Scooberhawk

I've always been a big fan of personal responsibility. I think I'm a libertarian, or something.

swordfish

I wish I could ride with a group and given my location you would think it wouldn't be hard. I live in the chicago suburbs. there are riders everywhere, but its tough to actually find someone near you that rides because the suburbs are so vast, and the riders tend to stay near a few select hotspots. hotspots that frankly attract squids like deep sea fish bait. I don't like going to these hotspots, and so never meet new riders. I've had to make my own riders instead. my wife and I got a couple whom we were friends with into riding. but unfortunately, the man was a squid waiting to come out and he crashed, just ahead of me at 100mph, and never took it back up. they ended up divorcing but the wife moved away so now I got nobody again. my wife rides too, but she rides a gs 500. not the best bike to try to keep pace with a superhawk. anyway, if any of you guys live nearby, please let me know. I just don't want to ride with idiots. and there are too many squid riders around here to differentiate.

PJay

Think of the number of crashes, some quite severe, reported regularly on this forum.

And then think again about why these restriction ideas are constantly floated.

It is your job to avoid the dipshit that pulls out in front of you, regardless of the legal rights and wrongs. It is your job to stay on the road. It is your job to stay upright. Defensive driving means you have to think that every crash is your own personal responsibility. Otherwise you will die.

I am only too well aware that some of you will take personal offence at this. I look forward to meeting you and going for a ride with you, if you are still around.

Cheers

Firehawk_ordie

I disagree. I Don't know about traffic were you are from, but here in southern California there are about a car for each person. Trust me when you have to manage the road conditions, the weather, your own scoot and the guy 200 yards ahead of you, oh and not to mention that moron on the cell phone who keeps drifting in your lane, and that guy on your tail just because you happen to be on a "high power superbike" it gets hard to see that guy who turns left in front of you, and did i mention that 99.9% of California drivers don't or won't use turn indicators.

Most guys i know have gone down on city streets at under 35MPH. Some due to inexpireance and some due to other motorist (drivers). theres only so much a rider can do to make himself seen to drivers. Most of the guys on this fourm that report accidents, usually take full responsibility, and seek advice to prevent more accidendts.

Accidents happen, are they unavoidable? sometimes. But if a rider gets careless on a curve, he may go down, shame on him. However, if a person puts their 3,000 pound vehicle in a bikes path shame on them. not all motorcycles have the handling and braking power of sport bikes, and some riders don't have that much expierance.

Of course riders should be personally responsible for staying on the road. But if any government says that restricting one form of transportation will make the roads safer, that is a joke. remember that the other vehicles on the road still go fast, like buses, trucks, cars, trains, and all the mainacs who drive them. If more folks got run over by cars would they reduce the cars power or make walking illegal? This may sound dumb, but think about why you never hear about people getting run over. However you always hear of that guy on the "racebike" that slamed into a car. Check out the article in the March 2007 issue of motorcyclist, titled "Who knew?" It's a real eye opener.

thehandyman

Yeah what They said. Really, I think you should just limit the age of the rider and your problem will be solved.

PJay

Perhaps I need to spell out why I know what I am talking about: bear in mind it ain't where you're from but where you've ridden that's the point as to geography....

Over the last 35 years I would have covered something over 2,000,000 kilometres (1.6 million miles approx) on road bikes - I gave up counting at 1,000,000, and that was 20 years ago. I have ridden in the USA - yes, including So Cal, on sports bikes and others, often and as recently as last year - the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia as well as my native New Zealand.

(In NZ, incidentally, there is about the same ratio of cars per person as in So Cal, and the age of the fleet is much older, meaning they do not stop or steer nearly as well. And as for failure to indicate - here is where that was invented.)

I have been a certificated riding instructor and created my country's first advanced riding course in the early 1980s. I still compete internationally in historic road racing, and have trophies for road racing, drags, MX, and trials. Also compete in classic trials still.

And there's a lot of accumulated knowledge from the more distant past there, too, as my father and grandfather were in the motorcycle trade (the old guy from 1903...). None of this stuff is new.

If you do not have it in your mind that your crash is your problem, then crashes will be inevitable. Then you will join the stats that will persuade these **** to make ever-more-restrictive laws. We concerned riders are a minority whose votes will sway no-one, so political action is beyond us for self-protection.

If there are sufficient gory motorcyclists' body parts spattered across cars and trucks so that cleaning is too inconvenient for the drivers, then we will be legislated out of our sport. Too bad if it's their fault. Riders have been truthfully saying "It was not my fault" for decades: has anyone done anything about it? No. It is only up to us to look after ourselves, on a simple, individual, day-to-day basis. Riding, not "being seen". They see us and still kill us.

BTW - if you think I am some ******** who potters around on the road at great-granny speeds - no: the fastest I have ever been on a public road is 260kph; the fastest on a gravel road is 195kph; and my usual average speed on a long trip including meal, refreshment, and fuel stops is about 105kph. That having been said, straightline speed is not the point of the SH, which is why I like 'em.