Thanks for that, Armchair A-Holes

[Holy Roller]

When I had my bus that was slow on the road ( an old SB3 Bedford ) I had a hard job finding places to pull over to let traffic pass, which I did when ever I could. Our roads are poorly designed now that they dig huge ditches on each side, nowhere to pull over when traffic builds up.
At least on a bike one isn't restricted to following along behind

[Kwaka-Kid]

yep, and i dont have a problem with it, mate i never realised/gave enough appreciation to some of those banged-up-van drivers with their trailer full of junk etc till i got my full and often towed stuff here with my van, it regularly pulls 1 cubic meter of builders mix, say approx 1.7T ? on a home made single axel trailer without brakes, and thats behind my '91 desiel Hiace with modified drawbar/whole rear bull bars with outriggers and extra 12mm bolts through the floor/rails -sorry jsut stated that last bit to say dont worry about all that weight, shes fairly well set for it, but man the braking! chops my braking down to about 1/4 of what it usually is, makes the front end feel really light like a feather and has a major affect on handling, im not the only one that runs around putting large loads on trailers either, and most of em dont realise what they are doing affects the handling so much etc i bet too, so 80kmph sounds good to me! shit 60kmph feels like light speed when it takes you 10minutes to come to a stop! (and nah it aint too bad, god was great enough to give me a strong right foot for brakes!)

meh, my 2c on why i think 80kmph sounds good!

[Lou Girardin]

Ohhh yeh...... When I toe the boat up to Picton and sit at 80kph, then the traffic builds up behind me, the dick head right behind me wont pass at the only possible spot in 50k's so then the nutters come out to play and do some bloody stupid passing manovers risking all our necks Sooo... I drive at 100k thren most people are happy the trailer is breaked and has tandom axels so it is very stable.

Yeah, that's fine. But we've all come up behind some dickhead with a trailer that travels at 100 km/h on the flat, then drops down to 60 - km/h on every little hill.
Lou

[Big Dog]

meh, my 2c on why i think 80kmph sounds good!

And there we have it, the rule exists because of all the westies driving trailers made out of things they found on the side of the road with a load heavier than the Tow vehicle.

Case in point a tandom with a my entire worldly belongings on it, towed by a holden camira (1ton, 2l FWD) was very stable to tow, or it was until I tried to brake. It was like an episode from the ice capades at 100 a bit daft at 80kmph no noticable difference at 50kmph.

My (1.75 ton 4l RWD) falcon saw no difference at 100kmph but at 120 it was back to the being iffy.

Both are legal. Hence the law.

Modern trucks can pull up faster than 80's cars (unless over loaded) but the truck I learn't in a road legal ford iveco '81 16 wheeler soon let you know that even though the trailer was braked you are still looking at 2-3 times stopping distance empty. Stoppimg cab only was like trying to stop a bike with front only, easy to get the back wheels of the ground if you F(*^ it up!

ps can't remember ton or tonnes but my point is clear.

[MadDuck]

Well talking of horse trailers. Heading back from Hamilton Toy Run I saw horse float accident near Greenlane. One horse looked ok but other was not looking too good. They took out lamp post and blocked the entire motorway.
Maybe - and just maybe the limits are set for a reason?
We chose to ignore them then that is up to us and the poor bugger we hit surely ? Damn my rig spose to bne able to tow a tonne but I guess I better check that out now

[dangerous]

Maybe - and just maybe the limits are set for a reason?
We chose to ignore them then that is up to us and the poor bugger we hit surely ?

Did the horse trailer have brakes? how many axels? and was the car toeing suitable for the situation? Horse trailers have a live load (you cant tie it down to stop it moving) and they have a high center of gravity.

Cos this is were it all goes wrong, The boat trailer I toe has a low center of gravity, tandom axels, brakes and my truck is a solid 4x4 waing twice that of the boat. So It is safe to travel at 100kph (in certin areas) were as the horse flote and some other trailers and there cars are not.

[Posh Tourer :P]

Just come back from Napier towing my rally car. I try to stick to the ridiculous 80km towing limit but average it at 90 in order to not hold traffic up too much.

mmm Rally car... can I have a ride sometime?.... huge admiration for anyone who can drive a rally car, especially good drivers.... good on ya Deb, keep on going for it

[DEATH_INC.]

It all depend s on the load/setup,I've towed stuff that gets a bit out of hand at 90+kph,but my bike trailer (with bikes)is sweet at over 150kph,and I also know a certain sprintcar driver who's driven from Hamilton to Auck at 180+kph most of the way(a few years ago....) towing his racecar........
It's a tricky one,maybe they need to be harder on what's towing what......

[XRNR]

I thought the whole point of a lot of the traffic rules in the past was simplification, i.e. the right hand rule (give way to everything on your right). Because us brainless public types, could only handle a few rules at time.

Now we seem to be having so many rules for every little situation. Who's to know what they all are. Especially since there is no road code retesting.

Like I was reading in another thread awhile ago. Some one was saying that they were being given a hard time by drivers on their m/c with L plates. The car drivers were trying to push them along. I am not surprised. I would be pretty pissed off with someone doing 80Kmh on the open road holding me up for no apparent reason. Many times I have made unsightly comments under my breath about drivers of certain nationalities doing exactly that.

It wasn't until reading these threads that I found out that a person with L plates on a m/c is only allowed to go 80kmh. Having found that out I would be a bit more tolerant instead of thinking they are a bastard (there wasn't two speed limits or a graduated system when I got my licence).

Same goes for a trailer, how many other drivers out there know that a trailer is not supposed to be driven over 80kmh. Consequently how many of those same drivers think your a prick for doing only 80kmh on the open road?.

[XRNR]

...my van, it regularly pulls 1 cubic meter of builders mix, say approx 1.7T ? on a home made single axel trailer without brakes, and thats behind my '91 desiel Hiace ...
i think 80kmph sounds good!

80 kmh is way too fast for your load, I guess your van is empty too, with a set of hard compound commercial tyres on the back ensuring traction is about as good as rubbing chalk on Teflon.

I hope those Police recruiters are not reading this post from you Kwaka'

It's loads like yours that should be jumped on, & put off the road!

[Two Smoker]

Actually its 70kmh on the open road for a learner.... fucking stupid for riders that have a sort of "natural riding ability" or have been brought up on bikes, but there are a odd few tht i have seen tht have absolutely no control of the bike over 80 ....

[Jackrat]

It all depend s on the load/setup,I've towed stuff that gets a bit out of hand at 90+kph,but my bike trailer (with bikes)is sweet at over 150kph,and I also know a certain sprintcar driver who's driven from Hamilton to Auck at 180+kph most of the way(a few years ago....) towing his racecar........
It's a tricky one,maybe they need to be harder on what's towing what......

Yeah thats the story,When I see a Toyota Corolla towing a Fifteen foot boat on a single axle trailer with no brakes I really do wonder what makes these people tick.I tow a double horse float with two BIG horses,But my wagon wheighs over two tons,the trailer has good brakes that work and twin axles with good rubber.I still get out of peoples way and pull over an stop when I know a big hill is coming up.I get pissed off enough myself with stupid towing drivers,not to do the same thing myself.

[Indiana_Jones]

Actually its 70kmh on the open road for a learner.... fucking stupid for riders that have a sort of "natural riding ability" or have been brought up on bikes, but there are a odd few tht i have seen tht have absolutely no control of the bike over 80 ....

God it's a stupid rule

Funny how car learners don't have engine and speed restriction
then again, they gotta have someone in da car with them

Also they should make it when u get your restricted m/c lisence u can ride upto 400cc.

-Indy

[Big Dog]

God it's a stupid rule

Funny how car learners don't have engine and speed restriction
then again, they gotta have someone in da car with them

Also they should make it when u get your restricted m/c lisence u can ride upto 400cc.

-Indy

Yes, but the rules need to apply to the lowest common denominator, driver and vehicle.
Ps if you have a valid reason for needing a 400cc 500cc or even 1000cc you can apply for an endorsement. But I don't fancy your chances unless you can so some sort of predjudice (ie you are over 400lbs).

I was told I could get an endorsement (in 94/5) if I had a M/C courier job (or similar that required a motorcycle for my work) and weighed over 300lb. Didn't do it in the end as I did not weigh enough.... and I got turned down on my application for a job (not crazy enough).

You would need to show how you would suffer a loss by not getting the endorsement and show a logical reason why you should.

[Motu]

They have to make the laws for the worst case senario,and as has been noted - people pull some dumb things behind the wrong vehicles...they have to allow for the fuckwits.

The laws have been changed recently - don't ask me,I'm only the guy who's supposed to know.One of the reasons was because of things like horse trailers - bring them in empty for a WoF and they didn't need brakes...put two horses in them and they were now not so much overweight,but into the weight cattergory requiring brakes - the cops used to wait outside the races and nab them as they left.Same thing with the stockcar boys,boats too.All tested unladen - loading is the owners responsability.