how do you drive?

Spudmonkey

Last weekend I met a couple of bikers down in Clare and we drove for a few miles. Afterwards they (obviously got tired driving at my speed) and took off towards Ennis.

This led me to think maybe I'm overly cautious on the road but I was still driving at the limit. These roads are quite windy, great for the bike but at the same time haven't the best surface and have a few very sharp bends. Needless to say I left them off and pottered along at my own speed.

so am I a wuss? Is 100-120 on narrow roads you've never driven on excessive, dangerous, reckless? How would you handle rounding a corner on a narrow country road and having a tractor come out on front of you? Have you ever had any close calls in situations like this? Interested to hear peoples opinions on this to see if this is the norm.

b_mac2

I'll be honest here, I drive like an idiot on the back roads. I don't ever take in to account, that there could be something around this blind bend, or think, could I stop in time if someone pulled out of the junction ahead? Basically I drive as fast as my own abilities allow, but if an unexpected hazzard appears, 90% of the time I'm not gonna have time to deal with it.

Every time I get home from a spin and jump off the bike, I say to myself that I'll never ever do that again. I would honestly be angry with myself.
But see once I put that lid on again? I do it all over again.... a lot of lads are a different beast on a bike unfortunately.

Wonda-Boy

b_mac2 wrote: »

I'll be honest here, I drive like an idiot on the back roads. I don't ever take in to account, that there could be something around this blind bend, or think, could I stop in time if someone pulled out of the junction ahead? Basically I drive as fast as my own abilities allow, but if an unexpected hazzard appears, 90% of the time I'm not gonna have time to deal with it.

Every time I get home from a spin and jump off the bike, I say to myself that I'll never ever do that again. I would honestly be angry with myself.
But see once I put that lid on again? I do it all over again.... a lot of lads are a different beast on a bike unfortunately.

Fair play and very honest answer, TBH I would be probably much the same. I personally think I do drive to fast the majority of the time and it has been said to me a few times but I never ever feel out of my comfort zone, I am always totally relaxed and never showing off or any of that jazz.

I think its whatever you feel is normal, from the moment I got the bike (starting out) I was out with people who were very good and rode fast so TBH it feels totally normal to ride around that little bit quicker.

I will say I ride fast when you can ride fast, as in not going through towns and villages etc. but when you can see whats what.

And NO I dont think I am a better rider then someone who rides slower, I have to move it on in case my bike over heats!!!!

zubair

Firstly, you're 100% right to consider things like, the wind, surface, random tractors etc. you're not on a track and these are some of the many dangers out there. Read the road and the situation as best you can and ride accordingly. But remember that riding accordingly will be different for each rider.

Im not sure how long you're on the bike but you need to consider that each rider will have varying experience. This is where your group (friends?) has failed, they could have torn up the road and waited for you at the next junction.

Also, I wouldn't write off that these guys are mad in the head going at those speeds and you're right to go slower, you could potentially learn a lot from them.

gerrowadat

Drive at the speed you're grand at. I'm still new on the bike and still building up confidence, so have been one of the slower lads at sunday spins. Doesn't bother me, drive at what seems a safe speed, once you're not going slow enough to make other drivers do stupid things.

DubVelo

Drive your own drive and feck everyone else.

No-one else knows your bike and your own limits like you do. The consequences are all on you if you go beyond your limits and it all goes wrong.

If you think about it, it's plain madness to blast full speed ahead where you can't see. I've come around blind corners so often to be faced with a big feckin' piece of farm machinery / farm muck / farmers out walking / farmers car stopped in the road for a chat / farm animals / farmers out running. Basically it's farmers ruin the back roads in this country...
And potholes.

A few months back I was being tailgated by cars on the way home, now I leave them for dust without feeling like I'm going fast or taking risks. It's just a bit more experience.

Galway K9

I really don't feel I'm a wuss, if i know there's no junctions ahead, good road, clear visibility then i will let it rip, however, around town, If i am filtering, i go at a slow consistent pace, if anything happens i have better chance of reacting to it on time, the main reason i do it is to give ease to car drivers that are intimidated by filtering, if it looks stable, cautious and controlled, the cars end up being more courteous to you. (could be just me).

I have been driving 9 years and haven't had an accident in 8 years. And i hope i don't have one, i have too many friends that have left this way.

szatan84

Had the same problem as you, met a few bikers and they left me far behind going crazy speeds around bends. Completely put me off ride outs and such. Now I ride alone and have no problen admiring the view along the way.

zubair

Tbh it seems some of you have found the wrong group to ride with. While I enjoy my solo spins and commuting the highlight for me is meeting up with the lads for a blast.

Mesrine65

Ride at a pace within your comfort zone & let the Kamikazi pilots do their own thing.

It's meant to be an enjoyable experience after all, the road home will still be there.

Spudmonkey

zubair wrote: »

Firstly, you're 100% right to consider things like, the wind, surface, random tractors etc. you're not on a track and these are some of the many dangers out there. Read the road and the situation as best you can and ride accordingly. But remember that riding accordingly will be different for each rider.

Im not sure how long you're on the bike but you need to consider that each rider will have varying experience. This is where your group (friends?) has failed, they could have torn up the road and waited for you at the next junction.

Also, I wouldn't write off that these guys are mad in the head going at those speeds and you're right to go slower, you could potentially learn a lot from them.

I think the only thing I'd learn from the lads driving between Laragh and Blessington is that its only a matter of time before one of them comes a cropper or hits someone else!

I didn't know these lads so they had no reason to wait for me, also while I've been driving for ~6 years I'd say I still have a lot to learn but thats the same of everyone irregardless of experience.

Don't get me wrong I've nothing against letting rip every now and then (was actually done for speeding a month ago :mad:) but if I'm unfamiliar with a road, its surface or anything like that I'll drive accordingly which is something that I can't say the others were.

Richard tea

Im defo in the slow coach category. Its my own fault though. I have probably sat in the saddle for 3 weeks since last OCT:(. Bad weather and working on the bike is the reason. I lack major confidence in slow maneuvers and the tighter bends & this is simply because of the lack of practice.

I sometimes think the auld cb and myself havent bonded like true lovers:P
I remember Goodlad explaining to me before that he wasnt great at bends before and when he changed bike it was a complete difference in handling and he was soon flying along. I know when I done the test on Lookbehindyou's bike I noticed the cornering and so on felt alot easier.

Spudmonkey

TBH I'm just delighted to know I'm not alone. :pac:

b_mac2

Spudmonkey wrote: »

TBH I'm just delighted to know I'm not alone. :pac:

Your doing the right thing anyway. Just take it handy, it'll come to you. You will learn far more about road positioning and lifting your point of view if your taking it at your own pace. Going too hot in to a coner, your just gonna be all over the place, panic and learn nothing.

goodlad

zubair wrote: »

Tbh it seems some of you have found the wrong group to ride with. While I enjoy my solo spins and commuting the highlight for me is meeting up with the lads for a blast.

Sure were all incredibly sound

Mr Sheen!

I feel sorry for the guys who have said they dont go out with groups anymore because the fast pace of their first ride out put them off.

I went out for my first spin with the lads off the Sunday spin thread when I only had my first bike a week or too. Lookbehindyou invited me along.

I was probably the newest to bikes that was out in the group and I was amazed at the speed some of the lads could travel at. I was near the back for the first few weeks but never left alone. An experienced rider would normally hang back and let me follow their lines.

Roll on a few years, a few bikes, many miles and a few countries and now I can keep up with the front of the group if I want, depends what mood Im in ( Im a sucker for a nice fast twisty section).

I still would not class myself as an experienced rider but Im getting there by putting many many miles under my belt. Its great to see the new lads to bikes getting out with us also week in week out and hopefully they are learning from my lines like I did starting off.

Its great when someone very experienced turns up too so I can follow there lines.

I ride the bike 6 days a week on my own and I enjoy every minute of it. But you lads need to try find a group of riders you can go out and ride at your own pace and they ride at their own pace be it faster or slower than you. The crack you will have with a few like minded folk is great!

millingmachine

I just do me own thing. If bikes want to fly off into the distance, so be it.

gipi

I'm the queen of slow....

Wonda-Boy

gipi wrote: »

I'm the queen of slow....

And I am the king of speed, maybe we could make average speed babies.....


:eek:



:pac::pac::pac::pac:

blade1

Wonda-Boy wrote: »

And I am the king of speed, maybe we could make average speed babies.....


:eek:



:pac::pac::pac::pac:

More like the King of cheesy chat up lines!!:pac::pac::pac:

Wonda-Boy

blade1 wrote: »

More like the King of cheesy chat up lines!!:pac::pac::pac:

Jealousy is a killer mate.....lol

peckerhead

When I were a young lad, like most, I drove like a lunatic, but when I got up on a bike again after a 15-year break I have to admit it felt very different, even long after I'd found my legs again and the rustiness had passed. When I look down at that tarmac passing my ankles at 100kph+, I guess I just have a keener sense of what it would mean if I came off. Old bones break easy.

I don't mind opening it up on a stretch of motorway or a good clear straight, but on back roads I won't go faster than allows me to see a distance clear in front of me that I know I can safely stop in - allowing for, ahem, diminished eyesight and reaction times. Hoorin' into a wide bend hoping for the best, no thanks...!

Skill Magill

I drive wondering why is that chap ahead of me? And then, he's not.

unclebill98

I was doing the Ring Of Kerry last year and was being over taking by lads on honda 90's. They are going around bends trying to get the knee down.

Let them at it. I've had 3 offs so I'm at the stage where I'm probably over doing it with the safety thing but I can't afford to break anything so I'll just stick to slow and steady.

I stopped doing the Honda50/90 runs mainly due to lads really acting the idiot on them. Getting passed on the left at round abouts etc.

arybvtcw0eolkf

b_mac2 wrote: »

I'll be honest here, I drive like an idiot on the back roads. I don't ever take in to account, that there could be something around this blind bend, or think, could I stop in time if someone pulled out of the junction ahead? Basically I drive as fast as my own abilities allow, but if an unexpected hazzard appears, 90% of the time I'm not gonna have time to deal with it.

Every time I get home from a spin and jump off the bike, I say to myself that I'll never ever do that again. I would honestly be angry with myself.
But see once I put that lid on again? I do it all over again.... a lot of lads are a different beast on a bike unfortunately.

Good answer, and that was me until maybe fifteen years ago (a little more maybe).

I like to think I've slowed down, and I do think I have however mates tell me I'm still riding way too fast.

My bike has been off to the road recently, but I got it back on Thursday evening and was delighted.. In the meantime a close mate of mine was killed, his riding abilities were many times mine. Safety was always paramount with him, on ride outs and the various rides we done for charity his brief always included rider safety and respect for other road users and his parting remarks were almost always 'NO FOOKING WHEELIES LENNY' (to me).

Sunday two weeks back he was killed on a charity ride.

I picked up my bike from the mechanics on Thursday, and haven't stopped thinking about him. I'd normally be a complete bollox off from the lights, going to work last night I got the usual traffic light drag race and just backed it off where normally I'd toy with someone, or give a big ol' show off.

Leaving work last night and a few lads asked me to wheelie, I was tempted but one of the lads who was at the accident two weeks ago said 'Lenny don't fooking wheelie, there's been enough of us killed' ~ like a fooking idiot I pulled a half hearted wheelie and cursed myself for my stupidity and sincerely I hope its my last one.

OP ride well with in your own capabilities and feck the rest of 'em.

Its an old saying which goes 'There are bold bikers, and there are old bikers. But there are no old bold bikers'.

Big safe, and "NO FOOKING WHEELIES" (RIP Aidan).

Sorry for the lecture.

Del2005

I ride slow myself but that's because I had a good few years off the bike and haven't done enough mileage to get my confidence back up. My biggest dread was being overtaken by a local on a moped going over the Alps, luckily there where none only big bikes passing me.

I'm always last in my group rides but I don't care as I get there eventually.

Vikings

I ride to get where I am going. Wherever that may be, I'm arriving on two wheels and in one piece. If that means driving miss daisy then so be it. I'm already getting there quicker than half the cars on the road, if I want to get somewhere quicker I leave 5 minutes earlier rather than push the bike on.

The problem with public roads is generally the rest of the public. Unpredictable at best, even if you are riding within your limits something can and will pop up that is going to cause you a problem. It's only a matter of time. You don't need to get your knee down on your way to work, you don't need to pop a wheelie on the way to the shops, you don't need to stoppie outside the chipper. There is just too much going on out there in the real world that has the potential to hurt or kill you, I certainly can't see any reason to increase those chances.

prunudo

I'm only on bikes 5 years and would class myself as on the slow side. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I ride fast but other times for one reason or another and I'm not ar$ed and just toddle along. But do I care, absolutely not, if I feel I'm holding anyone up I'll just pull in, stretch the legs, have an ice cream and let them on.
I find the fun in riding the bike is as much as the route you choose and what you see along the way as it is the buzz you can get from tearing around the place. Just my take on it.

amacca

OP you are right not to be dragged into doing speeds you are not comfortable with.

Riding slow can be a hazard at times but I reckon I've seen many more people endanger themselves because they get dragged into doing speeds (sometimes without realising) where they are way out of their comfort zone.


I'm no saint but I have a some rules that have kept me safe and without an accident for the last ten years after a close call when I was younger

1) I never ever go into a corner I can't see beyond (the other side of) at a speed I wouldn't be able to pull up almost immediately

Taking risks with this is what has two lads that lived near me dead (one ran into the back of a tractor, the other ran in under a truck)......and Ive seen a couple of riders over the years overestimate their ability and go over the line to the other side of the road (all it would have taken was a car etc coming the other way)

My reasoning beyond the obvious of their being a slow or stationary thing to run into etc is if you are going fast round a corner the bike is on its side and if you have to pull up quickly a handful of front brake probably equals a trip through the air or an inexperienced panicky foot on the back equals a slide into oncoming traffic.....+ as others have said you can't see where the lump of muck or gravel or as happened to me last year small heap of grain that fell out of a trailer is.

2) when on the straight open road I concentrate on the road ahead of me and almost nothing else - looking for changing road conditions (gravel/oil etc in the middle and long distance) and gaps or even a hint of one with anything poking out of it or about to poke out of it.

another local lad died when he crashed into a van that backed out of a gap suddenly into his path (probably without the driver looking)



If I'm with a group by design or circumstance (which I rarely am) I will only keep pace if I'm not breaking either of these rules...sometimes I could go faster but most of the times I let them off or pull over and let them by. Its not worth being dead and its definitely not worth being paralysed/brain damaged no matter what people say..........having a bike and enjoying is worth a calculated risk imo but I won't play russian roulette like some and hopefully I won't be unlucky despite doing my best to be safe.

CJhaughey

99% of my riding is rural back roads and the amount of hazards present every single day is staggering, potholes, animals on the road, farm machinery, substances on the road (gravel, slurry, mud etc), not even mentioning other drivers of all kinds of vehicles.
So I ride like I want to arrive alive and see my family when I get back.
This is still no guarantee but riding defensively can help.

arybvtcw0eolkf

CJhaughey wrote: »

99% of my riding is rural back roads and the amount of hazards present every single day is staggering, potholes, animals on the road, farm machinery, substances on the road (gravel, slurry, mud etc), not even mentioning other drivers of all kinds of vehicles.
So I ride like I want to arrive alive and see my family when I get back.
This is still no guarantee but riding defensively can help.

Whenever I've to go to the lads in North Dublin Motorcycles (esp. in winter) my heart is in my throat for the same reasons.

gerrowadat

CJhaughey wrote: »

99% of my riding is rural back roads and the amount of hazards present every single day is staggering, potholes, animals on the road, farm machinery, substances on the road (gravel, slurry, mud etc), not even mentioning other drivers of all kinds of vehicles.
So I ride like I want to arrive alive and see my family when I get back.
This is still no guarantee but riding defensively can help.

Same. A good few years of car driving on these roads gives you the experience of what can be around a corner. I've had a few close shaves even on the pushbike, going round the corner and some auld lad has a load of cones out because he's cutting his hedge, or suddenly around this time of year there's a heap or straw or grain or seed on the road, or a big mucky skidmark makes your day a bit more complicated.

There's a set of twisty roads I go on the odd time commuting, between celbrige and barberstown, culminating in an almost 90 degree completely blind corner. I'd say I've gone round it at 40kph max and that's still hairy, and almost always with a lad in a car parked up my hole.

I have to wonder how much a attention lads who do mostly city driving are paying. It's a completely different game once you get outside town.

CJhaughey

These will slow you down if you have any sense.

faceman

Generally speaking I drive at road speed limits. Especially on non motorway and back roads. It's not me I'm worried about, it's everyone else. I've been riding 14 years and had two nasty accidents, both the fault of other drivers.

If you want to drive at speed over the limit do a track day.

Now as for OTT acceleration, well, I'm all up for that!

Cienciano

I'm too worried about road hazards to go fast into a corner. Most of my recreational riding is done on roads I don't know. Once I went to fast into a corner that was tighter than you thought and ended up in the oncoming lane or into a field was enough to realise how easy you can end up dead.
I know enough people that died on bikes, and another couple in wheelchairs. Fúck that.

listermint

CJhaughey wrote: »

99% of my riding is rural back roads and the amount of hazards present every single day is staggering, potholes, animals on the road, farm machinery, substances on the road (gravel, slurry, mud etc), not even mentioning other drivers of all kinds of vehicles.
So I ride like I want to arrive alive and see my family when I get back.
This is still no guarantee but riding defensively can help.

This in a nutshell, between weddings and births I want to be there for them all. My bike brings a smile to my face i dont want it to bring fear. Theres enough of that out there.

dre_jspeed

Personally I think its different strokes for different folks. Personally I like cruising alone taking in the view. While others like to put the head down and burn up the road. Drive at what you feel most comfortable at.