The Message We're Given

[ital916]

Well It's started to rain in sunny oz so it's time to hit kb lol. Just a few things i've noticed over here that are pretty cool/pretty silly *in my eyes*. First off, they have ambulance motorcycles! How cool is that. Saw one flip the lights on at an intersection, put the pegs/panniers down to dodge the cars *at a ludicrosly slow speed, talk about skill eh!* and then blast off to help some poor chap. lol on the other hand there are lots of police on motorbikes wearing spandex and a open face helmet, is it just me or do NZ motorcycle officers wear a hell of a lot more gear, like fluoro vest, and bike pants and jackets with full face helemts etc. This got me thinking about the message the police here send to other bikers, now it oculd be the weather but I regularly choose to sweat than risk the chance of becoming a human crayon.

I've noticed in Sydney there are huge amounts of bikers, everywhere you look there is bikers, and so far I've only seen about five wearing any proper jackets/pants/gloves and stuff. 95% are wearing shorts, singlet, t-shirt and runners!

There are plenty of cheesecutters here, but the roads are better. No tar melt
even in 39 degrees of heat! And bondi is awesome, for surf, sand and chicks haha .

The LAMS scheme here is cool as it has a 650cc limit I believe as they rate learner bikes on KW not CC's. That means you can get a hyobag 650 gtr with LAMS kit that puts out 25kw or something and then when you get your full, have it derestricted. Might be a bit heavy with not enough power though. I've seen some L platers on some pretty seriosu machinery too! So there must be some other rules too, it is an interesting scheme. Makes up for the lack of 250cc bikes/huge markup on them.

Anyway ride safe guys, I'm seriously missing riding my bike lol.

[janno]

Queensland is the same with the amount of bikes on the roads, and the casual attire of many. All the bikey cops are in cotton shirts, and like you the first thing I thought of was what happens when they come off. Do they have a Qld Police force field issued as well as the bike?

They also have a police dirt bike division, which apparently has a waiting list a mile long to get in to, and the guys can really ride. They love nothing more than a good chase according to a dirtbike rider I talked to once, and it's real yahoo cowboys and indians boy's own stuff out there in the bush tracks around Brisbane. Sounds like an excuse to blast around all day having fun if you ask me!

[ital916]

Yeah, exactly what I was thinking, with the fact police bikers must have to go high speed often would make it logical to plant on the gear. A dirt bike division, lol even if they didn't catch the baddies they would have fun. I got some pics of the bike cops i'll post them when i get back. They're a pretty friendly bunch though!

[Ixion]

Well It's started to rain in sunny oz so it's time to hit kb lol. Just a few things i've noticed over here that are pretty cool/pretty silly *in my eyes*. First off, they have ambulance motorcycles! How cool is that. Saw one flip the lights on at an intersection, put the pegs/panniers down to dodge the cars *at a ludicrosly slow speed, talk about skill eh!* and then blast off to help some poor chap. ...

We have those too. There was one at Paeroa. There used to be more. BMW K series.

They use them in the UK too, as first responders. Dunno why they didn't like them in NZ. On the one hand they can't carry all the gear that can fit in an ambo, but it's surprising how much can go in a Beemers luggage. And they can't take the injured dude to the orspital, of course . But on the other hand, if I were trapped in a pile up , and the road was blocked ,as is often the case, I'd like to think that an ambo bike was lanesplitting toward me.

I guess maybe we use the helisopters more ?

[JMemonic]

Noticed the same things while in Aus, even went so far as to be offered a test ride while I was wearing sandals and shorts, they were going to loan me a helmet.

Sydney is mad on bikes and they have decent parking areas for them in the centre of town, one park I looked at in Darling harbour had room for well over 100 bikes and it was full.

Surfers made me wonder a bit all those rental Harleys and scooters running around and a lot of the folks on them had not a clue.

[Ocean1]

They also have a police dirt bike division, which apparently has a waiting list a mile long to get in to, and the guys can really ride. They love nothing more than a good chase according to a dirtbike rider I talked to once, and it's real yahoo cowboys and indians boy's own stuff out there in the bush tracks around Brisbane. Sounds like an excuse to blast around all day having fun if you ask me!

I just bet there's a waiting list. Sounds a bit like the old LHCC days, iirc they had TS185s and mayby a DT250... Anyways, huge fun on the firebreaks around the valley, with a lot of the local guys on CR250s and the like.

[Donor]

First off, they have ambulance motorcycles! How cool is that.

We have a few of them - not that you see them much!

Though rumor has it, we may be seeing a bit more of them, and possibly some newer two wheeled toys as well... and we all know what rumor is like...