I’m a bit bored at work today and started thinking about the way we ride our bikes on the road.
I would like to think that I am a considerate and sensible road rider…. But the more I watch vid clips I’ve done whilst out the bike the more I realise that is only partially true… and its hard to justify why you behave like this when on a bike…
I watched the Glen Helen blast vid again last night and theres a couple of points in it where I’m wincing and wonder how I managed to get away with it… (particulary the top of Glen Helen coming onto Cronk y voddey straight… wrong side of road on crest of hill)… but at the time of doing it I really didn’t see the problem and thought it a doable move, but watching back over it theres no way I can justify that move… Its crazy init… is it really the red mist that comes down and blocks and rational/sensible thoughts??
(lol this post feels like…. “Hi, my names Floyd and I’m an alcoholic!”
Slow & quiet in the towns, safe overtakes and good road-reading is all you need, you can ride at a fast pace then and not be anti-social or dangerous to yourself or others. I try to follow this principle as much as possible, it’s becoming more and more important how you conduct yourself when around other road-users, even more so for someone such as yourself Floyd on a smaller Island, I’d have thought.
People who ride fast and loose think doing the above means it’s less fun, but it’s not, it’s just safer and more considerate. At the end of the day, we all want to come home in one piece, health & license wise.
Hi Floyd, my names Stan and I’m also an alcoholic!..
I don’t tend to ride much on the road during the day as traffic is always a pain in the arse and the majority of car drivers just don’t like bikers. When I do I always consider other road users… Until the adrenalin kicks in that is…
I get my adrenalin, buzz, rush, blood boiling needs from late night riding at the moment which always delivers and we never see to many road users.
Ending thought: You are only in control until the point you lose it…
I hear what your saying Jay and it wasnt realyl a question because I was unsure of what I should do… just that itswhen yuo look back at something and realise that it was a bit more risky than you thought at the time… I often look at my tires and wonder why I’m always changing them… but its cause I find it hard not to wind it up each and every day on my way to work!
Your principles are right Jay, but it dosent always work that way… as you know. I seen you poping wheelies on open roads and in traffic/high streets… Theres no problem with that, but you arent 100% in control when you do this… your on one wheel, have one braking force, restricted vision and movement… if your unlucky enough to be involved in an accident or are required to make evassive action to avoid an accident, then being on one wheel aint gonna help… but its the buzz you get from doing it that makes yuo do it… which is what I’m talking about above… We all know how to ride sensibly… but that doesnt mean it happens…
seriously though, I had a conversation along these lines with a guy at frith st the other night - I couldnt believe it - he was actually trying to convince me that he gets more satisfaction from going at the speed limit than anything else…
suffice to say that i didnt believe him…
then again, he was riding a beemer…maybe he was a copper.
In the final analysis (Ive always wanted to say that…does it make me sound like a twat?), there is no defence of the way we ride, in or out of town, at night or by day…the only socially acceptable place to ride the way we do, is at a track…there, truly, the only people who are at risk all take the risk knowingly…gladly even…therefore it is the only time it is ok to crash & potentially hurt someone else.
Ben, I have to say things like that everyday at my work, hehe… No, it doesn’t make you sound like a twat, or at least I hope it doesn’t! No defence no, we take the risks because we love the fun we get out of it, and because we think it’s unlikely to happen to us, the bad things that is. I ride on road and track, but when people say once you’ve ridden on the track, you slow down on the road, that’s a load of rubbish. I just don’t want to cause any accidents or cause anyone to pull their hair out. A bit difficult on a 105db 170bhp gixxer at times tho!
I think there’s a time and a place for a bit of lunacy, I ride down the North Circ every day to and from work. Last week I got into a race with a fireblade on a particular stretch I know well and with no other traffic around I got up to 176mph before I had to back off. What I’m saying is we’re all adrenalin junkies, there’s that little switch in our brains that just flicks over which removes all rational thought. I mean for f*cks sake 176mph on the circ aint big or clever.
this is the way me and a couple of mates look at speed limits,30’s or 40’s are normally there 4 a good reason so we try to stay within 5 mph of the posted speed,50’s,if we know the road tend not to take too much notice of it,but still keep the speed down to double figures,but when we see that diagonal black line through a white circle,that means ride as fast as u feel safe at, and if u get a tug,just take it on the chin
but it is all to easy to get dragged into doing something stupid,thats when i have a problem,the old red mist comes down and im off,case in point last year riding around essex country side some plank on a bussa thought he could ride a bit,for all i know he may of been able to,but he was such a small dot in my mirror i couldn’t realy tell,anyway get on the london bound a127 on way home,stop 4 fuel bussa rider pulls in explains not that good on twistys only uses it to commute to work,blah,blah blah,the upshot of this conversation was he thought i couldn’t keep up with him through the traffic,this is when everything turned red,and got very stupid,the max we reached was 148mph,while the cars either side of us were doing between 45 and 70,it aint big and it aint clever,but it happens,and i still got the scars from where i told the missus
The first bit about speeds sounds good gix1000, but the old red mist bit was a bit silly, I have to agree I don’t think I get that bad, but it’s easy to get carried away when riding in a group. Just creeping into territory where you know it’s not where you’d normally feel safe to ride at, but when the adrenaline’s flowing, you forget about the what-ifs and just deal with the task at hand.
I try and save the silly stuff for the track nowadays, it’s the DRZ that gets me in more trouble, I have a perfect record with the Gixxer, but not with the DRZ, unfortunately.
I’m a firm believer that you’re more aware, and thus safer, when riding at a speed that engages you, but obviously it’s the anti-social bit that makes it hard to stomach when you sit back and think about it. I don’t want to piss off other road users, but biking is all about escapism, I’m out there for a reason.
I think a lot of irresponsible riding is down to the bike your riding. I can ride my Blade very well, in that I’ve been told I’m capable of passing RoSPA at Gold level. But, I ride like a SportsBikeDickHead sometimes cos I like the feeling of speed (it’s addictive), and this happens all over, in town, A roads, B roads and motorways. I know it’s my failing and I do get frustrated with traffic that shows signs of bad road use, though I don’t consider excessive speed to be bad road use, though it is. On the supermoto, as I learn to ride it I’m sure I will be a lunatic.
I do take pleasure from riding well and being the better road user, but it’s the self control to achieve that which I need to work on, now where did I park my GS.
And guys, you’ve gotta be carefull in Glen Helen, I’ve parked a few cars in the walls there, but it is a great bit of road.
At the end of the day, as long as we all come home in one piece (bike included) I don’t think that riding fast is a problem, as long as your not riding beyond your ability.
Venom… Sorry mate… Me and the Blade will stay well away from the north circ… I have a habit of PI**ing of you fellas!!! HA ha ha ha…
On a more serious note… there is a time and a place… I just haven’t figured it out yet!!!
Oh… And I have NEVER EVER (snigger) seen Jay do anything he shouldn’t on the road!!!
