Motorcycles

[Guest RKSL-Rock]

I've been riding Bikes for 16 years now, and not just as a shiny Toy that only comes out when the sun shines. 365 days a year, all over europe and around the UK including central London.  The greatest danger to any biker is a myopic car driver (which is about 80% of drivers).  In 16 years of riding I've had precisely 3 accidents:

1) Drunk Driver in a Volvo 740 Estate - head to head swerved into my lane at 30mph coming down a hill at me doing 15-20 mph headin up the hill - smashed my shin inot 6 pieces and drove off.  He later claimed that the car had been stolen. (Window was smashed from the inside and the keys were in the ignition when the police found it) Bike was an NSR250RK

2) Little German old Lady who couldnt see over the dashboard -  and I'm NOT joking - driving a Volvo 240D.  Just outside Dusseldorf.  Rammed into the back of me.  Claimed I swerved infront of her.  I was stationary talking to policeman. Bike was a CBR1000(jelly mold)

3) Rammed from behind by a Police Car in central Bristol, UK.  Again sat stationary at a set of traffic lights in a bus lane (Bikes can legally use bus lanes in Bristol).  Policeman was late coming off shift and hit me at 50-60mph trashing my CBR1100 Blackbird.

So, I now avoid Policemen, Old biddies and Volvos.  Apart from that the only thing that scares me on the road is morons with caravans.

Back to the plot...bikers are only as safe as the other road users.  You can train as much as you want, take as many precautions as you want but if that spotty teenage prat, or his granny is out on the road driving around without any consideration for others it makes no difference.

Alot of people will see a bike and scream death trap. the media reinforces that fear too.  Its wrong, the standard of driver education is appaling.  The last 5 years have seen the motorcycle test system in the Uk change 5 times.  The car test has changed once - addition of a written exam.

About 10 years ago I used to spend alot of time riding around the NW of England with my mates.  One of which was a Police Bike instructor.  He rode everywhere in all weathers never had a car.   One sunday afternoon he stopped off near a cashpoint in central manchester. Got off the bike, walked across the road. Used the cash point and started to cross the road on a zebra crossing.  A woman with two kids in the back was driving down the road, trying to smack her kids in the back seat.  Didnt see my friend Paul and ploughed into him at 40mph in a 30 zone. Killed him outright.

That night the local TV and Newspapers reported that he was killed in a motorcycle accident where it was belived to be his fault.  Paul's family & friends demanded that they report the truth and they publically apologise.  

It took 3 months before the media acknowleged he was mown down by a dangerous and negligent driver whilst on a zebra crossing.  Why?  Becasue he was wearing a set of leathers and a motorcycle helmet. Total media bullshit whipping up public opinion.

The woman got a 5 year ban and an 18 month prison sentence.  With the help of the same reporter that 'made up' the original story she went to appeal with a petition of over 2000 names.  Her sentance was communted to a 1 year ban and 30 days suspended sentance for the manslaughter of a father of three.

The woman had only passed her test 10 days before, it was the 3rd time she'd ever driven a car.  She admitte din court that she had never had proper formal lessons.  Her driving examiner was a witness in court.  He said that she had only just passed the minimum requirement.

Whats my point with this?  Well consider that in most coutries now you have to by LAW take a written test and atleast 4-10 hours supervised tuition before being allowed to ride a decent sized bike.   Yet in those same countries you can take a written test and a 40 minute ride around the streets and them go out and drive a 7500Kg truck around.

I've welcomed every change in the training of motorcyclists.  But I've always said that its not enough.  The problem is other road users.  You cant solve the problem by banning or blaming the minority.

To my mind everyone should be made to ride a moped for 6 months before being given a car license.  It would give people a hell of a lot more respect for other road users.

...my two penneth.

[Dauragon 0]

I traveled from New York to California the summer before i left for the military with a friend on his Harley Davidson, it was the best summer i ever had   vroooooom

:o how long did it take!?!

i will never be able to sit on a bike for that long and if one day i would travel from new york to california it would only be in a hummer h2

[ozanzac 0]

Hi all.

A couple of weeks ago, my trusty old bike blew up whilist dad was testing to see if it had a throttle cut out point.

Dad's a mechanic by trade, so I was under the impression he knew what he was doing (and risking) whilist tuning and testing the bike, so I didn't say anything when I heard him revving the life out of it... but in hindsight, I definitly should have.

So, if anyone else out there is wondering, no, a '90 Yamaha XT 250 doesn't have a throttle cut out point, and yes, the near bullet-proof, 4 stroke, air cooled single, will self destruct; If, and especially if, the throttle is held wide open through the redline for any period greater than a few seconds.

Backfiring is a tell tale sign that one should back off the throttle...... Every man and his dog could just about tell you that, but for dad, the bike just simply had to blow up, just to be sure.

In due time, the engine will be rebuilt, but in the mean time, I was left without personal transport, thus, putting my employment at risk, and making getting to uni, difficult, to say the least. I needed transport, and I needed it ASAP!

After waiting a couple of weeks, hoping that the bike would be mended in time for the university mid-semester break (which means two weeks full time work), I simply had to buy a new bike....

For me, this was an absolute last resort.... I'm still legally restricted to 250cc motorcycles, and was hoping the XT-250 would last until July next year, when I step up to an unlimiited licence.

For my next bike, I had my heart set on a mid sized enduro. The loss of the XT simply accellerated my desire for the next aquisition, and I found an '01 XR400 in excellent condition with low kays, took it for a test ride, had the cash ready to hand over and everything, but my insurance company shot me down at the last minute, condemning me to a 250cc, or risk breaking the law, and having no insurance in the event of an accident. Thanks, but no thanks.

Thus, I was stuck in the hapless position of getting another 250.... having had a trail bike, I went back into the market looking for a road bike. Dad found an '02 VTR 250, still under warranty. By sheer coincidence, it was owned by a guy I knew (I didn't even know he had a bike), and after taking it for a test ride, I knew this was the one for me. Dad, being the 'expert' opinion, concured, and it was sold within the space of an hour.

I was ecstatic, until I rang the insurance line to get a cover note.... damn it, they were located in the eastern states, which meant it was out of business hours over there when I rang.....

This meant, I couldn't ride it for the weekend..... but all was not lost, because I'd be celebrating the beginning of the uni mid semester break anyway...... by the time I'd sobered up from two big nights partying, by mid-Sunday morning (today), I was just itching to take it for a ride.

Dad could see it, and he suggested that I follow him on his Triumph Thruxton 900 to a motorcycle swap meet in the Adelaide Hills. A temptation too much to resist!

The comments, and looks of curiosity from other bikers at the meet were great.... I just knew that I'd definantly made the right choice of bike, as the bike stood out, even amongst a few hundred other bikes.... I've nick named it the 'little terror', after someone said it looked like a mini-ducati monster!

Wow! What a ride! What a bike! About the only complaint with it was that at high speeds, it's hard to tell what RPM the motor is doing with no tacho, and all the wind noise..... especially when riding with dad, seeing as his Triumph is about three times louder than my bike!

I'll upload a picture of the bikes, sometime tommorrow..... Too dark to take a photo right now!

PS: Before anyone accuses me of digging up an old thread, I asked for, and recieved the proper permission!

[orson 0]

Bikes are great fun

I started riding at about 7 yrs old , my sister still rides a custom chopper (when its sunny ) and my brother in law rides an 900 custom street fighter based on a fireblade , they are bikers for life .

While we lived abroad i always had an crosser , fist one was an RM80 and eventually moved up to an RM125 LC ( when liquid cooled first came out )

The last bike i had was a KR1S , after a wild new years party i ended up leaving it a friends house , during the night (it was the coldest it had been for a long time) the throttle cable had contracted so much that it had snapped , with the throttle set to full . When i turned up the next day to ride it home it was being a real bugger to start so i got a buddy to bump start me .

So i was sat on the bike with one hand on the clutch and the other down under the tank holding the choke open .. so i knocked it into 1st and let out the clutch ... the thing screamed into life at full revs and shot off on the back wheel , i grabbed the throttle , but it was doing nothing and i was just dangling of the back like a rag doll .... thankfully it just fell over on its side and we both slid along the road a while .

These days i dont think there is enough room on the roads for bikers

[soul_assassin 1750]

I myself dont drive a motorcycle but for one cant wait to do my license. What I do drive is a suiped up 50cc (thanks to gay dutch traffic rules) dirtbike (6 speed gearbox) so i know how it goes.Chicks dig two-wheelers. I dunno y people think its a deathtrap, I for one feel one with ma bike while god forbid i sit behind a wheel of a car, I always feel like im gonna hit someone.

Oh yeh and did I mention chicks dig two-wheelers.

[shinRaiden 0]

Anybody ever heard of this bike?

Acceleration I read is awful, but once the Rolls Royce Allison 250 series helicopter jet turbine engine spools up to 25k rpm, it's been clocked at 350kmph+. Joke is that the exaust heat melts the body panels off the tricked out import racers you' sitting next to at the light. Just takes a while to get up from idling at 9k rpm.

http://www.marineturbine.com/motorsports.asp

[crashdome 3]

I live in the hometown of Harley-Davidson and all I can say is that:

A) Don't want one

B) Don't hate the vehicle but hate the speed freaks driving the mosquitos like they are Steve McQueen (Hondas, Suzukis, etc..) and hate my neighbor who sits in the garage revving his Harley engine over and over and over and over and over again because he doesn't know how to fix the damn thing...

Don't get me wrong... I think they are beauties of engineering and excellent tools, but I live where about 90% of the drivers are complete idiots..

*EDIT* One of the MANY reasons why I don't want one:

My cousin is driving home from a bar one night (drunk obviously)... and decides to hit about 100mph down the country road to his home at like 3am... he smashes it and both he and the vehicle fly into some tall grass in a field next to the road. He is out cold and wakes up with his leg tore up so bad that bone is showing and his face resembles a waffle maker. He calls out for help... nothing... he manages to crawl his way with two broken legs, broken ribs, and one broken arm to the gravel at the side of the road... he is found by a morning jogger at roughly 6:30am.

He is alive and well and almost had to have his leg amputated. He saved his leg due to a very helpful doctor at another hospital that offered to do the surgery. It was one of those "down-to-the-minute/try with no guarantees" type of deal. The doctor saved his leg. It took two years to recover fully.

He still drinks and still drives motorcycles. He's a complete idiot.

NOW.. yes he was drunk and it caused him to crash, BUT at that speed (which I see cyclists do quite often) I don't care if you are drunk or not.. you smash it.. you are in for a really bad day. The problem I see is that it is far easier to reach those speeds in a cycle than a car.

[iNeo 0]

CrashDome, use some gear for protection then, and like you said of course don't drive when drunk, and perhaps get an offroad bike instead of a sports bike. You can still go on the roads but you're not gonna go 100mph, instead you can drive on gravel roads and forest paths.

I'm surprised your brother didn't die if he wasn't even wearing a helmet.

[ozanzac 0]

Anyway, here they are. Photos aren't great, but I wasn't trying to set the bikes up for shoots, and were all taken in different lighting conditions, dates e.t.c. but they're all here...

My VTR 250:

Larger version: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/picsofoz/bikes/DSCF0263.jpg

Dads Trimuph Thruxton:

Larger version: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/picsofoz/bikes/DSCF0111.jpg

The old XT 250.... complete with a lack of air filter cover!

Larger version: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/picsofoz/bikes/DSCF0264.jpg

[Jezz 0]

Quote[/b] ]and my brother in law rides an 900 custom street fighter based on a fireblade , they are bikers for life .

dont you mean he dropped it and smashed the fairing and couldnt or didnt want to fork out money for repalcement I have seen very little streetfighter bikes that havent been dropped first.

I have suzuki Dr-350 for off road fun the old man has a triumph T-100 classic , more like rust bucket similar to this only purple

http://204.29.80.50/mbvmc/di2002/Krieg_t100.jpg

[crashdome 3]

CrashDome, use some gear for protection then, and like you said of course don't drive when drunk, and perhaps get an offroad bike instead of a sports bike. You can still go on the roads but you're not gonna go 100mph, instead you can drive on gravel roads and forest paths.

I'm surprised your brother didn't die if he wasn't even wearing a helmet.

Yes... my cousin is extremely lucky.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not knocking the tool... I'm knocking the operators!

I think it is more lack of interest than anything, but me on the driver's seat of one of those things would surely end up with me either hurt or scarred for life!