Nearly died today, one for the bikers

[Drains]

or a anti lesbian campaign? answer because theyre not allowed to select them out for special treatment...

Are lesbians particularly bad drivers then? We should be told!


Re bikes and ditches.... once riding to work in back of beyond Devon, 1988 or so, tear-arsing down country lane on DR125, came across the hunt taking the dogs for a walk, right across the road, loads of them!

Steer straight into the ditch, round the lot of them, out, and onwards. Phew.
The day before I would have been in a Wolseley 1885, braking ability of a freefalling rock:- my god, it would have been carnage!

Si

 

[Wedg1e]

My g/f is a former A&E nurse, she saw years of carnage involving two and four wheels and (understandably) thought bikes were the work of the devil.
However a ten minute spin on the back of my ST13 had her hooked; she bought secondhand riding kit, followed by new riding kit, then I paid for her to do CBT and within a week she'd bought her own bike (Kawa 125 Eliminator).
Unfortunately it's been parked in my hallway since last November and she shows no signs of wanting to take it out despite lots of gentle urging. If she doesn't get a move on her CBT will have expired...
Apart from that she still loves going pillion; we're off to the south of France in 3 weeks time, maybe that will change her mind

 

[dazzis]

I still think that anyone wanting a car licence should be forcred to ride for 3 years, that'ud wake the wazzucks up, had loads of close uns, but i firmly believe, in giving drivers a short sharp shock(what ever way you choose)

had one years ago flick a fag end at me caught me in the lid, picked it out of me jacket, caught up with the wazzuck and whilst shouting at him dropped his lit dog end through his sunroof, dont know how far he got before his car burst into flames n dont care either, if you chase after em give em a smack or 2, they definately think twice about bikes in future, problem as i see it is bikers have become acceptable to normal people due to the influx of accountants who buy a bike n think they are one of us and as such the public think we are soft as sh*te, so if it happens again follow the ****** n give em hell, tis the only way to educate these idiots

 

[bill_gj]

Add - like the avatar !

 

[chunkolini]

Re Dazz'z coment, I find the politification of biking hilarious.
back in the 80's No Bikers signs at all the pubs, now we have biker B+B's, bikers welcome signs at pubs. How odd.
Poeple who have known me for a few years were shocked when I turned up on a bike, thought I had just passed my test, pillocks, it was al I did for donkeys years, a family thing, my ma married a BSA, and figured the fool on it was 'just about Ok'.

I admit to having booted a few cars in my time, only when merited, and ony when solo, cut me up with junior or Chunkoleta and I get very narky but avoid reacting in case it is some psycho.

I was on that road today, and still cant see how I had enough room to get by him. Pah!!!

Chunko'.

 

[Wedg1e]

Console yourself with the thought that if you'd been in a tin box, you probably wouldn't have got by him.

 

[hotrodder]

The issue with a lot of car drivers these days is that they're almost totally divorced from their true environment once they enter their car.
If I had my way, a new driver would spend several months driving in a closed area in a car without
- power steering
- power braking
- ABS
- heating or air con
and running on skinny cross-ply tyres.

Add some knackered bushes and dampers (aka the typical escort/anglia etc that many of us probably started with) and then make 'em take the test in the same car and i'd agree. I would have added skid pan work too but the crossplies would make that unnecessary

Obviously they're not the real problem but modern cars really don't help, replace the airbag with a big spike and see how many people drive without due care, tailgate etc.

Until recently the daily driver ticked most of the boxes on that list, twice i've witnessed the car in front of me running into the back of someone. Both times I stopped fine, not because my old car had superior brakes, ABS or ESP but because what brakes it does have encourage me to look where i'm going

 

[bill_gj]

Yup, my position entirely.
The 'modern' car gives every prat the opinion that they're brillo drivers and they don't have a clue how difficult it really is to stay on the road and keep yourself, and more importanly, others, in one piece. Add to the 'power assisted everything' the super-powered stereos and the average Richard Head is effectively deaf as well.

I work for a vehicle manufacturer and, as an example, a few years back, they decided to enter a 'niche' market for small sports vehicles, like the Vauxhall Tigra.
When this particular vehicle went to the proving grounds for its initial development work, many of them got damaged as even the highly experienced test drivers were taken by surprise when exploring the limits of grip. They stuck like **** to a blanket until......where did that tree come from? Interestingly, the first production vehicle I saw was resting on a lamp post on one of the slip roads of the A13.

 

[oz.]

Being a young fool myself i actively deafen myself for what would seem no apparent reason. I do this using a completely standard radio unit with the original speakers (coming up to 15 years now)

Talking about the driver aids being over done in new cars is very true. Through the company I worked for i have driven the Vectra, Mondeo, Astra... all fairly big family cars and found them utterly horrible to drive even down the motorway. The worst for me was the Vectra, the brakes were ove servoed meaning the lightest of touches would put your face on the windsceen. The clutch had no give in it and was very difficult to find the bite point so I ended up stalling a fair few times before deciding to rev the fecker. The steering was excessively light and i hardly felt the hardest of hits - you don't want bump steer but i prefer to feel what i'm doing. Moving on to the motorway section - The throttle pedal is extremely east to move and has no stiffness at all. Good you may think but this means you don't notice that you've just speeded up from 70 to 80mph etc. It seems that instead of concentrating on getting the pedal feel any good the have put all their effort into a cruise control unit.

There are plenty more niggles to moan about like pedal positions - throttle being 6" further forward that the brake so quick reactions will be there but you then have to find the pedal...

All in all new cars are crap to anyone who cares about driving. To many people now driving is a chore and not something that deserves their concentration.

 

[chunkolini]

The other thing about cars that seems silly to me is three pedals and two legs. Oh and gear levers that have to be wagged about all over the place, stupid.

I had a few lessons years back and found the controls so unergonomic, levers switches and dials all over the place, on a bike you dont have to move any of yor limbs more than a few inches to operate any of them.

Chunko'.

 

[clem dog]

The other thing about cars that seems silly to me is three pedals and two legs. Oh and gear levers that have to be wagged about all over the place, stupid.

I had a few lessons years back and found the controls so unergonomic, levers switches and dials all over the place, on a bike you dont have to move any of yor limbs more than a few inches to operate any of them.

Chunko'.

Agreed chunko, I drive an automatic shogun and much more than that I have vowed that the next wagon I buy will also be an auto!

Everybody I know called me all different manner of names for buying an automatic in the first place, lazy mans car, old mans car, etc. etc. But oh how thier opinions changed as they have driven my yoke over the years (everybody drives it, especially during busy periods at silage) and they all loved it, especially with the bowser on for some reason.


There is absolutely no sense in having three pedals for two legs

Clem

 

[Chipper]

S'good you're OK Chunko!

Had my neck cracked by a guy pulling out looking the wrong bloody way. Earlier he'd caused a pile up pulling a U on the A1... After my smack they still stayed shy of a ban or eyesight tests etc etc. What does it take?
Had a car hit from behind, ended up perched on top the back wheel. This is in London traffic. Cops didn't charge him despite being uninsured and stoned.
Also ended up under a slowing bus when ditching because of an oncoming car in the middle of the road. Bus stopped before the wheel went over me. Clambered out, poor drivers face was fairly white. he was a black dude.

Some things you can't do an evasive move to escape. Don't like to think too much about such things.

The evolution of cars as said, insulates us from the outside world. Electric handbrake button, auto wipers, lights, etc. Makes folk so disconnected from actually driving the things, and puts us into some kind of mobile sensory deprivation tank.

Left London 2 yrs ago, things were definitely getting worse there for daily incidents. More uninsured, or dodgy licences?
In our village there have been a couple of bike deaths in the last year. Makes a guy keep his eyes wide open....

 

[bill_gj]

Good one Clipper !!!!

poor drivers face was fairly white...

 

[Superbad]

You get alot of drivers/riders,whatever vehicle they are in control of,are prats. As a bus-driver,I get aload of ****e for no reason,alot of deliberate misdemeanors from car-drivers. I presume that they have had bad experience from knobhead bus-drivers. Especially,those that take Highway code 223 to an extreme,by indicating and moving off straight away.
A number of bikers put themselves at danger. There's no harm in filtering through stationary traffic,at traffic lights. But as soon as the lights have changed to green,be mindful of those car/van-drivers who will be looking at the traffic lights as they change. I had such experience the other day,I'm turning right,traffic lights change,as I set off,a motorcyclist suddenly appears on my o/s