Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > Breaking the law - where do you stand?

[Lily]

sorry - discussion post again.....

After reading a couple of posts on another forum about bikers stunting on the road or doing excessive speeds there seemed to be a lot of comments that this is either impressive and cool or reckless and giving bikers a bad name.

So where do you stand?

I will give an example:
One individual commented that car drivers would see the offending stunter as a hooligan and this would likely make him adjust his driving attitude towards all bikers.

On one side this may be true, but look at it if the biker had done something accidentally that appeared to the car driver the same.

So is it the biker at fault for the the change in attitude or the car driver in each of these cases??

Personally I have been known to maybe break the law on the odd occasion, but i try not to do things that are highly visible and likely to get me noticed.

Where do you stand on breaking the law? Speeding/reckless overtakes/racing/stunting??? what is acceptable to you?

[bradders]

ok with stunts, as with anything depending on situation etc, but dont condone stupid (70 in a 30) speed. Not sure about 3fgs on roads anymore, now I'm older and wiser I think 99 is enough.....and if I had the skill I'd also be a hooligan

[Jools]

It's all down to whether we can demand double standards in my view.

Should we expect the law to clamp down on car, van and truck drivers who pull out without looking, spill diesel, talk on mobiles and the hundreds of other things they do to two wheeled road users that range from simply discourteous to downright dangerous? I think most of us would agree that of course we should expect the law to make some effort to make the roads a safer place for us (even if the realities of strapped resources and over reliance on speed cameras mean that the law can't be adequately policed).

So can we argue that we want the roads to be a safer place so that we've got a better playground to go stunting in?

IMHO the road is not a place for stunts, especially because the number of people who can do stunts well are a tiny handful, the rest are just wannabees who seem to me like they're on the very limit of their machine control and sometimes over it. The problem with those people I've seen who have a stunt mentality is that they need to feed off an audience and I've seen some pretty irresponsible foolery down high streets crowded with traffic and unwary pedestrians. I also had a gixer that followed me for a mile or two in my car last year then overtook me on his back whee,l landed it badly, and nearly lost the front end right in front of me. OK so he probably saw the DSC sticker in the back window and decided to show the 'Ducati riding tosser' how a real riding god rides, but he may also make a habit of that with Joe Public.

When you've got that sort of behaviour happening it's not surprising that Joe Public thinks all bike riders are dangerous tossers who need locking up. It just plays into the hands of the road safety fascists and gets 40 mph speed limits in open countryside (all the way for miles between villages)on otherwise wonderful roads.

Me? I'm no angel, but I stick to 30's and 40's. National speed limit out on open roads? well, it's my license and I have been known to hoik the front wheel over hump back bridges, but only when I'm not endangering (or showing off to) anyone else

[Lily]

ok jools... I kinda agree with what you are saying, but back in devil's advocate mode.....

i try to overtake sensibly most of the time and try to ride within my limits ( I can't do stunts so not an option) Having said that there have been a few times when i have misjudged something and the outcome would make me look like a hooligan to anyone who didn't know better.

So where do you draw the line??

Is it acceptable to do stunts if its not in a dangerous place or for an audience? who makes that judgement on what is or is not safe?

(not having a go at you here, just trying to provoke a debate )

[JPM]

Devil's advocate....

Say you were going round a nice fast corner decked out, some may say that's showboating, showing off..... others may say that's dangerous, and could be deemed as irresponsible, others may say that that person is riding well within their limits, and they have perfect body position for the speed and nature of the turn to get round the corner safely...

[DC]

I think this little island of ours is getting to crowded! Every person wants to be doing their thing their way. Every one is right and its all the other people that are wrong tyre attitude!

I do not know where its gonna all end up

I just do what I do and get on with it. Dont really talk about it. Make sure that I ride well and treat other road users as best I can. I treat the road like it is, a road


DC

[Rocker]

Originally posted by Lily

So where do you stand?

In the Dock normally
Seriously Whilst I have no objection to making good progress the phrase time and place seems appropiate
I personally feel that stunts & racing on the road are unacceptable. Would you appreciate the local boy racer doing doughnuts near your parked bikes. baisically anything that puts someone else in danger is not acceptable
I may sound like a B.O.F. but I guess what I'm saying is enjoy your road riding but engage brain before the clutch

[Ian]

Ok here we go, firstly my opinions are here just that; my opinions. Not that of the DSC, and I am certainly not trying to impose my opinions on other people, but as you asked, here we go.

I have been thinking for sometime about the differing attitudes of the “general public” towards motorcyclists in this country as I think we will all agree there are some countries that treat their motorcyclists with a lot more respect than what we are faced with. I can drive (in my executive saloon) into any hotel in the UK and get a meal, room, and have even had valet parking before. However I have been turned away at the car park before even getting to the door when I have ridden up on a bike. I am the same person but they judge me negatively as I am riding a motorbike. However I have ridden into a Monte Carlo luxury hotel to be warmly greeted to the point of the owner taking his own car out of his garage and parking in the street so myself and mates can garage our bikes.

The issue of law breaking, show boating, load exhausts, small number plates, Fast Bikes magazine with wheelies on front cover all have an extremely detrimental effect on our hobby, as they influence public opinion. You and I may realise that somebody getting knee down on a roundabout is no big deal, but to the non motorcyclist it is at best irresponsible.

Why is it that the Spanish and Italian and to some extent French dominate in MotoGP? Because it is their companies that are putting in the sponsorship money; Telefonica, Freixnet, Gauloisses, Repsol etc. In those countries people that do not ride bikes see the sport for what it is, enormous fun; they respect it and those that ride bikes. Why do no British, American or Australian companies put money into MotoGP? Because in their home countries to be seen as linking your company with motorcyclists is to be seen as trouble, or certainly negative. So next time you buy Fast Bikes, or Performance Bikes you are putting a nail in the coffin of the likes of Neil Hodgson or Shane Byrne getting a decent ride in the top class of racing. The recent Troy Bayliss/Carlos Checa switch is proof of sponsorship power.

In saying all of that I confess that as a youngster I got up to all sorts naughtiness; Chelsea Bridge to Heston Services (real) road racing was a favourite naughty. So you youngsters be prepared to turn into your boring parents, I am. I recently rode with somebody I would describe as an extremely quick A to B road rider, he was an off duty policeman. It was stick to the 30mp’s without doubt, stick to the 40mph’s and 50mph’s, but de-restricted roads ride to the conditions. It was the best days riding for me this year, and believe me it pushed me to the limit.

[Rocker]

Originally posted by Ian
. It was stick to the 30mp’s without doubt, stick to the 40mph’s and 50mph’s, but de-restricted roads ride to the conditions. It was the best days riding for me this year, and believe me it pushed me to the limit.

I don't want to be pedantic but should that not read " National Speed limit applies roads" ? I don't know of any derestricted roads on mailamd Britain. Otherwise I fully endorse your views

[Ian]

that's what I meant, fanks Rocker, it was a long waffle and I am getting confused in my old age.