Riding skills, or lack of

**baffa** · 13th December 2011, 13:09

Is it just me?

Before I got into motorbikes, and when I was learning to ride, I respected bikers as some of the better road users, obviously in big part due to necessity, so you dont become road paste.
After years of driving a car, riding a bike was all so familiar, and yet very different, but I prided myself on driving as well as I could, being observent on what was occuring around me, spotting hazards etc. So switching to two wheels, I tried to build on this to become a good rider.

Amongst other things, I started riding with the Swarm on Monday nights, and surrounded by experinced and talented riders, helped improve my riding considerably (Dont let that go to your head guys

).
But as I have become a more experienced rider, I've started to notice both on here and in my travels, that many riders arent the great drivers I used to assume they were. We complain about cagers and trucks having tunnel vision and not looking and acting like dickheads, but in reality, I'm sure many bikers are just as bad, if not worse.

Dont get me wrong, I consider myself competent, but I'm nowhere near as good as I could be yet.

Thoughts?

**Katman** · 13th December 2011, 13:12

Originally Posted by baffa

Thoughts?

I think you might be on to something.

**nodrog:Me** · 13th December 2011, 13:23

Repost

**sinfull** · 13th December 2011, 13:27

Originally Posted by nodrog

Repost

That made me chuckle !

**baptist** · 13th December 2011, 21:19

Funny you should post this... Last week a certain person (moped rider) I know seems to have pulled a U turn in front of a car without looking... result was a stay in hospital and a munted moped

inattention can strike anyone, even us two wheelers.

**rastuscat** · 13th December 2011, 22:19

Really. Amazing. Motorcyclists make mistakes too. Newsflash.

Bike riders are human and can make human errors. Don't expect the weather girl to appear, as this was old news, nothing new.

**Headbanger** · 13th December 2011, 22:37

More douche bags on bikes then in cars.

I'm one of em.

**ducatilover** · 13th December 2011, 23:09

Originally Posted by Katman

I think you might be on to something.

fuckingtencharacters

**NinjaNanna** · 14th December 2011, 08:17

When on the bike my biggest fear is cars, 4wd and motorhomes cutting the corners.

When in my truck my biggest fear is Motorbikes cutting the corners.

In my car I'm pretty happy.

The most likely fatal scenerio though is No 2: that says a lot in my opinion.

**baffa** · 14th December 2011, 13:17

Originally Posted by rastuscat

Really. Amazing. Motorcyclists make mistakes too. Newsflash.

Bike riders are human and can make human errors. Don't expect the weather girl to appear, as this was old news, nothing new.

Thanks for pointing this out mr strawman. Here I was thinking motorbikers were machines and incapable of making a mistake.

**Gremlin** · 14th December 2011, 13:29

Originally Posted by baffa

Here I was thinking motorbikers were machines and incapable of making a mistake.

Well there ya go. That sheen of everything is awesome has worn off. People in every industry and mode of transport are idiots. Some are excellent, the rest are simply average (yeah, I know, this is also groundbreaking stuff - but thought it might have to be mentioned).

You may even be surprised to find in a few years that looking back, you thought you were competent, and you now know (with increased knowledge and skills) that you actually weren't.

Ultimately, if you ain't learning something new every day, you might as well be dead.

**gijoe1313** · 15th December 2011, 08:55

Keep genuflecting! Avoid being a hood ornament and keep thinking!

**caspernz** · 15th December 2011, 09:01

Originally Posted by NinjaNanna

When on the bike my biggest fear is cars, 4wd and motorhomes cutting the corners.

When in my truck my biggest fear is Motorbikes cutting the corners.

In my car I'm pretty happy.

The most likely fatal scenerio though is No 2: that says a lot in my opinion.

Aaahh yep, bikers cutting corners is up on my list as well. As a regular on the Rimutaka Hill, it cracks me up when I can take a 20 metre 44 ton rig across and never cross the centreline...only to be confronted by riders who think they're at a track day using the whole road....