Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > Are our roads simply too dangerous for bikes?

[yeti]

Having made the conscious decision to give up riding the public highway, I couldn't help asking if anyone else felt the same way. Of late it seems that the roads are becoming an increasingly dangerous place to be and expecially for bikes.

There is without a doubt far more traffic about, especially HGV's, and as a direct result far more numpty's.

Old farts who should have had their licence's revoked years before as they are clearly incapable of coping with the increasing demands on the driver.

Boy racers with backward caps, and bloody minded "professional" drivers who feel because they drive for a living, it gives them the right to be less considerate and stuff the rest.

Not to mention the latest breed of super tractor capable of quite high speeds, unlike the particular item of farm equipment they haul along behind dropping whatever s**t is the current flavour of the day.

In addition, I feel a certain conspiracy between the police and the local authorities when it come to road repairs. On the roads around me (Notts and Lincs) it seems that all the favourite biking roads are last in the queue to be repaired. On one particular road there has been a large pothole right on the line mid way through a corner. Perfectly placed to catch a front wheel, but also near enough the middle of the lane to not affect non-bikes. I would hate to hit that with a magnesium front wheel!

I do further realise that in many cases we are our own worst enemies, given the type of bikes we ride, the wholly illegal exhausts and the excessive speeds we do sometimes ride at, and before you all shout at me, I include myself in that number. Yes, I ride a 996 with far more performance than is required for British roads, and Yes it does have "race" cans, and Yes yes yes, I do when the conditions are suitable ride in excess of the published speed limit. Though in my defence, not in built up area's. Hypocritical I know, but that's the reality. We ALL speed.

Well I've decided that in my 34 years of biking I've seen too many mates killed and badly hurt, hurt myself on occasion, and had a few too many near misses, so have decided to call it a day - on the road at least. So from now on it's track days for me. At least you can only be hit from behind...........

[Rattler]

They are dangerous, that's why I really only do trackdays.

Its easy to go and stop very quickly on modern sportsbikes, but its the 3rd party elements that you can't control on the road that are the problem.

I enjoy speed and was very lucky to survive a big road crash a few years back when I was riding in a "spirited" manner!!!

So in order to prevent myself and other road users from 3rd party elements, I now ride only on tracks.

Tim

[Jools]

Motorcycling is relatively dangerous, full stop.

On the road or on the track there is the ever present danger of overstepping the mark and binning it. To a certain extent, pitting your riding skill, against the hazards of riding a bike well, is what makes riding a bike more fun than other forms of vehicle.

Of course on the track, the chances of binning it are lessened by the lack of potholes, manhole covers, white lines, diesel spills, oncoming traffic, tractors and so on. Also the chances of hitting anything hard are much less. You're not likely to pile your soft little body into a telegraph pole or a phone box on the track. Having said that the chances are upped again by the increased speed you'll be doing.

I feel that the downside of riding on the track is that it's addictive for adrenalin junkies (and that probably includes a lot of us). Consequently, when we get back on the road it all seems so slow that we don't get as much of a buzz from it, therefore, we end up doing ever faster speeds on roads that (if we're honest with ourselves) were never designed for superbike performance - or ST performance come to that. I'm not talking about the roads feeling slow immediately after a track day, this effect lasts for months - well it does with me anyway.

Recently, I've found myself becoming wary of the roads and not riding with the same degree of confidence (some might call that confidence reckless abandon). On recent rideouts, that've been around the same pace as usual (and quite a bit slower than some of the more manic blasts) I've found myself barrelling into a bend with no idea whether there are obstacles just around the corner or whether the bend tightens up suddenly (especially left handers, where the consequences of running wide can mean death). I know that this sense of self preservation has caused me to ride less smoothly and quite a bit slower. Bottle gone? Yes, probably, but I'm not going to make excuses for wanting to stay alive.

[yeti]

Well said Jools, wholeheartedly agree with all you've said. If any one incident convinced me of the problem facing me was going out at the start of the season for a "quiet bimble" to clear the cobwebs. Couldn't understand why everyone else around was crawling along at 20mph, it wasn't them doing 20, it was me going a whole lot quicker than was sensible for the road.

I assume one of the manic blast's you refer to was a certain run up the Crowle road????? That wasn't manic, it was a hoot! But I take your point.

[Rob B]

I agree with Jools, gota be prepared for everything that the highway thows at you and that includes all the numpties, the gravel strewn corners, funny painted (raised) warning lines on the entries to bends, patches of chippings etc, etc.

Me, too slow for most rideouts with the boys but enjoying the Ducati ownership experince more and more. Why, it's not just about going flat out; as Rattler and others have stated, that's what tracks are for, for me it's about the clubs and the shared friends and the places we all go.

Rgds Rob

[Jools]

Originally posted by yeti

I assume one of the manic blast's you refer to was a certain run up the Crowle road????? That wasn't manic, it was a hoot! But I take your point.

You're right, it was a hoot...but that's because you could see where all the corners were going. It was also a lot more manic on an ST2 than on a well sorted SPS That was a great ride that sticks in my mind because it felt quick...but relatively safe.

Having said that, it was at the quicker end of rideout pace...but there are some rides that I can think of that have been completely ballistic.

[Rocker]

Yeti The answer to your question has to be yes and no
Yes If you want to use your sports bike in the manner in which it is intended to be used.In this case as you rightly say the track is the only safe place to do so
No If you want to use your bike as transport and ride according to the prevailing conditions.Of course even then the roads can be dangerous but IMHO not "Too" dangerous after all people still get hurt or worse on tracks.
I have used bikes as my only form of road transport for over 41 years now riding in most conditions and intend to do so as long as I physicaly can and the law allows us to do so.my wife also only rides as neither of us has ever owned a car.
As a Health & Safety Rep I am used to dealing with risk asesment and to me the risk involved in riding on the road is worth taking for the ammount of pleasure I get out of it.
Please don't take me wrong I'm not trying to say I'm right and you are wrong just that maybe we want different things out of ridingPerhaps my choice of bike compared with yours may illustrate this as I ride a Multistrada with luggage fitted and a Honda Deauville which is my ride to work bike.
As I said each to his own and it's good to know that you are not giving up on bikes altogether
I'm sorry to everyone if I have rambled on a bit too much

[Paul James]

I'm amazed at how few people quote the continued use of horses on the road as a significant danger. We were on one of those "spirited" rides last evening and experienced the typical out of control flea bag lurching about on a main road. The attitude of most horse riders is very intolerant to bike riders, they are quite happy to leave piles of steaming dung all over the road but most indignant when we happen upon them. The don't have to be insured and you often see youngsters who are totally out of control with scant adult supervision. I believe in the "live and let live" attitude but the law allowing horses on the public highway is outdated and should be amended if the government has any real interest in true safety issues.

I know exactly what you mean Jools, as I approach 50 years of age I can look back with a shudder or two at various near misses while road riding along with a few hits, which I've been remarkably fortunate to have survived !!!. I tend to be a little circumspect on roads where visibility through corners is limited, another major problem we've been faced with this "summer" is a large amount of gravel washed into the road during the many storms we've had. The cars seem to brush it into bands which normally coincide with just the right place in the road for your bike to be when negotiating a corner. Add the disgraceful state of the roads in general and it makes riding a sportsbike a real endurance test, a comment passed by several on last evenings cross country ride.

Still enjoy touring on the old ST2 and have done far more miles on that this year than the sports bikes, had to drag the "R" out last week to get a few miles in ready for Friday at Rocky.

[yeti]

Couldn't agree more with Paul's comment re horses. Back in the early 70's I had a pal end up in hospital when he rear-ended a horse. Best of it was he was coming back to camp (we were in the RAF) from seeing his girlfriend, and this was 2 in the morning. Seems he hit the local squire who was returning from the pub on horseback having had a right skinful. No lights on said horse on little suffolk back lane. Guess who got done for dangerous driving tho.................

[moto748]

Ha! I saw a woman riding a horse whilst chatting on her mobile phone the other day! I wondered if she was committing an offence. There's a fair few horse riders in my part of the world. I find most of them polite and appreciative when you slow down (and keep engine speed down, too). I wouldn't want to see them banned. If you want the road to yourself...

On the wider point, I'm a road rider. Full Stop. I don't do TD's and I'm not interested in them. Yes, the roads get ever busier and more poorly surfaced (even in Scotland this summer, where I'd been led to believe the riad surfaces were very good, I thought them pretty ordinary), but bikes have always been my primary mode of transport, like Rocker above. I have a car, but don't use it that much. Isn't pitting your wits and skills (mediocre in my case) against the traffic part of the pleasure of biking? It is for me.

And I'd be amazed if TD's were actually safer, in terms of accidents/mile, as many claim.