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."

[Sender]

You hate motorcycles? Or do you really hate idiots who do ridiculous and dangerous things on motorcycles?

[RedStateRocker]

Makes sense to me. I ride, I like bikes, I've had both metrics and Harleys and the last thing I want to do is to hit a bike! but changing lanes can be tricky enough without a quite but fast bike splitting lanes just as I'm making my move (and I always signal, you'd think that they might notice); I've nearly hit bikers two different times in the last month. The BMW's are the worst, some are whisper quiet...

[Sender]

Since at least 1985, it has been IMPOSSIBLE to turn the headlights on US motorcycles OFF. You should open your eyes and save a life. All of them are ON.

[taxed2death]

I do *not* condone riding like this. Having said that I frequently ride with a trusted bunch of guys WAYYYYYYYY into the boonies (farmland) in New York State. This is where I "speed" well away from traffic, guardrails, Armco, people etc....most often we can see clearly 2 or 3 turns ahead of us so it is entirely possible to ride at 150+ mph for stretches lasting ten or so minutes. The older I get the more "track days" I do...as that is the proper place for this kind of riding.

Back to your question:

"How quickly can you decelerate from 160 and how much reaction time do you get in that situation?

While I have not been in this situation in a few years (above reasons)it's like this:

"Anticipation" is everything."

You have to anticipate what the auto driver will do. You're watching the road and also paying VERY close attention to his head movements. I can slow my bike down from 160 to 80 mph in probably less than 4 seconds safely without straining. Fast enough that it takes every bit of upper body strength to hold my arms out straight against the handlebars. At 80 (after riding at 150+) you actually feel like you're doing 40 or so.

I used to screw around on an exit ramp where I used to live... I would regularly go about 150+ and brake extremely hard....doing this over and over a few times a week I would constantly astound myself at the shorter and shorter stopping distances I could achieve. This was a short exit and I would be on the throttle as I passed the exit sign in the medium and still always manage to stop 50+ feet from the bottom. Some day I'll go back and actually measure it....LOL
Changing directions QUICKLY back and fourth, left to right becomes harder ex potentially the faster you go. Watch a GP or WSB race sometime on speed vision and see how it is NOT that easy to weave in and out above 150+ miles an hour (trying to break the draft of the rider who is up your ass). You're fighting either acceleration or deceleration and when weaving about at high speeds your really flexing the frame of your motorcycle. Modern sport bikes have a degree of "flex" built into them as it actually aids in handling (to a certain degree). Cagiva experimented with a "no flex" carbon fiber frame in their GP bike at one time and it was an unmitigated disaster.

"Is there a muscle memory mechanism in place for the increased steering resistance from slowing down?"


Not sure what you mean by that but one of the first things I do when I get a new sport bike is to REALLY... and I do mean REALLY find the absolute limits of it's braking. I do this in parking lots from speeds 60 mph and down..... and on deserted roads for higher speeds. Once you learn the limits.... you can actually grab a handful (two fingers actually) of front brake and get the front tire howling and ride the bike down from 150+ miles an hour exactly on the point of breaking front tire adhesion, remember, your contact patch is smaller than a pack of cigarettes! Learning what your bike can do in regards to breaking is an absolute life saver in crowded urban settings... say going down a 4 lane busy street with traffic lights and shopping centers...

One of the techniques I taught was how to SAFELY stop your bike from 40 mph and move it either left or right (out of or in to a lane) while doing so in the space of three parked cars. It ain't pretty but it is damned useful to know.

[kempo]

OK, your the Officer working this accident. How do you know this motorcycle was actually doing 80 MPH? How do you even know if the driver of the car even looked in the direction of the motorcycle?

I'm sure the motorcycle was speeding but the driver of the car could have been on the cell phone with her head up her ass.

Yes, both drivers could be at fault!

[IslandJeff]

Wow. Bookmarked.

I can't imagine the upper body strength those GP racers have, tipping from one knee to the other constantly.

Can you gear down/engine stop and/or rear-brake?

[Gator113]

"The vast majrity of Hardley riders are a joke."

I own 2 Harleys. A 2000 Ultra Classic and a 2002 Road King Classic. I bought both bikes new. One has over 70k miles on it and the other has nearly 40K on it. The Ultra cost me $26,500 and the Road King cost me $24,000. I paid cash for each bike and later dumped about 3k into each bike.

I take my Bride on a 30 day bike vacation once a year. I am retired (twice over, but at 53, I just didn't want to work anymore). So, my Bride takes 30 days off from her career for our long trips. The longest trip we have been on was just over 9,000 miles. We live at the Pacific Ocean. We rode to the Atlantic Ocean, danced in the water, came back by way of the Gulf Coat and then through some of my favorite cowboy states.

This year was the first of many that we didn't take off on a bike vacation. I was sick, so we went to the Hawaiian Islands for 2 weeks instead. The second 2 weeks we went up and down the Oregon coast as well as Eastern Washington so that we could ride my new Artic Cat prowler 4x4.

During our many trips, I have met folks from all walks of life. Do not stereotype us, as you will be wrong.

As you may see, being an avid biker is a passion for me. I would have many more road miles on these bikes, but I have many passions and they all need feeding. I now have a new Cruiser so much of my road passion may shift a bit to my love for the sea.

You may think I'm nuts, some do, but I am a firm believer that it's more difficult to kill a moving target.

So, with respect, please change your paint brush to something several sizes smaller.

Sir, many folks think like you have, I just want you to know that there are both bad bikers and good bikers...just like anything in life.

[spunkets]

"If you have any high speed riding experience you'll agree that if you're doing 160 miles an hour and coming up on traffic doing 55 and you attempt to pass them on the right, you'll initiate the turn well in advance."

I never make anyone nervous, which closing and passing at that speed differential would cause. However if it was on a closed course and the cage didn't use signals and purposely attempted to move and hit me during the pass, or attempted to cause a rear end at that differential, they wouldn't be able to do it.

I agree that it's best for a cage seeing that kind of dangerous action should stay put, because someone doing that most likely can't ride anyway.

"...you'll have already traveled an additional 200 or so feet closer to him."

I practice threading those dashed white lane markers indefinitely at 60 mph, as if they were long cones. That's about a 5' sideways shift ~ every 10'. At 65, they get tougher and the ride gets violent, but still can be done. At 120 every 3 can be threaded, and certainly a single shift is very easy at that speed. That's within 30 ft. A normal cage can't cover a lane width at 60 in that distance. The tires and suspension won't handle it. The cage will flip, or come close to flipping.

What's tough is having a deer drop out of the sky ~10ft in front while doing 70, snapping to go around where he's not going to be in a few msecs, and having the thing put on the brakes at 3' closing, and turning to watch you hit him in the ass. The last snap back up to brace for the hit to avoid getting the bike slapped right down is critical. LOL.

[Fierce Allegiance]

I do like to ride my Harley's hard and fast.

LOL, I did the equivalent of that in my moms 76 Ford LTD station wagon.

[taxed2death]

"Can you gear down/engine stop and/or rear-brake?"


Yup... that's for the brave. Most all race bikes and now increasingly more sport bikes have "slipper clutches"....which actually "slip" as you bang down gears... thus somewhat limiting rear wheel lock-up.

Rear brakes?

Whew, you gotta watch out or that dragon will bite ya and bite ya hard. Think about the weight transfer of coming down from 180+ like Rossie, you can see his rear tire come completely off the ground (2 to 3 inches) for hundreds of feet. What's a rear brake gonna do other than set you up for an impromptu yard sale trackside!

My Ducati (being a v-twin) has a huge amount of USEFULL engine breaking for the street...even with a new slipper clutch. It can be handy when riding in wet weather.

[taxed2death]

"What's tough is having a deer drop out of the sky ~10ft in front while doing 70,"


heheheh thanks for the laugh FRiend. I live in damned deer country too!
I know EXACTLY what you mean!
:)

[spunkets]

"LBPD doesn't believe the two were racing "

The person that killed the woman was drag racing, which is illegal on public roads. Legally, it doesn't matter that no one else engaged in the race.

[SFC Chromey]

We used to do the same/similar thing! They would set up on overpasses, then try to get on the freeway as we were NOT slowing down. On an interstate with few cars that late at night, we always won.

[spunkets]

"how much worse could the impact of a 500lb Suzuki GSX be than that of this 680lb "oversized" harley??"

E = 1/2*m*v²

680/500 = 1.4 times worse...

[Fierce Allegiance]

Than my comment obviously wasn't meant for you, right? I see plenty of riders I think are a joke on other kinds of bikes. Retards who do 120 on a crotch rocket in their first few years of riding are beyond jokes, they are idiots. They, however, don't try to live some fallacy of a suzuki lifestyle wherein everyone expresses their individuality by trying to look like a heroin addict/Paul Senior type.

[tacticalogic]

When it is hot (most of the time) and humid (all of the time) it is just damned brutal.

The best thing I've found for hot-weather riding is a nylon hunting vest, the kind where the whole back of the vest is used as a "game pocket". Fill a couple of big ziplock bags with ice, stuff 'em in there and snuggle 'em up right over your kidneys.

[norton]

"The vast majority of motorcycle deaths are due to car drivers not seeing the bike or the rider's inexperience/lack of training."

I'm debating over the cost of restoring two old timers, buying a restored old timer, or just selling out for a new (almost) Triumph.

It still makes my neck hairs stand up when I see a kid on a rice-rocket wearing shorts, T-shirt, and tennies with his girl friend perched way up on back wearing heels, low cuts (gotta show the tatoo afterall), and a T-top - both with full face, flamed & striped, helmets on - sliding in and out of traffic and generally oblivious.

Watched a similar bunch (no passengers) holding a 70MPH wheelie contest on the Harbor Freeway - like the diamond lane was made just for them.

Seems like we used to have to have fallen down a few times before moving up to anything they'd even let on the Freeways.

[Fierce Allegiance]

Wearing a nylon golf jacket, and using your left hand to make the sleeve into a snorkel to suck in air is fun, but you really look like the stay-puft mashmallow guy.

[Sensei Ern]

Yeah, not only would there be a splat, but a oil slick trail as well.

Harley riders, I am only kidding.

[Sensei Ern]

because we know all of the oil leaked out blocks before. ;)


Again, kidding. I have nowhere to talk. My Kaw is sitting in the driveway with a blown headgasket.