To be blunt...

[eelracing]

If you want to push your luck through a corner then at least buy a bike suitable to the purpose.

[rastuscat]

Couldn't agree more. I shook my head at the article's inference that the riders are heading here on high-powered motorcycles and that the 1000cc Harley Davidsons were deemed to be such.

I agree with you on your main views, but he didn't say 1000 cc Harleys. He said Harleys and 1000 cc bikes, meaning all the other litre-or-so pocket rockets.

Interestingly, David Golightly Insurances, who specialize in bikes, have also noted that a lot of their claims are for litre-or-so bikes.

Having said all that, getting it wrong like this person seems to have just gives the establishment more ammunition to fire at us, and ACC more justification for upping my levies.

Cringe.

[Berries]

I've covered thousands of kilometres a year, in the South Island (ie, out of town) without a single drama.

Come on, that's a bit harsh. There are at least six towns in the south island.

Who's pickin' the banjo here ?

Ahh, the common welcome in Christchurch. Should be the new motto.

[peasea]

Perhaps its the weight, poor brakes, and bad handling of the HD's?, which just happen to have large displacement engines.

God knows my love of motorcycles has been closely aligned to Harleys since I was a kid but they don't take kindly to being pushed hard around corners and if you go in too hot there is very little that can be done about it.....apart from going wide

Likewise if you commit to a pass, it turns to crap, and not only is the bike not capable of hard acceleration to avoid the danger but its also heavy and as agile as a one legged elephant.

You're quite right, they need to be ridden within their parameters. One of the reasons I don't own a sportsbike (apart from their hideous aesthetics and intolerable riding position) is because when I have a light, agile, fast bike I can't resist the temptation to thrash it. Therefore I think I'll live longer on a Harley. Like their four-wheeled counterparts it is that agricultural feel and engineering that appeals to me. You don't go rallying in a Caddy but fuck they're cool.

[schrodingers cat]

Well dont read this! http://www.craigslist.org/about/best...353199509.html

Arrrgghhhh people are so mean and jealous

Better to read it than listen to someone ranting it and get covered in spit I s'pose

[rastuscat]

I rode to Wellington a couple of years ago behind a Harley crowd who had spent the weekend at the Kaikoura Seafood Fest. I was travelling up from Christchurch, and caught up with them just north of Kaikoura.

I sat behind them for a while, but it became clear fairly early one that sooner or later, one of them was going to bin. Crap entries to corners, braking in bad places, overtaking in blind spots. Basically I overtook just to get out of their way.

When we got to Picton, we all ended up in the marshalling yards together, waiting for the ferry. I saw them riding around with confederate flag handkerchiefs on their heads, fingerless gloves, ye gods, it was a shambles. Lets face it, we all have some degree of rebel in us, or we wouldn't ride. But trying to look like Wild Bill Hickock is just too much. I guess I just don't get it.

Harley has probably the best marketing in the motorcycle world, and it had attracted people back to riding with a rush. Trouble is, there doesn't seem to be the same amount of effort going into getting these people skilled.

Mind you, same can be said of most of us, I guess.

[peasea]

If you want to push your luck through a corner then at least buy a bike suitable to the purpose.

That's exactly right and just waht I was outlinging to Headbanger. HD's need to be ridden within their paramaters and those buying them tend to forget the market they were designed for. On gentle twisties, hills and long straights; magic. Come to a corner and treat it with respect, it's the nature of the beast. If you can't suss that out in the first fifty k's, get off the bike!

[peasea]

I think you're probably not too far off the track.

I believe motorcycling is facing a far bigger crisis than the Cheesecutter and ACC campaigns put together.

Care to extrapolate?

[Spearfish]

Yes, not good for the families at all, very stressful.

But is it that bad? that the media are creating with the public a whole negative focus on motorcycles....or do I only notice this because I have a bike, and these sort of articles attract my eyes
?
I mean do these articles have a effect on your riding? Im not sure if they are to make you feel a idiot for riding, owning a bike, or a idiot for having a accident.

I would feel a idiot for having a accident for sure, if its anything like what I feel when dropping a bike.

There is a lot in what your saying.

[peasea]

Oi. Go look at the stats. It's not us OLD hooligans that are crashing, it's them young punks in their 40s.

Damned right. I'm much more in touch with my mortality these days, probably coz I'm closer to it.

"Mid life crisis" my arse. It's a geriatric crisis ffs.

[Spearfish]

That's exactly right and just waht I was outlinging to Headbanger. HD's need to be ridden within their paramaters and those buying them tend to forget the market they were designed for. On gentle twisties, hills and long straights; magic. Come to a corner and treat it with respect, it's the nature of the beast. If you can't suss that out in the first fifty k's, get off the bike!

Is it the bike or the rider that should heed those limits?
Most bikes have the ability to go faster and safer than the jockey making the decisions, poor craftsmen blames their tools.

[peasea]

I rode to Wellington a couple of years ago behind a Harley crowd who had spent the weekend at the Kaikoura Seafood Fest.

I sat behind them for a while, but it became clear fairly early one that sooner or later, one of them was going to bin. Crap entries to corners, braking in bad places, overtaking in blind spots. Basically I overtook just to get out of their way.

When we got to Picton, we all ended up in the marshalling yards together, waiting for the ferry. I saw them riding around with confederate flag handkerchiefs on their heads, fingerless gloves, ye gods, it was a shambles. Lets face it, we all have some degree of rebel in us, or we wouldn't ride. But trying to look like Wild Bill Hickock is just too much. I guess I just don't get it.

Those aspects of Harley ownership and Harley owners themselves is, frankly, fuckin' embarrassing. I have sfa HD memorabilia about the place, I can't handle bandannas (or is it bad nanas?) the flags and the tassles (sorry SD) it makes me wanna puke. I liken it to sports bike riders wearing full leather suits with Yamasaki or whatever written all over them and helmets with more graphics than a signwriters hard drive, they look like right fuckin' cocks. No problem with a plain leather suit or helmet, but jeez, what a bunch of mobile lollipops.

[peasea]

Is it the bike or the rider that should heed those limits?
Most bikes have the ability to go faster and safer than the jockey making the decisions, poor craftsmen blames their tools.

I scrape both sides of my chubby W/g with monotonous regularity, but only just. I know how far it'll go (safely) and yes, there's more speed to be had by twisting the throttle but there's not a lot of point if it's not gonna make the corner, right? On top of that, it'll do a couple-a-hundred k's flat out but with forward controls you're riding like a parasail, so why bother with that either? It's a comfy ride with gobs of torque, great for touring and it suits my see-bones. It's a fine tool for the job and I don't blame it for anything.

[Ixion]

I'm much more in touch with my mortality now

Oh bugger, oh ouch, ouch. I misread that as "I'm much more in touch with my morality now" and I laughed so much that I fell out of my chair.

[nivram]

I hate to say this this but - There is a an element of truth to this article, being releativley new to the biking scene(3 yrs) I see a lot of riders who ride like dicks. Whilst I may not be the that quick, my aim when I go out on the bike is to get back in one piece, and not treat the roads as a race track.