Bikers getting pulled over at Battle Hill & Featherston (15 February)

[MarkH]

sheesh, you guys just have sausages on the brain

You miss the major problem - the lack of sausages in the tummy!

no sausages now Deuce, it's pies

Wait, what? There are pies? What sort? Is there sauce? Are any surveys going to happen near Auckland with either sausages or pies? This is crucial stuff - I need answers!

[MarkH]

Yes!........ No need for a survey now. Oh and you could investigate

Gravel on sealed roads (no good)
Desiel spill from trucks (no good at all)
People crossing the centre line on narrow roads (Bloody hell!)
Tar snakes (as bad as gravel)


I don't think we need a surevy for any of them really, nor do they need investigating. Just fast forward straight to the fixing thank you.

I find myself agreeing 100% with this post!

And the cleaning up of the loose marbles after roadworks have been completed... a sweeper would sort it out for everyone, not just bikes... instead of the current "the cars will sweep it all away... eventually..." approach.

And with this!

I am happy to do what I can to improve ME (RRRS course, thinking hard about what I do and what I don't do, getting out there and practising, etc) but I dread coming around a corner and finding myself unexpectedly on loose gravel or diesel or effluent or whatever. I would have thought it was obvious that fixing potentially life threatening hazards on the road would be a good thing to do, without even needing to survey people first.

What do you mostly consider on the road? Please tick 3:
- Loose Stock
- Weather Conditions
- Other road users
- Corners
- Hillcrests

What does this mean "tick 3" - are people supposed to decide on 2 that they are not too worried about? I would tick all 5 and then write in another dozen!

[sunhuntin]

Yes!........ No need for a survey now. Oh and you could investigate

Gravel on sealed roads (no good)
Desiel spill from trucks (no good at all)
People crossing the centre line on narrow roads (Bloody hell!)
Tar snakes (as bad as gravel)


I don't think we need a surevy for any of them really, nor do they need investigating. Just fast forward straight to the fixing thank you.

agreed fully.

one corner that i used to like has been ruined by so many vehicles [from family cars to huge arse trucks, often with trailers] straying over the white line. and thats from both directions! the one time i got to the corner the same time as a truck, i was wishing the footpath had a ramp. lol. rather freaky looking up and seeing this huge truck leaning over you. but, the corner isnt even that bloody narrow!

have attached a pic of the corner.

actually, i dont mind tar snakes or other ridges in the road, provided they are going the same way i am. they are handy to stick the front wheel in so you go all over the road if you are being tail gated. makes them back off pretty fast!

[Patrick]

You're thinking too literally.

"90% of respondents expressed concern with the way their fellow motorcyclists behaved on the road and often felt threatened by the actions of other motorcyclists."

I have on occasion struck motorcyclists who appear to have a great terror of a gentle bend with no obstructed view and have proceeded to overtake them at the next available opportunity, only to be accosted at the next stop and harangued about my impatience and "Illegal overtaking". I'm not a habitual speeder nor do I view a blind corner or short straight as an overtaking challenge. But the people who will find my mild mannered riding offensive are the sort of people who are happy to fill survey responses full of negative viewpoints of perfectly safe riding. The only things I object strongly to are overtaking on the left and crossing the centre line. There are some out there who view not sitting perfectly upright like you have a iron poker joining rectum to nostril as a mortal offense. I don't believe analysis of the survey responses will begin account for the vast disparity in perceptions of safe riding amongst motorcyclists, let alone what most other road users think of us.

You can't educate people. People have to chose to be educated. Lecturing people about the things they are doing incorrectly is a sure way to close ears and minds.

But in this PC day, maybe... just maybe... they are wanting to help?

Quite right about the educating/unable to educate thing. Thats why there is instant fines.

They should be made to demonstrate basic competence in front of a qualified instructor. If they demonstrate good handling skills and road sense, then they should be handed a full license.

If they can't, for instance perform a feet up U-Turn or are too scared to use the front brake, then they should be handed an L plate and directed through the whole learning process. I think you'd be genuinely surprised at how many people struggle with basic bike handling skills despite riding for decades. At the other extreme there are newbies who positively shine on a bike. Age and experience count for something but motorcycling demands a little more effort than passive experiential training.

How long ago did you go for your bike licence? This is what they do. You have to show basic handling skills BEFORE you can go for the scratch and win learners. In the restricted AND full, you must do a U turn, no feet down. The street they use here is a small side street, very narrow, close to but not fully hard lock, but close enough......

[Usarka]

Does anyone ever fail a bike (or driving for that matter) test in NZ?

I've only known of one person and she was an unco-ordinated rubber spastic and I'd be afraid to have a pet chimpanzee in the same hemisphere as her on a bike....

[James Deuce]

How long ago did you go for your bike licence? This is what they do. You have to show basic handling skills BEFORE you can go for the scratch and win learners. In the restricted AND full, you must do a U turn, no feet down. The street they use here is a small side street, very narrow, close to but not fully hard lock, but close enough......

Flossi was talking about unlicensed Wairarapa based riders trying to avoid going through the license process from Learners through Restricted and on to Full because they'd never bothered to do it as naughty gang members in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

I was suggesting a common sense approach to getting these guys a license. If they can ride well enough to pass the 6F license test and pass the theory then why not? If they can't then they need to start from the beginning.

[James Deuce]

Does anyone ever fail a bike (or driving for that matter) test in NZ?

I've only know of one person and she was an unco-ordinated rubber spastic and I'd be afraid to have a pet chimpanzee in the same hemisphere as her on a bike....

Yes. My 20 year old 2nd cousin failed inside the first 2 minutes of her practical driving test, just today.

There's a certain KB member who had 6 attempts to get his full car license.

[crazefox]

Fuck the cunts givethem the one finger wave and ride off

[MarkH]

There's a certain KB member who had 6 attempts to get his full car license.

Difficulties cornering? Did it take him/her a while to stop countersteering?

[Fatjim]

Fuck the cunts givethem the one finger wave and ride off

At last. Sanity has prevailed.

[James Deuce]

Difficulties cornering? Did it take him/her a while to stop countersteering?

This was prior to going for a bike license. Ahem.

[MarkH]

This was prior to going for a bike license. Ahem.

Really? 6 attempts seems like a lot. I have only ever sat a test for a license 3 times - and I have 4 classes of license to show for it.

[dipshit]

What does this mean "tick 3" - are people supposed to decide on 2 that they are not too worried about? I would tick all 5 and then write in another dozen!

But what 3 do you see as the largest threat?

I would tick corners, hillcrests, weather conditions, with other road users and then loose stock being the least threat.

Seeing how many like to blame everything on everybody else though... I could imagine lots of riders ticking perhaps other road users, loose stock, weather conditions as perceived greater dangers.

[James Deuce]

Really? 6 attempts seems like a lot. I have only ever sat a test for a license 3 times - and I have 4 classes of license to show for it.

Let's just say that attitude had a bit to do with the testing officer's decision each time.

[Renegade]

Next will they be setting up check points specifically for Bongo Wagons and Homy Vans to check for overstayers ("papers, please!")?

Imagine the uproar then.

shit thats a mint idea, and bring back the dawn raids too!!