Excuses Excuses Excuses Blame Blame Blame

[R-Soul]

Muppet or not, you missed my point... no amount of legislation is going to protect me from other road users, also shouldnt there be two sets of speed limits then??? one for motorcyclists (since we only endanger ourselves = our choice) and one for car/truck/bus drivers since they are danger to everyone else?

This is not a thread bout teh nany state and them protecting you - its about you manning up and taking reposnsibility for protecting yourself. Dont hate the man...

Personally I believe that it is all on a sliding scale. You should ride for a "worst case scenario" on the road. My personal worst case scenario is a dog running out in froont of the bike.

I chose this because:
- It is unpredictable, as with many accidents, and encourages vigilance
- It is potentially lethal - encouraging lower speed if and when it happens to reduce injuries/death
- It cannot be prevented merely by good bike maintenance.
- It has nothing to do with the bike's particular abilities or handling or braking.
- It has very little to do with your ability to handle a bke - more to do with what teh dumb dog is going to do next.

All you can do is ride slowly enough for the road to be able to survive the unpredictable.
Lets face it, if you are doing 150kph and a dog runs out, you are probably screwed. You would probably be screwed at 110kph, but less so, which is why you should only be doing this on the motorway, where you do not expect to encounter dog. Even on rural roads, the same type of thinking should be happening - dogs live there too.

Which is why this kind of "worst case scenario" thinking is useful. Its not setting absolute limits, but defiintely makes you keep a solid comfort envelope.

[slofox]

My personal worst case scenario is a dog running out in front of the bike.

A kid running out is worse. DAMHIK.

[DEATH_INC.]

So why wear all this gear??

Because while ambling along at 90kph some idiot on a pushbike riding 2 wide may force me to go around him, avoid some dickhead not indicating in a suv, and swerve in front of a car being tailgated by a speeding b-train. Ok?

[DEATH_INC.]

A kid running out is worse. DAMHIK.

I tend to worry about cows....harder to avoid and they are bigger than me.

[Mad-V2]

Also, If ya kids are running on the road, you need to worry more about your parenting skills and less about traffic on the roads.

[R-Soul]

What I'm saying is it's often lack of attention and poor judgement that makes mistakes. For all the one's caused by entering a corner too hot when doing your 'rossi' impersonation, many are done when you're a lot less attentative to what is coming up.
Speed may shorten the amount of reaction time avaliable, but again you are generally paying more attention.
Also I'd like to think that those who ride faster tend to have better tyres and stuff too.

Speed amplifies the lethality of poor judgement and inattentiveness. If I am not paying attention around a corner at 40kph, its much less likely that I will hita stopped car than if I were hitting it at 90kph.

And even good tyres have limits. And get worn. And lose grip in corners- especially at speed. Hell even Rossi came off a few times. Why? poor judgement? No-he was going too fast for the corner. Pushing the limits of what his bike could handle.
Reducing the envelope of safety. Speed had a direct hand in this.

[R-Soul]

A kid running out is worse. DAMHIK.

Sure they are worse, but slower. And dogs are dumber and less predictable.

sometimes...

[MSTRS:Me]

If I am not paying attention around a corner at 40kph, its much less likely that I will hit a stopped car than if I were hitting it at 90kph.

Excuse me? If you're not paying attention, it doesn't matter what speed you are doing...the likelihood of hitting an object previously out of sight is precisely the same.

[p.dath]

So what your trying to say is you been there done that now no-one else should be allowed to? "do what I say Not as I do" right?

Nothing wrong with learning from someone else's experience, rather than repeating it the hard way.

[DEATH_INC.]

Reducing the envelope of safety. Speed had a direct hand in this.

Yes, but not as much as inattention and poor judgement

[Mad-V2]

Racers like Rossi are riding on the knife edge on a race track with safety barriers and kitty litter, thats why they fall off. Because they can do it without hitting tree's, fences or other road users. If any of us were as fast as him, we would be on the telly racing.
People should know their limits on the road, and ride within them. Some peoples limits are well above the speed limits, and some people find 100kph really fast. You can push the boundaries on the track, but never take chances on the road. Always ride WITHIN your limits. Common sense really.

[MSTRS:Me]

People should know their limits on the road, and ride within them. Some peoples limits are well above the speed limits, and some people find 100kph really fast. You can push the boundaries on the track, but never take chances on the road. Always ride WITHIN your limits. Common sense really.

I neither condemn nor condone 'speeding'...but this part of your post is utter crap.
Who are you (or me/anyone) to say that the speed being done is not 'taking chances' - whatever one deems to be a personal limit? On the road, there are simply too many variables that just don't exist on a track.
Playing fast and loose with traffic regulations may be fun - but don't be thinking that your 'personal limits' (whatever that might mean) makes it OK. We all know the risks, and there's cemeteries full of our predecessors who thought it was OK cos "Hey - I'm a great rider". Some weren't even doing anything wrong when they copped it...remember Kanga?

[Scuba_Steve]

Nothing wrong with learning from someone else's experience, rather than repeating it the hard way.

no not saying it is but what I'm getting from his posts is "stick to the law at all times regardless of how stupid, impractical or unsafe. 56km/h in a 50 or 106km/h in a 100 is dangerous beyond anything & if you do these speeds you will kill a child" sort of thing.

[Mad-V2]

I neither condemn nor condone 'speeding'...but this part of your post is utter crap.
Who are you (or me/anyone) to say that the speed being done is not 'taking chances' - whatever one deems to be a personal limit? On the road, there are simply too many variables that just don't exist on a track.
Playing fast and loose with traffic regulations may be fun - but don't be thinking that your 'personal limits' (whatever that might mean) makes it OK. We all know the risks, and there's cemeteries full of our predecessors who thought it was OK cos "Hey - I'm a great rider". Some weren't even doing anything wrong when they copped it...remember Kanga?

Each to their own I guess. I don't speed for fun, I just speed. If I spend my whole trip looking at my speedo, I will probably crash. I ride at a comfortable speed for me and I don't take chances. "personal limit" to me means, I can go around that corner at that speed safely. I don't go round saying I'm a "great rider" I just know my limits from track experience, and I don't get close to that limit on the road. And yes, Death can come from any angle at any time no matter what speed you are going or no matter what you are doing.

[The Stranger:Me]

This is not a thread bout teh nany state and them protecting you - its about you manning up and taking reposnsibility for protecting yourself. Dont hate the man...

Peace in the middle east anyone?

The authorities seem to be hell bent on saving us from ourselves - as do most of the do gooders in this thread.
They seem to take it as read that everyone sees it their way - or is going to f'n well comply!. They don't even stop to ask, simply assume that they're right and proceed to base their arguments, statements and assumptions on this.
Why should it be any concern of yours if I kill myself? It's not like it's going to have a negative financial impact on you. Way I see it it's positive for you. If I die it will save me from getting old and sucking up your tax dollars in medical bills and superannuation and in the interim provide employment for ambos, police etc.
Now sure killing someone else is not cool, but get the fuck off telling me that I can't kill myself.