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Gixxer 4 ever
13th June 2005, 14:34
Went for a ride yesterday with a Mate. We keep the speed well down and hit some country roads. I was leading and we had cow shit and mud on the road for about 5 km. I was thinking the mud and shit was from Farmers grazing the road side so we were being very careful. We got to a bit wider and better quality of road and speed up a bit. Still plenty of shit and mud but not as bad. This road has a long straight in it. Nothing could be seen on the road for the hole length of the road. So we got up to 110 k's. I was still leading. My mate dropped back a bit and stepped out to the middle of the road. I came over the top of a dip and there were 100 Dairy heifers on the move. Bunched up and not wanting to move for the farmers. Going away from us. Hidden from view till you got to the top of the dip. I dived on the brakes hard and came to a stop with plenty of room but just as I put my foot down I felt a hit on my right elbow followed by a smacking sound and then the skidding of a back tyre. Yep my mate had just side swiped me. The smacking sound was his mirror hitting my right hand mirror and the hit on the elbow was his mirror going passed. He stopped in time and no damage was done.
But the lesson is Ride to stop and stay staggered on the road. If he had been behind me he would have taken me out.
Also Mr Farmer please put some cones or something out. When there is shit for miles it is not enough for us to assume you are still on the road.
If I had been with the other group I tag along with I think a few people would have got a ride in the helicopter. Pleased we kept it slow. :yes:

MSTRS
13th June 2005, 14:38
bluddy gungho, she'll-be-right farmers eh?

MSTRS
13th June 2005, 14:41
Seriously tho. There is a valuable lesson there. Don't try any shit on the road whilst there is shit on the road. Be ready for anything & always have an escape plan in mind.

Gixxer 4 ever
13th June 2005, 14:45
bluddy gungho, she'll-be-right farmers eh?
No. Not at all, must have been our fault. :nono: :whistle: Out Crownthorp way. You know the road. Up by Hawkes Bay Dairy's place. Not far from the Crownthorp school. I think you may have done a little more than 100 kmh on that road in the passed but I could be wrong. :motu:

John
13th June 2005, 14:45
Ah, very wise.

I always inform those who I ride with to ride staggered as I get paranoid when they are right behind me, glad it all held up and didnt come to a more disasterous incident.
Yay for logical thinking?..

Motu
13th June 2005, 14:47
Back country roads are for local use,and when I'm on them I concider myself on their ground.The clues were there.There was stock over the hill and you can lay the blame on the farmer for any damages....but there could of been anything else as well....ok,we can find someone to blame there too - but pretty soon we are going to run out of excuses....

Virago
13th June 2005, 14:47
I think you both did well avoiding the catastrophe. As you say, lesson learnt, and thanks for sharing - we can all learn from this.

Ixion
13th June 2005, 14:50
Able to stop in the clear road ahead, even over a hill. Well done that man, give him an oran-utan.

Message here for all of us - clear ain't clear if your mate's in it !

Gixxer 4 ever
13th June 2005, 14:52
Message here for all of us - clear ain't clear if your mate's in it !
I like that. Well said that man

MSTRS
13th June 2005, 14:53
No. Not at all, must have been our fault. :nono: :whistle: Out Crownthorp way. You know the road. Up by Hawkes Bay Dairy's place. Not far from the Crownthorp school. I think you may have done a little more than 100 kmh on that road in the passed but I could be wrong. :motu:
Not me - never been on that road. There may be other roads tho :whistle:

Bonez
13th June 2005, 17:20
Back country roads are for local use,and when I'm on them I concider myself on their ground.The clues were there.There was stock over the hill and you can lay the blame on the farmer for any damages....but there could of been anything else as well....ok,we can find someone to blame there too - but pretty soon we are going to run out of excuses....Next they'll be want each and every cow to have flashing lights :beer:

Gixxer 4 ever
13th June 2005, 17:28
Next they'll be want each and every cow to have flashing lights :beer:
I never put the blame on anyone else. So why these comments?

crashe
13th June 2005, 17:32
The main thing is that you both keep the bikes upright...
and you are both ok. :niceone:

Take care out there on the back country roads especially after the cows have been for a walk....

mikey
13th June 2005, 17:36
Also Mr Farmer please put some cones or something out. When there is shit for miles it is not enough for us to assume you are still on the road.:


he had cows out....................

Ixion
13th June 2005, 17:37
he had cows out....................

Yes, see, he was moving his cones from one paddock to another. So he put cows out to warn motorists. :rofl:

Virago
13th June 2005, 17:44
Yes, see, he was moving his cones from one paddock to another. So he put cows out to warn motorists. :rofl:
Trouble was, they weren't sounding their horns.......

Bonez
13th June 2005, 17:48
I never put the blame on anyone else. So why these comments?H U M O U R

mikey
13th June 2005, 17:52
shouldn cow shit all over the road be a lkittle warning sign.....

Bonez
13th June 2005, 18:25
shouldn cow shit all over the road be a lkittle warning sign.....You mean like desoil spills from trucks around town?

eliot-ness
13th June 2005, 19:31
A tip from someone who's been rear-ended a couple of times. Traffic jams were the problem in the U.K..The tail end always seemed to be just out of sight over the hill and on a fast stretch of road. Just before you reach the brow of a hill a light squeeze on the brakes, enough to operate the brake light, has the effect of slowing following traffic and as a bonus gives your reactions a head start if there is a hazard.

Jeremy
13th June 2005, 19:53
Actually that's a good point. How come there isn't a "cow" warning triangle? Preferably not one of those permanent ones, something more like those emergency triangles they are suppose to put up before an accident.

Ixion
13th June 2005, 20:35
Trouble was, they weren't sounding their horns.......

They were cows not bulls :killingme

Bonez
13th June 2005, 23:15
Actually that's a good point. How come there isn't a "cow" warning triangle? Preferably not one of those permanent ones, something more like those emergency triangles they are suppose to put up before an accident.
So what are you ment to put out after an accident..................... :nya:

Gixxer 4 ever
14th June 2005, 07:26
This thread has turned into a bit of a cow with a little bit of Bull Ox .................... :motu:

MSTRS
14th June 2005, 08:56
This thread has turned into a bit of a cow with a little bit of Bull Ox .................... :motu:
Nothing new here....Mooooove along

Stroker Girl
14th June 2005, 10:06
Had a bit of a similar experience on the way back from the latest KB SH22 ride. My partner, mate & I went to look at some bike shops in Hamilton so didn't ride back with the main group. Ended up doing a bit of a detour through Ngarawhahia/the back of Glen Murray and were tootling along the 110/120km mark.

Was coming up to a long stretch when I thought I felt something brush my foot. Thinking maybe something had come off the bike I pulled over to stop as did the others. Must of been a sign as while I was checking my bike a car coming the other way pulled over opposite us & said that just around the corner at the end of the straight was a herd of cows running about. Thanks very much guys :niceone: We're lucky we didn't go barrelling down the straight, cranked over for the sweeper only to find mooloo everywhere.

The cows had escaped from somewhere so while the others parked up either side of the herd to slow down any cars coming along I went up some driveways to track down the farmer. Eventually he turned up on this quad to move his cows back to where ever they had escaped from. I got the feeling that I had interupted his day! :motu:

Gixxer 4 ever
14th June 2005, 10:17
I got the feeling that I had interupted his day! :motu:
Interrupt away. :niceone: Good on you. Good instinct on your part. Yep hitting a cow would be no fun. Be even worse if after the impact you got run over by another bike..... :no:

vifferman
14th June 2005, 10:23
Yeah, the cow shit was a warning there were cows about, but seriously, wouldn't it be sensible for the farmer to either station someone up the road to warn people, or put some sort of warning up (flag on the fence, signs, or summat?) Apart from the danger to motorists, those cows ain't cheap - you'd think he'd look after their safety better.

MSTRS
14th June 2005, 10:25
Must of been a sign as while I was checking my bike a car coming the other way pulled over opposite us & said that just around the corner at the end of the straight was a herd of cows running about. Thanks very much guys :niceone: We're lucky we didn't go barrelling down the straight, cranked over for the sweeper only to find mooloo everywhere.

The Force is strong in this one. Biker/female intuition eh? Well done for finding the farmer too.

Gixxer 4 ever
14th June 2005, 10:51
Yeah, the cow shit was a warning there were cows about, but seriously, wouldn't it be sensible for the farmer to either station someone up the road to warn people, or put some sort of warning up (flag on the fence, signs, or summat?) Apart from the danger to motorists, those cows ain't cheap - you'd think he'd look after their safety better.
Yep that was my point. I am a farmer and when ever we put stock on the road we place a sign at the point of enter to the road and the point of exit. Always have some one at the lead of the mob and behind. Then we take the signs down. You as a driver know the stock are on the road and were they are leaving the road.
The problem with younger workers is they struggle to understand how close or far away from the mob they need to be. In the case of the weekend one person should have been on the top of the dip to warn drivers till the mob could be seen from a distance. The problem was the cattle had bunched up and were out of site.
The cow shit on the road was a warning but remember it had been going on for some K's and farmer graze the road side during the day and then put the cows away. So as a farmer I ( Wrongly ) assumed this is what had been done.

Still the other point here is we must ride to be able to stop within half our clear distance and ride staggered to give others clear space. This thread was started to make everyone think about the riding pattern not to point blame. After all we did stop in plenty of time but if my mate had not had the good sense to move in to clear road and as he was riding a 96 YZF 1000, even if we both hit the brakes hard at the same time and he had been directly behind me he would still have hit the gixxer cos it stopes so much better. Proven when he side swiped me with his mirror and came to a halt one full bike length ahead of me.
Heads up to him for safe riding practise.

Ixion
14th June 2005, 11:29
..
Still the other point here is we must ride to be able to stop within half our clear distance and ride staggered to give others clear space. This thread was started to make everyone think about the riding pattern not to point blame. After all we did stop in plenty of time ...

Exactly so. You stopped in time. Just a bit of a startle. No crash. Skilled and professional riding . Have a banana. You can't make assumptions about what's over the hill, so you must ride so as to be able to stop in the distance you *can* see. As you did, and all was well . And as you say, remember when riding in company to spread out a bit (though it does get a bit hard to do that in corners)

Then if you come over the hill and *anything* is there you will still be able to stop in time.

After all cows do escape and wander sometimes. As do children.Vehicles break down in the middle of the road. There is always the chance that over the hill, round the corner, is a cow, a child, a vehicle, a bathtub, a boat (all of which I have encountered on the roads !)

[Nana mod off]

Beemer
14th June 2005, 11:54
I'd certainly be wary if there was FRESH cow shit on the road for several kms, not only because it would indicate there were animals close by, but because it would be a bloody hazard in its own right!

I'm not sure what the regulations are regarding movement of stock but the fact is, NZ is a country where you could expect to find stock on the road just about anywhere. Around the corner from where we live are two cow crossings - where the farmer moves his stock from one side of the road to the other for milking. I didn't realise until last week that they just open the gates and let the cows wander through by themselves - so I had to sit there for ages behind a woman who wouldn't drive through them even when there was a gap - no room to overtake her or turn around either!

Whether or not the farmer was in the wrong, it wouldn't have made any difference if you crashed as you are responsible for ensuring you could stop in the length of road you can see. It wouldn't have made much difference if it had been a herd of cattle or a hawk rising from a dead possum.

Speaking of hawks, does anyone here know what to do when you come across one feeding in the middle of the road? I always give a long blast on the horn, which gives it a fright and it always lifts off immediately, but twice this week I have been following people (one male, one female!) who both suddenly slammed on the anchors when doing 100km and WAITED for the bird to move! DUH!!! :weird:

Gixxer 4 ever
14th June 2005, 12:36
Speaking of hawks, does anyone here know what to do when you come across one feeding in the middle of the road? I always give a long blast on the horn, which gives it a fright and it always lifts off immediately, but twice this week I have been following people (one male, one female!) who both suddenly slammed on the anchors when doing 100km and WAITED for the bird to move! DUH!!! :weird:
Sometimes they have their talons hooked in to the road kill and that is stuck to the road surface and they can not lift off. That's why they stay on the road. .