Safe Spirited Riding?

Hey dudes and dudettes,

I've been seeing some threads here debating on riding fast and being safe like the one where mello dude is seeking competent riders in ohio. Plus I've discussed briefly with the forum police officer, Randy, on the speeding laws.

Anyway, this got me thinking and wondering what you all consider safe spirited riding. Yes, I know it's against the law going over the speed limit, but let's face it we have 100+ hp motorcycles that can reach 100 mph in seconds. If I wanted to stay within the speed limit I'd be on vespaworld.com

I'll start this with my own set of rules on safe spirited riding:

• If there are no cars going both ways I go as fast as I can (within my own limits) One other thing to add is if I have other riders with me I keep a safe distance from them in case they stop suddenly. Plus I keep an eye out for gravel, oil, a car coming out of nowhere, etc... I could ride faster on a track because it's a controlled environment but on the street it's a dynamic loose environment and I ride within a reasonable speed so that I can react in case something happens.
  
• If I see some occassional cars I slow down to 15-25 mph over the speed limit so that I have enough time to react in case a car swerves in front of me
  
• If I'm in dense traffic I go with the flow of traffic. In Atlanta, some highways the speed limit is pretty much ignored and 85 is the normal speed in rush hour. I'm only going that fast because everyone else is and I don't want any tailgaters riding me.
  
• If there is a construction zone or a school zone I slow down to the speed limit even if everyone else is going faster. For me, its not worth it risking someone else's life
  
• In residential streets I always go the speed limit because sometimes there are kids or people walking/jogging around.

My main stance on speeding is that I don't want to put anyone in any danger just because I want to have some fun. But if there is no one around for me to endanger, I'm redlining it! :biggrin:

What are your thoughts on this? I'm interested to hear your opinions on this.

 

Each person's opinion on what spirited is is going to be different. I even have different levels of spirited depeding on my recent track attendance. When I've been to the track a couple times in relative succession, my pace will pick up dramatically. Simply because of confidence, you have a much better feeling for what the bike will do and you're also more confident in your own abilities after you've been to the track. If you haven't been to the track, I suggest you go. You will NEVER fully understand the bike, what it can do or what you can do by riding on your street all your life. Just ask someone else who's been.

According to many on here (but not those I typically ride with) I ride much faster than what is considered "safe" based on posts and general consensus on this board. This board is in general very conservative. Again, my level of safe is different than everyone else and so on and so on. I'm never over my head or out of control although if I passed someone when I was in a more confident period, I guarantee the response inside their helmet would be "moron", "crazy", "organ donor".

You basically hit the nail on the head, I won't be joining Vespaworld.com anytime soon. I fully accept that you have to pay to play. I have paid, and will pay again undoubtedly either via tickets or a fall. I ride to much to not have incidents in some way, shape or form.

 

I ride at a spirited pace pretty much all the time. If the coast is clear, no cars and no people around, I will accelerate hard enough to power wheelie just because I like to. I ride onramps and offramps very quickly since they are a blast to lean over in and you likely wont hurt anyone else if you wipe out.
In town, I obey the speed limits. In a busy road/highway I go with the flow. If traffic is stopped still, I will lane-split.
I consider myself a very safe rider, and am sure that one day my limited lunacy will cause me to hit the dirt and toss the bike down the road, but they haven't yet, and all I can do is be careful and alert.
If I didn't love accelerating hard and a strong amount of torque all the way through the RPM range, I would own a scooter.

 

I try not to go too fast on my bike because it becomes more difficult to send text messages to my friends. :tongue:

(just kidding of course)

I do find it quite hard not to speed. It's amazing how I can be doing 60+ mph on my bike and it feels like I am only going about 20mph.





Regards,
Rollin

 

good rules for quick riding

nowdays, however any friggin' do-gooder in a cage can calll you in on cell and have cops lookin' fur 'ya

 

This is the most sane thread I've seen from Joey.

I am still fairly new to this whole thing so...
Speed limits in town
Flow of traffic on the slabs
My own ride out in the twisites and less traveled roads.

 

If I'm the only one on the road, visibility is good and the road is in good shape, the only thing that prevents me from going as fast as I would like to go is how many speeding tickets are currently on my record... :redface:

"Spirited", for me anyways, probably translates to about 35-40 MPH over the posted limit on average. I like occasional high speed runs in a straight line, but enjoy cornering speed a lot more. What always surprises me about the VFR is how well it corners for its weight, even with the stock tires. Many times I am just enjoying the cornering, not pushing any limits or putting myself (or others) in a precarious position, and find I am doing 60+ in a 35MPH zone.

Hmm. That might explain my speeding tickets. :smile: :smile:

 

Disclaimer

I have to say this. Exceeding the speed limit is an offence punishable in different ways in different jurisdiction. Regardless of the traffic or the remoteness of the highway, speeding is speeding. If you are going to opt for some excitement, and I would have a very hard time believing anyone on this site has not from time to time, you should expect that if you run across the law, they are likely to go after you and yes, most likely you will get a ticket. What I am saying here, if you blast down an empty highway, and you get caught, don't blame the highly trained and publicly paid police officer for doing exactly what we pay him to do. The comments such as "Why are you not out getting the real criminals" hold no water as I have pointed out in previous thread. It is you city, county, or state officials who decide the speed limits. If you have a problem with the limits, go see one of them. If you run across a LEO who has a shitty attitude, you have recourse, but that does not make the ticket go away. Court may. But look in a mirror objectively first before you complain about the LEO. Make sure that you are walking the high road about the attitude stuff first.

As far as you Joey mentioning that you have spoken to me, yes we did in a PM. How can I know now that you are not going to tell everyone about our secret little love nest out at the lake.:makeout:

I am not an angel. I don't live on the edge, but I do peek from time to time, actually a little more than that. Ride lots, have fun, take responsibility for your actions, but the most important thing...be safe.

Joey sweetcakes...What kind of wine should I bring Peaches.:kiss:

 

Just clarifying a few things cause it may sound like I condoned this from my previous official capacity. I did not look at the thread as a stab at my former brothers. Actually I still consider them my brothers. But I have been put out to pasture.

And yes. I have an adventurous side, have been caught, and dealt with the consequences I was dealt. Pick your time, place and level safe level of "spirited riding".

BTW. Spell check is wonderful cause I initially said "I condomed this"

 

I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings honey ha ha :lol: Don't worry :mod: he wasn't giving me tips on how to run from the law neither was he saying, "Yeah, Joey, go ahead and see what it's like riding at 150 mph what a rush!!!" :bootyshake2:

To be more specific the only issue I mentioned to Randy was the attitude with the 1% of police officers that just give you crap for going 10 over in an empty road. I mean, I would understand getting a stern talking-to if I was screaming through a construction zone but in my perspective I think it's borderline an abuse of police privilege being treated like a heartless human being just for going fast on an empty road.

Anyway, change of subject, thanks for your input guys. Seems like we're all on the same wavelength here. I will have to try a track day someday but what keeps putting me off is all the preparation for them like taking mirrors off, putting new tires on, replacing coolant with water/water wetter, etc...

I hear AlpineStars is coming out with a new glove that makes it easy to text while riding :lol:

 

I've said this before & been bashed for it, there is not one thing wrong with riding spiritedly on lesser travelled streets. In fact, I encourage it. Not everyone has access to a track. This is why roads like the Dragon are so popular. The main thing is you need to read the environment & make wise decisions based on what you see.

Considering that I need to be able to train others to ride sport bikes, it only makes sense that I need to hone my skills. Can I hone my skills riding "with the flow" in NJ traffic chock full of NJ idiots? Abso-freakin-lutely not. I have no choice but to seek out the path less travelled & put a smile on my face. Now, if the path less travelled has Edgar & Martha out for a drive in the 78 LeSabre, rest assured, the whole exercise gets put on hold until I can safely & reasonably pass them. This is one thing that most riders don't give much thought too, the act of passing. I know from observation, most riders simply pin the wrist & fly by the car at warp factor 5. Tell you what, this is a FANTASTIC way to get cagers to hate you. This is right up there with wheelies between cars on the hi-way. To pass someone:
1) DON'T FREAKING TAIL GATE!!! (You hate it when it happens to you so don't do it either)
2) Put on you signal & make completely ridiculously exagerated head checks.
3) Pull out & pass at no more than 10MPH over what the cage is driving.
4) Signal in the opposite direction & pull in safely.
5) This last on is most important. Turn you head, look at the driver & give a friendly wave.

You simply blast pass at 90MPH around Edgar & Martha doing 50MPH, trust me, they will remember & now all riders in your area need to work that much harder to ensure they aren't harrassed. This is stuff I go over in my Sport Bike classes. The MSF has curriculum that needs to be followed. The USAF course leaves a great deal of leeway to the instructor. I use that leeway to my advantage. Like I've said in many posts, lots of the younger riders act like assholes since an older, more experienced rider never sat them down & told them how NOT to act like a retard. You would be surprised just how many 20YO kids will listen. Especially once they see that you care & are not BS'ing them.

In the end, it's all a mind game. We all want to ride like Valentino but have nowhere to do so. Ride your ride & be smart about it.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

Ride fast...take Chances

complacency breeds disasters!

My eyes are UP and looking as FAR ahead as I can see.

When conditions are groovy, give 'er the berries!!!

 

+1 to KC-10 too! That's a really good point about "passing ettiquette". In some of the routes I go on sometimes cagers are pretty nice and they'll pull over to let me through. I always make sure to wave a thank you back as I go through. It may not seem a big deal doing a wave back but I agree that it helps our reputation.

And I have been in the same situation as a cager freaking out at the gixxer coming out of nowhere and I have very little respect for those kind of riders. One thing I've found they all have in common is that they just wear a helmet and have a shirt, shorts, and shoes.

One other thing to add with safe spirited riding is that I think it's very important to slow down whenever you're going through a blind corner. You never really know if there's something around there like gravel, oil, broken down car, etc... A friend of a friend got killed going over 120 on a R6 by going through a blind corner and he ran into the back of a van. If he had slowed down he would've had enough time to either swerve or brake. The bike hit so hard that you could barely tell a bike was there; it was just reduced to a pile of parts.

Moral of the story: Whether if you're a beginner or valentino rossi we all still cannot see through blind corners and must slow down.

 

I second everyone's spirited is different.

I ride different roads differently at different times depending on conditions and confidence level. I think common sense and knowing your area, the road and your own ability dictate riding style.

 

HI,
I think that when you are driving your bike you MUST avoid to discharge your life unsatisfactions reaching excessive speeds. I mean, I drive bikes since I was 14 y.o., now I am 54. Many mates driving more fast than me now are somewhere in the heaven...
I try to live as I drive and I try to drive as I live. My engine is not a weapon.That's all.
Well, Randy, I have another question : what is a LEO ? Would you be so kind to explain this ? The acronyms are the most difficult words to understand for us who speak english as a second (or third, fourth...) language.
Thank you ! And thanks to all VFR USA/Canada guys who have a kind attitude towards "across atalantic" VFR guys.
Lamps to all VFR owners !
Carmine