Constructive tribute

[scracha]

<---snip--->
Could perhaps some experienced and senior member of the biking community analyse these accidents,tell us what really happened,and suggest ways of preventing this happening in the future?
<---snip--->

I'm sorry but I don't think it's appropriate to discuss "what happened" when fatalities or paralysis are involved. Especially when these events are still fresh in the minds of so many on these forums.

By all means, discuss it after someone falls off and breaks their ankle or something relatively trivial which they can laugh about themselves a few weeks later.

[KATWYN]

I would never ride pillion with someone who's back tyre has $hitloads of bobbles at the edges.

As a pillion, I would be nervous that the rider may be over confident cornering.

Good point, I spose either way a tyres condition can serve as a warning.

[scracha]

Good point, I spose either way a tyres condition can serve as a warning.

SOB's like my VFR can't get anywhere near the last inch of modern rubber (things start grinding first).

To be honest, in 14 years of riding I've only ever went pillion with 3 people and two of them were relatives. It's MUCH scarier on the back!!!! It takes a lot of experience to ride properly with pillions too (you know..preventing headbutting and $hit)

[Krayy]

BLIND CORNERS...
Its been said many times before but I think it bears repeating often... Better to go in slow and come out fast, than to go in fast and not come out at all.
...

The one thing that I have noted on the rides I have been on (and I'm a bit guilty of this myself), is that the ones who ride hard into blind corners seem to be 250 riders, as they feel they need to keep the speed up to keep up with the big boys on the following stretch. Problem is that the majority of riders on 250's aren't that experienced and they are the ones that inevitably end up coming a cropper.

Best advice I can give a noob or lower capacity rider is don't try to keep up with the big boys. They can go in slow and wind it on afterwards, but at the end of the day, if they are considerate, they'll slow down and let you catch up to keep the group together.

[Loosebrucesfamily]

we would like to thank everyone for posting their tips, by sharing your experiences and advice you are not only helping people to stay out of unexpected situations you are also helping to save their families and friends from going through what we have been through and i can tell you it is not something i wish upon anyone.
i thought i would take this oppotunity to share some advice that our uncle always gave bruce (our uncle a keen motorcyclist who was very close to bruce)
he always told bruce that when coming up to corners on the road just imagine yourself coming in the opposite direction and ask yourself 'can i avoid meeting myself?' and this where you have to be truthfully honest with yourself, if the answer is no then dont do it slow down and take it easy.
please, dont take every corner as a challenge.
after bruces funeral i had one of his friends tell me that bruce was one guy he never worried about on the road, so please start worrying about everyone you are out riding with it doesnt matter how experienced they may seem just look out for one another

[Loosebrucesfamily]

and also we know that first to the scene was a doctor which has helped us to know that anything that could have been done to save the boys was done.
but not every accident is lucky enough to have have a medical expert on hand so maybe not a silly idea for as many of you to do an emergency first aid course

[MSTRS:Me]

we would like to thank everyone for posting their tips, by sharing your experiences and advice you are not only helping people to stay out of unexpected situations you are also helping to save their families and friends from going through what we have been through and i can tell you it is not something i wish upon anyone.
i thought i would take this oppotunity to share some advice that our uncle always gave bruce (our uncle a keen motorcyclist who was very close to bruce)
he always told bruce that when coming up to corners on the road just imagine yourself coming in the opposite direction and ask yourself 'can i avoid meeting myself?' and this where you have to be truthfully honest with yourself, if the answer is no then dont do it slow down and take it easy.
please, dont take every corner as a challenge.
after bruces funeral i had one of his friends tell me that bruce was one guy he never worried about on the road, so please start worrying about everyone you are out riding with it doesnt matter how experienced they may seem just look out for one another

First - my heartfelt sympathies for your loss and for what you have and are going through now.
Second - thank you so much for having the courage to post that. There are some here that would prefer not to read/hear that message for fear of 'offending' those families that have been bereaved.
Third - all of us here were richer for having had your Bruce with us.
Fourth - I hope that it is a long time before any other family has to endure your pain.

[sunhuntin]

Wear open face when you love bee stings

carry a small pottle of honey for bee stings. stops the pain and swelling. also, add maybe bandaids to cover the sticky honey.

edit: just reading the posts on corners...i had the twisties on either side of kaikoura give me the learn! around here, if an open road corner says 80, its usually wide enough to be taken at 100. down there, if a corner says 35, then you go 25. i took the first corner at about 80 or 90, but very quickly found it was closing in very very fast. and yes, i am on a 250, but did not have a group to keep up with. i was riding solo.
coming back, it rained the whole way up, so remember what the corners were like, i read the signs and sliced the speed to about half again to allow for wet roads and oil etc coming to the surface.

also on the fatigue thing: definatly stop! i rode till i was nearly asleep on the bike down south, just letting the bike do the work, and focusing enough to keep myself alive. by the time i got to chch [on my return trip] id been on the road for about 12 hours, and just wanted to find my hotelly thing and sleep, but i was too tired to read the map properly. i did get there, but only just.

[moko]

My Golden rule is "never take chances",that`s ever, over anything.If you`re not 100% certain of the outcome of your actions then dont do it.That applies to everything from when and where to overtake,what gear to wear,when to replace your tyres and even whether to ride at all,if you`re tired or not feeling too good then you`re not going to be concentrating totally.Make conscious decisions and dont do things on a whim or on the spur of the moment,those are the ones you havn`t thought about,never,ever lose sight of the fact that your bike is fun but it`s not a toy,treat it like one and you`ll end up hurt or banned.

[RiderInBlack]

I see Lou's thread appears to have been removed.

Dam shame if it has. It was pointing out a learning that a lot of us need here.

[James Deuce]

Dam shame if it has. It was pointing out a learning that a lot of us need here.

We're working on it.

One of my "concerns" is that a lot of really good stuff gets posted only to vanish into the mists of time and post count.

Krayy and I are working on a Wiki service for KB so we can unearth these gems and turn them into an encyclopedia of KB knowledge. To get an idea of what it would be like just check out www.wikipedia.com (if you haven't already) so get an idea of the flavour.

This will also stand as a kind of memorial to those persons now missing from our midst.

When we've got a Proof of Concept up and running, with some articles to look at, we'll start asking people to help with the datamining process, then once we have what looks like a product, we'll appoint some editors and begin the contribution process.

I expect the setup time to be measured in months not weeks, but it will rock, I guarantee you.

[SPman]

Have seen far too many unexpected...... Tractors, sheep, turkeys, 4 wheel drives, gravel patches.... yes and even bikes on the wrong side of the road coming round blind corners.

Don't mention turkeys......

[riffer]

We get cows in Mangaroa Valley which are a wee hassle when you're cranked over on the edge coming out of a 25km/hr corner. After encountering that I try and make a point of assuming that there will be something stupid in the daytime on a country road.

[blueblade]

The one thing that I have noted on the rides I have been on (and I'm a bit guilty of this myself), is that the ones who ride hard into blind corners seem to be 250 riders, as they feel they need to keep the speed up to keep up with the big boys on the following stretch. Problem is that the majority of riders on 250's aren't that experienced and they are the ones that inevitably end up coming a cropper.

Best advice I can give a noob or lower capacity rider is don't try to keep up with the big boys. They can go in slow and wind it on afterwards, but at the end of the day, if they are considerate, they'll slow down and let you catch up to keep the group together.

Not necessarily the case.

I was on a group ride up North a few weeks back and we were coming back down through the Waipoua Forest. It was a fine Sunday so there was quite a bit of traffic.
There were two riders ahead of me. The first managed to slip past a camper van on a short straight before a blind left hander. To my horror (and several following me) the second rider then proceeded to pass the camper van right on that totally blind corner which is on a very tight road with no run off to spare before hitting very solid kauris. It took him an eternity to get around that van and it was a minor miracle that there was nothing coming the other way. He would have had nowhere to go and, as I said, traffic was busy.

That rider was not a youngster on a 250. He was mid 40's on a CBR 600 and if you spoke to him you would get the impression he was mature and level headed.
He was clearly caught up in the excitement of the moment and had a total brain explosion. He knew he had done very wrong and hopefully learned a good lesson. If luck hadnt been on his side that day, it would have been a very expensive lesson.
We are all capable of doing dumb things on bikes when the adrenaline is flowing.
Somehow you just have to do whatever it takes to keep your "Idiot Potential" under control. If thats not possible, then you shouldnt be on a bike (or driving a car for that matter)

[mikey]

its not a race

BUT FUKD IF IM GOING TO LET DREW BEAT ME

insert your own buddys name instead of drew, casue hes quicker than most, slower than some, and you might just end up[ in a bank if you try keep up with someone a tad quicker than you.

good way to learn though.