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To: RebelBanker
I know you have good intentions... but physics comes into play here... the faster a bike goes, the more gradual an arc the rider will make even under extreme cornering...this has to do with the huge gyroscopic effects that he must fight against in order to steer / turn at high speeds. The front wheel does NOT want to turn. So again, my advice to you is this:

He has every intention on passing you (at a high rate of speed)....He knows what he has to do in order to pass you. If you change that equation at the last minute, it is possible and highly likely that "bad things" will happen. So just stay put. If you want to "vent" lay on the horn, flip him the one finger salute or what ever, as he passes you, you'll get your message across.
185 posted on 11/30/2006 1:08:18 PM PST by taxed2death (A few billion here, a few trillion there...we're all friends right?)
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To: taxed2death

I understand about the handling, I still have my motorcycle license even though I have not ridden in quite a while. I will not try to maneuver the beast I drive if someone is trying to pass me at a very high speed differential - I always figured that motorcycles, police cars, ambulances or whatever that go that fast know how to get around slower vehicles.

If somebody on a bike is flying up behind me, he will be past me before I see him. Again, a Dodge Ram 2500 with a cap has lousy visibility looking backwards. BTW, if you zoom past me I am more likely to shake my head and say "future road pizza" than flip you off ;-)


191 posted on 11/30/2006 1:19:15 PM PST by RebelBanker (It is, however somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.)
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To: taxed2death
He has every intention on passing you (at a high rate of speed)....He knows what he has to do in order to pass you. If you change that equation at the last minute, it is possible and highly likely that "bad things" will happen. So just stay put. If you want to "vent" lay on the horn, flip him the one finger salute or what ever, as he passes you, you'll get your message across.

Excellent advice! Imagine how many lives hang in the balance of understanding this! Taxed, a version of this should be part of drivers license tests. MAJOR KUDOS!!!

192 posted on 11/30/2006 1:20:48 PM PST by Finny (God continue to Bless President G.W. Bush with wisdom, popularity, safety and success.)
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To: taxed2death

Great advice. My only problem with the crotchrockets is that their riders don't exactly go out of their way to improve their visibility to automobile drivers. I can't remember the last time I saw a motorcycle with its headlight on.

And the triple-digit-two-wheelers, by necessity, have to fold themselves into an aerodynamic riding position.

Scares the hell out of me.


195 posted on 11/30/2006 1:38:37 PM PST by IslandJeff (FR mail me to be added to the Type I Diabetes ping list)
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To: taxed2death
"physics comes into play here... the faster a bike goes, the more gradual an arc the rider will make even under extreme cornering...this has to do with the huge gyroscopic effects that he must fight against in order to steer / turn at high speeds. The front wheel does NOT want to turn."

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.

204 posted on 11/30/2006 2:00:34 PM PST by spunkets
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