Please be Careful out there!

[Morepower]

There has been a lot of serious bike accidents lately and a couple have been friends and a couple people I know. None of the very serious accidents were due to speed as far as I am aware.

I am not getting into the detail here but inattention either by car drivers or the riders has been a major factor.

The constant speed and alcohol kills advertising has brain washed a lot of the population into thinking they only need to have there seatbelt on and travel at less than 100kmh to be perfectly safe. Hey I can change CD,s , talk on the phone , perhaps text a message , no problem as I am only going 90kmh.

I am guilty on the bike at slower speeds it easy to let the mind drift off the job and you start to miss whats going on around you. What you may miss is that car coming at you from a side road that has not looked or a car ahead coming towards you thats looking to overtake .

So guys & Girls please stay alert , ride at 80 kmh with the same attention as you do at 150.

When riding together keep plenty of distance , its amazing how much road you use up if the rider infront has had to stop quickly. I was following another rider recently with at least 100 meters between us and still used all that up when he needed to avoid stock on a bend.

This site has a lot of useful stuff to think about as well http://www.msgroup.org/discuss.asp

Again please take care out in the traffic!
I dont want to keep getting bad news

Dave

[Sniper]

Well said mate. Well said.

[placidfemme]

Well said mate. Well said.

ditto... speed doesn't always kill...

[MSTRS:Me]

So guys & Girls please stay alert , ride at 80 kmh with the same attention as you do at 150.

Good man, wise words in a nutshell.

[Motig]

Very true morepower, just hope people take notice and think before they do their speed racer impressions.

[jonbuoy]

Yup, sun strike and hidden wet patches time of year................

[Morepower]

Very true morepower, just hope people take notice and think before they do their speed racer impressions.

Its not the speed ,its the lack of it and the false sense of security that comes with it.
People have been brainwashed by the speed kills advertising , bigger the mess stuff. They need to be shown the 50kmh and 70kmh mess as wellonly then possibly attitudes to driving may change beyond the abysmal stuff often seen particularly on weekends.
When you are riding quickly you are aware of the danger and (I hope) concentrating hard on the road ahead , looking for those little clues that there may be danger ahead. I am as guilty as anyone here of slightly exceeding the speed limit at times but I will bet you I am safer when fully concentrating on what I am doing than tooling along in the car at 100 klicks thinking about something completely unrelated to driving ( or on the bike for that matter ).
Ever had that feeling where you dont remember driving the last few miles ? Usualy when you are deep in thought and your subconsious mind has been doing the driving , a bit scary huh, add in the people who text , read , talk on the phone etc etc and its a bloody wonder we dont have more crashes.

thats my rant for the day:slap:

[MSTRS:Me]

Ever had that feeling where you dont remember driving the last few miles ?

Ooh yea I've done that. As have we all, if we're being honest. It's even scarier when you can't blame it on the drink
Mind you, the problem is not as bad as when we were young, eh Dave? Tis kms now, and they are shorter

[Morepower]

Ooh yea I've done that. As have we all, if we're being honest. It's even scarier when you can't blame it on the drink
Mind you, the problem is not as bad as when we were young, eh Dave? Tis kms now, and they are shorter

Does that mean we get there quicker ???

[Insanity_rules]

Better to have eyes in the back of your head. Better off slow than dead.

[Pathos]

Ever had that feeling where you dont remember driving the last few miles ?

yep and then I noticed the car infront was 5m away and I had never noticed the 50km corner right ahead.... nothing happened but it was a wake up. You are safer to be focussing on taking the corners well (but not taking risks) than to putt along behind someone and let your vision drop to their bumper.

[Motu]

But riding a very capable machine at a higher speed doesn't take much concentration.A less capable machine at a lower speed takes everything you have to keep pointed where you want to go.So is a litre tourer more dangerous at 120kph than a GN250 at the same speed? (asuming there is a slight downhill and tail wind for the GN...)

[Ixion]

Yes, I think so.A powerful bike makes you lazy and complacent at lower speeds. I quite like riding less powerful bikes because they keep you on your toes working for everything you can get. Is more tiring but, which is where a big lazy tourer is good for long distances.

[Goblin]

This site has a lot of useful stuff to think about as well http://www.msgroup.org/discuss.asp

Again please take care out in the traffic!
I dont want to keep getting bad news

Dave

Well you learn something new every day.

Great site...I particularly enjoyed #53 and #139:spudwow:

[jonbuoy]

So riding a 140 odd BHP litre bike with fast steering would be easier to ride on greasy roads than a GN250?? Erm I don't think so...