Motorcyclists in dice with death

[swbarnett]

I thought that was the telephone sanitisers...

Actually, it was the Marketing Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

[avgas]

Ironically enough dead people don't ride motorbikes. So all your arguments are flawed.
Now go outside and run with scissors

[blueblade]

Purely hypothetical situation.

Late night. Dark. Raining. Deep in the boondocks of the west Waikato. A milk tanker goes around a back-road T-junction and slops diesel all over the road.

Over the following hour or so, before the diesel washes off the road, several vehicles turn through the same intersection, coming the other way. The rain and the darkness make the diesel invisible, and it's right on the braking and turning point of the intersection.

In that situation, is a two-wheeled vehicle any more inherently dangerous to its occupant(s) than a four-wheeled one?

Riding at night in the rain has got to be one of the most dangerous situations you can put yourself in as a motorcyclist. I'm not going to say your asking for trouble, sometimes it becomes necessary, but I try to avoid it like the plague.

[jrandom]

Riding at night in the rain has got to be one of the most dangerous situations you can put yourself in as a motorcyclist. I'm not going to say your asking for trouble, sometimes it becomes necessary, but I try to avoid it like the plague.

Personally, I prefer to surmount obstacles rather than just avoid them.

Hence travelling from Auckland to Taupo via back roads in the rain late on a Friday night. Fuck taking SH1. I'd rather ride at full alert, alone in the countryside, than choke on bus and truck fumes for hours in a straight line while religiously keeping my speed under 110.

Of course, sometimes one falls short of the challenge and that philosophy results in a few scrapes and bruises, but on the whole, I think it builds character.



Thank goodness for long-suffering mates with trailers, though, aye?

[blueblade]

I certainly understand where your coming from. Got my own fair share of scars from trying to surmount motorcycling challenges. Just becoming more of a pussy as I get older and the war wounds start hurting as winter comes on

[koba]

If there is no rider on the bike there is no locomotion therefore no equation. The equation arises as soon as the rider is added.

So, to stay safe when riding your bike simply don't move.
The faster you go the bigger the risk and all - perhaps you should just go riding without getting the bike off its stand.
That will drastically reduce the inherent danger of motorcycle transport.

[Edbear]

Then you still see the rainbow. And, in my experience, smell it anyway.

To be sure, bikes are less forgiving. So, don't fuck up.

Yep, I'll agree, if you need to fuck up, go drive a cage.

As Mr Katman says, diesel + motorbike does NOT equal crash. Diesel + motorbike + rider MAY = crash.

So, the variable is the rider. YOU. You are the factor that makes the differnce between crash and no crash.

Diesel + motorbike + velocity MAY = crash.

Irrespective of who is riding. The likelihood diminishes with experience, training etc - but it never disappears.

I disagree.

There are plenty of situations and factors which can never be anticipated.

Well, yes.

But, ROAD + motorbike + velocity MAY = crash. Irrespective of who is riding. The likelihood diminishes with experience, training etc - but it never disappears.

Diesel is just another factor that a biker needs to take into account. It will be there sooner or later, Assume it IS there. Like Enid.

Diesel isn't some 'get out of gaol free' card. "Oh, yeah I crashed. But there was DIESEL". As if "Diesel" was a magical incantation that excused all. It's just like saying " Oh yeah, I crashed. But there was a CORNER".

Just as the wise rider allows for the fact that a corner may turn out to be one of those blasted decreasing radius off camber bumpy bastards, and makes appropriate allowance for it, so the wise rider allows for the fact that a given road surface may have less than optimum adhesion. Won't work every time, to be sure. But diesel isn't an excuse. Just means that you missed a cue. Understandable, we will all sympathise, no one can pick it 100% of the time. But no different to any other crash cause. You, the rider, fucked up. End of story.

Interesting comments! My mate in Whangarei had a low speed spill a month or so ago, came around a corner past a Service Station and low-sided on a diesel spill! He's 52, been riding most of his life and rides about 25,000km per year, (current ride is a C90T), in all weathers. Very experienced, very careful, doesn't take needless risks! Didn't see it!

[Big Dave]

So, to stay safe when riding your bike simply don't move.
That will drastically reduce the inherent danger of motorcycle transport.

Till you get hit by a bus.

[avgas]

Riding at night in the rain has got to be one of the most dangerous situations you can put yourself in as a motorcyclist.

Haha, i actually think the opposite.
But thankfully its thoughts like yours that make thoughts like mine a reality.
F'all people on the roads, all you have to worry about is yourself. Why? because they think "Its too late".
I personally hope it stays that way, as i find the ride nice and calm at night.
Dealing with daytime traffic however is deadly.
I have never crashed in the 7pm - 7am bracket, yet i would say 80% of my riding is then.

[blueblade]

I love riding at night too. Sometimes its almost a spiritual experience. The calm, quiet and no outside distractions but the road directly in front of you. Done the back roads from Taupo to Auckland several times late at night and loved it. Just dont like it in the rain. i struggle with the reduced visibility

[Ryan432]

no matter what they try they will never get the motorcycle statistics to match the car statistics, its just not possible. Its like if I was to try and play rugby for the All Blacks, I would get f*cked up wayy more than the other guys because they are bigger and stronger than me, same goes on the road, the cars are bigger and stronger than us so we get dominated by them. Also the kind of people who ride motorbikes are generally of a more "adventurous" type then normal people so are willing to take a few more risks. As motorcycle riders we are aware of this and instead of telling us how dangerous it is and trying to make us stop they should put their efforts into bringing down the figures in a way that is actually possible, better roads and barriers for instance...

[Str8 Jacket]

Over the last week there has been almost a person killed a day on the road while driving a cage. Anyone else notice this too???

[koba]

Till you get hit by a bus.

Good point but not if you don't venture out of your own garage, but gotta have the motor off to stop "emisions" from killing you and can't do it for too long because of the danger of deep vein thrombosis! And lets not even joke about the very real threat of diabetes and heart disease occuring thru lack of exercise while living in a cottonwool castle....

[clint640]

The fact that motorcycles are 23 times more dangerous than a car on a kilometres travelled basis seems bad until you see the other statistics which say that riding a horse, walking or riding a pushbike is about 10 times (or more) worse than motorbikes by the same measure.

Clint

[scumdog]

Over the last week there has been almost a person killed a day on the road while driving a cage. Anyone else notice this too???

Yeah but there's a lot more cages out there - carrying a lot more passengers than motorbikes do.