How do you stay legal?

[Dare]

Now I don't know, but alot of debate seems to go on here about staying this side of the thin blue line on your speedo, especially when it comes to NZ's beautiful highways! And from what my observation is telling me, it only gets harder as newer and better bikes make it all too easy! So my question is this, on those days when your being good (and I mean really good) boys and girls, what do you do to keep yourself from letting that tacho creep up and saying buh bye to those plodding cages? From classical music in your 'phones to reminding yourself that you don't actually want to get to class early.
Yeah okay this is a little silly considering the nature of biking, but if anyone has a good one I'm more than happy to rep ya!

My current method involves sitting in a lower gear so it FEELS quicker. :doh:

PS. Anyone going to Jas's (Meeky_Mouse) party in Taupo this sat, I can't make it as of now so if someone can help me return some gear to her PM me! There is eternal gratitude in it for you =)

[Gremlin]

Easy... you lose your license (don't even need to ask how... its so easy :yes:), realise how incredibly inconvenient it was, and you get something slower...

Whether this last part works... well, I'll know in a few months... but I hope so! :innocent:

Thing is, speed cannot be the motivating factor behind riding, you need more than that, otherwise its a matter of time.

[Headbanger]

I know 100km/h, No need to check the speedo.

[Dare]

Thing is, speed cannot be the motivating factor behind riding, you need more than that, otherwise its a matter of time.
Agreed, it's just one of many, its more the ease of speeding i'm getting at than the reason you're doing it =p
So how easy was it :sweatdrop

[carver]

just run..its so worth it, and the adrenaline rush is so good!

[Winston001]

I know 100km/h, No need to check the speedo.

Well you would........on a HD......100kph is pretty scary :devil2:

[merv]

If the cops don't see you it never happened.

[98tls]

100 km holds no interest for me really,i dont ride main highways unless theres no other option (West coast of the south isle excluded).Sometimes the long way can be shorter and way more fun,less cars,cops etc.

[Gremlin]

So how easy was it :sweatdrop
The license loss or the getting work license?

License loss was easy, 35 for yellows mid one year, 35 the next mid year for careless, 50 for 136 on a boring straight in jan the next year, thought I was doing less, straight took over 10min to complete (I blame it). Enough within 2 years.... :crybaby:

Work license... urgh... I did it myself to save on the lawyer lining up behind the court to ream me, but ended up working 14-18 hour days to do both job and everything around the license, and still couldn't travel for 2 weeks, between losing license and getting the work one.

I sound like a poster boy, but the shit you have to climb through, public service completely out of touch with how hard some people work, it just wasn't worth it, so I am aiming to do even less speeding... more fun, less speed :wari:

[Whynot]

dont get caught ....

[Gremlin]

dont get caught ....
If you are lucky... and if you're caught in the process of trying not to get caught... you may as well bend over :buggerd:

:lol:

[Griffin]

Buy a Cruiser... then it becomes about the feel rather than the speed. Nothin like a big V Twin bob bob boblin away under your seat.

Why would you need to break speed limits when you just feel so dam good :love:

[svr]

100 km holds no interest for me really,i dont ride main highways unless theres no other option (West coast of the south isle excluded).Sometimes the long way can be shorter and way more fun,less cars,cops etc.

Exactlty - there are plenty of great back roads in this country, with no cops. Supersport racing crouches / 180hp are a waste of time, and truck-jammed state highways are just `transport sections' to be avoided.

[Deano]

More time on the track, less time on the road and choose the right moments on the road.

[98tls]

Exactlty - there are plenty of great back roads in this country, with no cops. Supersport racing crouches / 180hp are a waste of time, and truck-jammed state highways are just `transport sections' to be avoided. Dont knock the latest and greatest brigade i find tuckin in behind them in the good bits on a 10 year old shitter extremely satisfying.<_<

[Headbanger]

Well you would........on a HD......100kph is pretty scary :devil2:

ah, that hurts.

I'll race ya Duck through a few twisties early next year.

[MIXONE]

Well you would........on a HD......100kph is pretty scary :devil2:


Buy a Cruiser... then it becomes about the feel rather than the speed. Nothin like a big V Twin bob bob boblin away under your seat.

Why would you need to break speed limits when you just feel so dam good :love:

There's your solution.Rasslin a big cruza round corners is fun at legalish speeds.Don't need a crotch rocket unless you do plenty of track days.

[Winston001]

ah, that hurts.

I'll race ya Duck through a few twisties early next year.

Excellent. Incidentally down here the twisties consist of dodging cows and sheep on all the straight roads. Might be up your way New Yearish.

[awayatc]

Every time I fill up I intend to find out what my fuel consumption would be if I would stay within the speedlimits.................

I will keep you posted in case I ever find out.......

Thank god I work at sea,
No way would I be able to keep my licence if I would be a full time roaduser

:scooter:

[Irontusk]

Buy a Cruiser... then it becomes about the feel rather than the speed. Nothin like a big V Twin bob bob boblin away under your seat.

Why would you need to break speed limits when you just feel so dam good :love:

I ride a little V-twin and I speed nearly nonstop :confused: all in 50k areas, but it's SO hard not to speed when there isn't some car right infront of you!
Drove my car again yesterday for the first time in a little while, and I'm sure I speed more in that now too!

It doesn't help when I have to physically take my eyes off the road to check my speedo on my bike.

[FJRider]

just run..its so worth it, and the adrenaline rush is so good!

As ably demonstrated, its all in the control and use of the right hand... some use it more vigorously than others... ;)

[riffer]

As others have said its about choosing your moments.

If you're in the mood to push the bike, and speed is an issue, you need to find a twistier road.

[Fatjim]

Yep, pick your moments.


From the moment you hop on the bike.......

[CookMySock]

You don't need to go fast to have fun on a bike. I am cheeky as fuck on a bike, and I will zip through any gap and pass anything whatsoever - legally! Mind you, I have about 35,000 hours as a commercial driver (non-motorcyle) so I can read the traffics mind really really well, so this is not a newbie thing to try. Also I know the law really well, and I know precisely where I can legally pass and where I cannot, AND I'm prepared to tell the cop hes full of shit when I KNOW he is.

And corners ! No slowing below the speed limit ! My favourite 90 degree corner I can now take at the speed limit - yay!!

Watch the traffic and learn to pick cops and speed cameras - they are dead obvious USUALLY. Get a radar detector, not that I have needed one - I just seem to get away with it.

I guess I will still get bitten one day, but until then I don't really care.


Steve

[Irontusk]

.

And corners ! No slowing below the speed limit ! My favourite 90 degree corner I can now take at the speed limit - yay!!


I hope it's not a blind corner!

Yeah I've had 4 speeding tickets over the years, 1 I was pulled over the other 3 were from camera vans (2 were from the same one in the space of 20 minutes, the bastards parked it outside Wendy's! Got me going both ways) so I think I've made a pretty good and lucky run of it considering.

Speeding is bad :nono:

[Hinny]

Get a Harley.

[98tls]

You don't need to go fast to have fun on a bike. I am cheeky as fuck on a bike, and I will zip through any gap and pass anything whatsoever - legally! Mind you, I have about 35,000 hours as a commercial driver (non-motorcyle) so I can read the traffics mind really really well, so this is not a newbie thing to try. Also I know the law really well, and I know precisely where I can legally pass and where I cannot, AND I'm prepared to tell the cop hes full of shit when I KNOW he is.

And corners ! No slowing below the speed limit ! My favourite 90 degree corner I can now take at the speed limit - yay!!

Watch the traffic and learn to pick cops and speed cameras - they are dead obvious USUALLY. Get a radar detector, not that I have needed one - I just seem to get away with it.

I guess I will still get bitten one day, but until then I don't really care.


Steve Cheers for that...........Grasshopper.:laugh:

[scumdog]

Buy a Cruiser... then it becomes about the feel rather than the speed. Nothin like a big V Twin bob bob boblin away under your seat.

Why would you need to break speed limits when you just feel so dam good :love:

Wot e sed.

With no screen and the type of engine my bike has I can cruise for ages and only glance at the speedo from time to time - and 90% of the time I'm still spot on the speed.

Around town it's the same, pick the right gear and you can 'feel' the right speed.

Of course at say 180kph (on a closed private road of course:shifty:) the lack of fairing/screen make for a shit-load of buffeting.

[TOTO]

this is what you need...



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[Naki Rat]

Keep within 10-15 km of the limit most of the time but rely on the radar detector to alert me of the nasty little traffic nazi revenue collecting just beyond the passing lane.

To be honest the thought of Joe Farmer pulling out in his tractor :shit: scares me a lot more than Mr Plod :Police:

[avgas]

When i was young dumb and full of.....rum i changed my bike so i wouldn't ride in the dangerzone.
GB400 top out at 150kph however you sound like you need a lower speed again, can i suggest a 120kph GN125?
Seriously, if you cant handle the jandle and control youself try different shoes. Its all a part of growing up.

[R1madness]

Set brain to 100kmh. Ingague wrist lock. try to maintain 100 around every corner without letting the speed drop. even the ones posted at 45km. Have fun its not as easy as you would think.

[Subike]

How do you stay legal? Self control and an EGO that is held in check!


Set brain to 100kmh. Ingague wrist lock. try to maintain 100 around every corner without letting the speed drop. even the ones posted at 45km. Have fun its not as easy as you would think.

Self control

Agree that this is the "safe" way of having heaps of fun.
Setting the pace and sticking to it is good for group rides, with a good road captain, nobody needs to speed. Not easy to do either.

If you want to go fast, then select the roads, times conditions. A full moon on a warm summers night way out in the country can be a lot of fun.
Which are the best roads to scooter on. Which farmers drive you can dissapear up if needed. If you live in a Rural area, you soon find out when the local cop is off duty.
Not a garrentee to safty, but a good indicator.
Speeding within and around Urban zones is just asking for trouble, a ticket or worse,a bin.

If you have trouble controling your speed, then ride as the Tail End Charlie on group rides, you dont get the ticket, well not as often, and you learn self control.

[slimjim]

ours is set to years of riding started way way back 1965 and yet i still feeling that young when riding, aren't speed ... its the freedom of riding ,

[oldrider]

The most dangerous speed on a motorcycle is that little bit between stop and go or go and stop.

There are more offs in that range than at any other speed :Oops: and mostly they go unrecorded statistically.

A motorcycle in true motion and perfectly balanced for the conditions is safer than any arbitrary speed limit.

Motorcyclists constantly seek that sweet spot and it is not necessarily within the confines of the law but it is generally "safe" for the rider and other road users.

There is generally greater consequence for motorcyclists that don't stay alert and concentrate than there is for for other road users.

The objective is to stay free and ride forever!

The law is just one of the obstacles that you are required to negotiate, just like road conditions, other traffic and weather etc.

How you manage it is just another individual riding skill and getting caught speeding is just like getting it wrong and hitting a pothole etc. :ride: (IMHO) Cheers John.

[CookMySock]

I hope it's not a blind corner! Speeding is bad :nono:Naw its not blind. It's one of those awesome smooth-surfaced corners on the perfect camber that you can see riiiite around.. ;)

DB

[Irontusk]

Naw its not blind. It's one of those awesome smooth-surfaced corners on the perfect camber that you can see riiiite around.. ;)

DB

Perfect! There's a 180 degree bend on an onramp round here, apparently that's quite fun but I havn't been on the motorway yet :soon: And I think there used to be a 270 degree offramp (curved around back over itself and crossed the motorway as a bridge) but that's been gotten rid of or something.

[Dare]

When i was young dumb and full of.....rum i changed my bike so i wouldn't ride in the dangerzone.
GB400 top out at 150kph however you sound like you need a lower speed again, can i suggest a 120kph GN125?
Seriously, if you cant handle the jandle and control youself try different shoes. Its all a part of growing up.

Haha, while I haven't been on bikes all that long I have been on the roads for about 5 years now, and personally I have my mind tuned to sit at 60 all day long for town riding, although im still not 100% on where 60 actually is on my speedo! Knowing all the speed traps helps. And having been on the same roads for said 5 years I'd like to say I have a pretty good idea of where things go wrong and where things are generally safe to do what you want within reason :D

Needless to say, when I'm on unfamiliar roads I take things a bit more carefully! I'm naturally pretty cautious.


You don't need to go fast to have fun on a bike. I am cheeky as fuck on a bike, and I will zip through any gap and pass anything whatsoever - legally! Mind you, I have about 35,000 hours as a commercial driver (non-motorcyle) so I can read the traffics mind really really well, so this is not a newbie thing to try. Also I know the law really well, and I know precisely where I can legally pass and where I cannot, AND I'm prepared to tell the cop hes full of shit when I KNOW he is.

Having the traffic side sorted has been a great help as i've been learning to ride, and on a fairly regular basis I can take evasive action just before something happens that makes it look like I just read minds. I think that is a skill far more useful than emergency action when you have already got yourself in trouble. Not that being able to avoid that person that thought you didnt exist and just u-turned infront you is a bad skill to have! But at the same time as saying that pretty much everything is risk management, even minding your own business miles from everything carries risk, the way I see it it's more a case of balancing fun with risk and keeping the consequences of it going wrong this side of lethal/breaking the bank!


A motorcycle in true motion and perfectly balanced for the conditions is safer than any arbitrary speed limit.
Motorcyclists constantly seek that sweet spot and it is not necessarily within the confines of the law but it is generally "safe" for the rider and other road users.
There is generally greater consequence for motorcyclists that don't stay alert and concentrate than there is for for other road users.

The objective is to stay free and ride forever!

Well said! I really could not add to this :whistle:

One thing both my dad and I have noticed is the huge inconsistencies in NZ road regulations. So while it is one thing to get up on your high horse and say obey the law it is worth remembering that the signposts are there to cover asses not to save lives.

For instance near my house there are several give ways that I would not even think of running through, dashed lines that I would not DARE overtake on and sections of road where parking makes the roads considerably more dangerous than they would otherwise be. And yet conversely there are stop signs with 200m sightlines in both directions, double yellas on long straights and there is a 60k section just over the upper harbour bridge where the road is literally about 6 lanes wide (although it isnt divided up).

It is simply the case that NZ law works in retrospect, if there are enough crashes then there will be a stop sign. If houses have been subdivided to buggery then people can park on the roads regardless of whether it is a main artery to the bridge (i'm looking at you onewa) If a bus lane is used literally once every ten minutes then bikes are not allowed on it (bus lanes on the motorways around Auckland.

And to this speeding nonsense that gets trotted out, cars in the UK cruise at 80-90mph in the outside lane and it is SAFE because there are no numptys that sit in the outside lane doing 20kmh less than everyone else. Similarly the Autobahn experiences fewer crashes than most of the rest of the world, the speeding issue is more about the design and upkeep of the roads and the skill of the drivers (and riders :hug:) in question. And from what i've seen it is FAR to easy to get a drivers license in NZ getting one in a packet of weetbix would be practically more effort than parrot learning some questions and steering your car around bits of browns bay, even the extra risk reduction course was useless.

It's madness I tell you!

[justsomeguy]

Save for track days. If you're broke and the itch is too strong wait till the sun sets, then head out to the country. Not many cops on duty between 12am to 6am, just possums and hares.:confused:

[Hidalgo]

Escort X50 :devil2: + No Motorways :2thumbsup = Njoy the Roads :headbang:

[Forest]

A few years ago I was introduced to the idea of riding back-roads.

They aren't fast roads ... but they're almost always more fun than the state highways.

[Mikkel]

Staying legal is easy - just find one of those roads where you wouldn't have a hope in hell of keeping your vehicle on the tarmac if you sat at the speed limit 100% of the time.

Been on a couple of those today and will be spending the first half of tomorrow on such roads. ...they are out there.

[98tls]

You don't need to go fast to have fun on a bike. I am cheeky as fuck on a bike, and I will zip through any gap and pass anything whatsoever - legally! Mind you, I have about 35,000 hours as a commercial driver (non-motorcyle) so I can read the traffics mind really really well, so this is not a newbie thing to try. Also I know the law really well, and I know precisely where I can legally pass and where I cannot, AND I'm prepared to tell the cop hes full of shit when I KNOW he is.

And corners ! No slowing below the speed limit ! My favourite 90 degree corner I can now take at the speed limit - yay!!

Watch the traffic and learn to pick cops and speed cameras - they are dead obvious USUALLY. Get a radar detector, not that I have needed one - I just seem to get away with it.

I guess I will still get bitten one day, but until then I don't really care.


Steve :killingme:killingme was a wind up wasnt it......:Oops:

[MentalFacility]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWUqqNMJHDo
watch this

[98tls]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWUqqNMJHDo
watch this Seen a millon of em,cant make an omlette without cracking a few eggs.Like it or not.

[svr]

You don't need to go fast to have fun on a bike. I am cheeky as fuck on a bike, and I will zip through any gap and pass anything whatsoever - legally!

Get a bicycle - you can do whatever you want and never get busted. As long as you have a helmet on, of course, otherwise you are pubic enemy number 1.

[alanzs]

Radar detector, timing when to let rip and stealth technology are all the ways I stay legal. :laugh:

[avgas]

dont worry - soon it all becomes relative, your body - the pavement - the speed your body meets pavement.....all relative.
then you sit back and realise....mabey going fast isn't the answer:bash:
trust me a million miles in a cage dont count for shit if you haven't felt the learn.....and its just that much harder to feel the learn in a car (but not impossible)

[breakaway]

Ride slower than the fastest guy in the group.

[Dodger]

Hmmmm,
I ride a 250cc and 2-up most of the time.

The bike doesn't get to far above 110 most of the time, and even then it's not in a hurry :)

[Hinny]

The most dangerous speed on a motorcycle is that little bit between stop and go or go and stop.

There are more offs in that range than at any other speed :Oops: and mostly they go unrecorded statistically.

A motorcycle in true motion and perfectly balanced for the conditions is safer than any arbitrary speed limit.

Motorcyclists constantly seek that sweet spot and it is not necessarily within the confines of the law but it is generally "safe" for the rider and other road users.

There is generally greater consequence for motorcyclists that don't stay alert and concentrate than there is for for other road users.

The objective is to stay free and ride forever!

The law is just one of the obstacles that you are required to negotiate, just like road conditions, other traffic and weather etc.

How you manage it is just another individual riding skill and getting caught speeding is just like getting it wrong and hitting a pothole etc. :ride: (IMHO) Cheers John.

You said a mouthful there John.
Well done.

[AlBundy]

Get a small engine motard with short gearing...

It'll be buzzing at 110k's, so not inclined to go faster.... But don't worry about corners or bad surfaces, coz they eat them for breakast...




PS: See Site Stuff to support the motard section...

[scumdog]

Get a small engine motard with short gearing...

It'll be buzzing at 110k's, so not inclined to go faster.... But don't worry about corners or bad surfaces, coz they eat them for breakast...




PS: See Site Stuff to support the motard section...

It's coping with the 30kg of touring gear that lets a bike like that down.....

[McJim]

Restrict your bike to 53hp...like mine. no point in getting a bike that will do 260kph+ unless you're gonna use it on a track.

[CookMySock]

Get a bicycle - you can do whatever you want and never get busted. As long as you have a helmet on, of course, otherwise you are pubic enemy number 1.Actually, I vaguely recall a guy getting busted for riding his pushbike pissed. Don't ask!

I don't get all this talk about bikies being hated. I have never seen it anywhere since I have been driving (27 years.)

Steve

[Gremlin]

Restrict your bike to 53hp...like mine. no point in getting a bike that will do 260kph+ unless you're gonna use it on a track.
I dunno... its handy for passing ducatis, those little red bikes look like they are going backwards :innocent:

[jonbuoy]

dont worry - soon it all becomes relative, your body - the pavement - the speed your body meets pavement.....all relative.
then you sit back and realise....mabey going fast isn't the answer:bash:
trust me a million miles in a cage dont count for shit if you haven't felt the learn.....and its just that much harder to feel the learn in a car (but not impossible)

Ezakerly - nothing quite like being eye to eye with your pride and joy both skittering along the tarmac to bring it home. Better to be given shit for riding a cruiser/"slow" bike than not riding at all because you can't control your right hand.

[OutForADuck]

Forget the straights and flat out. Radar doesn't work so well around corners but really well at the end of long straights where you can't see the trap. Anyone can twist a throttle and hold on and apart from the wind a car driver feels the same thrill. Go for the really twisty bits, hammer them and enjoy, kick back on the straights and enjoy the sun and every so often take to the track!!!

Works for me.

[mowgli]

Two ways to control your speed.

Buy a naked bike. On the VTR with a windlip screen there was little appreciable change in comfort from 100 up to :whistle: On a naked bike your increased speed becomes obvious much sooner.
Read up about the mechanics of riding and then go out and try to put it into practise. The causes and effects are much easier to isolate if you keep the speed down a bit.

I might be talking out my bumhole but the above two seem to work for me. That doesn't mean I don't speed sometimes just that when I'm being good I am generally successful at being good.

[ManDownUnder]

Step one ... learn the law
Step two ... obey the law

I think that's it... yup - yup that'd be all

I'm not perfect - it's fun to go for a squirt and get it out of my system... but having fun every time I get on the bike is just asking for trouble.

Pick your times and places.

[avgas]

put motor up in your oil - will the clutch slipping i would be surprised if you get 80kph

[mowgli]

put motor up in your oil - will the clutch slipping i would be surprised if you get 80kph

Voice of experience perhaps .... :devil2: