NZ Herald: no wonder bikes have their "downside"

[Quartida]

ARGH!

Opened up the Herald to page A5 and what do I see?

"Cheap motorbike travel has dangerous downside"

And with what picture?

A girl on a Ginny 250 with NO GEAR apart from helmet.

No bloody wonder it has a "dangerous downside" then, I say. I'll tell you what will happen to her "downside" if she falls off...

[Smokin]

What, NO gear on, can you scan it for me please? :doobey:

[Str8 Jacket]

What, NO gear on, can you scan it for me please? :doobey:

Thats right, NO gear... the only way to make a GN look good.

[Quartida]

Thats right, NO gear... the only way to make a GN look good.

Haha....

I was trying to get to the nzherald site to get the link but their server seems to be down/slow. I'll go and scan it now.

/EDIT: Forget it - here you go: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10389972

[marty]

i ride my scooter in shorts and t-shirt all the time. it's my skin. mind your own business.

[Macktheknife]

Dozy bitch!

From the article..
She said 19 motorcyclists had been killed this year, compared with 24 at the same time last year.
So the bike sales have gone up but the fatalities have gone down in the same time period! I notice there are no stories about this then, even tho bike registrations have doubled the are only a couple of more fatalities then previous years.

[Quartida]

i ride my scooter in shorts and t-shirt all the time. it's my skin. mind your own business.

I don't deny that people can wear what they like, but I think it's a bit irresponsible for a mainstream media outlet to show this picture and then talk about the "dangers" of riding.

I wasn't getting specifically at you, or anyone else who chooses not to wear gear - it's our choice whether we wear gear or not. It's more the way in which the Herald has presented their argument that bothers me.

[Postie]

i ride my scooter in shorts and t-shirt all the time. it's my skin. mind your own business.
hopefully you won't have anyone pull in front of you, else you'll be using some one else's blood.

[Motu]

The Harold is selling a product....itself,not the NEWS.

[Quartida]

Dozy bitch!

From the article..
She said 19 motorcyclists had been killed this year, compared with 24 at the same time last year.
So the bike sales have gone up but the fatalities have gone down in the same time period! I notice there are no stories about this then, even tho bike registrations have doubled the are only a couple of more fatalities then previous years.


Even more telling - the little top right-hand corner box says:

2003: 6772 regos, 761 injuries (well, reported injuries anyway!), 28 fatalities.

2004: 8869 regos, 721 injuries, 34 fatalities.

2005: 12789 regos, 903 injuries, 36 fatalities.

Which, as a percentage of regos for that year, is:

2003: 11.2% injury, 0.41% fatalities
2004: 8.1% injuries, 0.38% fatalities
2005: 7% injuries, 0.28% fatalities

[Bend-it]

Yeah, wait till I start riding a GN with no gear on... that'll show you a thing or 2 about making a GN look good...

[Quartida]

My letter to the Herald (not sent yet = there's time for constructive criticism):

Dear Sir,

Many bikers I know would be horrified to see the picture you published with your article "Cheap motorbike travel has dangerous downside". Although the law requires that only a helmet be worn, bikers who choose to wear only a short-sleeved T-shirt are running the risk of causing themselves serious damage should they have an accident. Contrary to what the media would have us think, bike accidents are not always serious, but even the most minor accident can be exceptionally painful without good protective gear. Too many new bikers (and indeed, scooter riders) are forgetting that good protection is an investment, not a cost.

Yours,
XXXXXX

[frogfeaturesFZR]

Well said that man:yes:

[Cajun]

someone should who good with england should write a letter to editor,

[Quartida]

My letter of England is not so good enough?

[Lou Girardin]

That's all they wear in Italy, I only saw two guys wearing leather jackets while I was there. You clothing nazis would have fits.:innocent:

[chris]

i ride my scooter in shorts and t-shirt all the time. it's my skin. mind your own business.The twelve months of skin grafts would be fun, eh?

[Quartida]

I'm more of a clothing Nazi when it comes to newbies (like myself) who simply don't have the skills to get out of trouble while they're still getting the hang of the bike. I feel like, once you know how to ride, then you have enough knowledge to make the choice. But before that, I think it's playing with fire.

And your skin. :blink:

[Goblin]

"We also want to remind drivers there are more motorcycles on the road now and they need to be aware they are not always easy to see."

Bullshit!!!Bikes stand out like dogsballs! Bikes ARE easy to see IF YOU TAKE TIME TO LOOK!!!

[Bend-it]

Yeah, treatment paid for by my taxes and my ACC levy??? Keep em leathers on matey!!

[Hitcher]

My letter to the Herald (not sent yet = there's time for constructive criticism):
A good letter.

[Motig]

Looks OK to me.

[Quartida]

Yeah, treatment paid for by my taxes and my ACC levy??? Keep em leathers on matey!!

Too true. :scooter:

[Quartida]

Right, the letter has gone :D

Kep a lookout in your NZ Herald tomorrow. (OK, fair enough, not all letters get published, but we can hope.)

[chris]

I feel like, once you know how to ride, then you have enough knowledge to make the choice.
I wonder what percentage of the fatalities are those who have been riding for more than two years?

[Sniper]

Lets lynch em!

[Quartida]

I wonder what percentage of the fatalities are those who have been riding for more than two years?

I'm not saying that it necessarily makes you less likely to crash, more, that once you know how to ride, then you also know the consequences of wearing/not wearing gear i.e. you're in a position to make an educated decision.


Come to think of it, making all newbies wear gear seems to me like a good idea. But I know, that would be too Nazi-ist. Just a thought.


/EDIT: still an interesting question though. I wonder if there are any stats anywhere. Or if it's worth a poll?

[chris]

that once you know how to ride, then you also know the consequences of wearing/not wearing gearMakes no difference whether you've been riding for two months or twenty years, you'll know the consequences of not wearing appropriate riding gear about one second after you hit the road.

[Swoop]

...23-year-old Katey Griffin does not regret buying her 250cc Suzuki one bit...

I would like to see this new model of bike, the "one bit".
Is it similar to a gsxr, or is it simply one piece of metal that is the whole bike?

Signed:
Confused of Mayfair.

[snuffles]

Thats right, NO gear... the only way to make a GN look good.


You make a GN look good.............................................. .......:yes:

[Str8 Jacket]

You make a GN look good.............................................. .......:yes:


Well I tried, unfortunately the thing still almost looked brand new afterward!

I was gonna start my own "GN modification service" however some people wouldnt have found it funny... Remember, GN's are bikes too... :yes:

[Milky]

I opened the paper and thought the same thing - made me send this off earlier this morning

Editor,

Being an avid motorcyclist myself, I am heartened to see an increase in motorcycle registrations helped along by the current fuel prices. I believe that being a motorcyclist teaches you greater awareness, safety and consideration for other road users. The larger number of aware drivers there are on the road, the safer it will be. There is one thing that concerns me though, and the picture included in your article of July 6th - 'Cheap motorbike travel has dangerous downside' - illustrates this. Many new motorcyclists spend their cash on a bike and helmet, but neglect the other important safety gear. Picking gravel out of grazes or needing skin grafts after an accident is not pleasant, and a quality jacket and pair of gloves go a long way to save riders and hospital staff the trouble. If Ms Griffen needs help financially to get this important safety gear, I am willing to assist her. Good gear saves lives.

[kickingzebra]

Injuries be damned! Aint it a bit cold to be riding along in a tshirt??

Although, when the wind blows your shirt around a bit.....

[Harry33]

Maybe the photo was staged so we could tell it was a woman, not defending her or anything , or maybe she's fashion conscious and wants to look pretty.

[pritch]

i ride my scooter in shorts and t-shirt all the time. it's my skin. mind your own business.

If my ACC levies go up to pay for needless injuries to retards it is my business.

[Oakie]

Even more telling - the little top right-hand corner box says:

2003: 6772 regos, 761 injuries (well, reported injuries anyway!), 28 fatalities.
2004: 8869 regos, 721 injuries, 34 fatalities.
2005: 12789 regos, 903 injuries, 36 fatalities.

Which, as a percentage of regos for that year, is:

2003: 11.2% injury, 0.41% fatalities
2004: 8.1% injuries, 0.38% fatalities
2005: 7% injuries, 0.28% fatalities

Interesting percentages. (Playing with statistics helps me pay my mortgage so I just can't help myself when I see this sort of stuff). What I'd really like to see now are the 'regos vs fatalities' percentages for cars and then the 'fatalities' numbers for pedestrians

[Mr. Peanut]

ARGH!

Opened up the Herald to page A5 and what do I see?

"Cheap motorbike travel has dangerous downside"

And with what picture?

A girl on a Ginny 250 with NO GEAR apart from helmet.

No bloody wonder it has a "dangerous downside" then, I say. I'll tell you what will happen to her "downside" if she falls off...

I saw that @#@&~!~^% on her 500 dollah GN.
WTF???? WHY IS THIS ARTICLE??? WHAT ???? RELEVANCE????? WHY DONT YOU JUST POST A PICTURE OF PEOPLE IN A CAR WITH NO SEATBELT AND CALL IT :

EXPENSIVE TRAVEL HAS A DANGEROUS DOWNSIDE???? :angry:

[skidMark]

shes got boots on too:wait:

[Da Bird]

What confused me was that it said she had only had the bike 2 months, she had already fallen off once and here she was riding around with SFA on. She obviously doesn't plan on falling off again... (as you do)

BC.

[skidMark]

as any biker with half a braincell knows...it's not if you fall off it's when just because it's happened once doesn't mean it won't happen again...

that women deserves a gold star sticker for being special needs i feel sorry for the ambo that has to scrape her off when shes not so fortunate next time

[Bonez]

I hope more GNs get sold due to the article......................:yes:

[kickingzebra]

as any biker with half a braincell knows...it's not if you fall off it's when

A debateable point. On the road, if you fall off, some fault at least must be attributed to the rider. Therefore, in some way, every crash is avoidable.

On the track, as a different environment, it is a different story.

[skidMark]

cagers pull out without looking as ive learnt sometimes there is just no where to go

[adam666]

the latter I believe!

moaning about helmet hair, i bet she wouldnt even wear the helmet if she didnt have to!

and already had an off?!
some people are just plain stupid which unfortunately means we do end paying for there stupidity one way or another

I choose leathers all round, so as not to leave my skin on the ground :rockon:




Maybe the photo was staged so we could tell it was a woman, not defending her or anything , or maybe she's fashion conscious and wants to look pretty.

[Mr. Peanut]

....defending her or anything , or maybe she's fashion conscious and wants to look pretty.

Most anything looks pretty when you put it next to a GN :nya:

[skidMark]

I choose leathers all round, so as not to leave my skin on the ground :rockon:

i sense a jingle

[Quartida]

I saw that @#@&~!~^% on her 500 dollah GN.
WTF???? WHY IS THIS ARTICLE??? WHAT ???? RELEVANCE????? WHY DONT YOU JUST POST A PICTURE OF PEOPLE IN A CAR WITH NO SEATBELT AND CALL IT :

EXPENSIVE TRAVEL HAS A DANGEROUS DOWNSIDE???? :angry:



EXACTLY! And you said it so well! :not:

I should have put THAT in my letter. :yes:

[sunhuntin]

What confused me was that it said she had only had the bike 2 months, she had already fallen off once and here she was riding around with SFA on. She obviously doesn't plan on falling off again... (as you do)

BC.

in the summer...i wear little more than that if im going for a short blat....and ive fallen off wearing less than that [read, hit by car] but as you know, i escaped with a scarred leg that is also numb...but i was wearing jeans. i was wearing a singlet and no gloves, but my upper body sustained no scrapes, nothing....i got two tiny little nicks on my thumb...my kitten could do worse, lol. and when summer rolls around...yes, ill be back into my singlet. dont really plan on getting knocked off again for a while though. im much jumpier on the brakes.

but do think the paper was a fool to publish such a photo.... the scooter girls [ie, nifty fifty] are bad enough...and they ride with no respect for anyone else. all they will do is encourage more scooter riders to wear less. even in winter in the piss pouring rain they come in....tshirt, shorts and a pair of flat or slightly heeled sandals. wtf??

BC....what is the possible outcome if i reported one of these girls, who is a regular and rides without her lid done up? ive seen her do this a few times and have always considered reporting it.

[Wolf]

Makes no difference whether you've been riding for two months or twenty years, you'll know the consequences of not wearing appropriate riding gear about one second after you hit the road.
Actually, it's somewhat longer than that. You have to wait until the body's automated protection wears off and you start feeling the pain. A second after you hit the road you so wired on adrenaline that you don't know what day of the week it is.

It took me about three-four minutes before my brain "let" me feel what the speedo and tacho did to my nuts when I went over the handlebars...

[hellnback]

Good work in getting the letter in the Herald this morning!!

[Wolf]

A debateable point. On the road, if you fall off, some fault at least must be attributed to the rider. Therefore, in some way, every crash is avoidable.
Sorry, I must disagree. Hazards can emerge suddenly well within your stopping distance leaving absolutely no place to go - i.e. you can't stop in the allocated space and you can't swerve because you do not physically have sufficient room to complete the manoeuvre.

When some bloke u-turned out of a line of parked cars without signalling he was only just outside the emergency braking capacity of the bike. I came to a rest scant inches from his door. Had he started his turn a split second later I would have hit him but at a dramatically reduced speed, had he turned half a second later I would have hit with force.

The driver was, to all intents and purposes, invisible - just another car in a very long line of parked cars; the driver himself obscured by the metal of his own car and other cars in the line.

He did not indicate, he just turned. My only warning was the sudden emergence of the car's bonnet from the line and by the time I started braking he was already broad-side to me. The bike stopped very quickly and I was safe.

OK, I was observant and I reacted appropriately but a good friend of mine has a large number of witnesses to say she reacted appropriately and is in ICU with four smashed limbs and a broken pelvis because it was physically impossible to stop the bike in the distance the idiot in the car gave her. If she had been doing the posted speed limit, she'd most likely be dead.

Recently Lias got clobbered in the side by a car that broke out of a line of traffic without warning - he was in the appropriate "safe" position in his lane - towards the right of the left lane out of the oil track and away from the nearest side roads, driveways and parked vehicles. It did not take long for the car to cross the centrline and connect with his bike.

I've accelerated out of the way of cars prematurely leaving a side road to my left and had them miss the rear wheel by inches - and they had to cross the entire other lane to get into mine! This other bugger was parked close to the centreline before she turned the wheel made her move - a rocket could not have accelerated Lias's bike out of her way, not even if he physically had time to trigger it once realising she was going to hit him. I don't know what part of her bumper hit his foot, so I can't even say he might have saved injury to his ankle by grabbing a handful of throttle, let alone expect him to accelerate his entire bike out of harm's way.

A lot of road accidents, the rider may have done something different to affect the outcome, but there are also a fair few where you're screwed no matter what you do.

I would have thought that on the track you'd be relatively safer as most of the "traffic" is going in the same direction with no T-intersections, roundabouts etc (just a couple of merging lanes). True, if a person cocks up big time, his/her bike may cross into your path (whether it's horizontal or still vertical at the time depends on the cock-up) but it is still likely to be moving roughly in the same direction you are and buy you a bit more reaction time to avoid an accident.

That was just an assumption based on watching a bit of motoGP - I've never raced on a track so I have no real idea of the levels of risk.

[Insanity_rules]

OMG, this chick is making us all look like idiots! I don't know too many riders who would go out with inadequite protection like that and then to be photographed for a newspaper with a huge circulation????

Heres an idea, spend some of that money you've saved on a decent armoured jacket girlie it might just save your extremities someday!

Although, Darwin may just be rearing his head in this situation.

[Lou Girardin]

I can look like an idiot without her help thanks.

C'mon people, who cares?
One cause of resistance to buying bikes is having to wear all that clumsy kit. If this photo gets more people on bikes - great.

It's amazing how the nanny state mentality has even permeated a biker forum.

[Big Dave]

It's amazing how the nanny state mentality has even permeated a biker forum.

As long as she's in a porno style french maid costume who cares.

If people are not aware of the consquences of riding without suitable gear - then there is perhaps some obligation to make them aware of said consequences.

if they ARE aware and choose to make such decisions of their own free will - then piss off nanna - I know what I'm doing and the price.

[Bonez]

i sense a jingleALL TOGETHER NOW!!!!!!

[Hitcher]

ALL TOGETHER NOW!!!!!!
Fiddly dum, fiddly dee
Eric the half a bee
Who is this dreaded demi-bee?
Half asleep upon my knee
Some freak from a menagerie?

[yungatart]

Fiddly dum, fiddly dee
Eric the half a bee
Who is this dreaded demi-bee?
Half asleep upon my knee
Some freak from a menagerie?
Wrong song Hitcher! It goes like thus:

All together now!!
Tie me kangaroo down sport
Tie me kangaroo down... et al

[marty]

It's amazing how the nanny state mentality has even permeated a biker forum.

my point exactly. there's so many fucking nanas on here it's ridiculous. 'don't do that, you might scratch yourself' - call yourself bikers? some of you are fuckin pansies and cross stitchers more like it. there's plenty of other clowns bleeding the system of much more than i ever will, and i fall off, skin grafts will be the least of my worries. AND i pay full cover health insurance anyway, have gone private for every hospital stay for my family bar one (a push bike crash which resulted in 5 weeks in starship, including 2 weeks in PICU on dialysis, and i now contribute to ronald mcdonald house and st johns annually), so if i want to ride in a singlet and shorts you can all go and get fucked.

[crshbndct]

"The biggest rise in sales had been in GN 250cc models, which sold for about $3500. "They do 28km to the litre, so to fill it up would cost about $17."


what does the mileage ave to do with the cost to fill? put a 30l tan on a gn and it would stillg et 28km/l but cost over 60 to fill

[Virago]

my point exactly. there's so many fucking nanas on here it's ridiculous. 'don't do that, you might scratch yourself' - call yourself bikers? some of you are fuckin pansies and cross stitchers more like it. there's plenty of other clowns bleeding the system of much more than i ever will, and i fall off, skin grafts will be the least of my worries. AND i pay full cover health insurance anyway, have gone private for every hospital stay for my family bar one (a push bike crash which resulted in 5 weeks in starship, including 2 weeks in PICU on dialysis, and i now contribute to ronald mcdonald house and st johns annually), so if i want to ride in a singlet and shorts you can all go and get fucked.
Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh..........:doobey:

[Draco]

some of you are fuckin pansies and cross stitchers more like it.
Oi Leave us cross-stitchers out of it. If it's a cross-stitch of a motorbike are we still considered a fuckin pansy?:baby:

[Ixion]

Isn't the basic nature of the definition of a pansy such that they are NOT fuckin' ? If they WERE fuckin' they wouldn't be pansies?

And why cross stitchers? What have you against cross stitch? Have you ever tried it? What about Gobelin stitchers? Or Scotch stitchers?

[Motu]

The final test before a motorcycle licence is issued should be a ride across the city naked - there would be no claims of ''I didn't see.....'' I don't think cars would pull out,or gravel suddenly appear out of nowhere,white road paint suddendly get slippery and appear under their wheels.I agree that car drivers ride a bike to realise the danger.....but I think a bit of a wake up call from riders is due too.

[quickbuck]

what does the mileage ave to do with the cost to fill? put a 30l tan on a gn and it would stillg et 28km/l but cost over 60 to fill

Well actually, it would use more fuel lugging around the extra weight ;)