NO MORE FUCKING CRASHING

[Waylander]

Most of us don't deal very well with tragedy & often use humour as a way of not thinking about what happened/could have. We all know that bikes are at the top of the list for danger and, idiots aside, we normally do all we can to reduce the risk to ourselves. When it does go bad, human nature tries to ensure that we make light of it in some fashion. Only the idiots out there don't learn from their experience.

There we go that's what I tried to say.

[Biff]

NO CRASH IS FUNNY PERIOD

IF you have that attitude maybe you shouldn’t be riding, even dropping it isn’t funny – a bad attitude leads to a short life. >>

Hmmm. I know what you're getting at, but some crashes are funny. But these are the ones people walk away from relatively unscathed, and normally where very little damage is done to the bike. As paying out a load of cash isn't, in my book, funny.

I laugh at my recent bin at Ruapuna. I even take delight in showing off and telling epople about my misfortune. I messed up. I wasn't seriously hurt and I had a good laugh about it with some mates later. I could have been seriously hurt, but I wasn't. And the bin, despite the fact it resulted in the BiffBird Mk I being written off, has cost me very little money.

I'd be interested to hear Speed Medic or Riff Raff's opinions about making light of serious matters/accidents. The reason being that over the years I've spent some time with paramedics in the UK and on several occasions I've been present when they've returned to their station having just attended some pretty gruesome traffic accidents. These individuals would make light of these crashes in an obvious attempt to cope with the pretty traumatic events they'd just witnessed. But this didn't, in my mind, undermine their level of professionalism.

It's natural to laugh for lots of reason. And laughing at ones self is a positive thing in my book, providing that the experience of crashing is ultimately taken seriously and lessons are learn
t.

[Ixion]

By professionals I would guess you are refering to -motorcycle racers? Or perhaps to bike cops and couriers??
Given that you mean racers you couldn't be more wrong.
The way to win races is to explore the limits of tyre stick.of handling and of riding ability.
The point is this is done during PRACTICE and in a controlled enviroment.
Finding out 'what your bike can do' should be the same

No, I wasn't referring to racers. Racing is a whole other game. You are deliberately pushing to the edge of the envelope and sooner or later a bit beyond. Some crashs are inevitable on the track. But even there I think the professional element is present . Maybe even more so. No racer is going to regard a crash as a good thing in itself. If for other reason than that it usually means you have no chance of winning. And a risk of a broken bike to put you out of the next race also. A professional racer will certainly crash. He won't be pleased at doing so (nor will his team manager). He will analyse the reason he crashed, see if he can improve anything as a result. He certainly won't treat it as a joke.

A racer isn't out on the track to crash. He's out to win races. He will certainly minimise the likelihood of crashs. Suppose you're going out in practice to see if your new tyres are better or worse than before. I'll bet you make sure your suspension is fully sorted , and your brakes working properly, right ? Would you go out with hydraulic fluid leaking onto your tyre ? Racers I've known are absolutely fanatical about making sure that everything on the bike is absolutely spot on. Nothing left to chance. And they will often be quite anal about recording each change and the effect it has. Sure, sometimes in this process they'll crash in practice. Sometimes the only way to know that you've reached a limit is to go over it. Remember I said "needless" risks But if they crash it won't be because they don't care about crashing.

A rider on the road isn't there (hopefully) to crash either. And I think that every rider can approach riding in a professional manner. Which means minimising the likelihood of crashing, within the bounds you've set.

If an experienced rider decides he wants to ride a section of road really hard, that's his decision. He's experienced, he knows his limits, and if he knows and accepts the risk that he may go to far and crash. That's a whole different philosophy to not caring about crashing.

All motorcycling is dangerous, with an inherent risk of crashing. A professional approach can minimise the risk of crashing. The risk always remains, and the degree of risk is something that every rider has to decide for himself. Sometimes the degree of risk deemed acceptable will end up with a crash. More so on the track than on the road. But treating a crash as a joke is amateur, on the track or off it.

[jaybee]

well said , this guy is only 18 and his head screwed on , it aint rocket science , we aint unbreakable and built of stell like we think we are ............ keep it safe guys and gals