KBers as role models

[Dooly]

I've always regarded other road users as all wanting to kill me when I rode/ride on the road.
I'll just carry on with that attitude, and take it as it comes.

[Beemer]

I agree with your sentiments. None of us is perfect and we all make mistakes whether we are riding or driving. Some are little ones but some have terrible consequences. I am guilty of the odd rant (mostly about slow drivers rather than ones I have to suddenly brake for) but I have also seen some absolutely appalling riding behaviour - the most recent last night on the way home from Palmerston North. About one or two kilometres north of Shannon I was one of the last cars in a long line of traffic stuck behind a small truck. Heaps of oncoming traffic (it was about 5pm) and we were all doing between 90-100kph so I wasn't that worried about getting past it. I noticed a bike coming up behind me so I considerately kept well to the left so he could pass if he wanted. He did, no wave but I'm used to that, but then he stayed in the oncoming lane, despite there now being yellow lines. He passed about four or five vehicles then pulled in, only to pull out again just north of the narrow bridge on the edge of Shannon - not only were there yellow lines, but it's effectively a blind brow so I wasn't impressed. And what did he do when he got into Shannon? Immediately turned left into the first road! So if anyone knows a tosser on what I'm pretty sure was a KTM with a rego that ends in something like TOI, tell him this kind of behaviour does nothing to make other road users respect motorcyclists.

As for all these posts about "this silly (insert whatever you want - woman, Asian, old man, young man, blonde, etc) braked suddenly and I nearly killed myself avoiding a collision" - you have absolutely NO ONE to blame but yourself. If you can't stop safely in the length of road VISIBLE to you, you need to slow down and take more care. Just stop and think what would happen if it was a cop in an unmarked car you nearly ploughed into rather than the object of your derision. Try telling a cop it was his/her fault for braking suddenly!

[MidnightMike]

I actively encourage young riders to take off as many wing mirrors as possible..

Sweet if some assholio cut me of and i crash ill take off his wing mirror, and beat him with it. (kidding)

But I have to say, as one of the younger members of kiwibiker what you others say is pretty influencial. (sp)

[aff-man]

Me... I'm no role model.

But then again although I've seriously thought about it mever removes a wing mirror. I have stared in a few windows though. Bottom line.. I'f we were in a cage , the cagers wouldn't pull some of the scarey shit they do. Because we are on bikes they think they can get away with more / don't see us/ act differently. So should we moan and bitch about cagers who do stupid things. Sure. Are we totally innocent of stupid behaviour. Of course not.

But the bottom line is. Role model or not bitching raises awareness. You don't have to do what we do, you just, If you choose to, can take heed of our experiences.

[Lou Girardin]

Whether you want to be or not, you are a role model. As are we all. Like it or not, most people are who they associate with. I'm not saying that we are all naive and believe what we read etc, but it is the rare individul who is not influenced to some extent. It is easy for the less experienced (read 'younger') members to get the idea that ALL cagers are homicidal maniacs AND that ALL bikers have a duty to 'educate' said cagers by means of mirror removal etc.
There is a big difference between riding assertively and aggressively.

Oh sorry, I forgot the pisstake smilie.

[festus]

Sweet if some assholio cut me of ill take off his wing mirror, and beat him with it.

But I have to say, as one of the younger members of kiwibiker what you others say is pretty influencial. (sp)

What's with the bullshit about taking off a cars wing mirror? What do you gain from this absolutely stupid act?. And beat him with it??.....

Riders are hard to see, and so you must ensure you're seen, so things like your headlight on, bright reflective clothing, riding so you can be seen (not riding in their blind spot) are just a few examples to ensure your safety, as above we are the masters of our own destiny when riding. Taking someones mirror off is bullshit, and I'm picking those that reckon they have or would are full of shit!. Firstly you'd have to be doing a nice bit of riding to get your foot out, balance the bike and then kick it off the car , secondly if you succeeded and it was my car, you'd be promptly run over!..........

Just ride defensively and be seen.........

[Big Dave]

What are you going to do anyway affman - hit them with some really heavy calculus?

You notice that the older ones amongst us - me biff jim all say the same thing.
Do not trust car drivers. Anticipate that they will fuck up


Don't get angry about it. just do what motorcycles are best at and get out of Denver - split, vamoose, fuck 'winning' and get on with enjoying life and the fact that you are riding a motorcycle.
Getting all het up about some dick in a tintop can have far more impact on your life than 'a right of way' or a 'didn't see you' deserves.
Tell them politely it's because you didn't LOOK or gesture your concern - if you must,
Then ride away and enjoy life aware that there are plenty more of them out there.
There's no point you can prove. dats da fact jack.

[SPman]

It would be nice to occasionally read how because a rider was thinking ahead, looking ahead and riding defensively, they averted potential disaster long before it would have happened.

I thought that was just how you ride - I normally do.
Anyway - wheres the fun in posting
" Today, I went for a ride and, NOTHING HAPPENED! No stupid cage tried to run me off the road! No SUV tried to run me over at the give way sign! I wasn't cut off by a cell phone using business twat! There was no nasty gravel on a corner which almost sent me off the road! NOTHING! ... Because I saw it all unfolding early and neatly avoided it!"
Nah - no fun at all!

[MSTRS:Me]

Oh sorry, I forgot the pisstake smilie.

Wasn't getting at you. Really. Have a

[aff-man]

What are you going to do anyway affman - hit them with some really heavy calculus?
.

You seen the size of my eng. text books?? It'll lay the sucker out... Yeh usually not to fussed with idiot drivers . Unless they are intentionally trying to piss me off.

[Gixxer 4 ever]

Interesting. What happened Zac?
We are all at risk but we know that when we push the bike outa the shed. The only thing we can do is ride sensibly when out with young people. A lot of posting here is BS. Hence you don't see me here often.
However I also ride with a group of fast bikes and I can say some of the activities of this group are far from safe. That's life and I am sure I have heard the comment " you f**ken bike riders" as I have passed them at warp speed with bugger all room to pass cos of the corners and other traffic. I do not recommend this type of riding to anyone but when the ride is cranked up to warp speed it is hard not to take part if you are young or dum. And as you know YT I am not young. Bikes and demon's go together and young people just go hard. I do not want any young rider to go down but when they are out on the bike they are responsible for their own lives and no one can blame the posting on here. I hear the story's the boys bring home. I never went more than 110kmh. Yea right. How did you get to Taupo in one hour 2 minutes.OOOOOps.
Cos my boy rides I wish they would take it easy. I do not want to plant him in the ground but boys will be boys. Don't thrash it when out with them. Don't swop BS storys when they are sitting around haveing a beer with you all. Set an example and that's about all we can do.
Hope all is well MSTRS. We need to get together some time and have a ride. Are you going to Taupo on Sunday? Just for a look?

[Motu]

I thought that was just how you ride - I normally do.
Anyway - wheres the fun in posting
" Today, I went for a ride and, NOTHING HAPPENED! No stupid cage tried to run me off the road! No SUV tried to run me over at the give way sign! I wasn't cut off by a cell phone using business twat! There was no nasty gravel on a corner which almost sent me off the road! NOTHING! ... Because I saw it all unfolding early and neatly avoided it!"
Nah - no fun at all!

Just like my ride reports - went for a ride,had a hell of a lot of fun and went home again.My rides are full of hidden dangers every step of the way,that's how I like it.''I saw it all unfolding early and neatly avoided it'' - I like that....and that's how it always should be.

[Ixion]

Just like my ride reports - went for a ride,had a hell of a lot of fun and went home again.My rides are full of hidden dangers every step of the way,that's how I like it.''I saw it all unfolding early and neatly avoided it'' - I like that....and that's how it always should be.

Yep. Or else "I stuffed up. Sorted it out, cos I had some reserve, carried on".

Trouble is, youngsters think that's boring. Cos, like, nothing HAPPENS. You just get on, ride, get to your destination , come back again. Young ones want EXCITEMENT. In the "good old days" ™ we used to get excitement from breaking down. Just getting home, with most of the bike y'set out with, was a pretty good achievement.Nowdays, bikes are so reliably boring. So all that's left for excitement is going fast.

Send any of 'em that want excitement round and I'll send them out on a twisty road on Petal. That'll give them enough excitement for a long time

[Motu]

I guess it's pretty exciting when they run out of gas because the fuel guage was reading wrong - but that's the bike shops fault,they should of picked that up on the last service and fixed it for free.....now they are going to pay for the towage and loss of income.

[mstriumph]

..............As for all these posts about "this silly (insert whatever you want - woman, Asian, old man, young man, blonde, etc) braked suddenly and I nearly killed myself avoiding a collision" - you have absolutely NO ONE to blame but yourself. If you can't stop safely in the length of road VISIBLE to you, you need to slow down and take more care. Just stop and think what would happen if it was a cop in an unmarked car you nearly ploughed into rather than the object of your derision. Try telling a cop it was his/her fault for braking suddenly!

Beemer, mebbe what is being said in this forum is less important than why it is being said? f'rinstance ...

• people need to rant
• people have a near-miss, for whatever reason, and need to let off steam about it
• people need to talk themselves down from the adrenaline-high they came in off the road with
• people need the companionship of the like-minded
• ....
  and some people need to feel superior than others by telling 'em what to do

all these needs are catered for here on KB - it's convenient, effective and soooooooooo much cheaper than either therapy or bubble-wrap!!

ALL HAIL THE GREAT SPANK!!!!