Aging motorcyclists - Close Up tonight 30/11/10

[sinfull]

Take it to the track ya old buggers!

I did that just the other day, the pahiatua track !
Cant be riding the same spot every day so varied it by going paekok hill, wainui hill, then back via the aka's yesterday !
You have to experience the Aka's on a 280 kg bike man lol that is a workout ! Especially at around knockoff time, with some young wippersnappers in cars in a damn hurry to get back to the hutt !

[Crisis management]

I want my fifteen minutes back, I read this thread in it's entirety looking for something actually about old bastards like me and there's only the usual keyboard thumping and mouse throttling noises of the mob protesting variously their innocence, the hypocrisy of the media / police and that it's "someone elses' fault"......did I miss anything?


You're all bastards, at my age I can't afford to waste fifteen minutes, if I can remember where the bike is, I'm going for a ride at 35km/h to piss you lot off.

[T.W.R]

. Those tossers on the telly were bloody gang members all bar a few of them. At least the skinny bald guy with a goatee had the balls to just take his medicine saying that the bike was new to him and he wasn't used it, despite the patch on his back, he was the most 'professional'.

One of the lamest & oldest excuses in the book though

As for the twat on the blue Harley with his giggly mole

All excuses for their actions, even the guy with the Aprilia admitting his speedo wasn't working so was *just following the car*

Easy Rider the movie has a lot to answer for with all the wannabe bikies

A good demographic of the middle aged chumps

Do the crime & get caught, just pay up and get on with it instead of acting like spoilt brats because your pocket got hit

[MSTRS:Me]

So CloseUp was to present an item about cops targetting born again bikers?

What I saw was an item about cops operating a speed trap, and it showed only those who were caught speeding. Where were the many more that were not speeding? And where were the car drivers of both types, too?
We can bleat on all we like about behaving and lifting our image in the eyes of the public, but with crap like that on CloseUp we haven't got a shit show in hell. Maybe 1 million people saw the item, and most of them will have simply had their opinion of bikers confirmed.
Not one of the bikers shown seemed remotely like a recent returnee. Notice how not one of them didn't fit the stereotype of big, bad biker? The patched one was the only one without the in-your-face attitude.
The speeding notwithstanding, at least they all appeared to be wearing appropriate gear....

[shrub]

Inoffensive and apologetic?

No, I still say most motorcyclists can't ride for shit, and refuse to consider the road they share with other road users as anything other than a playground to exercise their toys on.

You make some very good points, and on balance I completely agree with you (and though I'd never admit it, Katman).

However my argument is consistantly that ALL road users need to lift their game, and while motorcyclists are the low hanging fruit, therefore the easiest group for you and i to influence, other road users aren't exempt. I know that I am an ordinary rider, but 24 years since an off (minus about 10 years as a solo parent and no bike) suggests that I am sufficiently competent to keep myself safe and I do my best to reduce the odds of a crash whenever I ride with ATTGATT, a well maintained bike, defensive riding etc

I guess my problem with the "forget anyone else until we've tidied up our own backyard" argument is that I have already (pretty much) tidied up my back yard, so does that mean I have no right to demand car drivers lift their game until Johnny Powerranger learns to slow down on the Akaroa GP or Nigel Noob learns to countersteer? I generally ride alone or with a few good mates, so other rider's skill levels have little impact on me, but the skill level of car drivers has a HUGE impact on me because there are frequently thousands of the bastards around, so I want to see the biggest untreated risk to ME (other people) dealt with because I have taken ownership of my own risk.

And if Our Beloved Masters and their Noble Constabulary want to influence motorcyclists to lift their game, is having a sneaky little man in a campervan on the side of the road going to do that? Or will it merely be seen as revenue gathering, and another risk to be avoided?

[Katman]

I generally ride alone or with a few good mates, so other rider's skill levels have little impact on me,

Believe me, motorcyclist's apparent inability to avoid accidents is having a huge impact on us all - and only stands to get hugerer if we don't do something about it.

[shrub]

Believe me, motorcyclist's apparent inability to avoid accidents is having a huge impact on us all - and only stands to get hugerer if we don't do something about it.

Yeah, I accept that Johnny Powerranger carving up the cages and then slamming into a paddock does you and me no favours, but idiotic motorcyclists don't directly impact on my safety to the extent that idiotic car drivers do. Every day, whether in my car, on my bike or even my pushbike, I am surrounded by idiot car drivers who are completely out of their depth and largely incompetent, but very, very rarely find motorcyclists putting me at risk.

Banging on about motorcyclists needing to lift their skill doesn't make my journey any safer, but getting TPTB to look at ALL road users, including the majority car drivers, does.

[Banditbandit]

The piece was crap ... manufactured by journalists to create specific effects in the minds of Joe Average ....

Why are we even bothering to talk about it ?

[Katman]

The piece was crap ... manufactured by journalists to create specific effects in the minds of Joe Average ....

Why are we even bothering to talk about it ?

Because it's an indication of what we're up against.

[T.W.R]

The piece was crap ... manufactured by journalists to create specific effects in the minds of Joe Average ....

Why are we even bothering to talk about it ?

Because the more we moan about it and whine about the implications the powers that be impose on us the more scrutiny we come under, the actions of a few impact on the whole

[James Deuce]

The piece was crap ... manufactured by journalists to create specific effects in the minds of Joe Average ....

Why are we even bothering to talk about it ?

Not to create specific effects, to reinforce existing ones.

[george formby]

"Ride it like you stole it HEE HEE HEE" Very mature response to plod I must say
Good editing too, make sure you gather up the real retards for your news item.

"We are not targetting motorcycles, we are just concentrating on them today" - what ever.

There is no disputing that older returned riders are involved in too many crashes, no wonder if they are all like the ones we saw tonight. Fancy bleating about getting a ticket for speeding for the camera. You did the crime, now pay the fine.

I missed it but sounds like what was presented was, er, skewed to get somebodys specific opinion across to the fact hungry nation. Not sure who I despise most, media or politicians. not sure who has the most power either.
The born again biker phenomenon had a big impact in the UK, had a personal impact on me too. A returning rider bought an original Fireblade, went for a run with a group of guys who had never been without a bike, failed to negotiate a corner & failed to return home. Just to big a gap between the riders ability, the bikes ability & how the rider perceived his ability.
Take it easy Grandad is a message well worth getting across to returning riders but not through the barrels of a media spin gun.

[JMemonic]

You are absolutely correct. You ARE mistaken.

You can ask for anything, including the officers birth certificate. You can even ask the officer to do 10 press ups. It's a question of what they HAVE to give you.

You are entitled to request documents pertaining to your case pursuant to the NZ Bill of Rights Act and the Privacy Act, but the right is not an immediate one. They have a "reasonable time" to comply, the courts normally think that 14 days is reasonable.

So there.

Question, if the courts think 14 days is reasonable then why is it that if someone is pulled over, failure to have you licence on ones person is considered an offence with a fine attached?

[ducatilover]

Question, if the courts think 14 days is reasonable then why is it that if someone is pulled over, failure to have you licence on ones person is considered an offence with a fine attached?

Because you may not be you you know? Only you will know.

[JMemonic]

Those tossers on the telly were bloody gang members all bar a few of them.

I watched it again online I am still trying to figure this part out, the only gang member was the bloke who admitted his mistake and had what appeared to be the most professional attitude. Can you let in on what ever I am missing that determines the majority were gang members.