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Sportbikes Vs. Lawmakers

21161 Views 117 Replies 48 Participants Last post by m_t_yeo, Aug 24, 2005

47973

Discussion Starter · Aug 19, 2005

Lawmakers have already gone up against motorcycles. Janklow 1, motorcyclist 0

61 - 80 of 118 Posts

Fenton

· #61 · Aug 19, 2005

I wouldn't call it a report, however, we did have some "mention" of riders re-entering the motorcycle game after a long layoff in the local news.(N.CA)

The opinion:

Older rider w/disposable income(finally) decides he will take up motorcycling again.(Harley) Relearning basic skills on a 600+lb. motorcycle is not as forgiving as the 305cc's were in college.

It is a mass, handling, braking, experience combo that seems like a bad idea to me. My bank's president bought his first bike a couple of years ago.(Harley, wrecked) My buddy across the street got his kids through school and promptly bought his very first bike. Ultra-dropped. And scary to watch in motion.

I hear about more accidents involving 45-60yr olds on their new cruisers than any other age/bike combo.

uway

· #62 · Aug 20, 2005

cool, as long as it's not retroactive

grandfather me in baby!

though, really, starting on a buell 984 really aint starting on a literbike

uway

· #63 · Aug 20, 2005

no, the lesson is that people are weak-minded

and selfish. they aren't inquisitive to actually research anything, and they aren't savvy enough to realize that the freedoms they care about will be next on the chopping block.

uway

· #64 · Aug 20, 2005

pseudo-intellectualism is all the rage these days!

the U.S. is no exception!!!! what a brilliant and totally defensible statement.

longride

· #65 · Aug 20, 2005

So there basically is no report? Really? I'm shocked!

edward44

· #66 · Aug 20, 2005

The following abridged form a local paper:

A 37-year-old father of three is dead after losing control of his Suzuki motorcycle on...Police say he was travling over 100 MPH when he slamed into a guard rail...left 120 feet of skid marks...he was thrown over the corner of a 8' high fence, clearing both portions, landing in the woods well away from the site of the crash...officers had trouble finding the body...the bike slid 200' after impact...died 1 hr. after arrival at the hospital.

He would have to have known this stretch of rode very well. So what happened? I think he let the engine get into the range where it resulted in explosive acceration and it just got away from him.

Some accurate data on MC accidents would be most useful to pinpoint problem areas.

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seruzawa

· #67 · Aug 20, 2005

Check out the insurance rates. That will tell you who is having the most accidents.

Returning oldsters may be falling down a lot, but dropping an HD in a parking lot doesn't generate the medical costs that using a 600 to turn yourself into a paraplegic does.

Fenton

· #68 · Aug 20, 2005

I wasn't arguing there was a report. I just saw the same avenue being persued in the media.

In my personal opinion it's a bad combo.

eddyline

· #69 · Aug 20, 2005

SS,DD

Whether the lawmakers think it'll make a diff or not probably doesn't matter; Sen. Huffinpuff just needs to let Mom & Dad know that he's protecting their little boy/girl/hamster/whatever from the evil world.

Really, the laws are already written--they're just not enforced. NHTSA study (http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/RNotes/2004/809-734/) notes that

25% of fatal crashes involved a rider with an invalid license, and a fair percentage of fatal crashes involve alcohol intoxication. They oddly don't give a total percentage, just nights and weekends...I don' get it....

scooter51

· #70 · Aug 20, 2005

Um yeah.... The "vast majority" of fatal accidents is not youth and exuberence but old age and slower reflexes,(i.e. baby boomers returning to the sport and wanting to pick up where they left off, large displacment cruisers I see them come into my shop wrecked all the time. There will always be young guys hurting themselves doing foolish things but those numbers have not really changed over the years. But the babyboomers coming back in after a 10, 20, or even 30 year absense from the sport and buying one of my cruisers that makes 100 hp and more than 100 lb/ft of torque are what scare me because alot of them want to "show-up those snot nosed kids" and end up getting themselves hurt or worse. As much as I can see the reasoning for a tiered license program I think it would be a detriment to the sport in this country with the all or nothing mentallity of most people. I try to encourage new or returning riders to start small and almost always get the same reponse. "I can handle it, or I not riding a girls bike" So I think if we have had a tiered system alot of people would choose to buy a powerful sports car instead of a bike. So I say let Darwin do his work.

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HRCUSA

· #71 · Aug 20, 2005

Re: SS,DD

I agree that coming out with limits on top speed won't solve anything, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen and don't think it really is a bad thing. I am a active sportbike enthusiast, ex-racer, industry employee, and on going track day fanatic, but I still don't think we really need bikes that are capable of over 150 mph! Probably would get pistol whipped for that one by many, but when you sportbike ride on real roads, how many times do you really go that fast? Even us super-fast guys might ride up to that high speed (not regarding the laws and consequences of this action) for a few short seconds before going back down to a more managable and safe speed.

If the manufacturers were restricted at 150 mph, then they could concentrate on the bikes performance for that real world power of zero to 120 mph where 99% of the riders really use and need the power.

Of course we all know the real answer: EDUCATION! I strongly believe in a tier'd licensing program like Europe which encourages young (or old) new riders to start off small before be allowed to move up to a larger bike. Plus the test are much tougher, especially in countries like Germany or Japan to get your license. Weeding out those who probably shouldn't be on a motorcycle in the first place!

We do have to stop all these new riders from jumping on 2000cc cruisers, or 100+ hp sportbikes as their first rides! What mostly happens is they either get discouraged from riding because of their inability to ride the bike confidently, or a worse scenario, they crash. Which they then get out of the sport and start trashing the sport as "too dangerous!"

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48956

· #72 · Aug 20, 2005

maladg, is the e-mail a joke, or do you really do accodian repair? 'Cuz i've got a question about a Cordovox Super V (5)...

no really, I have an accordian question.

stop laughing.

schizuki

· #73 · Aug 20, 2005

"Iraqis are arguably no more free than they were under Saddam, and we are demonstrably less so."

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Yeah, right.

"If motorcycles are restricted to a certain speed or power it will be but a drop in a swimming pool of abuse of far more fundamental rights."

Yes, our fundamental rights are so abused that every bongo-playing hippie dork, every retarded celebrity, every lying megaton Michigan propagandist, and every dolt on a motorcycle message board can type, write, and scream comparisons of Bush to Hitler and suffer no persecution whatsoever.

Abe, you and your bunch are bigger drama queens that the average teenage girl, and half as rational.

schizuki

· #74 · Aug 20, 2005

He did shoot the kid. Violation of possession ban in DC was mandatory year in jail, Rowan served 365 days less than that. And that was WITH shooting the evil poolhopper. He never apologized.

"Do as I say, not as I do" is the motto of the crusading lefty. Kinda like hectoring people about biodiesel cars and not buying one yourself.

schizuki

· #75 · Aug 20, 2005

"Or just take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

Oh, we're in some pretty sh*t now! Game over, man!"

schizuki

· #76 · Aug 20, 2005

They're all Mommies at heart, and everybody's a child to them.

schizuki

· #77 · Aug 21, 2005

Do any of you economic geniuses remember the Carter years? Double-digit interest rates, double-digit inflation, double-digit unemployment. And you're wailing and gnashing your teeth over an economy with sub-5% unemployment, record home ownership, and consumer electronics that cost about a fifth of what they did thirty years ago.

yo-me-mo

· #78 · Aug 21, 2005

I think cops just need to give more tickets and it should be left at that. If it's a problem why are cops not giving tickets. I had a couple of fast bikes and you end up getting tickets and then slowing down or you lose it. Do cops target fast cars ? yes. Should cops target fast bikes. yes. Should cops target drunk drivers ? yes. Of the three the least dangerous to us all is the sport bike rider. So lets get things into true perspective. You want to make this a better world, target drunk drivers.

35244

· #79 · Aug 21, 2005

No, sorry. My high school sweetie was an accordion player as was here Dad. Hint: that was very, very strange in suburban ATL in the late 60's & early 70s.

The "Accordion Repair" and "E. Frank Nerkhauser" are from the great Bruce McCall's book ZANY AFTERNOONS. I took them from the chapter entitled "Popular WorkBench - Written so even YOU can understand".

Sorry to get your hopes up. Good luck with accordion repair.

"I Quit, Boss! There's Plenty More Money These Days in ACCORDION REPAIR". Just send $500 in cash for handbook & free harmonica to THE HOW OF ACCORDIONS, Dept 0001, Buffalo, NY.

E. Frank was relating the story of Dr. Fang's attempt to link the Ammonia People of Pluto to the Pyramid builders by radio...or something.

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35244

· #80 · Aug 21, 2005

I have yet to see it. His brother reports to me that recoil is not too bad. But it costs about $4/round to shoot.

I'm headed out to Cody, WY next year. IF I remember, I'll report in.

61 - 80 of 118 Posts

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