Posted on 11/30/2006 10:29:41 AM PST by absolootezer0
People die. Outlaw birth!
Oh? That is what NOW and NARAL attempting to do!
Yes, I got stupid, just like the authorette that wrote the article.
Gunner
"The vast majrity of Hardley riders are a joke"
You're painting with a rather broad brush don't you think?
Mine's black...and chrome! HA!
"hardley" gear....hehehe...never heard that one before!
um...what kind of motorcycle did you say you ride?
Amen!
Two wheeled vehicles are sterred by counter steering. When the rider wants to steer right, they turn the handlebars to the left. Just turning the handlebars to the left causes the bike to go into a right lean and steer right. Steering a bike should be done with a snap action, where the bars are moved fast into the position judged for the desired curve. Neither the bike, nor the front wheel offers much resistance to this movement at all. In fact the handling of the bars in hard cornering changes only requires a light touch. The reason is, because when the bars are moved in one direction, a large torque appears on the angular momentum vector forcing the bike to both lean and turn in the opposite direction. The large steering forces come from the rotating front wheel, not the rider. All that's required from the rider to steer is their gentle touch on the bars, and perhaps shifting their own weight to minimize the lean angle. The only riders that have trouble steering and note large resisting forces are those that try to steer, instead of counter steer. That's, because they are trying to move the bike in the opposite direction of where they told the machine to go. That is very hard to do.
I wasn't aware that the you could turn the headlights off...
I should have thrown in a couple caveats - my apologies.
No problems at night at all. Most are responsible drivers, particularly the cruising-types that ride in groups.
Just speaking of the adrenaline junkies. The low-slung nature of the vehicles inhibits visibility. Where I live, bicyclists are an even bigger nuisance than motorcycle drivers.
Makes me jealous at times, but the thought of having to have nearly-permanent vigilance while not being able to get a sip of water is foreign. Happy with my convertible Mustang. Stay safe out there.
Oh, and no, it's no broad brush saying the vast majority of hardley riders are a joke. it's the truth. Heroin addict looking wankers who spend more time buying "Officially licensed Hardley gear" and polishing chrome pipes they'll never blue because the just putt putt down main street trying to scare granny off the sidewalk with loud pipes while riding helmetless in a leather doo-rag. Dorks.
Hey, if you like harleys, fine, and if you are a good, serious rider, even better. That's awesome. I used to ride with a ton of harley lovers. We had a ton of fun together. Those are not the peole I'm goofing on, but they make up a pretty small minority of the Harley sqad, epecially around here it seems.
Fascinating. I'm glued to this thread.
How quickly can you decelerate from 160 and how much reaction time do you get in that situation? Is there a muscle memory mechanism in place for the increased steering resistance from slowing down?
Some are even freepers. I made a comment on here once about the dangers to bikers of animals running in the road. One Harley idiot "biker" said I was "riding nice" because his pipes were louder than my Jap bike, implying he could scare the critters away. The biggest fool said he could "adjust his speed" to miss an animal. Even a high school drivers ed student knows more about braking distances. Nothing makes one look stupider than to criticize a true motorcyclist and show your complete ignorance of the subject in the process. Looks like some of the responses to my original post back me up. Thanks, guys.
I have been riding for many, many years. I don't care for the canyon carvers (metric bikes), but from time to time I do like to ride my Harley's hard and fast. However, 80 in a 25 through a populated area......well, this kid was stupid.
Out on the road, nobody around but you but mother nature and the animals...well, you take your chances with many things in life, but you are not putting others in jeopardy.
It does get damned thirsty (I can't deny that) with a full face helmet and jacket in FL in the summer...
But with my height (6'2") and the bike's height (V-Stroms are TALL), I just might have better visibility than you.
Florida in full leathers. I think I just lost six pounds reading that sentence.
That would bite! One can only look left OR right, not both at the same time. How long would one have to sit at an intersection to be sure? Do I need to put in a redlight at my driveway? Blackbird.
To be fair, it is a mesh jacket. But that doesn't seem to help much. When it is hot (most of the time) and humid (all of the time) it is just damned brutal.
Great screen name.
Johnny Carson used to have a bunch of names he used. One was Joey Bagadonutz.
"My point was to explain to a car driver what a motorcyclist has to do / what he is likely capable of doing at 150+ mph."
I think the point you're trying to make is this, and please correct me if I'm wrong.
Car drivers have nothing with which to compare the acceleration rate of a large cc sport bike. Therefore, it's the ability to plan moves ahead of time, and not have the elements of the equation change afterwards. If it does, you are extremely limited in options, and most likely doomed.
For instance, if someone unfamiliar with the acceleration rate of a sport bike, is asked to take one and accelerate as fast as possible towards a visible point, and let off at the right time to stop, most would pick a point much too late to do so.
I also tell motorcycle riders to ride with the thought that everything and everyone on the road is out to get you.
Thanks. I'll never get that picture out of my head. Thanks a lot. ;) Blackbird.
Or we could just try to demonize the last true performance vehicle available to common humans. I'd rather demonize the idiot.
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