Motu, the Norton never cracked more than 4000rpm, didn't need to. It is a torque-monster +1 on that....I did however drop it down to 3rd on some corners just for fun...
cmoore - Yesterday, 10:52 .......i think the law should be changed and the minimum changed to 60km and 110km...then there would be no tolerance after that....and the fines and points start at the legal limit...not some discretionary figure........... that's what they have in some australian states. much more reasonable aproach than what we have here, i'd say. as for the speedos accuracy i'm yet to hear about a speedo that's under-calibrated... they all show either the exact speed or add a few percent (provided the factory spec tyre circumference is used), so that shouldn't be the prob for driver i dont think. on motorways i personally drive at speeds that my speedo records as up to 115kmph (in my car) and 120kmph on Bruno, which is actually 108 kmph as measured by gps...
I have some thoughts about speeding which aren't very PC. Too bad . . . As some of you may recall, I've collected more than a few speeding tickets over recent years, the result of which was very nearly a three month walk due to accumulated demerits. I defended the last ticket since I had nothing to lose, and fortunately came away with a win. I had spent some time doing research into the whole speeding thing and looked at recent statistics courtesy of the Police and LTSA websites. A number of things caught my interest in the course of doing so, and it reinforced my frustration at some of the methods used by the Traffic guys. It also compounded my cynical attitude whenever I hear Superintendent Paula Rose blaming yet another accident on speed before the victims wheels have even stopped spinning. The first thing is that according to the Ministry Of Transport report on speeding (commissioned in 2009 and covering the years: 2006 - 2008), speeding is defined as "travelling too fast for the conditions" irrespective of the prevailing speed limit. As a result, it's impossible to know how many of the accidents in these statistics involves exceeding the speed limit. What we can determine though is that speed alone (by their definition) was responsible for only 16% of fatal accidents. Yep folks, only 16%. If we add drugs and/or alcohol to speeding, the total jumps a further 16%, while alcohol and/or drugs on their own account for 14%. Under the all-encompassing "Other " we find the balance of 54%, and this includes mechanical issues such as poor brakes, faulty steering, bald tyres etc, along with driver inexperience, driver distraction/inattention, poor judgement, sunstrike, etc. What this tells me is that 70% of fatal accidents over a three year period were due to drugs, alcohol or "Other". I find this quite disturbing in light of the fact that the vast majority of Traffic policing is focussed on speed detection and speed penalties. Another thing which concerns me is that the Traffic policing focus should be on roads with a known history of fatal accidents. These blackspots should be the prime concern, and yet we regularly see attention placed on roads with little or no history of minor accidents let alone fatals. Instead we see patrol vehicles and camera vans on open stretches of highway which make it easy to photograph, detect, and pursue suspected offenders. Given that 70% of fatal accidents are due to causes other than speed, I believe that a proportionately similar amount of Police effort should be spent doing more roadside vehicle checks beyond looking at a mere WOF sticker. A quick look at the tyres, headlights and wipers would be much more valuable than an officer covertly operating a laser, based on the MoT statistics. Likewise, booze buses should be employed a lot more, again due to the 30% of fatal accidents resulting from the effects of excessive alcohol and/or drugs. Is speed dangerous, like the ads keep telling us? Does the statement "Speed Kills" hold water? No, because speed alone is not going to cause us to crash. Further, many who have crashed at speed have walked away, so clearly there's much more to the topic than the distorted and simplistic message perpetuated by the Paula Roses of this world.
Speed is probably the easiest to measure, I saw Police lady on TV saying they were not going to introduce the Aussie drug testing here in the near future.... relying on dialated pupils and the ability to touch ones nose instead. I recall some time ago "they" did a round of Westield Manakau city and found 20% of cars had no wof/rego....
I'm the opposite of most of the motorcyclists who want to do 120kph on main highways - I'm happy to sit on 100kph....but I like to go faster on the backroads.
Psyguy as for the speedos accuracy i'm yet to hear about a speedo that's under-calibrated Sorry to be the one to spoil that Psyguy, but my Ambassador reads 50-53mph at 100km/h and my Norton manders around 50mph at 100km/h. That was gleaned by one of those open road digital speed readers they sometimes have on the motorway. No idea how accurate they are but that is the only comparison I have managed to put together. Every other old bike I have had seems to read high as you said and that is really only confined to Italian crap because all the BMW's and Jappa's I have had have all been fairly accurate.
Next time your pulled over recite this to The Man....or lady as its 2011... "We want to be free! We want to be free to do what we want to do! We want to be free to ride. And we want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man. And we want to get loaded. And we want to have a good time! And that’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna have a good time. We’re gonna have a party!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bXMsvVJZpE Right on! I know a guy who wears shades like that.. he don't like being hassled by The Man either Whoops, sorry cmoore. It was a serous thread for a whole page which is a BFTP record. Plus these guys made me do it
Having spent last week in Indonesia at an engineering conference, I am puzzled how their riding and driving antics don't seem to result in carnage. Maybe it is their lack of rude aggression and intolerant competitiveness. Perhaps it is their sense of spacial awareness. Maybe a lot of our problems and accidents are caused by own cultural attitudes. Anyone who has driven in Asia will appreciate the frantic motorbike and car congestion, yet it all seems to work. Just don't ask me how.
