[KenSwift]

A friend sent me this link and I've got mixed feelings about what I should think about this report. I'd be interested to know what you all think.

Part 1
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/p...n=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.1.1

Part 2
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/p...n=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.1.1

Ken

 

[ajax]

I like how they consistently categorize sport bike riders as a problem. : How about stupid sport bike riders?

 

[900spg]

It's really insane. Riding like that on public roads is pretty much one mistake by the rider or anyone else away from death. If they would only take it to a track.

 

[test-reg]

The report itself was the kind of sensationalistic journalisim that's more and more prevalent these days to grab increasingly smaller attention spans, but it does indeed appear that there is a problem there. 153 MPH on a public road is stupid, especailly when they're clogged with other tourists.

The question I have is what do we in the motorcycling community do about it? If we ignore it as just a bunch of stupid sqids, then the general populous is going to start discriminating against all motorcyclist. I'd like to see some more promotion of, and frequency of available track time. Maybe if more of these guys got a chance to show their stuff on a track, they'd be less inclined to take it to the street.

 

[TerribleTabo]

I cannot believe how crazy & reckless those riders are!
They make Tom Cruise seem rational.

 

[KenSwift]

I'd like to hear from someone who actually lives / rides in that area, as the press might be making the situation out to be much worse than it really is.

It's interesting to note that I've had folks roll past me here in California going fast enough to scare me into stopping and taking a break (specifically while riding in Angeles Crest National Forest). I'd rather not get caught up in their accident if I'm able, as I think most of the folks who get up into the mountains and really ring it out don't have the skills to deal with emergency situations (i.e. dirt in curve, slow vehicles, etc.). It's one thing to be riding at 9/10th's of your abilities with a perfect situation, another one entirely when conditions change and you've got to use whatever is left of your "skill reserves" to keep youself from getting killed.

Ken

 

[M3-SRT8]

These Squids are giving the sport a bad name...

Period.

LJB 8)

 

[COWBOY]

The report seemed a little sensationist in its chosen verbiage but it appears there's a big problem. I doubt a local station funded a news van to set up there camera rolling for more than a few weekends at best. I also didn't notice the same rider more than once so it wasn't like they were following the same pack of idiots trying to drum up a story.

Regardless of the slant in the tone, the riders in that video footage are way out of line. Behavior like that and attitudes like that of the race website owner do nothing but make it harder for the rest of us to enjoy the ride without - undo 5-0 attention, local harrasment or having our safety at risk as some squid enters our lane coming the other way.

 

[Davesax36]

I'm pretty sure I saw an ST1300 passing on the double yellow in that vid.... and like how all the regular people can say that people were riding by at "at least 100 miles an hour." I'm sure there were no car accidents from people driving too fast up there.

 

[aziator]

I did the loop a few times as part of a Ferrari club of Georgia sponsered drive (me in a 300Z Twin Turbo) and I will admit that some of the bikes are plain crazy but so are the cars. Doesn't matter what you are driving, you go up there to test yourself and you ride and things are bound to go wrong. We had a guy in our group go off the road down a 20 foot drop into a stream. Bottom line, there is a problem up there but it isn't just bikes.

 

[KenSwift]

Doesn't matter what you are driving, you go up there to test yourself and you ride and things are bound to go wrong. We had a guy in our group go off the road down a 20 foot drop into a stream. Bottom line, there is a problem up there but it isn't just bikes.

One of the guys I shared this with last week is a real "hair on fire" rider who pushes himself anytime we go into the mountains, so the following story is a real testiment to the "it isn't just bikes" arguement .

He comes off the mountain yesterday and takes a gentle ride up to the I-15 freeway intersection, stops at the four-way intersection, and waits for traffic to clear. Lo and behold, a full-size truck towing a boat blows through the intersection doing about 50MPH and just about kills him (and everyone else in the intersection if that boat had come loose). It was a quite ride home after that... thankfully.

Ken

 

[sconly]

very disconcerting

 

[surfs1st]

I don't understand the mentality of some riders these days. Maybe it's because I'm married with a kid and the only thing thats more frightening than depriving my son of his father and my wife of her husband. Is taking someone else's wife or husband or child away from them by doing something stupid on my bike on public roads.

I went riding with a friend last weekend who invited some guys he knew along for the day. They all showed up on the latest 1000cc Sport Bikes with matching leathers (at least they were wearing the right gear :) and racing replica helmets. I knew I was in for a long day as we were leaving the parking lot and two of them pulled a wheelie out onto the main street. Needless to say we didn't get thirty minutes into the canyons before one of them highsided in a turn and took out one of the other guys who was following to closely.

We were lucky no one was hurt, both bikes were totaled and a Sunday afternoon was wasted standing on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. : Don't get me wrong I ride a high performance motorcycle and I like to have fun, but not at the expense of others.

 

[surfs1st]

I don't understand the mentality of some riders these days. Maybe it's because I'm married with a kid and the only thing thats more frightening than depriving my son of his father and my wife of her husband. Is taking someone else's wife or husband or child away from them by doing something stupid on my bike on public roads.

I went riding with a friend last weekend who invited some guys he knew along for the day. They all showed up on the latest 1000cc Sport Bikes with matching leathers (at least they were wearing the right gear :) and racing replica helmets. I knew I was in for a long day as we were leaving the parking lot and two of them pulled a wheelie out onto the main street. Needless to say we didn't get thirty minutes into the canyons before one of them highsided in a turn and took out one of the other guys who was following to closely.

We were lucky no one was hurt, both bikes were totaled and a Sunday afternoon was wasted standing on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. : Don't get me wrong I ride a high performance motorcycle and I like to have fun, but not at the expense of others.

That being said I think "Madness in the Mountains!" is a little sensational.

 

[count]

It's sensational but appears to be somewhat genuine. If we as the M/C community don't handle it then the lawmakers will. I guarantee that none of us will like their solution.

I ride fast in the twisties as well, but not 100+MPH. Eventually we'll see a crackdown where all motoryclists in that area will get tickets for simply having a fun ride.

This is not good.

 

[KenSwift]

This is why I bought a S2R 1000 instead of a full-on race bike: Power with responsibility in a package that's not forcing me to ride 150MPH to have a good time (and thus put myself and others in danger). Folks don't seem to understand that riding a bike that fast is like riding a missile; it's just a matter of time before it hits something and explodes.

Given that my next move will be to a state other than California (no lane splitting and forget the 90MPH average speed on highway), I'm actually casting an eye toward the next bike being a BMW 650cc thumper (for their utility and sub-illegal fun factor). There are three new models coming out in the spring, and this would be in addition to the S2R, not as a replacement.

Ken

 

[pennyrobber]

At least several people did mention that it was only a few people that were the problem. Our roads around here are the same way. Almost everytime I go out to the twisties I see a bike that has been stuffed into the dirt. There are a local "club" of squids here that had four people go down on a single ride. It's a shame really.

 

[test-reg]

For the people that point the finger at the bikes people are riding, you're way off base. It doesn't matter what you ride, just about any bike can hit 100mph. In tests the S2R 800 can hit ~130mph. Sure, maybe not in as short a space of time but we're not talking slow here. It's the idiot with his/her hand on the throttle that's the problem. Fortunately when a bike crashes, you're only talking about several hundred pounds and not a few thousand if it were a car. What can be done about it? Make getting a bike license actually match what skills are required to ride that bike. We can all point the finger at the bike, the squids or whatever but if it was actually hard to get a license (riding a bike is hard) it wouldn't be as much of a problem. There are certainly limits to what people should do and 150mph up there is ridiculous but to a certain extent, you take your own path. I don't condone people doing stupid things on bikes, I'm certainly not one of them. Passing on a double yellow on a bike just isn't as big a deal as people make out *if it's done responsibly*. Going a little over the speed limit falls into the same category. The difference is, on a bike it takes more skill in the twisties to do so.

I'd be happy to go through a rigorous licensing process to get a bike license (should be the same for cars too but that's never going to happen).

 

[c_rex]

The wise and Evil Steve speaks gospel-

It's the idiot with his/her hand on the throttle that's the problem.

Even a scooter can reach fatal speeds. I'm told that cities such as Rome and Florence see many such accidents each year. By contrast- I've taught 2 people to ride on liter class bikes who have had no issues whatsoever riding like "normal", non-knuckledragging cyclists. I made sure to instill in them a healthy respect for speed and its potential effects on life, limb, and happiness.

 

[count]

Make getting a bike license actually match what skills are required to ride that bike. We can all point the finger at the bike, the squids or whatever but if it was actually hard to get a license (riding a bike is hard) it wouldn't be as much of a problem.

I'd be happy to go through a rigorous licensing process to get a bike license (should be the same for cars too but that's never going to happen).

I agree 100%. If someone has ridden a dirt bike more than a mile, then they can probably pass the riding test without problems. The written test can be passed without ever reading anything M/C related.