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

[psychlist]

Originally posted by kwikbitch
I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!

Glad I'm not the only one Lisa

[dave w]

I must be SICK..... I love the danger !! All ads to the buzz

[kwikbitch]

Originally posted by dave w
I must be SICK..... I love the danger !! All ads to the buzz

Nah...we all are attention seeking,adrenalin junkies in some form or another...

(or is that just me?)

[skidlids]

Originally posted by psychlist
No!

I'll 2nd that

Yes the roads are more crowded than they were twenty years ago, but even then there was always the chance of rounding a bend to find a slow moving tractor or broken down car.
Luckily these days I ride a more powerful bike so overtaking is easier with less time spent on the wrong side of the road.

Many of the lads I have raced with over the years have given up road riding, I can't see why I see road riding as a discipline just like racing is but patience and awareness play a bigger part.

[Monty]

I nearly gave it up 3 years ago when I was hit from behind by a drunken pikey-who then did a runner-but I love it too much to do it. I know I would miss the roads particularly since I like to do the odd long trip-which is why my ST has 21,000 miles on it in 3 years-in fact it was actually 18,000 in 2 years since I haven't ridden it much this year.
If you notice my tagline it says "Growing old Disgracefully" well that's me, and I intend to do it on my bike.

John

[Paul James]

I'll second that, Monty is a disgraceful old perv.

[uncledunnie]

I'm in the Yeti camp on this one.

I gave up riding on the road earlier this year too. Sure I miss having a road bike to jump onto when the weathers great but mile for mile I get much more enjoyment from trackdays now on the 999.

I felt the plod/god risk was getting too great - or too great for me now anyway.

I had to take the 999 in for the oil cooler recall earlier this year - stuck all the lights back on etc - rode to the dealer and home again and hated every minute of it.

Endless clutch slipping at low speed in the traffic - dodging the carefully placed obstructions on the roads courtesy of the highway authorities, ever watching all the other road users and anticipating their next move, joining a major road from a slip road, looked down at the clock - 100mph. No thanks not for me anymore - not on my type of bike anyway!!!

If I ever decide to ride on the road again it definately won't be on a sports bike!!

[uncledunnie]

Oops, forgot to add....

I've been riding bikes since the age of 10 and now I'm nearly 40, so is it an age/responsibility thing that starts to kick in or is it as Yeti said - are the roads really too dangerous or condusive to sports bike riding in a sports bike manner??

[uncledunnie]

Know just what you mean Weeksy - pretty sad in some respects but then again the smiles from a good session on the track lasts for days!!!!

[desmojen]

Totally agree Weeksy, after all, if you come hurtling out of a bend at 120+ and some guy is pulling out of a side road, is it really his fault if you get in a mess trying to stop? I don't think so.
Like Weeksy I've been off the road for about 18 months now, I do miss it because one of the highlights was going to race meetings on my bike, it just doesn't seem right going in the van!