Freedom to speed

[Timber020]

With all the complaining of guys riding to fast, doing stupid stuff, running from cops Im starting to wonder if the last few years of no speeding tolerance with the cops if we are just becoming jealous of anyone getting away with having more fun than we do, or are we becoming the kind of rule followers that made the germans the most dangerous people on earth, willing to dob in anyone who doesnt follow insanely structured society.
Motorcycling is dangerous to the rider at 20kmph or 200kmph, chances are if your ride for long enough your going to have an accident, and chances are that it will be a cages fault and they will get away with nearly killing you scott free.

But anyhow, my question is, if you could ride at any speed and all the cages on the road learned to be considerate and predictable, if you were to ride between wellington and auckland, what would your average speed be?

[Ragingrob]

Um...average 90 tops? Considering my bike :)

[beyond]

I've done Wellington City to Papakura leaving Wellington on a Friday afternoon and heading up the kapiti Coast in 5 hours and ten minutes, fifteen years ago. That was before all the roads were straightened, up the West side of Lake Taupo and in a Nissan Bluebird 1800cc which spent much of it's time on the limiter at 195kmh.

The GSX1400 is way quicker so I'd cut that time significantly :)

[Clivoris]

140-150 kmh average always feels about right to me. It doesn't seem to require huge gobs of attention and is enjoyable.

[Mr. Peanut]

140-150km/h

[kiwifruit]

90 - 100km/h

[NighthawkNZ]

What ever the legal speed limit is at the time...















:Pokey:



:D

[Katman]

Motorcycling is dangerous to the rider at 20kmph or 200kmph, chances are if your ride for long enough your going to have an accident, and chances are that it will be a cages fault and they will get away with nearly killing you scott free.



Therein lies the attitude I dearly wish to see removed from Motorcycling.

[hospitalfood]

average about 30 kms i guess, considering how many pubs there are to stop at I would be fuckin slow when I reached the Sanson pub......in fact it could take days.

[Timber020]

Therein lies the attitude I dearly wish to see removed from Motorcycling.

Why, its perfectly true. Its just greatly more dangerous at 200kmph.

[Katman]

Why, its perfectly true. Its just greatly more dangerous at 200kmph.

No, if a motorcyclist has an accident, the greater chances are that it's his/her fault through either stupidity or not being totally aware of what's going on around them.

[Conquiztador]

I still remember the days when there was no speed limit on the open road. When there was no helmet laws. Bring them back I say!!

[Swoop]

What an ambiguous question.
Ride to the conditions.
Desert Rd but good conditions or same Rd with shit conditions...

Perhaps the poll should be "at what speeds should the plod begin to take interest in bikes"?

[Toaster]

Therein lies the attitude I dearly wish to see removed from Motorcycling.

Sadly, they tend to remove themselves from motorcycling.

[Timber020]

No, if a motorcyclist has an accident, the greater chances are that it's his/her fault through either stupidity or not being totally aware of what's going on around them.

I would say thats true for leaners, but for guys with a few years under there belt I would say its more likely that the accident would be caused by other road users, at least in built up areas, where I sadly do most of my riding. On the open road your right, more rider error, but cages still cause a HUGE amount of those accidents. Basically nomatter how good and careful you are its just a matter of luck and time.

I am not reckless, and am not the "gotta die sometime" type. But I ride every day pretty much, its part of my job and I clock up a few kms. I have close calls caused by other road users far to often to think that im always going to be able to avoid an accident. I do ride carefully, I have to, but its unlikely to be enough.
Because following the law seems unlikely to protect me while riding, and if I do have an accident the laws unlikely to help out, I have less respect for the law. 106 you get a ticket you damn criminal but that guy that nearly killed you will get off in court, enjoy your stay in hospital and life changing injuries.

Little bitter? Sure. To many crippled or dead friends and family and few bourbons, does it every time

[carver]

on my current bike,sustained speed is limited by wind.
on a blade of busa it would be as fast as i could possibly go for as long as i could, just for fun!

[Toaster]

Redline to the deadline pretty much sums it up.

I'd rather live long enough to see my children and grandchildren and enjoy a long a full life, rather than blow it all trying to ride like a pro on a bike made for an amature on road made for peasants.

[Boob Johnson]

No, if a motorcyclist has an accident, the greater chances are that it's his/her fault through either stupidity or not being totally aware of what's going on around them.
Yeah like my accident...........im doing 80km/h in a 100 zone, front light on during the day & some 18 yr old girl pulls out of a T intersection with me a few metres away, no time for anything................WHACK!!!


Can't call that anything other than 100% cagers fault. Soooo many accidents ive read about/heard about are similar so quit with the BS Katman, don't you have a dog that pays attention to you? It doesn't seem to matter what the topic is Katman is trying to "save the world" from itself

[homer]

think its naturall to travel at any speed that a comfortable rpm and speed for the bike you have
sunday i clocked up about 30 40 km
this was at 170 190 kmh up to 240 kmh which is as fast as ive had my bike up to
but the bike cruzes at 120 - 140

[jtzzr]

I only do 40km/h past schools , the rest of the time I travel at 35km/h, thats on the open road too , yeah the freedom of two wheels:clap::clap:

[Mom]

With no risk of the police stopping me, I would happily sit at considerably higher than the current speed limit, it is about conditions. Remember the code, ride to the conditions. As it stands, the limit is what it is, I may do much more than that from time to time on the open road, I dont generally exceed beyond a telling off/infringement if I got stopped. The speed limits have reduced since I got my license, not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

[Ixion]

I still remember the days when there was no speed limit on the open road. When there was no helmet laws. Bring them back I say!!

Then you are even older than me, which is old indeed. There has been a speed limit on the 'open' road since the early thirties (1932 I think, but memory is a fickle thing). 50 mph on sealed roads, and 30 mph on gravel roads. Increased to a universal 50mph in 1948 . The "derestriction" sign, still sometimes seen, a black diagonal line in a circle, was often thought to indicaate no speed limit. That thought was incorrect. Of course, the traffic cop had to CATCH you first (and they were unheard of on the open road then): radar did exist but it was a huge box about the size of a refridgerator on the roof on the Mk I Zephyr. If you were unobservant enough to be caught by that you deserved to be. And it was easy enough to outrun the Zephyr. A bike cop on his Triumph, that was another matter those MoT snakes could ride alright.

I do remember the days when no-one wore helmets though. Even then, they were officially required over 30mph after 1955. Although noone ever paid any heed to that rule, and the smart alec who did turn out in a helmet was certain to attract the attention of the traffic cop, and probably be done for racing on the public highway, even if standing still.

[saltydog]

I still remember the days when there was no speed limit on the open road. When there was no helmet laws. Bring them back I say!!

Geeze BIG C, when was that? , about the time Edison got that light bulb thingy going?

[HDTboy]

100KM/H max.

Speed Kills

[jrandom]

Having recently started riding thousand-cc motorcycles, I find that an aftermarket electronic 62mph limiter goes a long way toward keeping me safe and honest.

:yes:

[speights_bud]

I find that after coming off of the Race track that 100km/h can be pretty damn slow, however 100km/h is the speed limit and i abide by that on the road. However, if conditions, (road, bike, mental awareness, other vehicles) were of a suitable level then I'd happily sit at 160-180. Places such as the planes between Nnapier and Taupo are long very open either side roads which are incedably boring at 100km/h and it'd be worth it (once again conditions allowing) to just get them over and done with, before or after the twisties.
However i do not think that all riding should be done at this speed, mainly because it is the road, not the race track and you never know what truck will be travelling at 2/10th's of bugger all around the corner. Let alone pot holes, road kill, gravel and CHEESE CUTTERS to run into

[speights_bud]

100KM/H max.

Speed Kills
No it doesn't... Sudden stops do...

(OK OK, i'll shut up now i know he's just making the point:spanking:)

[swbarnett]

100KM/H max.

Speed Kills
I assume this is a p/t? What's so safe about 100km/h anyway?

[swbarnett]

Having recently started riding thousand-cc motorcycles, I find that an aftermarket electronic 62mph limiter goes a long way toward keeping me safe and honest.

:yes:
What happens when you need to use you acceleration to get out of a sticky situation? That limiter removes one of the most effective accident avoidance tools of a larger bike (second to good brakes and precise handling).

[jrandom]

What happens when you need to use you acceleration to get out of a sticky situation? That limiter removes one of the most effective accident avoidance tools of a larger bike (second to good brakes and precise handling).

It's switchable, duh.

[swbarnett]

It's switchable, duh.
I would've thought the point of a limiter was to avoid the temptation to speed. If you can switch it off while riding doesn't this defeat it's purpose?

[FROSTY]

Ya know the silly thing.
If ALL road users just rode/drove to the conditions -we wouldn't need speed limits or for that matter a bunch of our road rules.
I gotta say most of the roads in NZ dont realy apeal to me as safe to ride at high speed.

[Boob Johnson]

Ya know the silly thing.
If ALL road users just rode/drove to the conditions -we wouldn't need speed limits or for that matter a bunch of our road rules.
I gotta say most of the roads in NZ dont realy apeal to me as safe to ride at high speed.
Never a truer word spoken. Very few good places to high tail it. Although there is speed & then there is SPEED.


30 odd km's over the limit then the 200+ variety. The latter is much harder to do in NZ safely as Frosty rightly pointed out. Must say I do enjoy the Ramarama straights & the new motorway from Orewa back to town :innocent::spanking:

[jrandom]

Must say I do enjoy the Ramarama straights & the new motorway from Orewa back to town

Indeed! I greatly enjoy disabling my 62mph limiter for those roads and giving the bike a jolly old thrashing. Nothing quite like 250kph in between cars to give the soccer moms a wake-up call.

In fact, those two bits of road happen to be the only places in the North Island where I feel safe and comfortable exceeding the legal speed limit.

[Boob Johnson]

Indeed! I greatly enjoy disabling my 62mph limiter for those roads and giving the bike a jolly old thrashing. Nothing quite like 250kph in between cars to give the soccer moms a wake-up call.

In fact, those two bits of road happen to be the only places in the North Island where I feel safe and comfortable exceeding the legal speed limit.Dunno bout passing cars @ that speed but most certainly have enjoyed an "indicated" speed of 150 mile an hour on both those roads. Also a stretch on the north side of Waitara called the "Motonui straight" which is pretty good, not to mention "ladies mile" just north of Awakino, funnily enough its exactly 1.6Km's long :eek:

[Mikkel]

With all the complaining of guys riding to fast, doing stupid stuff, running from cops Im starting to wonder if the last few years of no speeding tolerance with the cops if we are just becoming jealous of anyone getting away with having more fun than we do, or are we becoming the kind of rule followers that made the germans the most dangerous people on earth, willing to dob in anyone who doesnt follow insanely structured society.
Motorcycling is dangerous to the rider at 20kmph or 200kmph, chances are if your ride for long enough your going to have an accident, and chances are that it will be a cages fault and they will get away with nearly killing you scott free.

But anyhow, my question is, if you could ride at any speed and all the cages on the road learned to be considerate and predictable, if you were to ride between wellington and auckland, what would your average speed be?

I don't know the road well enough to be able to guesstimate an average speed!

Without speed limits I'd go as fast as I'd feel comfortable with. There are roads around Canterbury where, if it's a calm day, I reckon you could go 300 km/h without too much of a worry. Not to worry, I doubt my 250 will be able to go faster than 200 km/h and if so not a whole lot and not for an extended period.

If there was no speed limits I'd certainly get rid of the 180 km/h limiter on the GT-B though! ;)

[jrandom]

Dunno bout passing cars @ that speed but most certainly have enjoyed an "indicated" speed of 150 mile an hour on both those roads. Also a stretch on the north side of Waitara called the "Motonui straight" which is pretty good, not to mention "ladies mile" just north of Awakino, funnily enough its exactly 1.6Km's long :eek:

That is so cool.

:niceone:

You know, maybe we should have a thread on the best straight bits of road in the country. I love seeing how fast I can go! Corners just slow me down.

[Boob Johnson]

You know, maybe we should have a thread on the best straight bits of road in the country.Not a bad idea me old china :clap:



I love seeing how fast I can go! Corners just slow me down.Yeah they are funny like that :laugh:

[breakaway]

I exhibit a great deal of self control while commuting etc.

But given the opportunity, I'd love to sit on redline and scrape my pegs on every corner. I didn't get into riding to go slow, or to be on the safe side of things.

[Gremlin]

hahahahha, people learn to drive... yeh, so while we're in dreamland, I said 141-160, but obviously if road conditions/weather dictated, could slow down.

Came from ol RSA, where you sat at 180 in the lane 1 away from middle of motorway, the executive cars passed at 200 in the fast lane... 100 kph was craaaaaawwwwwwling.

But then, I wish straights didn't exist...

[Conquiztador]

Then you are even older than me, which is old indeed. There has been a speed limit on the 'open' road since the early thirties (1932 I think, but memory is a fickle thing). 50 mph on sealed roads, and 30 mph on gravel roads. Increased to a universal 50mph in 1948 . The "derestriction" sign, still sometimes seen, a black diagonal line in a circle, was often thought to indicaate no speed limit. That thought was incorrect. Of course, the traffic cop had to CATCH you first (and they were unheard of on the open road then): radar did exist but it was a huge box about the size of a refridgerator on the roof on the Mk I Zephyr. If you were unobservant enough to be caught by that you deserved to be. And it was easy enough to outrun the Zephyr. A bike cop on his Triumph, that was another matter those MoT snakes could ride alright.

I do remember the days when no-one wore helmets though. Even then, they were officially required over 30mph after 1955. Although noone ever paid any heed to that rule, and the smart alec who did turn out in a helmet was certain to attract the attention of the traffic cop, and probably be done for racing on the public highway, even if standing still.

Sorry, should have told you: I was not born here.

[James Deuce]

Dan, Dan
The Fisherman

[speights_bud]

That is so cool.

:niceone:

You know, maybe we should have a thread on the best straight bits of road in the country. I love seeing how fast I can go! Corners just slow me down.

Tikokino's about half an hour south of hastings and has a straight just over 5km's long, its in the middle of nowhere and pretty open either side (paddocks). tis not tooo bad eh?

[BMW]

Sadly, they tend to remove themselves from motorcycling.

true. with no speed limit the dumb will be dead.

[Pwalo]

I still remember the days when there was no speed limit on the open road. When there was no helmet laws. Bring them back I say!!

Come on mate, no one's that old. Actually I can remember the speed limit thing.

[FROSTY]

Heres a unique concept --Rather than speed limits how about DRIVERS get speed rated. -Sure you can drive at 140km/h but YOU personally need to prove you can drive that vehicle at 140

OHH WAIT --sorry this is the mother state--HOW COULD IT WORK?
we would have noone but ourselves to blame for fuckups

[jrandom]

Tikokino's about half an hour south of hastings and has a straight just over 5km's long, its in the middle of nowhere and pretty open either side (paddocks). tis not tooo bad eh?

Perhaps not, but don't tell me about it in public on the fucking internet, sunshine.

[darkwolf]

Heres a unique concept --Rather than speed limits how about DRIVERS get speed rated. -Sure you can drive at 140km/h but YOU personally need to prove you can drive that vehicle at 140


Often thought about that - but the problem is that it wouldn't work having people who can do 140Kph and people who can only do 80.

What I really do believe in is:

Certain vehicles should not be allowed on the open road - i.e Mazda 121s and Toyota Starlets. They run on razorblades and blow around like a bubble in anything more than a fart.

AND

There should be a distance after a speed limit sign - if you aren't doing that speed by then - you should be fined. This includes people who accelerate too slowly. If you, or your vehicle are not capable of reaching or handling this speed, you shouldn't be there.

But those of you who know me know I'm no advocate for following speed limits - love the suggestions though :)

[FROSTY]

it wouldn't work why??-if you dont have the right licence you can't go on the motorway for example-and having MINIMUM speed limits on the motorways.
Ohh and ENFORCING the keep left laws--

[darkwolf]

it wouldn't work why??-if you dont have the right licence you can't go on the motorway for example-and having MINIMUM speed limits on the motorways.
Ohh and ENFORCING the keep left laws--

Fair enough to needing a licence for the motorway. But can you imagine coming over a crest at 140KPH to find a driver doing only 80KPH. You'd get twits getting angry about them being on a 140KPH licence stuck behind some 'tard on a 100KPH licence - not to mention the idiots who already act like they own the road.

[Mikkel]

Heres a unique concept --Rather than speed limits how about DRIVERS get speed rated. -Sure you can drive at 140km/h but YOU personally need to prove you can drive that vehicle at 140

OHH WAIT --sorry this is the mother state--HOW COULD IT WORK?
we would have noone but ourselves to blame for fuckups

An interesting thought. I've sometimes considered whether it would be possible to do independent driver assesment and through that give some sort of individual "speeding allowance". Let's say you do a lot of handling courses and tests to show that you can indeed drive with skill and maturity - then you get a +30 km/h (or +30% which would make more sense IMO) proviso that you can exceed the speedlimit by.

Exceeding your privilege (and your license in and of itself should be considered that) and it's all gone for a while and you'd have to start from scratch.

Although, as someone said - enforcing and controlling such a system would be a nightmare. Enough bureacrazy down here already!!!

[Daffyd]

An interesting thought. I've sometimes considered whether it would be possible to do independent driver assesment and through that give some sort of individual "speeding allowance". Let's say you do a lot of handling courses and tests to show that you can indeed drive with skill and maturity - then you get a +30 km/h (or +30% which would make more sense IMO) proviso that you can exceed the speedlimit by.

Exceeding your privilege (and your license in and of itself should be considered that) and it's all gone for a while and you'd have to start from scratch.

Although, as someone said - enforcing and controlling such a system would be a nightmare. Enough bureacrazy down here already!!!

Wouldn't be all that difficult...What about different coloured cards that could fit in a pocket on the screen, as in rego stickers?

[speights_bud]

Perhaps not, but don't tell me about it in public on the fucking internet, sunshine.

But no-one here speeds, we all stick to 100km/h, so i don't see what your problem is:msn-wink: (point taken)

[Mikkel]

Wouldn't be all that difficult...What about different coloured cards that could fit in a pocket on the screen, as in rego stickers?

Oh, trust me, it would be extremely difficult to implement, to avoid abuse of the system, to enforce and police and then you'd need to setup an entire system handling the training and testing. Not easy at all.

[speights_bud]

Certain vehicles should not be allowed on the open road - i.e Mazda 121s and Toyota Starlets.



:Oi: my 82' starlet may take a while to get there but it is not impossible to lose your licences in it!:rolleyes: hehe, i really shouldn't treat the little thing like that...:devil2:

[XP@]

Drive to the conditions...
From Wellington to Auckland hmm
IMHO most of SH1 can be safely driven / ridden at 120, the moronway up to 130-140.

Bends, brows of hills, wet roads, intersections, other road users, unsure = slow down.
clear roads = speed up.

[Street Gerbil]

I'd say my average would be around 30-50kph (pubs, nice sightseeing places to stop and take a couple of photos, leaks, etc), top would probably be speed limit + 30 kph, assuming I will be on the bike capable of doing that. Right now it is pretty damn hard for me to get a decent speeding ticket in a 100kph zone:whocares:.

[cheviot]

true. with no speed limit the dumb will be dead.

But that's not a bad thing, it'll take a while to get through all the dumb ones though.20 up to 150 ks depending on the conditions.

[HRT]

:Oi: my 82' starlet may take a while to get there but it is not impossible to lose your licences in it!:rolleyes: hehe, i really shouldn't treat the little thing like that...:devil2:

Chuck a 5K and a turbo in and you'll be off the clock before you know it ;)





As for the speeding, while it would be nice to travel at any chosen speed it also leaves other people to travel at the own desired speed which may be a lot less than yours. Bit of a bitch if you come around a corner and find someone only doing 120 when you know you can easily take it at 160 and are doing so.

As for limiting cars and drivers, it'll never work. If you have drivers allowed to do certain speeds and other not then those that are allowed to go faster are going to get pulled up all the time just for checks and it'll be a waste of time.

Minimum speeds are a stupid idea also. Would be nice if everyone did 100 on the open road, but if you set a minimum speed then thats going to be an easy excuse for an accident. Someone slows for a corner or a tree on the road or something and you come flying up behind them at the minimum speed and kill someone then its due to the minimum speed law as if we didn't have it you would have been going slower at that point in the road.



We don't need different speed laws, we need police to be able to decide what is dangerous and ticket accordingly, and for more patient people on the roads.

[dipshit]

Yeah like my accident...........im doing 80km/h in a 100 zone, front light on during the day & some 18 yr old girl pulls out of a T intersection with me a few metres away, no time for anything................WHACK!!!

Can't call that anything other than 100% cagers fault. Soooo many accidents ive read about/heard about are similar

Unfortunately this way of determining who is mostly at fault involves a sampling bias.

In fatales the riders are no longer around to post about it on KB.

If you had bothered to look at NZ statistics, you would see that 75% of fatal motorcycle accident were the fault of the riders.

[skidMark]

With all the complaining of guys riding to fast, doing stupid stuff, running from cops Im starting to wonder if the last few years of no speeding tolerance with the cops if we are just becoming jealous of anyone getting away with having more fun than we do, or are we becoming the kind of rule followers that made the germans the most dangerous people on earth, willing to dob in anyone who doesnt follow insanely structured society.
Motorcycling is dangerous to the rider at 20kmph or 200kmph, chances are if your ride for long enough your going to have an accident, and chances are that it will be a cages fault and they will get away with nearly killing you scott free.

But anyhow, my question is, if you could ride at any speed and all the cages on the road learned to be considerate and predictable, if you were to ride between wellington and auckland, what would your average speed be?

Average speed would = whatever the top speed of the bike was. :cool:

[marty]

when i was at police college i was commuting hamilton-porirua every weekend.

via the western access rd, easily 1hr 45 from hamilton to turangi. gas at hunterville, then onwards - could comfortably do the college in around 4hr 45mins - 4hrs 30 if i pushed it......