
Originally Posted by
Hans
Right. This is going to be a write up. It'll probably turn into a lecture.I apologise in advance. I'll summarise a few points other people have made, criticise others and than add a few of my own.
First of all, I will blow my own trumpet (yes, I can bend THAT far forward). I have all NZ license classes and all endorsements, including an "I". I have raced cages, been involved in development of said cages and taught advanced car driving for some distinctly non-civilian applications. I currently drive for a living. I will openly admit that out of all the things I have ever driven or ridden, motorbikes are the vehicle that I am the worst and least confident in operating. However, the principles that I am going to talk about apply to driving anything quickly, under all circumstances.
1. DB. Your mistake was not having total control over what was going on. Yes, it has probably happened to every single one of us at some point, that does not make it a valid excuse. You are seriously not saying you didn't know that EVERYTHING on the road, right down to the slimy little tar lines joining patches of asphalt, is a hazard? If you don't know, where your wheels are, literally to a few mm, you're not in control.
2. MyGSXF. I am surprised that a qualified instructor, such as yourself, would miss the most important points raised by this debate and resort to giving concrete advice on "complete your braking before you turn into corner etc". With respect to you personally, the points you have tried to raise are bollocks.
Oh yeah, and Rossi must be a complete squid, because he doesn't have an I endorsement, right?
3. The whole issue here, just as in most situations, boils down to what one of the wise people who taught me called "spare brain capacity" and reserves.
When you ride /drive, fly, whatever/ you shouldn't get to a point where you are using all of your brain capacity to simply operate the vehicle. That gets you killed. Without a generous dose of BOTH talent and training most people will be at full capacity when treating the road as their racetrack. And then you have to add cages, other bikes etc. to the mix.
Noticing things on the side of the road, birds flying overhead, facial expressions of people standing on the roadside etc. is a decent sign, that you still have some capacity free. Do you notice any of these things regularly when riding really fast? If not, you probably ride faster than you should.
You build this "brain capacity" by going faster in a safer environment. Not on a public road.
4. Lines. Personally I consider going close to the white line on any corner I can't completely see around suicide. How many times has some cager who thinks they're Carlos fucking Sainz come around the corner on your side? Just because biker cops in England advocate something, is not reason enough for me to get killed.
Besides, riding the perfect race line on a public road will, sooner or later, lead you onto shit you'd rather not ride over.
5. Shit on the road. If I know I want to ride a bit of road at more than a brisk pace, I make the effort of riding it slowly one way and faster on the way back. That way I can note every possum carcass and new pothole that has sprung up since I've last been there. That eliminates SOME of the risk.
Feel free to bash me now.
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