Motorcycles

[amused]

I didn't see a better place for this, so here it is.

I rode a Harley Sportster for a couple of years as my main/only transportation. I know how invisible we can be. A co-worker was recently run over while stopped at a red light.

Yesterday I changed lanes as I always do to make my exit on the freeway. Suddenly behind me is a guy on a big Honda waving his fists at me. I got a big bird from him as I made my exit. I apparently came close to running him over.

I *never* saw him until he was behind me, cursing me.

I feel terrible, but god-fucking-damn, motorcycles just seem to be invisible.

[macdoc]

No we're not - you just didn't look properly.
A big Honda has a big road presence - about the same as a smart car. Get some eye brow mirrors.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I'd have to agree with macdoc here, amused. I have fisheye mirrors on both sides to give me 165 degrees of view, and I still do head checks before changing lanes.

[amused]

I always do a head check. Always. I think macdoc's photos actually make my point. We're invisible. And I say 'we' because I am totally on the biker's side. He even had his headlights on, and I still missed him. Wear bright yellow with a flashing light on your head, seems to be the best way.

I so want to apologize to him.

[JimC]

My father-in-law used to have a big farm in the country. I used to love riding an old trail bike all over the property.

On the road?

Never - too fucking scary!

[macdoc]

Nah - just make the assumption you are invisible - be willing to use horn and lights and stay out of blind spots....
While I was critical of the OP - the rider was not practicing proper blocking position as he could not see you in your mirror....that's a no no.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

My father-in-law used to have a big farm in the country. I used to love riding an old trail bike all over the property.

On the road?

Never - too fucking scary!

I've ridden motorcycles on LA freeways and backroads in Algeria. I'm better in control of the situation on a bike than I would be in a car, I have more maneuverability and fewer blind spots. And compared to a car a motorcycle's acceleration curve is very steep.

[Jason]

Nah - just make the assumption you are invisible - be willing to use horn and lights and stay out of blind spots....

Good situational awareness is all you really need.. and quick response time.. and excellent riding skillz. Too many morons with money buy a motorcycle (that they most likely don't know how to handle) and hit the road unprepared.

[Calilasseia]

The problem is compounded by the fact that quite a few modern sportsbikes are serious combat weapons speed wise. Take a look, for example, at the new BMW S1000RR. This is a beast. Even with anti-lock brakes and traction control aids, it takes a skilled rider to explore anything other than a fraction of the envelope of that machine. The road going version is somewhat detuned with respect to the racing machine it's based on, but even so, 179 BHP at the back wheel is a huge amount of power for a road bike. This is a machine that can propel a rider from 0 to 125 mph in about 5½ seconds. The reaction time needed to handle that on the road is right up there with the reaction time needed to handle an F-15 in combat, and F-15 pilots receive a hell of a lot more training. Plus, an F-15 usually has a lot more space between it and other traffic even in a dogfight, and the advantage of being able to operate in three dimensions. Trouble is, how many people buying one of these will possess the level of skill and the reaction time required to stay out of trouble on crowded roads?

Even some smaller bikes can place heavy demands upon skill and reaction time. Back in the days when Aprilia was producing the RS250, this was a 250cc bike capable of nearly 140 mph. You had to have awesome riding skills to make full use of the ridiculously revvy engine, and if you slipped just 1rpm out of the powerband, it bogged like crazy, but it was seriously maniacal fun for those who could live with it. Of course, it could get you into a lot of trouble if you behaved like a hooligan, and unfortunately, it was the weapon of choice for quite a few UK hooligans. Many of whom bitterly regretted skimping on the need for expensive synthetic oil for the powerplant, when they were faced with a hefty bill for new pistons after less than 6000 miles, though Putoline TTX (the recommended oil for the bike back in the late 90s) cost a king's ransom. If you tried running an RS250 on cheap oil, you could find yourself going "Earth, sky, Earth, sky, Earth, ambulance" as a result of an engine seizure when trying to be a knee-slider hero on a roundabout, and strictly speaking, any remaining RS250s are becoming collector's items. Trouble with RS250s was that they were knife-edge thin, and correspondingly about as visible in car rear view mirrors as a gnat a kilometre away.

Then you have those weird Japanese 400s, scaled down versions of bigger 750cc and 1,000cc bikes that were grey imports here in the UK. Again, revvy little buggers, small, hard to see despite lairy paint schemes, known as 'pocket rockets' to those in the know, and which acquired a reputation for ending up in the wrong hands. Not a happy mix on a rainy motorway.

[macdoc]

Strange timing that you posted that Cali. This was yesterday.
This is the consequences of a cocky rider who thought he had outgrown his 250cc Ninja that he's ridden for 6 weeks and bought a 600SS.

I was next rider in the group - didn't see him go down but this was the result.
1 week old machine.





downhill off camber on a bike he did not know - the corner has bitten a couple of cars according to the property owner - the rider was lucky - he missed the butt end of the guard rail with his knee by inches - ( the bike hit it in the slide )



group effort we patched him up enough to ride home


and we went on a very enjoyable tho often most illegal gallop through the escarpment roads for a few hours.



He tried to keep up with the two SS riders in the middle here..

who both knew the road and have been riding for decades.

Jason to the left is rather new rider but some common sense and no SS wheels - he and I have had some pretty wild rides in twisties and up to James Bay but our bikes have limits and we both understand them.

Accidents can happen to anyone but to Cali's point the SS bikes are vicious.
My son bought an SV650s - not classed as SS tho still a sport bike and I was pleased with his choice ( even if it is a pain to ride ).

My ride gets to 60 mph in about 4.5 sec.....the SS were about 50% faster and if you mis-brake they can stand on their front wheel in a heartbeat.
One lucky and hopefully less cocky rider.

••

For anyone interested in the lead up to this accident - it makes a cautionary read and some of the other riders comments are quite prescient. The fallen rider's nic is Rogo

His lead off quote

I'm a new rider since April of this year. I've recently got a 2011 Ninja 250 and sadly I've out grown the bike. I plan to either keep it for track days or trade it in for a bigger bike. (I've yet to go to a track day but will eventually get around to doing that. Figured if I do drop a bike better a 250 than something more expensive.)

http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforum/sh ... erformance

[Gawdzilla Sama]

We had a road from San Diego to Alpine, California, that was called "Death of Bikes". There was a two truck company that kept vehicles at both ends 24/7. Their tow yard was filled with Ninjas last time I was there. (I had a pick up truck and went to retrieve a friend's bike while he was in the hospital.)

[macdoc]

Ya gotta love entrepreneurs.
Our fallen rider has been MIA - I suspect wifey tore him a new one.

[Calilasseia]

600SS - is that the model labelled the ZX-6R over here in the UK? Only I'm having trouble finding references to "600SS". ZX-6Rs are pretty scary tools to futz around with, they're 600cc bikes that will genuinely top 160mph in stock trim (no Dynojet or other aftermarket engine fettling) and accelerate as if they have Shuttle-style solid rocket boosters attached. Usually, the serious weapons on UK roads have the letters "RR" in the name, standing for "Race Replica", such as Honda's CBR900RR, better known as the Fireblade, which was for the best part of a decade a truly scary weapon to sit astride even when it was stationary. This one ruled the roost until Yamaha brought out the R1, followed by Suzuki bringing out the GSX-R1000 (both breaking with the "RR" tradition for labelling hardcore weaponry), and now, BMW have entered the fray with their S1000RR, reviving the "RR" tradition for labelling prolapse-inducing machinery, courtesy of the fact that BMW have factory racers upon which the road bike is based. The factory racers in question are evil powerhouses, and deliver a frightening 200 BHP at the rear wheel. Unless your name is Troy Corser, you won't get to sit on one though.

Oh, by the way Macdoc, if you want to see some serious two wheeled lunacy, and this will probably have you head butting your monitor when you see it, try this ... or rather, don't actually try, just watch and, er, enjoy (?) the cosmic level of madness ...

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

^
Daftness rather than lunacy, I'd say.
Now...Overtaking another motorcycle that's already doing 200mph on your back wheel...That's lunacy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoSA41Cc ... re=related[/youtube]

[macdoc]

SS are just generic for the SuperSport series from various manufacturers which the RR would be the ne plus ultras.
Very high power to weight ratio, enormous braking.

I actually was driving in the fast lane on the 401 which is has the heaviest volume of truck traffic in the world at about 130. ( busiest in North America

I was passed on the right - two lanes over by a motorcyclist on his backwheel who then took the sweeping exit into the collector lanes from the express lanes ( the highway is 16 lanes wide at that point).
Some of these guys are both crazy and very good.
There is one called the Assassin my partner has group ridden with and he's in that class of highly skilled adrenaline junkies.