Exceeding the recommended corner speed...

[Deano]

Back in my NSR days I used to either double it (and maybe add a bit) if I new the corner, or convert to mph if I was unsure. BUT, there were two corners on the back roads to Palmy Nth (via Shannon) that recommended 65kmh, and it was quite dodgy to take much more than 75km, so whoever the road engineer was who matched the recommended speed to the angle of those corners did a lousy job.

Don't get caught out guys. Unknown roads can be much more dangerous than your local tracks.

[Dr Bob]

There are a few corners going to Coromandel that are posted 15 and 25k, I don't double those. Quite some time ago my boss went over there in a Pajaro towing a boat, his wife came to work telling all of us that he had been driving aggessively all day and on that corner he had gone across the road, the only thing that stopped him from a 200m plummet down to the ocean was that a farmer had banked dirt up because he was sick of tourist from taking out the fence.

[Motoracer]

The signs are great indicators of what speed to travel at. For me I have programed myself to think in the following way:

75-95 = mild
55-65 = medium
45=tight
15-35=hairpins

To me the actual speed in numerical figures is irrelivant. I only ride to have fun but I don't go past the point where I am riding at the cost of some else's safety...

[pete376403]

I'm sure coroners see a lot of dead people but how do they become experts at everything that might cause death? How does a coroner get appointed anyway?

[Paul in NZ]

I dunno how Coroners get appointed but I'll bet a hat full of randy beavers that they STAY appointed by promoting the company line - speed kills...

Actually though.. I rode that strech earlier this year on the dread mk2. It seems all corners were posted 45kph. Some we flew around and breakneck speed and others were unsafe at 45kph. The 45 ought to have been in bold and underlined. Perhaps that was the only sign they had left on the truck? The last sign was the famous 'winding road for xxkm' one.. Ha! They finally admitted they ran out of signs an gave up.

In the article it states...

At the Kahutara bridge, about 20km from Kaikoura, Mr Bycroft saw a lot of loose gravel near a corner. (did he try to warn the tourists in his care?)

He looked back and saw Mr Prescott come into the corner too quickly. (if this guy was pushing it and he was in front why didn't he slow everything down a bit??)

The rear wheel of Mr Prescott's bike slid and he tried to correct but was thrown over the handlebars, landing on his helmet. (his REAR slid out and he went over the bars? high sided it eh?)

Perhaps he was a victim of a lack of skill.... Nah, that couldn't be right. Something has to be to blame surely, it couldn't be the poor victim could it??

Don't get me wrong, the guy is dead and I think thats bloody terrible, imagine having the holiday of a lifetime and this happens... The impact on the tour guide, his fellow riders, friends and family are probably still being felt but....

How many riders that survive accidents ever tell you, I screwed up! Nah.. It's always some one elses fault...

??

Paul N

[James Deuce]

How many riders that survive accidents ever tell you, I screwed up! Nah.. It's always some one elses fault...

??

Paul N

Me. Every accident I've had I could have avoided.

[DEATH_INC.]

Me too!If only they hadn't.........

[Gixxer 4 ever]

How many riders that survive accidents ever tell you, I screwed up! Nah.. It's always some one elses fault...

??

Paul N

I do. Some times I come home from a hard out thrash and sit down with the family around and think to my self " that was dum" But at the time it was a great ride and the big twin ahead of me gets the adrenalin going and you just got to push to the max. When it steps out you just keep the power on and forget about it and go in to the next corner hoping you get this one right. Or when you come up to a corner and brake hard and late so you can get under the bike ahead of you and you find you need all the brakes you have in the front and the back starts the dance so you have to let it off just to get around the corner let alone drop under the bike you have now pulled up along side. But the out side not the inside. Yes if you come off when doing this sort of thing you are dum and I think I have been dum from time to time. Now I am getting older I try to stay in the middle of the group but it is just so hard not to start the chase for the front. I have only dropped a bike once and it was due to speed in a corner. Got off the seat to pull the bike around to avoid a van and when I tried to get back up on the seat I looked up the drain and you know " were you look you go" and well road bikes are not made for off road and it just dug in. I remember bouncing over the handle bars think " keep the new $520.00 helmet off the bloody road" Lots of pain but no breaks so yes it was my fault.

[Gixxer 4 ever]

Don't get caught out guys. Unknown roads can be much more dangerous than your local tracks.

This is true. It is one thing to go hard on your local road and when you know the road well you only have to think about " what is on the road that was not there 30 seconds ago Oil,goats cows cars etc" But if you do not know the road at all you have so many other things to factor in. You really can not go hard on roads you do not know. Well not safely and you got to think of the bikes you are leading or the other traffic on the road. This probably does not apply to main roads but the twisty stuff. I mean most open roads you could set the cruise control on and have a sleep at 100 k. After all that is the speed limit and we all stick to it.

[moko]

Me. Every accident I've had I could have avoided.

Brit police have a saying,"There`s no such thing as an accident,it`s always someone`s fault",and they`re right.
We dont have recommended speeds here but I found them useful while on holiday in N.Z. as someone stated earlier as a rough guide as to what to expect.I found doubling them quite comfortable,didn`t do more than that as having an accident on someone else`s expensive BMW half the world away from home wasn`t something I even wanted to think about.

[Posh Tourer :P]

I agree that unknown roads can be hard to judge, Also, main roads have signs that mean nothing and roads eg round the east coast have signs that mean what they say.

I took a few positives out of this. Firstly, they recognised the poor road state contributed (it musta been bloody awful!!!). Secondly, the article wasnt headed speeding motorcyclist goes nuts...

As for corner speeds, I tend to take them at about 10-20kmh above, or if I know the road well, in miles an hour plus a little....
On an unknown, badly maintained road, maybe 5-10kmh above? It can really catch you out, as the criteria seem to vary with the road importance.

In the article it states...

At the Kahutara bridge, about 20km from Kaikoura, Mr Bycroft saw a lot of loose gravel near a corner. (did he try to warn the tourists in his care?)

He looked back and saw Mr Prescott come into the corner too quickly. (if this guy was pushing it and he was in front why didn't he slow everything down a bit??)

The rear wheel of Mr Prescott's bike slid and he tried to correct but was thrown over the handlebars, landing on his helmet. (his REAR slid out and he went over the bars? high sided it eh?)

Perhaps he was a victim of a lack of skill.... Nah, that couldn't be right. Something has to be to blame surely, it couldn't be the poor victim could it??

I dont think the tour guide can be blamed. As far as I know, these people run a system whereby you get maps and a start and end destination each day, and ride in groups of 4-5 max. He probably wasnt far infront, and slowed down much earlier than this guy. Even in a slow group you can choose to take particular corners fast.

I think it is as Frosty pointed out, and as is in the article, this guy was consistently pushing his limits....Thats the real reason why he died. Very worrying the coroner thinks it is about speed...

[Two Smoker]

I like MR use them as a advisory of what TYPE of corner is coming up...... With the speed, it all depends on how well i know the road.... weather.... road conditions etc....

If i am riding safely and have room for error, i generally convert it too MPH..... Most of the time i double it, but i have been known to triple some corner speed advisories (like the one in my Avatar.....)

[marty]

coroners are appointed by the soliciter general i think. they are (usually) lawyers, and do coronial duties as an addition to their lawyer job. MVA deaths are actually a very small part of the coroner's job - most of the deaths (probably over 90%) are from other causes - heart attacks, old age etc. at the end of the day they have to report to the medical director, and to a higher coroner's audit process, and the Coroners Act is very tightly adhered to.

and it's not like the movies - the coroner (esp. the one's i have worked with) hardly ever see the body. in fact i can't think of a single time that a coroner has been to a death scene in my 14 years - and i've been to a few......

[marty]

actually that's not true - the huntly coroner lives at the top of what used to be 'curletts cutting' - just south of gills gas @ ohinewai (the motorway bypasses it now - in 1992 i attended 19 deaths in a month in that 400m stretch of corners). he used to call 111 when he heard a crash in the fog at 3am, and he came down in his pj's once - to find a triple fatal.

[Skyryder]

The speed sighns on corners indicate the 'maximum' speed that the corner can be negotiated under 'normal' driving conditions. I use the word normal as in wet and not 'extreem' as in ice or snow.

Skyryder