Motorcycle Safety

Chat about any motorbike here.
Ferret
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Re: Motorcycle Safety

Post by Ferret »

I agree with you all ,but believe all road users should take a refresher day every 5 years .I say this based upon what I see daily from young to old drivers .people seam to interpret roundabouts ,lane directions ,rights of way etc in different ways ,which I turn causes accidents which are avoidable through educating people more regular . How many people have looked at the Highway Code books since passing there tests to keep up to date ,not many . How many take the time to practice emergency stops ,it rarely happens . I must admit more 2 wheel users do brake test . I personally feel schemes like ride safe with the police are excellent without being intimidating and are the style of refresher that would work well for all road users .These also help restore some confidence in the police at the same time IMHO .

docscooter2010
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Current Ride: Honda Forza 125

Re: Motorcycle Safety

Post by docscooter2010 »

Thanks "Jaz " Passed my bike test almost 27 years ago .
My point about the L plates was more about safety . whether riders are newbies or more mature riders I still think having the L plate on makes you stick out . New riders will be nervous enough heading out for the first time . Might cut down on needless deaths and injuries in young and old riders.

rtfm
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Re: Motorcycle Safety

Post by rtfm »

docscooter2010 wrote:Thanks "Jaz " Passed my bike test almost 27 years ago .
My point about the L plates was more about safety . whether riders are newbies or more mature riders I still think having the L plate on makes you stick out . New riders will be nervous enough heading out for the first time . Might cut down on needless deaths and injuries in young and old riders.
The whole point of L plates is to make you stick out and alert others you are inexperienced.

I agree though that some road users are selfish impatient twats who see an L plate as a chance to bully rather than an opportunity to show extra courtesy to a beginner.

docscooter2010
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Re: Motorcycle Safety

Post by docscooter2010 »

Exactly my point . . Thanks.

Steevw
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Current Ride: Burgman 125

Re: Motorcycle Safety

Post by Steevw »

docscooter2010 wrote:After reading a few posts by members , I can recall one post about a guy who had passed his motorbike test but went to take a scooter out from a main dealer for a test ride .
The scooter he took out for some reason had L plates on . He could not believe the difference in the attitudes of car drivers towards him . Intimidated I think he said .Is there a real need these days to have to use L plates.
We don't have tax discs , insurance is all viewed by the police . Why put a big red L on the rear of a bike or scooter that makes you a target for inconsiderate drivers.
Completely agree on this one as I've seen both sides of it. What I'm going to put my hands up to isn't big or clever, but I've never done my test, and when I was younger, I just used to ride whatever I wanted and never really got a problem with car drivers trying to push me around. Now I'm a bit older and possibly more sensible, I've "gone straight" and ride a 125 on L-plates and CBT. I seriously think I might as well have a target on my back as an L-plate, there's so many drivers out there who at a glimpse of it and immediately feel the need to get up your arse and try and get past you, whether there's any point to doing it or not.

I took my front plate out after my first day back on, and at least now I've got less people trying to barge me out of the way head on.

My other bugbear, and I'm not sure what the answer is, is people hooning up to a give way line, then just as they're about to touch it, jumping on the brakes and then taking their eyes off the point 4" above the steering wheel for the first time since I spotted them, and looking right .... by this point I've decided they're not going to stop and I'm already on the brakes.

Final one - road surface conditions. The repeated gravelling over of roads means that manholes are now all sunk into the road surface by at least an inch. Uneven road surfaces (ie sunken wheel tracks and a sump line thats become the peak of its own camber), split tarmac, potholes. I'm sure the relevant authorities have someone examining road defects, why not put him on a bike so he can risk assess from the "worst case" angle?

....and breathe

Oh... one more thing, and I'd be doing myself out of some use of the bike, but. Can we have a bit of conversation about whether someone should be able to use a bike professionally (ie for business) if they're not a full licence holder?
Gone for a counselling session with Prof Burgman. icon_maxi_scoot.gif

Steevw
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Re: Motorcycle Safety

Post by Steevw »

rtfm wrote:My suggestions are:

Harsher punishment for driving while texting/phoning. It's as bad as drink driving and should be an instant ban - even if it's a ban for only a month or two with an extended driving test at the end. It needs to be made socially unacceptable.

Stop endless retakes of the cbt unless the rider has actually been doing the mod 1 mod 2 bike tests, it's stupid.

Scrap direct access. All riders pass and are restricted to 30hp or whatever for the first two years and then automatically get licence for bigger bikes. Same for cars - restrict the power of car for the first 2 years.

Educate car drivers that filtering is legal. Educate motorcyclists that reckless overtaking is not filtering.
Brilliant post, and I completely agree on all of this.
Gone for a counselling session with Prof Burgman. icon_maxi_scoot.gif

Mr Angry
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Re: Motorcycle Safety

Post by Mr Angry »

Thanks guys, keep 'em coming

Steevw
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Re: Motorcycle Safety

Post by Steevw »

Firstly, I'm not looking to point any blame at all towards the poor girl who was killed, and the accident would have probably been just the same if she'd been riding a 600, but this case got me thinking back to when I was riding a moped (sorry about the local rags adverts)
http://www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/news/cri ... -1-7783991

Is enough being done to encourage riders of low-powered bikes (I'm assuming she was on a 50) to plan their routes to go along safer, slower roads, where there's less likely to be a big speed differential between a 30mph moped and the rest of traffic?

Or should a 50cc be restricted to a higher speed than 30mph, so people in rural areas are safer?

If you look at what I guess her route to be on Google maps, then flip it from car route to cycle route, it shows you that taking the minor roads through the villages isn't significantly longer

https://goo.gl/maps/FQze5AtiGfw
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horobags
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Re: Motorcycle Safety

Post by horobags »

I actually think riding a 50cc on UK road is dangerous, no way can they keep up with traffic flow, even in built up areas.
Im not a gynecologist, but I dont mind taking a look.

rtfm
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Re: Motorcycle Safety

Post by rtfm »

horobags wrote:I actually think riding a 50cc on UK road is dangerous, no way can they keep up with traffic flow, even in built up areas.
Agree with that, 50cc is too slow.

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