Cycling UK Forum

kwackers wrote: my Kawasaki ZX12 could stop in the 60mph braking distance from around 105mph.

Braking distance can be affected by so many things, weather, tyres - a good tyre can reduce distance by around 30% over a cheap one. Energy efficient tyres increase braking distance...

My Guzzi Le Mans could stop on a sixpence, my R100RS beemer on a fifty pence piece and my Jota on an aircraft carrier flight deck proving the ship was sailing into the wind and the arrestor hook worked.

Best of all was my Ducati 900ss - I think that stopped - dead - in about 3mm when the sh1t for brains mobile phone wielding bimbo in her Dad's Jaguar pulled out in front of me. Fortunately I was off the gas doing less than 20 mph at the time - 6th sense? Moi?

Gisen wrote:...Which is nothing to do with it, as has been pointed out to you on many occasions. Please try to read more carefully.
There is no need to wait at a pedestrian light with no pedestrians anywhere near it. The light is simply not functioning correctly and it should be treated as a Give Way.

I have been reading what is written, thanks.

As I have been saying, individuals judgement above the law is no excuse, and will be wrong at some horrible time.

I don't believe that in all your "years of motoring" that you've never seen a junction that doesn't have traffic lights. You're being ridiculous.

In all my years on the road I have seen thousands and thousands of junction that have no traffic lights. These junctions don't have the same rules, as you know if you read the Highway code. Every understands the rules of these junctions so safer. Change the rules, and it won't be, or have SOME who can't be bothered, and that will make it more dangerous....

Yes, very ridiculous

And yet you keep going with this destroyed slippery slope argument. Why? It's utterly discredited.
We, the people who sometimes break stupid rules, do not eat babies, and will not suddenly decide to just because we break stupid rules.

Now who is being ridiculous;)

The slippery slope of the junction is that the junctions would fail to function as intended when more choose to disregard the rules...

but this you know.

Sure david, you're perfect and never ever ever glance down at your bike, never turn to see what a sudden noise was, never do anything wrong ever.

I have never once claimed I was perfect, so why are you claiming otherwise????

You're obviously stuck to creating strawmen because you cannot answer the real questions.

Stick to the argument if you have one that is left.

there are laws which you break- which everyone breaks - knowingly or not. I don't know or care exactly which laws you break or have broken, but there is no way that you have never accidentally broken the law. It simply is not possible, and if you're trying to say otherwise then you're a liar.

I never claimed to be perfect. I don't claim everyone breaks the law all the time though.

I have made all the points I set out to make, and although some may think the rules matter so little, they have shown that the reason they do break the rules is generally because they can get away with it....

any other argument put up has shown there to be a legal option available.

So I have to ask myself whether saving a few seconds or minutes here and there by not bothering to follow the rules is worth it?

To me that answer is NO.

May be to some the answer is YES, and I do really hope those that choose to persistently break rules because they know better stay as a smallest minority; as if everyone else does choose to take their example as the way to do it, we are going to be in trouble.

Safety is an issue, and those choosing to ignore red lights or treat them as give way signs instead are taking it upon themselves to be 110% positive there is no danger to themselves or anyone they might of missed when looking.....which is why Red means stop rather than give way, with green meaning proceed with caution.

If you think a rule is stupid, campaign to have it changed. If you have not even written to your MP about a rule you think is stupid, you are not making a point that a rule is stupid by breaking it. You are just breaking the rules.

workhard wrote:

kwackers wrote:And the vehicle, some 4x4's have a stopping distance double that of a decent car. One reason I believe they've no place on the road (at least under the guise of a PLG vehicle).

Is that actually true these days? My local 4x4 nut job brother-in-law (Stands and says "Hello everyone, my name is workhard and I'm a recovering petrolhead") swears that with his anti-lock and EBD EBA and other TLA's the makers of his pantechnicon say it stops within +10% of a saloon, all else being equal - bigger brakes, bigger tyres, bigger computer to stop it all I guess.

They've improved a lot - but so have normal cars. I guess it *might* stop in that sort of distance but I think the saloon he's talking about probably isn't anything decent.
You can't fight physics, 2 plus tons and top heavy means most of the braking effort is only on the front two wheels. Invariably they carry hard tyres too. It's only the addition of computers that's given most of them the ability to stop in a straight line.
I'm not against people having them (I think they have a place). I just think they should be taken out of the PLG taxation group and taxed accordingly. Their perceived 'safety' (and it is perceived) comes at the expense of other roads users.

Having said that, it looks like the bottom has dropped out of the market. I saw a program a couple of days ago were a young(to me) couple were trying to sell one to a dealer and they couldn't give it away...

workhard wrote:

kwackers wrote:My Guzzi Le Mans could stop on a sixpence, my R100RS beemer on a fifty pence piece and my Jota on an aircraft carrier flight deck proving the ship was sailing into the wind and the arrestor hook worked.

Best of all was my Ducati 900ss - I think that stopped - dead - in about 3mm when the sh1t for brains mobile phone wielding bimbo in her Dad's Jaguar pulled out in front of me. Fortunately I was off the gas doing less than 20 mph at the time - 6th sense? Moi?

Funny how you develop a sixth sense on a bike - obviously there are cues I just don't know what they are...

I was riding along a road once when I spotted a young female waiting to pull out from my left. For some reason I knew she was just going to do it so I slowed down and stopped about a foot away just as she booted it out of the side road. As her door got level with me she looked in my direction. Her face was a picture - huge motorcyle headlights blazing just inches from her face, for a moment she obviously thought she was microseconds from death.
Funny though - and I bet it mad her think twice next time.

I nearly bought a 916, more soul than the Jap offerings (I had a FJ12 at the time). I rode up to Inverness with a friend who'd bought one and swapped on the way back. My inability to walk for days after (and the fact that he seemed to have loads of trouble with his) put me off.
Funnily enough he bought an FJ12 a year later just as I got rid and bought a ZZR11...

First bike I had was Japanese a Honda ?CB?200 but then I bought a Morini 3 1/2 and a love/hate relationship with European motorbikes started.

Amongst many of them the 900ss was great when it went but it often didn't and was HORRIBLY expensive to put right and needed constant fettling. The beemer was the best all rounder but I wished I'd tried their K1 when they were new. The Lemon was just brilliant; eccentric, loud, uncomfortable, but brilliant. The Jota was a stupid exercise in vanity and machismo which nearly killed me several times.

I kept biking into my mid-40's but started to enjoy it less and less as traffic levels went up and up, and my reflexes started to slow down. Then a born again biker mate died in a stupid flukey accident after coming off at less than 15mph on a group ride, and another mate (motorcycle paramedic) hospitalised for many months by a crash whilst on duty and Mrs Workhard told me I had to make a choice.

So it has gone full circle and the only two wheels I ride/own these days run on Muesli and Maltloaf.

I remember the Morini 3 1/2 - on my way home from school a guy used to park his on the pavement. Funnily enough he swapped it for a Jota (used to love the sound they made). My first bike was a Yamaha YL1 (little 100cc twin), it spent more time with the engine in bits (and for no good reason) than I care to remember. Some of my attempts to 'tune' it were laughable...

I've still got my ZX12 (had it for around 7 years), but agree with you, the roads are too crowded and the bikes performance just seems more and more inapropriate for them.
As the big 50 approaches I suspect it won't be long before I don't bother with it (a sad day that'll be). I've taken up microlighting now instead, nice and empty up there, once I've got my license I'll consider using the cash from the bike to buy a microlight, perhaps that'll soften its loss...