| All good points. I pretty much ride all year when I can. I go out during the week and at weekend. A few weeks ago when the weather improved and the summer only riders dragged their bikes out for the first time it was mayem. As Ian (Dseered) mentions motorcyclists have been falling off in lumps over the last few weekends and there has been a number of fatalities. A friend of mine sold his ZX10r to Tim 18 months or so back as he had a couple of minor accidents himself and we had lost a few friends all in the space of a month or so. He decided it was not worth it anymore. Anyway a few weeks back he decides he will have a ride out on the gsx14000 thing he kept but only did 400 miles on in 2 years. We set off and within 20 minutes came across a bike accident which was a fatality, 30 minutes after that we were at a cafe and some lads we know arrived and told us not to go on such and such road as there had just been an head on with a bike and a van. Within an hour we had got to Devils bridge and some other lads informed us not to go on the Sedburgh Rd as it was now close to to a bike accident. The same road where only 30 minutes later I had to ride into the gutter to avoid a lad on a Mille r coming toward me who had run wide on a left hander into my path.
Felt sorry for my mate who stopped riding because of all this (he used to do 12-15000 miles a year on his bike) He finally decides to have another go and is comfronted by all this. He went home that day and put the bike away and its not been out since. The day after he takes his new girlfriend out in the car to the Lakes and on the way back comes across another biker dead in the road.
It seems to me that most of these people who havent ridden since last summer are just dragging the bike out of the garage and going nuts on them. The roads have not been in the best of condition after winter and they just dont seem to make allowance for that. I'm fortunate in that I can get out during the week and when out I come across the same people I know that do the same because they will just not ride up there at weekend because of the idiots. Its the same people that are speeding through villages and then complaining that the police are everywhere and spoiling it for us with their speed traps and stop checks etc.  |