"Improvements" making road more dangerous for motorcyclists?

[Kickaha]

interesting how you think they now ride more like fuckards than they did before the "improvements".

Good point but motorcyclists seen to like to blaming everything but their own stupidity and poor roadcraft

Without knowing how many motorcyclists were using the road in both of those periods those numbers don't really mean much anyway and did the extra crashes happen in the area the "improvements" were made?

[Ocean1]

Good point but motorcyclists seen to like to blaming everything but their own stupidity and poor roadcraft

Without knowing how many motorcyclists were using the road in both of those periods those numbers don't really mean much anyway and did the extra crashes happen in the area the "improvements" were made?

I'd hazard a guess of yes in both cases. But as JD has already said the numbers are irrelevant, the hill road has been made of clay for the last couple of years.

[FJRider]

Improved roads don't increase the speed of heavily laden trucks by much and leaving early generally doesn't bet them neither but even short passing lanes assisted in getting past them. But of course you know better than someone that commutes it every week.

I commuted on it ... most days of the week ... on a bike (Benelli 650 twin) ... in the early eighties.

It seems to be "policy" on such winding hill roads to keep traffic flow consistent. Whatever that is on any day. It's thanks to idiots that such policy's are introduced.

The antics of some near the end of passing lanes ... leave little room for error. On the flat straight roads it's bad enough .. but on a winding hill road .... the accident rate potential is too high.

The Rimataka's is not the only hill to be treated as such. In the north or south island. Get over it .. get used to it. Such is policy ... and it wont change any day soon.

[MrKiwi]

Would that be Muldoon's corner?

Don't totally agree with F5 on group rides, that rather depends on the group and now you yourself behave in the group. I do worry about comments along the lines of how fast you can get to the top of the hill, yeah I know some groups of car drivers do the comparisons but they aren't getting the finger pointed at them.

Do vaguely agree with comments regarding the period covered and the road works being on going at the time.

Am also worried regarding the speed limits.

Have heard complaints from commuters about the removal of passing lanes on hill and the massive yellows, and this from cagers not bikers. Funny thing is one of the complaints was that the NZTA is meant to be increasing passing lanes and yet they rather removed so many from the hill.

Yes Muldoon's corner. Slopes away from the lean into the corner and then the wind bounces off the cut face of the hill. However, on a fine day the road is nicer to ride and I think the hill road, ridden properly, is generally a joy to ride - until, that is, you get stuck with cars in front of you and then a queue develops behind you. I sometimes pull over and let everyone go past rather than be caught in the middle of a slow moving tin train.

[oneofsix]

Yes Muldoon's corner. Slopes away from the lean into the corner and then the wind bounces off the cut face of the hill. However, on a fine day the road is nicer to ride and I think the hill road, ridden properly, is generally a joy to ride - until, that is, you get stuck with cars in front of you and then a queue develops behind you. I sometimes pull over and let everyone go past rather than be caught in the middle of a slow moving tin train.

Funny that the only corner that gave me real puker moments on a recent windy ride over that hill, that cutting seems to have created a bit of a tunnel effect. Agree its not nice feeling being the potential meat in a tin sandwich until there is a spot to pull off or occasionally they let you through.

[GrayWolf]

If you improve the road, people go faster, and crash harder.

The perfect example is the other road mentioned in the article, heading south from aucks, they've spent millions on that road so now people stop thinking and the accident rate gets worse.

Bring back dodgy off camber corners, tight bends and no margin for error, then people think about what they're doing.

Trouble is the 'improvements' do have just some of those things. They have 'improved' the ability to maintain a better velocity etc. However some of those corners and the story of the gixxer/car almost having a 'head on' is good example. The road is more open, easier to negotiate and that with a few 'off cambers' is a recipe for some nutter, car or bike to get it wrong.

[F5 Dave]

. . .
Don't totally agree with F5 on group rides, that rather depends on the group and now you yourself behave in the group. . . .

The problem with group rides is that it puts a bunch of males jockying for pecking order with riders they don't know. This sounds silly, we're all adults. Throttle goes both ways blah blah. But I've been on enough group rides where there have been crashes to make me avoid them. People go "I can keep up" or whatever it is that they are thinking.

Generally a few mates are ok as they aren't trying to prove anything (well after the first few rides).

I remember back a few years Trashie standing up in front of a large KB ride in the early days of KB & giving a lecture about how we don't want any crashes, ride at your own pace etc etc. Sage words. And totally wasted. 3 min latter Multistrada through the fence only part way up Takas, & after several waits on the ride (to sort the crashes out) I left, but not before I was passed by a GSXR400 who promptly didn't make the next corner.