Korea
28th November 2005, 23:03
Well, I have been riding in Korea for a couple of years now and having finally upgraded to a REAL bike I have been able to discover a lot more of Korea.
Once you get out of the congested city streets there are some nice twisty B-roads to blast about on, which is all you're getting because motorcycles are banned from the open highways; keeping riders in the twistys where they belong.
No matter, the quality of the B-roads are generally great - long, wide open in parts, twisty but with concrete barriers on both sides; they haven't been designed with motorcyclist safety in mind.
One thing that surprised me about Korean riders is that most of the guys I've met have super-trick, late model sports bikes - and they know how to ride them too! Most ride seemingly without fear of loss of life and limb and the standard is generally stupidly quick. Enough to lose you your licence faster than you can say "Kim Chi" in New Zealand. Strangely, the police presence is minimal outside of town and I rarely see a single car on a weekend ride to the Cheon Wang Jae mountain region just an hour southeast of Daegu city.
This mountain range has a pass through it reminiscent of the Rimutaka hill, and the riders from Daegu, Pohang, and Busan regularly gather on a Sunday afternoon to blast up and down repeately until someone writes their bike off.
This happened two weekends ago, when the ZXR750, just 10 odd-metres in front of me, turned way too early for one corner, drifted to the outside of the curve and bounced off the guardrail. I remember thinking as he initiated the turn in "Hmm... seems a bit early..." and I backed off in time to see him go into a wobble as he panicked and laid it down into the barrier. Luckily he was okay, but the bike lay broken and bleeding its guts out right on the breaking line for the sweeper going up.
So here are some photos and a little video clip (see if you can spot me) of the Cheon Wang Jae mountain road: No big brother to tell you off, definitely great fun, but ride like a plonker/ride beyond you or your bike's abilities and you pay the price.
Have fun and ride safe everyone...
Once you get out of the congested city streets there are some nice twisty B-roads to blast about on, which is all you're getting because motorcycles are banned from the open highways; keeping riders in the twistys where they belong.
No matter, the quality of the B-roads are generally great - long, wide open in parts, twisty but with concrete barriers on both sides; they haven't been designed with motorcyclist safety in mind.
One thing that surprised me about Korean riders is that most of the guys I've met have super-trick, late model sports bikes - and they know how to ride them too! Most ride seemingly without fear of loss of life and limb and the standard is generally stupidly quick. Enough to lose you your licence faster than you can say "Kim Chi" in New Zealand. Strangely, the police presence is minimal outside of town and I rarely see a single car on a weekend ride to the Cheon Wang Jae mountain region just an hour southeast of Daegu city.
This mountain range has a pass through it reminiscent of the Rimutaka hill, and the riders from Daegu, Pohang, and Busan regularly gather on a Sunday afternoon to blast up and down repeately until someone writes their bike off.
This happened two weekends ago, when the ZXR750, just 10 odd-metres in front of me, turned way too early for one corner, drifted to the outside of the curve and bounced off the guardrail. I remember thinking as he initiated the turn in "Hmm... seems a bit early..." and I backed off in time to see him go into a wobble as he panicked and laid it down into the barrier. Luckily he was okay, but the bike lay broken and bleeding its guts out right on the breaking line for the sweeper going up.
So here are some photos and a little video clip (see if you can spot me) of the Cheon Wang Jae mountain road: No big brother to tell you off, definitely great fun, but ride like a plonker/ride beyond you or your bike's abilities and you pay the price.
Have fun and ride safe everyone...