Slow the ef down on your crotch rocket

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Antithesis

BBS, I understand you're not posting your ideas about this out of any type of spite or to mislead people, but I'm sorry, there are enough dinks driving bikes that I actually do notice when someone is driving one in a courteous or even somewhat normal manner, and the numbers of people doing that are similar to the numbers of those driving like idiots.

I'm sure the statistics about driver fault are true, but that doesn't mean that bikers don't drive like bozos a lot of the time.

And I don't doubt that your intentions are the same.
However, I think this is a clear cut case of not knowing what you don't know.

I truly believe that someone who rides is much more inclined to notice just about every bike the pass on the road than someone who hasn't. As I said before there are several reasons for this.

In your case, I don't doubt that you think you notice bikes as readily as someone who rides, but that's human nature.
You don't know what you miss and you assume that you've missed nothing.

Everone sees the guys doing wheelies at 100mph, and most people will see the coureous guy who lets them in, but who notices the ones that blend into the rest of the traffic?

It's the same as driving in any other circumstance, you notice the jerks, and you notice the really coureous people, and 99% of the other cars are just background noise.

Besides, assuming we're both not exagerating, and are telling things as we have seen them then one of the three has to be happening:

1) I'm missing all the jerks that you are seeing
2) You're missing the majority of average motorcycle riders that I notice because I'm looking for them. (Keep in mind folks on bikes have a tendancy to do things like nod at each other at lights, and wave as they pass making them much easier to take note of. They generally don't do this with cars.)
3) Through some odd statistical annomoly you and I have been exposed only to entirely opposite ends of the spectum of bike riders

So which do you think is most likely cause of our disagreement?
I think most people would agree with #2.

[onetwo_threefour]

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

And I don't doubt that your intentions are the same.
However, I think this is a clear cut case of not knowing what you don't know.

I truly believe that someone who rides is much more inclined to notice just about every bike the pass on the road than someone who hasn't. As I said before there are several reasons for this.

In your case, I don't doubt that you think you notice bikes as readily as someone who rides, but that's human nature.
You don't know what you miss and you assume that you've missed nothing.

Everone sees the guys doing wheelies at 100mph, and most people will see the coureous guy who lets them in, but who notices the ones that blend into the rest of the traffic?

It's the same as driving in any other circumstance, you notice the jerks, and you notice the really coureous people, and 99% of the other cars are just background noise.

Besides, assuming we're both not exagerating, and are telling things as we have seen them then one of the three has to be happening:

1) I'm missing all the jerks that you are seeing
2) You're missing the majority of average motorcycle riders that I notice because I'm looking for them. (Keep in mind folks on bikes have a tendancy to do things like nod at each other at lights, and wave as they pass making them much easier to take note of. They generally don't do this with cars.)
3) Through some odd statistical annomoly you and I have been exposed only to entirely opposite ends of the spectum of bike riders

So which do you think is most likely cause of our disagreement?
I think most people would agree with #2.

Or, you are talking about different samples.

1. All motorcyclists (including Harleys, Hondas, Crotch Rockets etc.)

2. Crotch Rockets.

I would say that in a saample of all motor cyclists, BBS is right. Among the crotch rocket contingent, not a chance. I like bikes and I watch out for them. I watch bikes and notice them more then cars... (Except for the one nice Mercedes I've got my eye on, I always notice them.) Anyway, among all motorcyclists, you've got mostly decent, reasonably courteous drivers. Among the demographic that drives sport bikes, I would suggest that there is a far higher proportion of idiots who shouldn't be on the road piloting any vehicle.

Or the other alternative is, your driving past so fast on your crotch rocket, it just looks like the other guys are being courteous compared to you...

[Antithesis]

Oh, I think #2 is a really strong possibility as well, but isn't there a 4th possibility as well? That we have different perceptions of courtesy, as well. Maybe I should restate things to say that there seems to be a greater proportion of aggressive motorcyclists as opposed to car drivers, though again, you might notice it more due to the motorcycle being more unique.

It's definitely hard to argue with the stats that have been quoted, and you're right, in most cases, its best to defer to the knowledge of experts in an area, so maybe my perception has been wrong. I'll have to keep an eye out.

[Vulcan]

Yeah there are idiots and incompetents out there, both on bikes and in cars but in my experience there are a lot more in cars and most of the car drivers would be dead in a month if they carried on riding a motorcyle like they drive their cars.

What scares me the most is some, even here, seem to have the attitude of screw all motorcyclists. I've been deliberately forced into dangerous situations a few times by drivers who think it's hilarious to run me off the road or force me into oncoming traffic. I've watched them laugh as I later pulled up beside them and wished at the moment that I was in Texas where most bikers pack. Anyways that's my rant and I don't have as much patience with fools as BBS does.

[PowerPlayoffs06]

I honestly can't think of a time I've seen someone on a motorbike that wasn't a crotch rocket that was driving like an a-hole. The guys on cruisers don't seem to speed, don't weave through traffic and don't go ripping off the line at a green light. I'm sure there's some who do, but I truly can only recall seeing dinks on sport bikes doing that crap. Accordingly, I give these guys more respect on the road.

I'd also toss in that I see far, far more a-holes driving cars or trucks, but that doesn't mean much because there's far, far more of those on the road than any kind of bikes.

[Dan02]

I think we really need to divide the motorbikes into 2 different demographics. The stupid ######s on their sportbikes and everyone else.

edit,

and that was not to imply all sportbike riders are stupid ######s and belong in demographic 1.

[Itse]

I drive a cab (in Helsinki, which also has a limited motorcycle season due to winter and is otherwise reasonably comparable in population size and density, although I've never been to Calgary so I can't comment on possible other relevant factors), so I think I speak with if not authority at least pretty good experience when it comes to peoples behaviour in traffic.

Bikers are much more likely to behave like morons in traffic, when compared to all cars.

However, when compared to sports cars and other cars that have a relatively powerful engine in it's price class, they are in my observation the same.

Also, not all bikes are the same. As a prime example, Honda Goldwings tend to have quite conservative drivers. (That's propably because they're fully loaded for extended trips and not exactly agile.)

So I wouldn't really say it's reallly a car/bike thing, it's just that any person who buys any vehicle that's fast compared to it's price is likely to drive like a moron. This is understandable, since it's easy to deduct that those vehicles are inferior in some other aspects (as no vehicle is the best in everything), and thus it's just stupid to specifically buy a powerful engine unless you intend to drive aggressively. (Besides, you can easily drive fast enough to be a hazard in any new car, so really nobody needs all those horsepowers anyway. They just feel nice.)

Of course, some people have good self control only speed under reasonably controlled circumstances. And both bikes and sports cars are considered cool, so that's one sensible reason to buy them.

(Then again I can't really think of anyone I've met personally who had a "cool" vehicle of one sort or the other and doesn't have an attitude problem in traffic. That includes some of my friends. "Cool" and "traffic" just mix very poorly.)

Other thing is, sports cars and "crotch rockets" can be monsters. They should require special advanced drivers licenses, as average drivers often just don't have the skills to handle that kind of power.

As to the little boys with Harleys who like to go "vroom vroom" under my living room window seemingly no matter where I live, I can't but shake my head. I remember one summer when I was about 8 or 9 we used to place some pieces of hard plastic between the spokes so they'd make a loud rattling sound when you drove. After a month or three everyone agreed that was ######ed. Just saying.

[Bobblehead]

Speaking of "crotch rockets"

A 33-year-old man has been taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after a motorcycle crash in the city's northwest early Monday.
It happened shortly after midnight just east of Charleswood Drive on John Laurie Boulevard.
The bike left the road, hit a light standard, then skidded.
Speed is considered a factor in the collision.

http://www.qr77.com/Channels/Reg/New...spx?ID=1010408

[czure32]

I was driving west on John laurie just before 1am as I was returning home from hockey and saw the mass of sirens
basically the whole stretch from Charleswood Dr to 19th Ave was blocked off as emergency crews cleaned up the mess

[RogerWilco]

Originally Posted by Prottotype

Wow... on the same day Bourdon dies... I understand your point. Your timing on the otherhand, I do not...

In my mind there is no better time to start to bring awarness to something such as this then when a foumous person looses their life. People die on bikes every day, alot of them could be prevented if some people (including car drivers) get educated on the fact that there are no fender benders on a bike. Do it at a time when the most people will listen.