{"id":11222,"date":"2021-02-12T18:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/bin-ich-rossi\/"},"modified":"2022-03-03T11:24:01","modified_gmt":"2022-03-03T10:24:01","slug":"am-i-rossi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/en\/am-i-rossi\/","title":{"rendered":"Am I Rossi?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"MotorProsa:<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I know – it is blasphemous to compare me as a standard motorcyclist with superstar Valentino Rossi. And I will never do it again. But during the following experience, I asked myself very briefly, “Am I Rossi?”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Das<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Before you read, please note<\/strong>: this post was translated with the help of Deepl<\/a>.
If you find any errors \u2013 please have fun first and then give me a hint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. december 2001<\/strong> \u2013 not necessarily the day anyone expects to see a motorcyclist on the roads of the Venosta Valley<\/a>. Occasionally you can smell Vespas, but not “real” motorcyclists. Just a day like any other. And a short time compared to the years I’ve had the pleasure to ride my motorcycle. Even shorter are the five seconds that marked this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five seconds .. a moment \u2013
 and yet incredibly long.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And that’s how it was today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a long night, a look out of the window into the Mazia valley gives my day a zest for action. Bright sunshine, blue skies, freezing cold, but so what? I’ll start the KTM , ride into the mountains, take photos, dangle my feet and let my mind wander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My three-year-old KTM 640 LC4 won’t start. Pressing the red button, I very briefly doubt whether it was a good idea to order an SC supermoto that no longer has this red button. Will I ever get to ride it again, or will I just kick forever to bring the bike to life? KTM – K<\/strong>ick a T<\/strong>housand times and M<\/strong>ore? We’ll see …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as the engine starts, it chokes \u2013 I remember I almost emptied the tank the day before. So off we go to nearby Switzerland, where petrol is relatively cheap. The cold is felt well, but not so much in my own body as in the mechanics – the KTM still doesn’t want to run smoothly in fourth gear after 10 km of riding. My bones are shaken into shape by the jerking – until we finally reach operating temperature when we turn off from Mals to Laatsch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s
 go!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And it goes. The tyres slowly soften, the sun pushes through the treetops in the Calva forest and warms the asphalt for me. Shortly before Taufers, I greet the winding road on my knee, take the lonely Ford Fiasco on the outside line, and I celebrate the first stoppie in the middle of the village, because my good deed today is leaving an elderly gentleman across the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They know me at the Swiss border \u2013 I’m waved through without any problems, fill up the tank, buy the new MOTORRAD and head back to bella Italia. Too bad the young customs officer is not in his little house today – the one who never wants to see the papers from us motorcyclists, but always wants to see wheelies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wheelie

Wheelie \u2013 fun with the KTM Supermoto<\/h3><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Malser Haide opens up before me, bathed in glistening light. Like an invitation, a summons: “Come on, drive me!” I’m happy to do so – wheelieing away from the junction, foot forward in the first bend, I sort out my seating position on the following straight. The whole world seems to be somewhere else – free track. The Malser Haide calls louder: “Come to me, faster!” I still resist, the left at the northern exit of Mals I ride shakily – too many thick, white barrier lines. The entrance to Burgeis also seems strangely different, somehow narrow and confusing. This is probably due to the snow sticks that fly close to my right arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"That's

That’s how it all began: My KTM 640 LC4 Supermoto<\/h3><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nice, the calm. No strong wind that, if it blows properly, makes you lean on the short straight to the biggest bend, the so-called “Hoachen Ried”. I swing into it – earth, take a bow. My knee slider crumbles on the rough surface, very briefly the metal tip of my boot joins in the concert of chain clatter, exhaust roar, flying sparks and the chipping of hard plastic. It feels good, again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Some

Some drifts get a bit out of hand ..<\/h3><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So it goes on – sometimes around to the left, sometimes around to the right, straight ahead rather restrained due to lack of power, but it’s enough for the few cars I run into. One tries to steal the penultimate bend from me, but I take the long way round again, I’m forgiven. For a blinking moment I look him in the eye through his rear-view mirror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take the
 long way round ..<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

No, he’s not angry with me, he’s happy about it. It’s Italy\u2026 I turn around. At the lower Burgeis entrance I break one of my resolutions, which is: “Don’t burn the same track twice<\/em>“. What is quite normal on the race track has often led to a crash on the open road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five magic bends, the same procedure again. The world tilts, flies by, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, the speedometer needle of the KTM very briefly touches 160 \u2026 What a great area I live in<\/a>, I can see the K\u00f6nigsspitze and the Ortler in front of me as I brake into the hairpin bends. Downhill, where the memorial to the fallen stands – I lean to the right, put pressure on the left footpeg, spread my right knee a little, take my finger off the brake, and the countdown starts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6
<\/strong>At the entrance to the bend: KTM with JvS goes into a leaning position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5
<\/strong>The right knee slider touches the ground, very quietly. My thigh vibrates to the rhythm of the asphalt rubbing against the plastic. The right hand gives a little gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4
<\/strong>The front wheel loses grip, the handlebars flip a few degrees inwards, my upper arm muscles tense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3,5
<\/strong>The rear wheel loses grip. The fine bumps in the road, previously felt in the handlebars and seat, disappear. Suddenly everything goes quiet, I just think: “What \u2026?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3
<\/strong>At the apex: straining, I push my thigh outwards and thus the knee slider harder into the ground. I look at the “enemy” lane. Clear, but crash barriers cast long shadows on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2,5
<\/strong>I close the throttle and the rear wheel finds grip again – only to lose it right away because of the load change. By now I’m just a passenger, the noise from the knee slider is getting louder and louder, the handlebars are getting closer to the road. I drift towards the centre of the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2
<\/strong>“That’s it then \u2026” <\/em>It pulls my right leg back, which gives a nice strain in the crotch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1
<\/strong>On the exit of the bend. “It’s going to hurt\u2026<\/em>” The leg presses heavily, the arms burn. Sweat breaks out while the front wheel finds grip again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0
<\/strong>The rear wheel catches grip. The rough asphalt penetrates the handlebars and seat again, the rasping on my right knee becomes quieter, the forces tugging at my thigh disappear, my upper arms relax. Without stepping on the gas again, I continue to roll downhill\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five
 seconds ..<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
  • It could have been five seconds before a JvS smashing into the crash barriers goes black.<\/li>
  • It could have been five seconds before a short fun turns into long pain.<\/li>
  • It could have been five seconds before the dream of a new supermoto also goes up in smoke due to a burning KTM.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    But it was then the five seconds that drove me home with a pounding heart that made me understand: enough is enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Am I
     Rossi?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    .. who absorbs slides over the knee, and who feels comfortable at the limit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sadly
     not ..<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \"Das<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    <\/div>\n\n\n\n
    <\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Perfectly matching:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t
    \n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

    \n\t\t\t\t\t\tNo post found!\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\n\n

    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    On the supermotos I experienced the craziest stories – during THIS action in the saddle of my KTM I briefly asked myself: “Am I Rossi?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[596,538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thoughts","category-about-me","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50","no-featured-image-padding"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"modified_by":"J\u00fcrgen 'JvS' Theiner","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/motorprosa-blog-header-bin-ich-rossi-1-effekt.jpg",1200,674,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/motorprosa-blog-header-bin-ich-rossi-1-effekt-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/motorprosa-blog-header-bin-ich-rossi-1-effekt-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/motorprosa-blog-header-bin-ich-rossi-1-effekt.jpg",768,431,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/motorprosa-blog-header-bin-ich-rossi-1-effekt-1024x575.jpg",1024,575,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/motorprosa-blog-header-bin-ich-rossi-1-effekt.jpg",1200,674,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/motorprosa-blog-header-bin-ich-rossi-1-effekt.jpg",1200,674,false],"mailpoet_newsletter_max":["https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/motorprosa-blog-header-bin-ich-rossi-1-effekt.jpg",1200,674,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"J\u00fcrgen 'JvS' Theiner","author_link":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/en\/author\/infomotorprosa-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"On the supermotos I experienced the craziest stories - during THIS action in the saddle of my KTM I briefly asked myself: \"Am I Rossi?\"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorprosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}