Bikers Playing Fast and Loose

LA Times ^ | 11.29.06 | Ralph Vartabedian

[absolootezer0]

A Suzuki racing bike screaming at 80 mph in a 25-mph zone slammed into Gigliotti on Oct. 4 as she was leaving her job at Long Beach City College, igniting a fireball inside her Ford Escort.

"It is not uncommon to see these kinds of accidents with motorcycles, particularly high-powered super bikes," said Raymond Dennison, the Long Beach detective who investigated the crash. "The whole function is to go as fast as they can."

[absolootezer0]

ridiculous. author drags out all kinds of bias against bikes, specifically racebikes.

[GOP_1900AD]

Rice rockets + young male hormones = ?

Nothing new in this story!

[Triggerhippie]

I suppose the author believes that the biker WANTED to crash his bike and wanted to do it at a high rate of speed...

[absolootezer0]

can you ping the motorcycle hooligans?

[absolootezer0]

coulda been worse, imagine if it was an oversized harley doing 100mph hitting the car. much worse impact.

[bagadonutz]

typical anti-rider story. She pulled out in front of the bike and he's at fault?

The whole function is to go as fast as they can."

Bullsnot! if that was true why was he only going 80?!

[r9etb]

I suppose the author believes that the biker WANTED to crash his bike and wanted to do it at a high rate of speed...

Oh, probably not. The undeniable truth, however, is that this guy's desire for high speed resulted not only in death for himself, but also somebody else.

There are a lot of idiots on these sorts of bikes, and their idiocy endangers others. Best not to defend them.

[r9etb]

You didn't read the article, did you?

[taxcontrol]

I guess the author would have been happier if the vehicle traveling at 80 mph (possibly 100 mph) would have been a car, truck, SUV, or semi truck.

Face it, any time ... ANYTIME one vehicle is doing 80 plus, you have a high chance of killing more than just the driver of the vehicle.

[bagadonutz]

coulda been worse, imagine if it was an oversized harley doing 100mph hitting the car. much worse impact.

or worse yet - in a toyota prius?

[RightWhale]

the biker WANTED to crash his bike and wanted to do it at a high rate of speed...

Obvious intent.

[absolootezer0]

or worse yet - in a toyota prius?

at least it wasn't an eeeeeeevil SUV. if it had been a prius, author prolly woulda blamed the girl that got hit.

[Osage Orange]

A Suzuki racing bike screaming at 80 mph in a 25-mph zone slammed......................

Just another crazed screaming racing bike........

[MortMan]

A Suzuki racing bike screaming at 80 mph in a 25-mph zone slammed into Gigliotti on Oct. 4 as she was leaving her job at Long Beach City College, igniting a fireball inside her Ford Escort.

terminal stupidity sometimes incites vehicular manslaughter. The problem is not the machine, but the rider, who obviously had no clue what "control" was, nor had any inkling of the definition of "consequences".

The only sane way to handle idjits like this rider is to pray they only hurt themselves, and not any innocent bystanders.

The author, on the other hand, needs to learn a thing or to about reporting, rather than polemicizing.

[RobRoy]

Agreed. It's the old "people don't shoot people, guns shoot people" mentality.

This thinking simply tries to eliminate a problem by eliminating a freedom.

People drown? Outlaw boats and swimming.
People hit by maniacs on motorcycles? Ban motorcycles for everyone.

The thinking is poisonous and downright sophomoric.

[68skylark]

Gigliotti ... was pulled from the burning wreckage in front of the college by two fellow instructors. But she was already covered with second- and third-degree burns on her face, chest, arms and legs — more than half her body. After 30 days, she died at the burn unit of the Torrance Memorial Medical Center.

Maybe the author has good reasons for his "bias."

[taxed2death]

The best of these cheesy stories came out in the late 80's when Jap Sportbikes hit the market. Specifically the GSXR 1100. The "news stories" belched out by ABCNBCCBS at the time were hysterically funny to watch.

"Crotch Rockets...bla, bla, bla... "Rice Burners"....bla, bla, bla... So funny to stop and think about it now. The networks were even trying to push the silly angle that Japan was "getting back at us" for WW11. I miss those days of utter nonsense in reporting anything about motorcycles. Having said that, how kewl is it to be able to go out and buy a state of the art motorcycle that weighs under 380 pounds and has 160+ rear wheel horsepower? Fun, Fun, Fun!

Nothing makes the old ticker pump faster than going from zero to 150 and back to zero in under 25 seconds. :)

[faloi]

coulda been worse, imagine if it was an oversized harley doing 100mph hitting the car. much worse impact.

The difference is my Harley riding friends don't generally go that fast in low speed zones. Maybe it's a difference in what they're after from the riding experience over people riding more "racing" style bikes. Or maybe I just generally have less animosity toward the more classic roadster style bikes than the racing style bikes.

[Ouderkirk]

I don't get this wehole thing. We used to screw the the NYS police who would hide out with theor speed traps on I-81. We as a group would buzz them at 170+ mph. When they would chase us, we would split up and circle back on them. Eventually they stopped setting up their speed traps in that section because they knew we would have them chasing vapor trails.

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-11
Yoshimura Pipe
Lectron Flat slide carbs (44mm)
Shaved head to get 12:1 compression.

Top speed 182mph

[taxed2death]

"There are a lot of idiots on these sorts of bikes, and their idiocy endangers others. Best not to defend them."

Yea, we should ban Corvettes, Mustangs, anything that will go over 56 miles an hour.


/s