Why are so many trying to chase high speeds? Reality check

[MadRhino]

Practice practice, and it WILL ruin one bike.

I must have been a bad student, for me it ruined half a dozen

 

[Brentis]

For the first time our opinions diverge, Dogman. :wink:

I am under no illusion that I will ever be "safe" on an uncaged vehicle .
From my experience it is "safer". I have made peace with death.
I have been right crossed many more times than left crossed.
I have been cursed at, hit by a side mirror, even had a dude intentionally run me off.
Only recall 1 bad left cross.
At least they see you, may miss judge your speed, but they usually see you.
I never considered Canadian douches to be more alert drivers than American,
but that might be.
In Barrie speed limits range from 40kph in a school zone, 50kph in residential, 60kph main streets,
80kph in the country,100+kph on the 400hwy.
I ride mostly for fun on 50kph streets exploring, or getting to a trail.
There are times when you have no choice but to use or cross the main roads.
There are 2 bike paths in Barrie.
1 is in the south end, 10km from where I live & is rarely used by anyone.
The other follows around the lake for about 12km.

Stunning ride, I'll make a vid. one day.
I have had 2 minor crashes, & many close calls.
All because of pedestrians grazing into the bike path.
Doing 32kph, the legal limit, on a that path is to my mind,
much more dangerous,frequency of incidents, than being left'd.

That leaves ya doing 30kph in the nail trail. No Thanks.
To me the safest option is Outlaw EBike @ 60kph taking the lane.
I will install a motorcycle style headlight, in the hopes that oncoming traffic reads me as such.
I think the look of ScootBike helps :wink:
Already looks more moto than bicycle.

Im not looking to embarrass cagers @ the lights, encouraging their wrath.
Just want to flow with traffic safely.

Ride safe ya'll

 

[Brentis]

On the Idea of learning to crash, I suggest watching some MotoGp. type racing.
Watch & learn to crash @ speed from the best.

A short version story...

I warm July afternoon 1993.
5 buddies & I decide to go camping up in Tobermory, Ontario for a couple of days.
Tobermory area is one natures greats.
Like the lakefront of northern Michigan for you yanks. :wink:
We rode 2 up on a pair of motorcycles,750 virago & 500 honda, in the baking sun.
Great ride.
2 guys followed in a ole' Toyota pick-up with cap.
Canoe hanging out of the bed, a top the tailgate.

Couple days of bush drinking later its time to head home.
This day of departure is still warm, but drizzling upon us.
My buddy and I, who were passengers on the bikes decide to crawl in the bed of the pick up.
It will be safer and more comfortable in the covered bed.

20 mins into the trip home. An hour from the closest Hospital.
Suck a la douche, falls asleep @ the wheel. Runs offroad, wakes up & does the worst possible thing.
Cranks the wheel. Digs into the soft shoulder. Gets sideways.
Then the fun begins.
Right rear tire blows.
We do 3 full rolls sideways covering both lanes @ 100+kph.

An interesting thing happened to me, as we started that first rotation.
Time slowed to a crawl.
I realized that we were rolling. Asked "God" if this was it. Calm came over me.
Suddenly visions of a motorcycle race that I watched a couple of months earlier filled my mind.
Particularly a side piece they did on techniques for "safe" crashing.
The long and short of it was.
Turtle.
Bring your knee's up, extend your bent arms so your fists are about 8"-12" from your face.
Roll a bit of speed off, then slide.
A bit of a simplification, but watch a race crash & you will see what I mean.
Vicious high sides your on your own. Low sides/slides are very "survivable".
Because I was wearing a T-shirt instead of the leather jacket I had been using as a pillow.
I skin'd my entire back. Hamburger.
But I lived and was not paralyzed.
Luck, maybe fate, was the order of the day.

The irony is that my two friends on the bikes stopped safely behind us.
Admiring the whole crash watchin' their friends get scattered everywhere.

This is a pretty short version of the events, but no doubt feel lucky to be alive.
It was the beginning of my realization that when it's your time, it's your time.
Smile, be at ease, embrace the next journey.

 

[thedarlington]

what would the closest 36v bike to 30mph

 

[baltiace1]

After my near death experience this morning it definitely puts things into perspective. Not really a left cross, but a left dart across the street from a side street while I was riding the main road. Classic T-bone which was painfully enough at lower speed. I was thinking about a speed 48-72V ebike (+30 mph)...no more. Now I think 36V (20mph) is fast enough to get were I'm going. If I was going faster I'd probably still be in the hospital now rather than just having bruises and a banged up knee. If I have to get some where fast I have a cage that will take me.

 

[kfong]

I had a similiar accident when I was in middle school. I was on a 10 speed bike and was going faster than I should have been. I wasn't even wearing a helmet. Was nearly t-boned by a car coming out of a driveway's apartment complex. I was able to brake, but still ended up on the hood of the car. The driver proceeded to lock the brakes but not soon enough. I went forward in a summersault. The new direction had me thrown towards the street. Luckily I only flew 10-15ft. Any farther I would of been facing impacts from other cars. This was a main street with high traffic. During the summersault, everything became slow motion. I was thinking this was bad and knew I was coming down on my head on concrete. Weird thing was, I knew I had to tuck and roll. My left shoulder hit fist and somehow I rolled to a sitting position. I thought it was strange that my left shoulder was drooping, my shoulder took most of the impact. But the cost of it left me with a broken collar bone. You can still feel the bone where it separated. It's healed but alignment was never the same. I was pretty much in shock at the time. Felt no pain till the adrenalin wore off. Cried after that, never broke anything before. Even on a regular bike, you need to be careful. Lucky to be alive, even luckier not to have any head injuries. If I was a cat, I've already have used up more than half of the 9 lives from some of the stuff I did growing up. These days I've become much more cautious and try to stay within my skillset. Injuries take too long to heal.

 

[dogman dan]

Faster you go, the more often you'll get your left crosses. I'm just saying be ready for em. Once you are tiny, they'll stop seeing you for sure, but you'll be going fast enough to get there in time. It's a fact.

Folks pulling out of driveways are a hazard for sure. I T boned one on a honda 125 at about 30 mph once. That was the last time I ever rode the motorcycle no helmet. Did a handspring off the trunk and landed on my feet running, then went into a tumble. Came up without a scratch. Time definitely slowed enough for me to do all that. It might have helped that I was baked on ganja.

Practice crashing. I had.