jimmy Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I'll jump in here with my tuppence worth. 1981, 17 years of age I walked into wheeled machines in Glasgow and bought an xs250. I liked it for no other reason than I admired a bloke down the road from me who ran an xs1100. Anyway 17yrs old I set off outside this shop in the middle of an unfamiliar city, with no training whatsoever (my only bike experience was cutting about the fields on an xl125 and a ts100) and within a month I had had 3 near misses and 2 slow speed fall offs, all my fault. A few weeks later I hit a car and ended up in hospital and with 3 endorsements (remember them) on my licence. I learned pretty quick after that and have only had one accident since then, his fault this time. The 125, 12bhp law change came in the next summer and I had passed my test by then. Later on compulsory training came in and oh how I laughed. Shoot forward a few years and my oldest boy wanted a bike. I made sure he got every bit of training available and in his 4 years on a bike...50cc, 125 and now 535 he is a safe assured rider who could probably teach me a thing or two (like switching off indicators ) So the greater hp did not save me and the lack of training nearly killed me, whereas his route to bikes led to a safe and steady progression that have almost stopped me and her indoors from worrying our selves to death every time he goes out on his bike. As a biker, a parent and an all round good egg, I see no problems with a steady progression through power 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted July 11, 2014 Moderator Share Posted July 11, 2014 .............., I see no problems with a steady progression through power good album that, from Canadian rockers Triumph (lots of links in there ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dt502001 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I regress 1000000 feet of bubble wrap sent share between all who need it. It appears to me that some of you like the government telling you what is right for you, Soon you wont be able to buy parts and fix your own bike because your not a licenced mechanic. And you shouldn't because you don't have the training! Noise dont worry if you don't have insurance to cover you if the swing arm/back wheel/brakes ect fails or falls off of that 900 I am sure the family will forgive you same if the eng seizes up and the owner get run over. He has a full licence and should know better after all he passed his test and takes such good care of his ride. I will never have that problem because I am a licenced mechanic, I will never have the problem of riding any bike I want , if my government dosent change the rules before my son can get his full licence neither will he. Dont bother with gear your hp laws will save you . Next will be well,,, 20 hp will do 70 mph and are more enviromently friendlier,,so all bikes over that are band ,,enjoy that law. And any 2t built before 2013 fucking pouliting POS's should be baned ......let the government RULE your life HI HITLER! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewElvisFan Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Just because some of us happen to believe that it is unsafe for a 17 year old who has all of 2 weeks training to pass a test (not learning how to ride, perceive hazards, read the road etc) to jump onto a bike capable of speeds in excess of 130mph, does not mean we are in favour of governments telling us what we can and can't do. As with Jimmy, the only accident or near misses that I have has that were my fault (car or bike) were due to inexperience. Extra horsepower would not have helped me. After 20 years of driving, observations and driving defensively are what make me a safe driver. Driving angry and impatiently and at high speed without concentrating cause accidents. Not using mirrors, not reading the road ahead, not predicting other road users intentions. If you need hp to get you out of trouble then I would assume that most cases you could have done something prior to this to avoid a near miss. This may make me sound like an old fart but I now assume that every other road user is either incompetent or an under cover copper. If extra hp really is safer, why aren't all bikes and cars built with minimum hp/weight ratio? As with anything in life if you are using something which has potential to kill you or someone else then you should be of a sufficient standard before using it. Although I have no licence I am able to fly a small aircraft and have over 50 hours experience. If ever I were to obtain a licence I would not be allowed to fly night time or reduced visibility until I pass the next stage using instrument only navigation. At work I am able to drive a reach fork truck but am not allowed (and rightly so as I have had no training) to use a side loader. I could insert all sorts of statistics here to demonstrate how new drivers/riders are most likely to be involved in accidents but I'm hoping deep down you know this already? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noise Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I firstly hate the British Gov, ive not met many people who actually like our Gov but this law with the way they teach new riders how to ride bikes and progress through the CC band is a good one. No matter how many years riding you have or how many times to hit the apex on a race track you are still a learner and will always be a learner till the bucket falls from under you, and if you tell me that you know it all then i call out the bollocks card. The argument of us not changing bits on our bikes etc already come up in our Gov due to the cheese eating surender monkies in France and the rest of the eco cock helmets over that way in the EU wanted to change it, but our Gov said no to that one (for how long i dont know) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 As with the remark to Tasky getting rear ended, your telling me that when your just about to turn into your drive your always looking in your mirrors and not to where your going? there are mirror checks but when your looking to the directon your going you cant see whats coming behind you thus you get a shunt from a cunt. Actually, I *was* looking...twice, in fact. That's how I know how fast she was going! I was stopped, waiting for three oncoming to pass before turning. They were all emerging from a turn ahead-left and the car in front (halfway to pulling out, later transpired that they were cops, heh heh!) was letting them. First look was just a general eye-keeper. She was over 200yds back (outside Number 8, where the streetlight lit her roof, hence knowing her exact position). Second look was just before readying to pull way and as I was about to Lifesaver. Approximately 5 seconds later I hear the squeal of brakes and skidding of tyres. Less that one second later I'm cursing to hell and back as I'm separated from my bike. 6 seconds, 270yds, approximately 90mph, allowing for the 1 second deceleration to about 60mph (estimate from the tyre streak the cops measured). Had she been doing the 40mph limit, I'd have had 5 seconds before she arrived to make the manoeuvre, assuming she didn't even see me. >But why can some twit ride around in shorts and sandels and a brain cap Because that in itself is the actual *cause* of far less incidents than accidentally overcooking the throttle. >Everyone during thier learning will fall off Speak for yourself... I know plenty of riders who've never had an accident, most with decades of experience. >I've yet to see a 30 foot gap to jump on the road! or a 90' incline of mud to climb. So why the hell do we need dirt bike skills, then? Furthermore, the sort of bikes you ride off-road are VERY different animals to what we ride on-road. I don't care how experienced a dirt-biker you think you are, you will NOT keep a banked high-torque Pan-Euro up if you hit diesel mid-corner!! >As for reckless,dangerous,careless well that a matter of opinion Not at all. The situation I described offered three simple choices - Canon into the front of oncoming traffic, cannon into the back of the vehicle in front, or get rear-ended. There wasn't even a pavement to mount. As is, you'd have had just over a second to notice the approaching vehicle's speed and direction, anticipate the skid pattern as she applied her brakes and then go from stationary to sufficient speed to avoid her (with nowhere to actually go). Good luck... >It appears to me that some of you like the government telling you what is right for you, That may well be how it "appears"... However, there are some of us who understand our roads, understand the capabilities of motorcycles, understand the mentalities of both riders and other road users... and recognise one of the occasions when the government is actually correct. We also understand that a lot of these regulations have been developed in consultation with a number of very learned motorcyclists, including Police riders, advanced instructors and professional riders. >Soon you wont be able to buy parts and fix your own bike because your not a licenced mechanic. This is why we make friends with those who are... >And you shouldn't because you don't have the training! So it invalidates the warranty... big deal. Most bikes that can be fixed will be. Those that can't usually require plugging in to a computer, in which case see above remarks about licenced mechanics. Besides, my bikes are usually a good 15-20 past their warranties anyway, so I'm not so worried about that. >Dont bother with gear your hp laws will save you . Don't bother with gear, your massive attitude HP will always save you... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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