross country champ that year, and we finished with the same number of laps. Now, I was over 40 years old and a perennial C class rider due to never doing a whole series and just racing for fun. No way this chubby old busted-up woman should've smoked a pretty decent field. We had the same experience at a national enduro in Arizona with several D36 friends, all finishing better than expected. I guess I chalk it up to the sheer number of riders here. There's just so much more competition here. :dunno
 
cheez

cheez

Master Of The Darkside
I kinda like Cali, personally. I like it better than Cal.

You know, SoCal and No(r)Cal?

I think it should be:

LowCali and HighCali

Fite me.
 
nebulous

nebulous

Well-known member
I would take smooth and well maintained over "History and Diversity" every day.





berth said:
The other thing is that we've been densely populated, especially in contrast to the rest of the country, for some time.

So a lot of our roads are older.

There are a lot of roads in California today that would not have been built today.

A simple example is Los Angeles. The bulk of the freeways were built aside, or simply over (i.e. above), existing roads. We still have pretty much all of our old highways and such that interconnect the distributed communities of Southern California.

Some of these roads are twisty turning goat paths, others are just historic areas with old small town charm.

Other parts of the country developed later, with more mature road technology, and just more knowledge about master planning, city design, etc. etc.

Before we paved old trading trails, nowadays we just cut straight paths through mountains.

That history and diversity is captured in a lot of our roads today.
Click to expand...
 
Lagwagonlead

Lagwagonlead

Well-known member
WoodsChick said:
What we discovered was that a solid C rider here in a class of, say, 50 other riders was capable of smoking the smaller B classes elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Weird. The one track day I've done in Washington was C group and it felt just as quick as B group at a Z2 track day. I was thinking about how scary it would be if I was a first time track day rider with everyone else around me going so much quicker with no option to choose a slower group.
 
N

NoTraffic

Well-known member
nebulous said:
I would take smooth and well maintained over "History and Diversity" every day.
Click to expand...

I would say the moderate temperature is probably the single biggest factor. If you consider how much more appealing it is to get on your bike year round, we have at least 30 percent more seat time opportunity in comparison to the east.

Also factor in consumer markets, generational learning, track options and dealer networks, it all adds up.

It's similar to other hobbies/sports - I wouldn't be surprised if there was a higher ratio of professional ice hockey players that grew up in Michigan as opposed to California.
 
WoodsChick

WoodsChick

I Don't Do GPS
Lagwagonlead said:
Weird. The one track day I've done in Washington was C group and it felt just as quick as B group at a Z2 track day. I was thinking about how scary it would be if I was a first time track day rider with everyone else around me going so much quicker with no option to choose a slower group.
Click to expand...

Well, to be clear, I was talking about dirt bikes. And racing, not just track riding, where you actually need to earn points in order to be in those upper classes.
 
Frame Maker

Frame Maker

Well-known member
budman

budman

General Menace
Staff member
Butch said:
Good roads, good weather, an abundance of trackdays... we certainly have the opportunities to develop our skills.

I think riding well promotes others well.
Click to expand...

Can't really comment on other places because I am a native here that never left, but I think what Butch said applies. There are a lot of X Racers in the groups I ride with as well.

Cali is fine by me. I don't get upset about that kind of stuff.

Born in San Fran too. :laughing
 
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