Spring's here, time to die

[PrincessBandit]

Really? People die all the time, from all sorts of things. Choking on a potatoe chip, tripping over getting out of the shower, driving down to the shops. Would that also stop you from eating chips, showering, or driving to the shops?

This is true but despite all those things being potentially fatal I don't tend to do them on my bike You know what I meant. I know you do.

[Bassmatt]

People have suffocated from that shit bro, you sure about that??

Idiots! You just gotta pop a few bubbles, plenty of air in em.

[ajturbo]

So we've had our second in the space of two days.

Not a good start to the riding season peoples.

Theres a riding season..????

[98tls]

Lets get binning those Gixxer's guys. But try to save the front ends please, daddy wants a late model set of forks.

Pptt... bugger the Gixxer front ends mate,mine are only on there until the recently arrived R1 setups fitted,for no other reason than i can.

[James Deuce]

Pptt... bugger the Gixxer front ends mate,mine are only on there until the recently arrived R1 setups fitted,for no other reason than i can.

I'm with him. I'd like some '99 R1 forks please.

[gijoe1313]

Finally got around to ripping the cover off my limited edition Blade Runner DVD pack, damn good film. Sorry, was this thread meant to be about bikes?

[Drew]

Pptt... bugger the Gixxer front ends mate,mine are only on there until the recently arrived R1 setups fitted,for no other reason than i can.

Sooooo, there's a Gixxer front end going begging then?

[Disco Dan]

Finally got around to ripping the cover off my limited edition Blade Runner DVD pack, damn good film. Sorry, was this thread meant to be about bikes?

DVD ? Old tech now...

And did someone mention "riding season" WTF? it's called "all year round"

[Conquiztador]

Giving up is not an option. There is always a chance that you are one of the ones able to, at your 80'th b'thday, proudly announce that you have been riding all your life and you are still alive! (Thou, to achieve this you need to give up smoking, fatty foods and start eating garlic daily.)

[jrandom]

Giving up is not an option.

Sure it is.

There are certainly people on this forum who would be well advised to get rid of their motorcycles and get a nice little car instead.

Riding motorbikes isn't for everyone, and this "DON'T GIVE UP, STAY IN THE SADDLE" bullshit does nobody any good.

Anyway. No point wailing and wringing hands. I'm sure this year won't be a statistically significant deviation from last year or the one before that. Every silly season's the same. It's why I put this thread up.

Motorcyclists die because they don't know how to control their machines, because they have a poor attitude, and because the price of error is so much higher than it is when you're in a car.

C'est la vie. World keeps turning. Plenty more humans to go around.

[Conquiztador]

Motorcyclists die because they don't know how to control their machines, because they have a poor attitude, and because the price of error is so much higher than it is when you're in a car.

The two riders that were killed in Lindis Pass were not at fault.
The two riders killed in Taranaki (and the number of others that ended up in hopsital from the same accident) were not at fault.
Two others killed in the w/e gone were crashes with cars and even if the outcomes from the polices investigations are not completed, there are big possibilities that the bikers were not at fault.

I know that this makes no difference to the numbers of bikers killed, or makes it easier to accept the sad outcomes. I also am one of the ones who advocate the view that only I am responsible for my safety. Expect the unexpected.

But it is hard to stomach when you go on doing your own business and then suddenly, at no fault of your own, some imbecile crashes in to you with a cage leaving a widow and kids without one parent.

Is the only answer really to stop riding? I refuse to accept that!

[george formby]

Giving up is not an option. There is always a chance that you are one of the ones able to, at your 80'th b'thday, proudly announce that you have been riding all your life and you are still alive! (Thou, to achieve this you need to give up smoking, fatty foods and start eating garlic daily.)

I'm not one for crowing & physically on the way out already so I will take my chances with all of the above rather than make myself miserable & shit 4 times a day on a tofu & seaweed diet.

[jrandom]

The two riders killed in Taranaki (and the number of others that ended up in hopsital from the same accident) were not at fault.

Fault schmault.

If an oncoming car pulled out in front of me to overtake, I'd back myself any day to swerve safely around it.

I wouldn't back myself to do it if I was in a group-ride-lemming situation, though. (Which is why I don't go on group rides much, if at all, these days.) And that, I'm guessing, is exactly what happened there. The van pulled out to pass, and the group-think inertia of the oncoming bunch of motorcyclists riding in procession made them maneuver more like a truck and trailer unit. Boom. I bet 90% of them were just watching the wheel of the guy in front.

Wouldn't surprise me if the Lindis Pass bin came under the same heading. Oncoming cars are easy enough to swerve around, so long as you're not off in a daydream at the time and you're not going so goddamn fast that you have no time or space to maneuver. Stay sharp and ride only within what you can see, or die.

crashes with cars... not at fault... I know that this makes no difference to the numbers of bikers killed

Exactly. Fault is irrelevant. Either you're capable of surviving on a bike, or you're not.

Is the only answer really to stop riding? I refuse to accept that!

Either handle the jandal, or don't ride. Some handle that jandal, some don't and die, and some are humble enough to accept that motorcycling's not for them. I (cautiously) back myself. Guess I'll find out eventually if that's the wrong call.

But there are definitely people out there who don't even back themselves but who still ride... because why? I don't really know. We've all met them. They think they should, maybe? Peer pressure to be cool? Not wanting to be seen to 'give up'? I really do think that's the case sometimes. Betcha there were people on that BRONZ ride who were out there not actually enjoying it much, solely because they felt some sort of obscure pressure from within themselves to get on the bike. Telling themselves they were having fun.

Sorry, folks, when I see you getting off the bike with sweat pouring down your face on a cool day, massaging the cramp in your hands from death-gripping the throttle - I know you weren't having fun.

People who are invested in their self-image as a motorcyclist and who stubbornly ignore the fact that they suck at it - those people tend to die.

I don't know any of the folk who died this last weekend and can't comment on them directly. I'm just commenting based on my own experience and observations.

[george formby]

Is the only answer really to stop riding? I refuse to accept that!

Ditto.
I'm only here for the one big lap & refuse to ride it in a state of perpetual worry & hand wringing. That way lies madness, misery & self doubt.
I do or used to do a lot of high risk stuff, by far & away the most exhilarating, feel alive moments of my life and I'm not sacrificing one second of that feeling for a "what if" state of mind.

[DEATH_INC.]

I do or used to do a lot of high risk stuff, by far & away the most exhilarating, feel alive moments of my life and I'm not sacrificing one second of that feeling for a "what if" state of mind.

What he said. Motorcycles are no more dangerous than lots of other shit I've done all my life.
I push the boundaries, sure, but I know what the consequences can be. I accept it. It doesn't mean I'm a bad rider, an idiot, should give up blah blah blah. I ride how I do because that's what I want to do.
At least I've lived. More than a lot of dead people could say....