We all do it

[Sniper]

I did it once. Never again.

[NC]

Suppose it takes one to know one

You'd know then?

[skidMark]

Out on a ride you stop at a well known rider meeting/gathering point.
A bike appears you've never seen before, you all stop and watch as he/she pulls up.
Without knowing it we all go through a subconsious 'checking them out' process.

You watch them dismount and you check out the gear the're wearing.....is it textile or leather? (leather scores more points), do they have knee sliders? if so what sort of condition are they (scuffed ones score major points).
Your attention turns to the bike and with a quick scan you go over it looking for signs of what sort of rider they are. Is the bike standard or modded? What tyres are they running?
The most important of all that will determine what sort of rider they are over anything else is.........what state is the chicken strip on there front tyre like? The smaller the chicken, the better the rider.

Yeah yeah I know pointless crap. But if think about it, we all do it.

Can somebody please tell me what the hell a chicken stripper is lol.

[avgas]

I dont pay attention to chicken strips....... more if they have a nice flat piece in the middle with about 5mm of tread missing. How most of my tyres end up.
Dont worry i round em back off on the corners

[Storm]

NC -You taught me all I is knowing

[Pixie]

Interesting, but no - I don't do any of that - actually, the things you rate as cred - I score as 'reasons to avoid' in a social ride.
Particularly the knee sliders. They only impress me at a race track.

It's a kid thing

[Pixie]

I like that my chicken strips are smaller than what you would expect for a cruiser, but I really don't check them on other riders wheels.

Do you know what part of the chicken the strips come from?
Bloody disgusting,it is.
Worse than McNuggets!

[Pixie]

When all is said and done, is scraping a knee on every corner the "right" way to ride or is slowing down and taking it easier the "right" way?

Often, in order to get the knee down involves actually negotiating a corner slower than riding normally.
The adherents delude themselves that they are heroes.
Watch film of the IOM TT.You won't see any of the racers dragging knees there.

[buellbabe]

Interesting, but no - I don't do any of that - actually, the things you rate as cred - I score as 'reasons to avoid' in a social ride.
Particularly the knee sliders. They only impress me at a race track.

HA! That made me chuckle! Used to know a guy who thought he was on a track every time we went for a ride(full race leathersetc...) , he would be hanging off the side of his bike on corners that BARELY qualified as corners!! I nearly binned it once cos I was laughing so much!

Anyway back on subject: Tend to sorta agree... yeah of course I'll check out the bike (from a suitable distance) and definately check out the rider but unless I strike up a conversation with the rider I think its uncool to get up close and personal with the bike.

[Sniper]

Can somebody please tell me what the hell a chicken stripper is lol.

You ever heard of SEARCH?????

[Mooch]

You ever heard of SEARCH?????

Just did a google image search on chicken stripper .....

Not a good idea.

[skelstar]

Just did a google image search on chicken stripper .....

Not a good idea.

From what I can tell, the chicken strip is the strip of rubber around the outside of you tire that hasnt been ridden on. A conservative rider would have very larger/wide chicken strips as they dont lean the bike over very far. A more aggresive (or reckless) rider would have very thin (or no) chicken strips on the edge of their tires as they have leaned their bike over much more in corners.

[Eurodave]

Do you know what part of the chicken the strips come from?
Bloody disgusting,it is.
Worse than McNuggets!

Do tell...........

[Storm]

Or have a flatter profile tyre- ie on my gn250, I had no chicken strips within two days of getting it brand new. So they arent by any means the be all and end all of rider ability gauging

[Wolf]

On getting a knee down: There's a guy on this site with a bit of a rep for fast riding. I've never seen him ride but the description given to me was "sitting on his bike like he's sitting in an armchair"... and leaving everyone for dead. Apparently it was "bad" enough when he had a Sports Tourer, now he has a Sprots boik he's even harder to keep up with. Apparently he has no need to get a knee down in order to corner like a demon.

I'd like to be around when someone said to him that his lack of scuffed knee-sliders was worth less riding-cred "points" - especially if those who have ridden with him are within earshot.