Triumphrat

AceT100

I used to do that all the time back home Paul, I rode in London daily for 2 years, had boots with Titanium toe sliders, which left nice gouges in paintwork when applied hard at 40mph....also took out tail lamps nicely too.

The carbon fiber knuckles on the race gloves work well on mirrors too

__________________
...................

mdgore

Thanks. It's tough being squid and it's nice when others show their appreciation.

__________________
I pass on double yellow lines.

R100Pilot

All good stories and good points. I'll add a couple more.

Within the last week...

Bike shop number one: Discussing upcoming track day. Someone asks one of the kids working there if he was going. No, he says. He doesn't have money for leathers. Then, he volunteers that he hasn't gotten his motorcycle endorsement yet. Why not? Because he's tried practicing the obstacle course and can't do it on his sport bike. What does he ride? '06 GSXR1000.

Bike shop number two: I stop by for some browsing, thinking about buying some back armor. After a few minutes, the sales dude comes up and asks if I need any help. I ask if they carry back protectors. "What's that?" he says. Doh! I explain, and he apologizes and says he just works bike sales. Stuff like that would be in "parts."

Ignorance goes beyond the riders who buy 'em.

As for being a squid on the street, I've been known to do some silly things at silly speeds on public roads, but only in places where the only lives that were threatened were my own and possibly an errant deer.

There's a place for knee dragging, excessive speed, and an adrenaline rush. It's called a track. More folks should check 'em out.

__________________


"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."
— HST

McQueen

But without cars coming the other way, a track lacks that je ne sais quois!

__________________
+ Ton Up Club NorCal +

markbvt

I wish track days were more plentiful and less expensive. I'd love to do one, but the closest track is far enough away that I'd have to take time off work and get a hotel room for the night before and maybe the night after. Figure in stickier tires, etc, and it all becomes wicked expensive.

But you're right, super-aggressive riding should be confined to the track!

--mark

__________________
Bennington Triumph Bash
Bennington, VT May 30-June 1, 2008
Thanks to all who attended!

Do you keep one bullet left for yourself, for when it's all over and done?

chisel

I see stupid bikers all the time. Just the other day while waiting at an intersection.

There was a car in the intersection waiting to turn left. Behind it was a bus that was partially in the intersection waiting turn also. There was a turn lane here, so they weren't blocking traffic.

Up comes this motorcycle in the number one lane behind the bus and car. As it gets to the intersection it pulls over in front of the car to make a left hand turn. He drove right up to the middle of the intersection in front of everyone waiting to turn. He was wearing his required helmet, the requisite tank top, and no gloves. He was wearing pants, so i didn't bother looking for flip flops.


This morning i saw another bozo passing people on the right between traffic and parked cars.

I've also had people looking at me and merging enough that i never spend time next to a cage. If i'm slowly overtaking one, i'll speed up to get to the front side faster.

__________________
Those who behave like sheep should not be surprised when they get fleeced.

MattTriumphs

That kind of stuff is terrible, but all motorcycles go fast. He could have been on the wrong side of the road on a 250 and killed you or someone else. The real question is what in the world was he thinking? I don't know what is wrong with people today--they are so stupid. It's those guys that make all riders look like out of control a55holes

fivehundo

Some people push that a little too far. I'll confess, I've passed on double yellow before, but I've been riding with idots who've made passes I wouldn't have taken. Some of them made it out okay. Others stained their underware a little bit, and one of my co-workers got killed trying to pass on a blind turn.

Bomb's got it right! As Harry Callahan once said: "A man's gotta know his limitations."

__________________
"The Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Go and hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer. Your fate is fixed. Fear profits a man nothing." Herger the Joyous

BombFactory

I'm loving the conversation--some great insight. I try my best to do my part in promoting safe riding. I only have a hand-full of friends who ride, and I've since stopped riding with them. They are the kind of guys who pull stupid maneuvers that could get people killed, so when I saw this while following them, I just let them go off and told myself to never ride with them again. It sometimes sucks not having buddies to ride with, but riding with idiots is condoning idiotic riding. Thanks for the words. I'm glad to see I'm not the only person out there who feels this way.

__________________
The Resurrection: ’02 CE Speedtona w/GSXR Forks
Project Straight-Line: The TT600 Drag Bike
The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it. - Karl Marx

denman13

Well I was riding back up from Laguna Seca Sunday and I saw plenty of idiocy on bikes and in cages. For the most part, most riders and drivers were courteous and aware of each other. But when you have 30,000 bikes descend on a medium sized town even a 5% jerk factor means you're going to have hundreds of morons more interested in who they can impress and what they can get away with than anybody's safety. There were several accidents over the weekend, a few fairly bad ones and at least one fatal one that I heard about. Probably more that I didn't hear about. On the way into Santa Cruz, bikes were sharing lanes and riding shoulders in heavy, slow moving traffic. Most of it was fine but there were many times when I saw some near collisions between bikes because they weren't looking out for each other or trying to be cute in a situation that was just not the place for stunts. It was also clear that several riders had not remembered to account for their increased girth with make-shift bags and backpacks dangling all over the place and took out a few mirrors on cars which only served to make the drivers angry and focused on "the guy who clipped my car" and stopped watching out for other riders. One rider broke a guy's mirror right off and didn't even stop to take responsibility like a friggin' man. On Monday I was riding back to San Francisco from Santa Cruz and one guy (car) in front of me on Hwy 9 was doing about 40 to 45 MPH on the 55 area and refused to use the passing turn-out to let me by. So I did pass him on a double yellow but in a clear straight away with no intersecting roads nearby. He apparently thought that all bikes and riders were a bad thing and I had to wonder which jerk helped him solidify that opinion. Also saw plenty of shorts, t-shirts and sandals. I know it was hot but ***? We have to remind new riders to use the brain more. At least, once I hit 35 north, I hooked up with a group of sport riders who knew how to form and space to give each other room to attack the twisties. There were no cars in front of us for at least 9 miles and it was bliss.

The third lane appears from nowhere!

__________________
Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes.
Never miss a good opportunity to shut up. - Will Rogers