Middle Age Bikers on Jap sport bikes

[Big Black Stilo]

who here finds them totally dangerous and annoying?

Im not trying to paste all of them before anyone starts, i had a run in with one yesterday who was riding dangerously, pulled the worlds most stupid manourve, then gave me a mouthful of abuse at a set of lights, saying im the bad driver and the cause for the near crash? WTF?

Heres what happened.

Im in a 30 zone, already being slighty naughty being over 30, then this big jap bike pulls right up to my back bumper and tailgates me, weaving left and right trying to overtake. We then go round a bend and hit a straight peice of road, that goes over a victorian railway bridge, which narrows the road, he then opens up, comes flying past me on the bridge, then realises there is a row of parked cars on the opposite side of the road, just after the bridge that narrow the road to one lane. we are approaching these and he still hasnt got past. Just before he is going to hit the point of no return he then swings in in front of me, causing me to brake harshly before i clip him (even then it was still effing close), and him nearly run in the back of the car infront of me as that has started to brake and turn left. I flashed my lights to congratulate him on such a fine manourve, he rides off into the distance.

Then when i get to the next set of lights hes there. i roll up (my window was already open) and he looks accross, opens his visor and starts a barrage of effing and jeffing and abuse that i cant drive, so i let rip back, infurated by his accusations (was i the one riding a bike, that decided to overtake a car already above the speed limit on the most dangerous stretch of road?). He then shoots off from the lights when it turns green, and at the roundabout down the road, he overtakes a car thats turning right on the round about, for him to then turn right as well (not a two lane roundabout, and a tight turn for a car)

He was middle aged and riding like a proper dick & i bet he was so angry because he had been riding like that all afternoon and getting abuse. I just wish i was a copper in an umarked car with this ring nut.

You never see middle aged men do this on harleys or goldwings, its always replica race leathers and japanese sport bikes. And they wonder why they get hit, maimed and killed.

I wonder if he actually watched traffic cops on wednesday

I have respect for motorcylists, most of my mates are, and so is future dad in law and his mates, and having ridden push bikes on the road and seen some nasty motorcycle accidents, i always look out for and am aware of motorcyclists

rant over

 

[Mikey-D]

That sounds bad, but I have 2 18 year old mates who ride restricted jap sports bikes (Bandit 400 and CBR 600 F) and they both ride like utter idiots, particularly when i'm with them in my car, as they seem to have to prove that their bikes are faster than me (which isn't exactly an achievement!). But anyway they both take risks (overtaking lines of traffic through blind corners etc) and IMO are the worst road users i've ever seen, particularly as they both lack the experience needed to ride as fast as they do.

 

[Focus Owner]

I have never had a motorcycle overtake me
they seem to avoid me

i have had one tho
a learner and instructor
the elarner crashed intot he instructor i followed at 10mph for 1/4 mile

found it quite amusing

 

[ChrisUK]

should have removed his helmet and beat him to death! .

 

[alainax]

born again bikers

 

[Chas Uno]

This has been reported in the news before and it's not hard to see what the problem is:

"In the UK, it's estimated that about one-and-a-half million people have motorbikes, but the number of those aged over 25 has doubled while those aged under 25 has fallen.

Part of the reason is demographic. The fathers of the 1960s are now emerging back into a world without children.

And the cost of bikes and, perhaps more importantly, the leather gear which accompanies them is so high that it's a luxury for those on higher salaries.

The result is a profile, perhaps a little exaggerated, of a middle manager who plays golf and rides a powerful bike, what the tabloids call 'balding funsters' or 'baby-boom bikers'."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4208163.stm

And more reports with similar findings:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/3054285.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/3660537.stm

"People are buying powerful machines which frankly exceed their skills - we have middle-aged males on a Sunday afternoon, on a powerful machine, they lose it and then they end up dead."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/2966119.stm

 

[T14086]

"People are buying powerful machines which frankly exceed their skills - we have middle-aged males on a Sunday afternoon, on a powerful machine, they lose it and then they end up dead."

Can say the same about car drivers though.

 

[Chas Uno]

"People are buying powerful machines which frankly exceed their skills - we have middle-aged males on a Sunday afternoon, on a powerful machine, they lose it and then they end up dead."

Can say the same about car drivers though.

Very true, but modern fast cars have abs, traction control, ESP and all sorts of other driver aids. A car by its very design is more stable than a bike and in an accident you're more likely to get less serious injuries. Plus a powerful bike offers far more performance per pound. £3k will get you a bike that will out drag a modern supercar!

Don't get me wrong, I'm a biker myself (well, ex biker ) but even I realise how daft it is for a born again biker to get on a 'Busa with no experience of riding for the past 20 years. A bike is only as safe as its rider, and inexperienced born again bikers aren't likely to be very safe. Especially as they're often used to driving a vehicle with driver aids - a bike has none and will not forgive your mistakes...

 

[T14086]

Understand what your saying but imagine a ton & half of car going out of control in a crowded high street!

 

[paulbfd]

I don't buy into this born again biker crap.

The BABs I know ride very carefully because they're kacking it that they'll fall off!

However, the guys I know of similar age who've been riding without a break are the ones who really ride fast and are binning it.

Like my mate Ken, or "Corn Dolly" as he's known after flinging his R1 into a corn field!

 

[alainax]

A bike is only as safe as its rider,

exactly

Theres no point to these arguments, there are some people who are fantastically safe bikers/ driver and other who aren't, no matter what age group or class of drivers/bikers they come under, they all have individual differences.

 

[punto_matt]

That biker just sounds like an arse tbh. Bikers moan that they have a bad rep but what to they expect when the odd one is behaving like that. Pop onto some biking forums, majority of them will absolutely slate riders like that.

 

[paulbfd]

The few will always spoil it for the many, be it speeding bikers or rioting football fans.

 

[Chas Uno]

The few will always spoil it for the many, be it speeding bikers or rioting football fans.

For every bad biker there will be at least 10 good ones.

For every good car driver there will be at least 1000 bad ones.

 

[Big Black Stilo]

the three motocycle crashes that have happend in front of me or i was first on scene have all been japanese bikes and the riders are male in their late 30s to mid 40s, and its always been their fault.

One was overtaking the car infront on a blind bend only to find a car comming round the corner on the other side of the road and then got into a tank slapper.

I have seen one other incident outisde of the three above that was a car drivers fault, an elderly woman pulled out onto a biker, that was a mess but he was ok (middle aged man on a jap bike as well!) but the old woman went into shock and had a heart attack. Luckily the biker new what to do. Its a shame his passenger wouldnt shut her mouth from screaming about whos fault it was and kicking off. Biker was actually ok about it. passenger needed a slap

 

[SeicentoS]

A boy who lives down the road from me got smashed when an old woman reversed out of her drive and straight into him, he came off the bike and flew straight into a wall about 30-40 metres down the road, spent a LONG time in ICU and was bloody lucky to be alive. I think it turned out to be his fault as he was speeding, can't quite remember now

 

[The Beard]

I rode bikes from age 17 to 22, a series of 2-stroke Kwaks and then returned to the fold in 2002 with a Yamaha FJ1200, not the most conservative of BAB bikes, but, it comes down to attitude. As someone mentioned on here, I'm more concened (cacking it?) about dropping it then being a hero. Mind you, being safe (cowardly) is what might keep me alive. It's more than that though, because if you just ride/drive slowly and wait for something to happen then sooner or later you become the victim rather than the perpetrator. A neighbour of ours bought a brand new Yamaha R1 last year, he's about 52,complete with new leathers, helmet and boots. On his first ride he stopped at a set of lights. Unfortunately, because of the high footpegs and stiffening knee joints he didn't quite get his foot down in time. Result? More helpless than a beached whale. Next week the bike was in Autotrader and the leathers in the Manchester Evening News. He offered them to me for
£50. I've looked ridiculous a few times in my life, but I was determined I wasn't going to look THAT ridiculous.

 

[dave]

should have slowed down an let him in sooner, he may be a div an in the wrong, but a big bike coming through your windscreen is going to hurt

 

[Big Black Stilo]

should have slowed down an let him in sooner, he may be a div an in the wrong, but a big bike coming through your windscreen is going to hurt

tbh dave, it happened so fast and in so little space, thats what made it so dangerous

 

[Dogspods]

Born agains are the worst!

Collected the bike from a service last year only to walk past the sales guy showing some 40+ bloke how to use the electric start on his R1 as "his last bike just had a kick start!" :bang:

I'm sorry but if you've had a break of 'X' amount of years riding/driving you should be made to take a refresher course or test.