Scooters are depressing

[haydes55]

So - tell me - do you still ride or drive on the roads??? It seems unlikely after that response ..

I still drive, about 50,000km every year in the work van, and just ticked up 15,000km since getting my bike last year.

My point was I trust no body. So I question everyone's actions.

For cassina, yes I can read other peoples minds. I call my magic power common sense. E.g. Over taking a car, that is going faster than the car in front of it.... It's obvious the car is going to pull into my lane without indicating (because indicators don't exist). So I have right of way, but give way to the driver because they haven't seen me.

The majority of vehicle vs vehicle collisions require both parties to not be driving defensively. If one person makes a fuck up, that doesn't mean you have to crash with them. You have the option of assessing every other user to foresee their likely paths, you can turn left or right, you could brake or accelerate, you could stay on the same path, or any other combination of the above. To trust another vehicle is obeying the law, attentive and competent is foolish, your next crash will be soon.

[James Deuce]

That's why I ride. I don't have to think about any of the other stuff of life while I'm second guessing all the other people thinking about everything except driving or riding.

[bogan]

So if you did not have defensive riding traffic reading ability like you claim would you still risk driving? Even when you are driving it cant be very relaxing for you continually reading the defensive riding traffic reading of other drivers in the event they screw up.

It is not mind reading ffs, just good defensive riding practice; no wonder you have so many accidents with an attitude like that. It becomes second nature when you do it long enough, self improvement has a relaxing quality all of its own as well, you should try it sometime

[James Deuce]

It's like a form of active meditation. Keeps the mind clear when death is on the line.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Five hundred and ten dollars, packet of chips, a dozen Double brown swappa crate. Final offer.

[James Deuce]

Five hundred and ten dollars, packet of chips, a dozen Double brown swappa crate. Final offer.

Only if we're talking strippers, buddy.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Only if we're talking strippers, buddy.

Strippers are classy. No Double Brown for them.... Lindauer. Special reserve.

[unstuck]

Strippers are classy. No Double Brown for them.... Lindauer. Special reserve.

Chateau de legopener.

[pritch]

You are about the thickest cunt (or one of the best trolls) to have ever graced this forum that is Kiwi Biker. Please keep it up, it is a great source of entertainment.

Nah. I've had her on ignore for months, now I can read a thread like this one and retain a sense of unruffled calm

It's not hard to see what's going on though, and I'm with Jim2. Once in another life I drove a city bus for a while and I can tell y'all that's a real eye opener. And I'm talking about other road users, the passengers can wait for another day... The first thing I learned was that on seeing something silly start to unravel don't think to yourself, "She won't do that." Mistake! Yes she bloody will, no matter how stupid.

[haydes55]

Five hundred and ten dollars, packet of chips, a dozen Double brown swappa crate. Final offer.

Are we betting on cassina being the next KB member to bin a bike? If so, I'm in.

[Berries]

You aren't the dude on here who feels all motorists should be able to read the minds of other motorists so they stay safe are you?

To be fair I think that was me but you picked up the wrong end of the stick in that discussion and ran with it just like you have here. People can't read minds. What they can do is make an assessment of the hazards ahead, whether it is a car on the side road who 9 times out of 10 will give way or a rental car coming towards them on a corner when 99 times out of 100 it won't cross the centre line towards you. I would rather be prepared to take evasive action than ride along happily knowing I am complying with all the road rules as if that somehow made me safe. I ride every day and if I tried it with that attitude I would be knocked off two or three times a month.

And before you start, that hazard assessment should include what vehicles are behind you. If you do have a car or truck behind you then the car on the side road is more likely to see someone approaching and not pull out in front of you ergo if no vehicles are behind you the more likely the car is going to pull out in to your path. Dirty old white car = more likely. New small car looks like a rental = more likely. Sun behind you = more likely. Woman driver = more likely. Bloke with dreads = more likely. Four lads = more likely. Etc etc etc.

.

[bogan]

All of my opponents in this debate are riding with the assumption that there will always be time to take evasive action should shit happen and I am simply saying this is not true after being in a few crashes where I have not even had time to brake. Hence the reason why I claim they must have mind reading ability. Or do they have just as false a belief in their riding safety as they claim I have? Yes I do check cars behind me but the car on the side of the road that may or may not pull out you have to either take your chances and pass or stop and wait to see what they do if they do anything at all which is going to make getting from A to B a very slow process eh wherever you go.

Again you pick up the wrong end of the stick. There may not absolutely always be time, but it is better to ride defensively as if there was, as there is time in the vast majority of cases. In your crashes you didn't have time to brake because you were not watchful for signs you might need to, and thus were not prepared; it takes less than half a second to apply the brakes if you are prepared.

[James Deuce]

All of my opponents in this debate are riding with the assumption that there will always be time to take evasive action should shit happen and I am simply saying this is not true after being in a few crashes where I have not even had time to brake. Hence the reason why I claim they must have mind reading ability. Or do they have just as false a belief in their riding safety as they claim I have? Yes I do check cars behind me but the car on the side of the road that may or may not pull out you have to either take your chances and pass or stop and wait to see what they do if they do anything at all which is going to make getting from A to B a very slow process eh wherever you go.

No we're not. Not only are you a concrete thinker, you can't read either.

And just this weekend past, I stopped twice whilst riding from Taupo to Greytown because I knew damn well that the person at the side road ahead was going to pull into my path. One of them wasn't slowing on his approach to the Intersection enough to come to a complete halt in the time available. And didn't. The other one was traveling inordinately slowly. And came to halt in the middle of my lane before looking and indicating and was at least 300 years old. Neither of these decisions was particularly conscious however they were as a result of previous experience. Who knows if my decision to stop as a result of my lack of trust of these two had any basis in what may have happened. What did happen was I wasn't run over by people failing to give way. That's a win, is it not? You DON'T have to take your chances. In terms of progress, given the statements you have made on here, I guarantee I can get from your point a to your point b quicker than you can. There's a difference between being careful and wilfully ignorant of risk.

[Big Dog]

All of my opponents in this debate are riding with the assumption that there will always be time to take evasive action should shit happen and I am simply saying this is not true after being in a few crashes where I have not even had time to brake. Hence the reason why I claim they must have mind reading ability. Or do they have just as false a belief in their riding safety as they claim I have? Yes I do check cars behind me but the car on the side of the road that may or may not pull out you have to either take your chances and pass or stop and wait to see what they do if they do anything at all which is going to make getting from A to B a very slow process eh wherever you go.

And I am saying that your statement above indicates a lack of awareness.
There have been a couple of times I started an emergency braking manoeuvre before I was consciously aware of the risk.
I have found that by maintaining a constant vigil sometimes I have finished evading a crisis before I could actively describe it. Usually after the fact I can recall a clue or two, but when I initiate the action I don't always know why. I put this down to constantly evaluating risks, probabilities and exits. I put this down to practice and experience. This is a quite meditative state. More so the more risks as you shut down unnecessary threads of thought, banish those things in out daily lives that cause is stress. While quite taxing energy wise it is quite fulfilling and relaxing.

For the 1 to 2 hours a day I am riding in heavy traffic there are no thoughts of where is my career going, do I have enough money for food, do I have enough children, do I have enough income to support my family etc , all of that is gone.
Just me, my bike and the task at hand.

I think the quote goes along the lines: The reward of a job done well is that it is done.

Have I ever had times when I had absolutely no time to react and an accident occurred through no fault of my own? Yes an no.
If I am truly honest with each of them they were at fist beyond my control, but in thorough introspection I see that:
My first, if I had a better lane position it would not have mattered how badly she was driving she could not have hit me without also hitting a row of cars.
My second, if I had a better understanding of motorcycle maintenance or defensive riding the two could not have colluded to result in an accident.
My third, understanding the difference between loaded and overloaded would have helped but practice braking on gravel would have saved me.
My fourth, I still don't see a lesson in that. But through my quick actions instead of ending up pushed under a car my bike held back a Holden ute. I could also have made a bail for the foot path and hoped the pedestrians moved and probably watched the ute tbone the car crossing in front. But I made my assessment and acted.

Am I perfect? God no!
Do I hang about taking forever to get a cross town. No.
Do I get more out of riding than I put in. Hell yes!


Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.

[Big Dog]

But with every other vehicle on the road effectively being a "Sign" as you put it you would be best to give up riding. As a matter of interest what is the "sign" in advance that someone is coming around a corner on the wrong side of the road? I say there is no "Sign".

In my experience that is usually a panicked look on the drivers face as they came in to hot.
A see sawing of the pitch and or yaw of the vehicle as they desperately brake after coming in way too hot.
The centreline disappearing under the car instead of beside.
All of the passengers in the car leaning out of the turn.
Unusual tyre or engine noise.
An indicator on.
A turn off near the corner.
After 7 on a Friday or Saturday near a rural pub.


There are more.


Stupid phone / Tapatalk, apologies in advance.