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RESPECTED BY ALL!!!
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Denver, Colorado.
Posts: 2,070
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I LIKE THIS ONE...... ATLEAST ONE COP ON OUR SIDE... HE'S RESPONDED TO THE POST IN BLUE.
Originally Posted by 21blue28
Back to the suject though. Guys that get these sport bikes don't get them to drive slow. I cite them when they break the law. I don't make stuff up. BUT I don't give them breaks ...... call it a sport bike tax. Same as radar detectors = they automatically get the ticket with no breaks.
In that case I hope every sports car you stop gets a ticket as well.
Since I'm one of the sportsbike riders you love to tar with the idiot brush, I'd like to try to clear up some issues.
I came to the US from England, where the riding culture is substantially different, we have a lot more training than you do here and almost nobody stunts and drag races sportsbikes, any idiot can go fast in a straight line. We are nearly all about riding twisty roads and machine control, if your bike exceeds your skill, you'll draw a lot of flak for it, just like if you ride without the proper gear.
Of course, British motorcycle police are probably also some of the finest riders in the world, good luck outrunning one of those, I don't care what bike you're on (some British constabularies actually run 1000cc sportsbikes both marked and unmarked, most run BMWs or Honda ST1300s, and they know how to ride them).
Do I pull wheelies? Not if I can help it, you can't steer without both wheels on the ground and cornering is why I bought a motorcycle, you're not a passenger in a box, you're part of the machine.
Yes I'll admit that I exceed the posted speed limit, sometimes by a not insignificant margin, (edit)but I try never to break California's basic speed law, I never travel at a speed that is unsafe for conditions and I always adhere to the axiom "never ride faster than you can see"
I will confine my "recklessness" to canyon roads I know well in the middle of nowhere, roads with very light traffic, no pedestrians, almost no houses and usually in the early hours of the weekend morning when nobody's got up yet and even if I know there's a straightaway that'll let me hit 150mph, I won't bother with it, I know I can go fast in a straight line so why would I prove it?
Again, I don't assume the road is clear, if I can't see that it's clear, I won't take the chance.
I completely agree with you that there are no shortage of idiots on sportsbikes over here, let me say that again, I agree with you, the low cost of the machines coupled with a complete lack of training gives rise to people riding machines they cannot control and quite frankly have no business being on.
These people are referred to by the larger sportsbike community as "squids", an acronym for "stupid, quick, underdressed, ignorant and dangerous", typically they'll include the stunt riding and drag racing crowd, which really damage the public's perception of sportsbike riders, dreadful films like "Biker Boyz" don't help.
Here's how to spot a squid bike;
Squids are usually most easily identified by their clothing, or lack of it, look for idiots in t-shirts, shorts, flip flops/trainers and piss pot helmets or no helmet at all, usually riding a 1000cc inline 4 with no mirrors, these are the really dangerous riders, they have no idea of responsibility and don't know how to control their machines - pulling a wheelie doesn't mean you know how to ride.
A big indicator is shiny strips up either side of the rear tire, these are a pretty decent sign that the bike has never been more than about 20 degrees from vertical - primarily because they have no idea how to corner a bike properly.
Another indicator is their license plate, if it's hidden up under the seat near the rear shock, it's a fair indicator they like to break the law - mine is out back in plain sight.
You can also spot stunt rider machines because they'll have heavy duty cages around the engines, because the bikes get dropped so often they want to protect themselves from too much damage, also look for a large rear sprocket (the chainring on the back wheel), larger sprockets make popping wheelies easier, unsurprisingly I don't have either of these mods on my bike.
Drag racing bikes will often have extra long swingarms, it makes the bike less prone to wheelies and means you can accelerate harder, but also makes them a lot slower to turn, again, mine's stock.
Fortunately these are the ones you're most likely to run into, because they're the ones most likely to be doing something stupid in a public place, I say fortunately, because I'm not one of them.
Also fortunately, the chances are these idiots are going to take themselves out of the gene pool sooner or later.
Like most serious sportsbike riders, my friends and I take safety very seriously, I ride wearing probably $1500-2000 worth of safety gear (full face helmet, gloves, jacket, boots, pants and a spine protector) and never ride drunk, unlike a lot of Harley riders I know (seriously, check out a serious biker stop out in the canyons sometime, I can practically guarantee you that the only people drinking booze will be the Harley crowd, a lot of whom will also be riding dressed like the squids above).
You must also realise that a Harley takes probably 3-4 times the distance of a sportsbike to stop, it's increased mass, coupled with inadequate brakes and a lack of weight on a front wheel that was probably taken from a pram means it has very little traction up front trying to stop a rolling mass at least double that of a sportsbike.
The long chopper style machines that have become popular in recent years are even more dangerous and even doing the speed limit will take substantially longer to stop than a sportsbike travelling significantly faster.
What am I saying? Don't assume that all cruiser riders are safe just like you assume that all sportsbike riders are dangerous, the real sportsbike riders are interested in furthering their skills, not about "going fast", that's a squid's response, it's not about speed, it's about control.
Last edited by Matty - RR; 08-04-2006 at 12:12 PM.
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