At the Isle Of Man shortly after the "Start/Finish" line the bike fly's down this hill called "Bray Hill". You better be going wide open, the bike bottoms out down below at full speed and from there you both go flying up a smaller hill, again wide open, the front end lofting at a small rise called "Ago's Leap" and again shortly thereafter at another bump, "Ago's Two". The fast guys go over a rise again "Ago's Three" with a light front end-veering down hill towards the left and then finally you brake for the first turn "Quarter Bridge". The speeds come from 170/150 mph down to whatever the weather entails... amazing. This is when you know the bike works, a great deal of trust in your mount involved, believe me naming and talking to your bike helps.
As a racer I can say one of the great skills you attain over time is to have the ability to be able to "read" the bike you just straddled in the heat of battle almost immediately and go wide open without fully knowing your mount. While running hard and fast past experience is invaluable to call upon. You're able to gather information about comfort, throttle response, suspension, brakes, tire grip, as well as wind resistance at full throttle on some course, track or backroad somewhere "oh yeah... where am I going?". To be able to acclimate without tenseness, Jedi Knight shit.
Recently I was called upon to test ride a new bike for Urban Moto...cool. This was in a certain way a test to my skills as a rider to explain the characteristics of what I have never ridden, being given a short amount of time for the ride. The BMW K1200R is a supreme bike and the hype was well deserved however to ride an unknown bike fast is to know one's own boundaries (I tend to wreck things of all kinds seeking this parameter). Many riders read about all the new high tech gadgets and variable adjustments that a modern bike will offer, this will only go as far as the rider is able to comprehend the gift offered in the way of better performance and "bling", most won't. I took this BMW to it's limits in the short time I had and smiled, if only it could tie me up.
Lately there have been many questions from newer riders about the way they should feel while riding, either the helmet or gear as well a discomfort from bar vibration and windage get their attention. Interestingly enough no complaints from the sportbike riders about the posture of their steed, a far cry from 1994. I explain to these riders that riding is a new sensation for their body and brain and their body and mind are acclimating to all sensations involved, relax. A tip jar should be had for the parts dudes that hand out wise information, it's only fair, at least get the dudes a six pack. Unless the bike you're riding transmits that there's some sort of accelerating, brake or handling problem pay attention to the road and enjoy the ride.
Every bike has it's own way of responding to the task at hand, they all dance to their own rhythm. The trick to riding smooth which translates to fast is to find the proper rhythm. As in other wonderful things, sometimes fast and hard does the trick and other times to be smooth and slow will work even better. If your fighting the bike then something's wrong in the application of riding said steed.
Cruisers like to arc "input" decisions made long before the turn, Standards tend to be conservative with no tricks unless they're Ducati's... then you wheelie. The 600cc sportbike likes to be ran high and tossed in late "screaming", however finesse is the key. Mighty liter bike's have to be manhandled to be properly ridden at speed, a true testament to the rider that can run those well. The motard and dual sport guys can go fast in any condition but so can a monkey with the advantage they have as far as "street travel"... so there. (I'll probably have a hit put out on me from the SMR guys for that statement, be warned I'm a hard person to kill)
As an aspiring pupil trekking high in some mountain seeking refuge and wisdom in a long forgotten monastery will eventually learn... Simplicity is Best. Until you as a rider can take the utmost piece fo shit and ride the wheels off it you can't really know what it's like to ride with abandon. To be on a bike that emits laughter and ridicule is to gain a feeling of reckoning. There is nothing like passing many a rider on mounts with higher pedigree's, the smile is wide. However to do so has to have the rider spending many an hour in the saddle under many a condition.
I heard a tale of a racer that had nothing but a scooter to ride one Sunday morning. He left first with a small handicap and made the smoke stop before all bikes of a better caliber with the exception of the "fast guys", it's not what you ride it's how you ride it. He is a master at riding the hell out anything he gets his hands on and can do so comfortably, being relaxed and finding the parameters of the bike..uh scooter, and from there using it to the best of it's ability in a short amount of time. To ride many different bikes allows a rider to recall the different aspects of various handling and motor quirks.
As a seasoned vet, your body and mind react to the bike being ridden and from there dance the dance long forgotten, vroom. So while riding feel what the bike is doing and from there experiment with a few different ways of accomplishing said task. Try going in a turn late or use a different line, change your posture and body english to see if the bike handles differently, do so with baby steps, sometimes to go slow is to go faster later, the bike just may not want to run a certain way, find that sweet spot and from there dance.
~Cheers, Alx