55 mph in the US?

[IceT]

guys i have always wanted to ask this...

In Aus on our freeways we have a limit of 110kph which is about 65mph or so....and at this speed you can get along quite well when touring etc and maybe slip up 10ks or thereabouts....not that i would ever do it ...but anyway in the US you have 55mph speed limits and i see lots of dudes on this site talking about hiting 140 mph etc...how well policed is this 55mph limit?...how is it possible to sit on this speed limit and have any fun at all?...as the US is the big car and bike capital of the world and with the worst speed limits to go with it

[Marty]

Most states have 65 miles per hour speed limits on the major roadways. Some states have 75 miles per hour on some stretches of roadway. If you travel a certain roadway twice a day five times a week, you get to know the patterns of the police very well. Some communities have only one cop to check a large area. When you speed up you are taking a chance of getting a ticket and also getting hurt.

To be honest, it is not like all riders go 140+ mph all the time, but there are some areas that you can get away with this. There is a point where you know you need to slow down, not just for the sake of being mature, but for common sense.

If I am on an open road that I can see ahead of me for 40 miles and not a single traveler on the road except me, I can up the speed and risk getting caught, and hope the trooper can get his mind off of ticketing me by how cool my bike looks.

Maybe if yo send me a can of Vegemite, I can use it to bribe them from ticketing me? Just kidding my Aussie comrade. hehe

There are ways around it and you can still have fun safely.

[Englishguy]

The 55 MPH speed limit was ended years ago. It was introduced due to a fuel shortage. These days all the interstate highways are 75 MPH. Generally cops are more interested in eating donuts than enforcing speed limits. However, more recently there has (in Arizona) been an increase in the amount of speed cameras. It is all about knowing where they are.

[Kilibreaux]

Speed limits in this country are at best loosely enforced, and more the pity for it. Not only does it waste fuel, which when averaged out over the number of vehicles on the road each day is considerable, it also contributes to a higher risk for those drivers who try to remain within the speed limit.
Here in California drivers tend to "speed" as a matter of course. Hwy 99 running north/south through the center of the State has speed limites varying from 55-70 depending on whether you're passing through a city or between them, yet on any given day the traffic "flow" is well above this...a wholesale disregard for the posted limit. Combined with this is an enormous number of 80,000 pound trucks adding to the congestion, while creating choke points for the many car drivers always in a hurry to go wherever. Even on two-lane roads such as Hwy41 car drivers tend to drive 15 mph over or more if there isn't a car in front of them. It's as if the ONLY thing that slows most drivers down is the presence of slower cars in their lane, and no chance to pass. Often I'll be cruising along doing the posted, while observing cars well back in the distance overtaking with absolutely NO regard for "rules", and when they ride up so close it's dangerous, they will then pass with the same disregard, cutting in close in front. Seldom is there a State Trooper around, and even when they are, they can only get "one at a time".
For this reason I've talked with many riders who honestly believe the only "defense" to being almost run down by cagers is to go ever faster...I've "paced" many trucks doing 80, and when they notice me behind them, they almost always speed up even faster to "outrun me".
As for opportunities to exceed the speed limit here...pretty much anywhere and everywhere, and any puny motorcyclist who "clogs up the lane" going the posted limit will find a long line of cars piling up behind rather quickly.
Add to this the generally shabby condition of most of our highways--huge potholes, indifferently patched sections with ridges and bumps...things that make prudent motorcyclists feel they SHOULD slow down, only to be "pushed" constantly by impatient cagers.
Our legal system makes traffic cameras "iffy" at best because the obvious defense to receiving a ticket in the mail is, "it wasn't me", and you can't ticket a "vehicle" for a moving violation--at least not in most places.
If I'm driving my truck I can feel secure in knowing other cars aren't likely to try and run me off the road, but on a motorcycle there is an everpresent concern in more remote areas that some a$$h0l& will decide to just run into me and keep on going...even an 800 pound Rocket is no match for a car.
The closest thing to a "safe" way to travel the busy highways in this country is to ride with a group of other motorcyclists due to the "fear factor" created in the minds of most cage-dweebs when they see a number of "bikers" cruising along, and I wouldn't doubt this contributes no small amount to the "bad boy look" so many riders adopt...a rider suited up in proper gear with a full-face helmet just doesn't have the intimidation factor of one wearing a skid lid, shades, jeans, boots, and chain wallet.
Add to all this a complete disregard on the part of cagers for cyclists--they'll pull out in front, turn in front, pass close, pull in and slow down abruptly, and even move side-to-side in their lane to prevent motorcyclists from filtering past.
It's not that they don't KNOW the law, or know safe driving techniques--they do, but once they get behind the wheel, inside what they think is an "invincible" steel chariot, they behave aggressively beyond the point of danger...the very same people who if polled OUTSIDE their car will profess concern for other people.
Say a law was passed making it legal to ticket "vehicles" and suspend the vehicles license, or even make it subject to impound, long before it could have any practical effect, public outcry and legal wrangling would have such a law repealed and the rush to go faster would continue.
The bottom line...the speed limit in THIS country is "whatever you can get away with", and most of the time that's a lot. Last year on a ride with a couple of friends, they AVERAGED in excess of 100mph over the length of the trip with not a single police officer in sight, and with me lagging well behind only willing to push 85mph, I had an endless stream of cars and trucks blasting up behind and around.

[IceT]

mm...well that destroys my vision of the ever present officer....catching the bad boys..bad boys etc

my next question is are there still sherrifs in small counties with six shooters strapped to their side..."this is my town boy" style...like on John Rambo the original movie..."what do you think your doing boy in my town?" lol...but you know what i mean, there was a great scene in Easy Rider when they come into town and are sitting in the diner and the sherrif and another guy talks out loud " looks likes we got some in bread queer folk" etc...lol....but yeh thats the extreme but are their still places like that down in the south etc?

[sbljr]

On 2006-02-09 23:00, Englishguy wrote:
These days all the interstate highways are 75 MPH.

If you come to the US thinking that you will be very lucrative for the locals so bring plenty of cash to enrich their coffers. Speed limits even on the interstates are set locally (though certain federal regulations apply) and are often much lower than 75. Actually the 75 limit is mainly in less urban states and even those will have areas posted below 75. Watch the signs!

[sbljr]

On 2006-02-09 21:45, IceT wrote:
guys i have always wanted to ask this...

In Aus on our freeways we have a limit of 110kph which is about 65mph or so....and at this speed you can get along quite well when touring etc and maybe slip up 10ks or thereabouts....not that i would ever do it ...but anyway in the US you have 55mph speed limits and i see lots of dudes on this site talking about hiting 140 mph etc...how well policed is this 55mph limit?...how is it possible to sit on this speed limit and have any fun at all?...as the US is the big car and bike capital of the world and with the worst speed limits to go with it

Like others said the 55 nat'l speed limit was mercifully sent to the legislation landfill years ago. But taking a bike up to triple digit speeds should be reserved for those who are familiar enough with their own territory to know *where* that can be done safely (not only safe from the police, but safe with regard to visibility and traffic conditions). One thing you can say about motorcycling in KS is we may not have an over-abundance of twisties, but we do have lots of roads where going slow makes no sense unless you can see critters up ahead that aren't behind a fence.

[Toystoretom]

Speaking of critters... ever hit a deer going 140? You probably will only do it once.....

And I'm the Sheriff in this here town and I don't like your looks... and I catch you anywhere near my daughter I'se got me a shotgun that says your married :-D

I think those kinds of law enforcement officials kind of died out in the 70's. Many Sheriff departments are very large and professionally run these days, even in rural areas... I'm sure there may be some exceptions to the rule but you don't see a whole lot of that any more. I think that the focus for most agencies these days is more drug related and traffic stops are kind of a minor priority. This may be due to large federal grants, to enforce drug laws, are just more of a gravy deal than nickle and dime traffic tickets. I also wonder if our roads could handle today's traffic flow if you were to force folks to actually go the speed limit. Many areas might experience the mother of all traffic jams... and I think law enforcement tries to keep away from that as long as there isn't any trouble.

Last summer we rode a stretch of rural state highway from Iowa into Missouri for over a hundred miles and I don't think we ever dropped below 100 mph. Never saw a cop... it was Sunday afternoon. My biggest problem was timing my passes around some of the local cagers. Some of these guys will do 35 in a 60 and baby... you have to figure this out fast and give yourself some lead time just to swing out. If you lay on the brakes you will get two or three bikes right up your wazoooo :-D

I'm surprised I haven't gotten a ticket yet on the Rocket :???:

[RidinSunshine]

Ditto what everyone else said. Well some parts of it. :razz:

Every rider/driver is different. So is every road. Yes we have posted speed limits. But about the only time you see people doing those limits is when there is a cop in the area. Here in the good ole state of Texas you sometimes meet people that will give you signals that says watch out there is a cop ahead of you. And sometimes not. But we also have other stuff you have to watch out for at any speed.... turtles, deer (dead or live), alligators (blown out tire pieces), other drivers, mattress that blew out of some one's truck that was moving, etc. Of course it is advised not to speed for all kinds of legality issues. But for the ones of us that do it....? like they say I pick a good open road that I can see pretty far and just be careful and watchful and hold on tight. And enjoy the "Rush". Someone said it is a wonder they hadn't gotten a ticket on their Rocket...I am lucky I haven't gotten any more tickets than I have period in my driving life! From the minute I started driving as a teenager I have always like the speed. And there are some Interstates that if you aren't going fast you will get run over...

As far as the local police being pushy to bikers traveling through? You would be lucky if our local's don't come up and ask you for a ride on your bike... :razz: Several of them have ridden at some time or other in their life and as long as you are obeying the laws you won't have any trouble from them. Don't think any of them have any date-able daughters though :razz: So no worry about that "shot gun wedding" ha ha

[ This message was edited by: RidinSunshine on 2006-02-10 07:43 ]

[LukeSkyWalker]

Hey EnglishGuy...question...Is the Sheriff of Maricopa County still on the prowl?
My friends and I had an "encounter" with him and his "boys" a few years back while taking a ride from Phoenix to Oro Valley via Rt. 79.
He's a bad dude.
I hear he runs a tent city out in the middle of nowhere for his small offense villains. Is this true?

Unbelievably...a few dead presidents exchanged roadside made our "issue" go away.