Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > The "culling season" why oh why?

[madmav]

yes it's that time of year again, get bike out on sunny day!
Go for breakfast with your mates
Up the pace on the way home
and die by the roadside

what's it all about???????????
we have had 3 fatal's and 2 serious bike crashes in a week by us!

My Theory ! (FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH)
1. Rider has forgot over the winter just how fast his bike realy is (brain has not re-ajusted ) from the pace he was doing at the end of last season b4 the lay off!
2 Bike comes out on tyres that were within the legal limit (when finished last season)
stood too long over winter,and rubber gone off,one heat cycle on the way to the cafe, rubber goe's tits up, pace picks up on way home
Rider binns it on bend or under braking!

3 Big Bollox takes over with mate's ,but roads/tarmac is'nt clean or even up to temp yet !

wadda you guys think?
comments please

[Jools]

Spot on Mav.

May is the biggest month for biker deaths and I think you've put your finger on why.

[uncle porry]

I bet a lot of the fatalities are from group riding, its rare for riders to be of the same abilty & a slower rider trying to keep up so as not to lose face is a recipie for disaster... also, when out riding with your mates, you tend to look in your mirrors more to see where your mates are & so are not fully concentrating....a rider on his/her own can go at a pace which suits his/her ability. when riding in a group, the pace should be slowed down well within the limits of the slowest rider, this will allow for errors.
unfortunatley, the `ol testosterone kicks in & thats when it can go all wrong. i lost count of the times when at a bike meet a group of mates will pull up & the conversation goes, " blimey, did you see dave nearly lose it on that fast bend " or " i only just made it overtaking that truck" etc etc....
riding in groups, just one of the many dangers out there...stay safe all.....

[weeksy2]

i don't think for a single second it's because of rubber 'going off' that was OK at the end of last year. The rest of your assumptions may well be correct though.

[rockhopper]

Group riding is my bet. I've often seen guys going for stupid overtakes just to keep up with their mates then running wide on the next bend becasue they are going too fast.
The sad fact is that most bike accidents don't directly invlove another vehicle.

[madmav]

Originally posted by weeksy2
i don't think for a single second it's because of rubber 'going off' that was OK at the end of last year. .

maybe Tyreman will explain steve,
I'ts all about heat cycles well worth knowing if you are Racing steve..

[weeksy2]

Originally posted by madmav

maybe Tyreman will explain steve,
I'ts all about heat cycles well worth knowing if you are Racing steve..

i know a bit about heat cycles mate... and i also know that 1 more heat cycle isn't going to make bugger all difference. Especially considering it's a fairly limited cycle due to not getting that much heat in it on a pootle. Or at the end of last season when the temp is a fair bit cooler.

[skidlids]

I was over Fox's diner about a month ago when there were a fair few bikes about and I made the comment to a couple of my mates that the accident figures will soon be going up.
Looking at the New bikes not only are they faster they are also lighter and in the hands of some riders this is certainly a letha combination, especially as the road surfaces continue to deteriorate causing more and more cases of bump steer that some riders either don't seem to anticipate or haven't experienced before on their previous slower and heavier bikes.
I always found it interesting listeng to riders comments at the TT after they had been out on their production bikes which were usually the latest bikes on the market.
Even my R6 was discribed by Adrian as behaving like a Motocrosser down Sulby Straight on his way to a 114mph lap and that was with sorted suspension front and rear

[Harv748]

Group riding (riding at speeds you wouldn't normally ride at on your own) and target fixation, the result of too much unfamiliar speed means you run wide...which means you panic...see the fast approaching curb/bush/wall/car (delete as appropriate) and hit the brakes, either tucking the front or sitting the bike up and ploughing straight on.

[Edited on 18-5-2006 by Harv748]

[phil_h]

I know its not the number one cause, but you're forgetting the crap tarmac thats being put down now - since when have we needed new road signs saying 'slippery road surface' *after* its been resurfaced
The cheapskates just want a longer-wearing and quieter surface, and sod the grip levels.
Add that to the generally poor riding (and driving) ability of joe average these days and you get more bad accidents simply because they dont know how to read the road anyway.
[/rant]