The 170mph factor - (my own NEW thread)

[wingman]

Reaction time vs braking capabilities of superbikes - your views?

Now you can see how flippen dangerous it is. Surf the Net boys!

MadnohB: only 3 sentences.

[Mud Pooh-bah]

I am more concerned about the reaction time and awareness of motorists. My opinion is that if you want to go fast do it on a race track. Way too many unknowns on the road to go that fast. At 300km/h you are covering about 83 meters every second, that is about the length of a rugby field every second. Should your reaction just be a half a second too late you will still end up 50 meters on the other side of Oom Japie's Fiat tractor. And Jonas, driving oom Japies's tractor, who could see that the road was clear for 500m just had enough time to pull away after taking 5 seconds to get the right gear. Not very clever at all!!!

I personally will not consider a superbike as I can get the same andrenaline rush and enjoyment on an off-road at very low speeds.

M 2c

[KnopKop]

Net so Pieter !!!!!!!!!

[morpheus]

There is a place for raw speed but as you mentioned, usually it should be kept to tracks. We all like to twist the throttle every now and again but it should be the exception and not the rule of our riding.

I have done both to a decent degree - that being riding for pure speed and off road. For me, speed is a constant, the feeling does not improve as the sensation is always the same. However, off road the sensation is often different as there are just so many different terrains one can traverse and so many ways to do it.

As an aside, it has been proven that off road riding (MX, Enduro) has the most carry over to skills improvement on road riding. Even superior to track riding or any other type of motorcycle riding. Point proven by the Hurt study and the European accident study. That in itself settles the debate for me.

Morpheus

[tj]

Reaction time?!

From schooltime physics (in the 70's) to later we learnt that the average human takes 3/5th of a second to act after the eye see the danger.
For urban/freeway travelling I use the 15-20km/h (faster) barrier for the following reason:

At 120km/h I travel 33m/sec. If I am normal it will take me +-20m to react. Ample time if most of the other surrounding traffic moves 15-20km/h slower that me. Anything faster is suicidal and one cannot swerve/brake within that time frame - or the following distance must be +50m. And which biker do lane-splitting with 50m following?

On the open road where no other traffic influences your riding... Well, thats a different story altogether.

[KnopKop]

On the open road where no other traffic influences your riding.

On the “open road” at high speed the danger is even more. The bakkie that pulls out from a side road, a stupid oncoming driver overtaking another car on a blind rise.

[ignosap]

Hi madmen, sometimes I do 280 on my K12 on a Sunday morning to Pta from Kempton, BUT only if there are no cars on the hiway, now that they started to enclose it on the sides with concrete barriers it's too dangerous, but man, what a feeling. The K is so sure of the road, you only fee it with your helmet sticking out to far above the fairing.

[tj]

Speed does not kill - irresponsible speed kills

[Joe]

Speed does not kill - irresponsible speed kills

Sudden unplanned stopping kills

[DeonP]

I was watching SKY news the other afternoon at the gym.
A guy was arrested for doing 122mph in the UK while lifting his teenage son who wasn't even wearing the correct protective gear.

He was sentenced to 6 months in jail !

[JohanGT]

In South Africa it seems like a taxi can drive over a girl on the scooter as long as the taxi driver does not drive too fast. Speed kills, you know.
How can anybody be that stupid to think out a slogan like that and still be able to breathe without assistance? Traffic officers need to stop making money and rather ensure that they keep the death off our roads by checking up on the taxi drivers who has absolutely no respect for other road users.

The problem however is that if the taxi drivers are caught, the fines are not as much as the traffic department can get from speed fines. The other advantage of speed fines is that they do not even have to get off their buts to make the money.

HOWEVER: There is a huge difference between a BMW K1200GT doing 160km/hr between Beaufort West and Laingsburg and a taxi moving at ANY speed.

Like Wingman says: When driving, we need to make sure we have enough time to react and if we want to race, we need to take your bikes to the racetrack where nobody can be a danger to us and we cannot be a danger to anybody else.

[LeRoy Olivier]

Have just seen a mail of a Suzuki that left the road at 280 - rest in pieces wont even help as the guy and the bike is all over the road - sent the mail to Dani - might be a good idee to post it on the web. Pefer the more sedate 220 of the LT - serious trouble at that speed in any case.

[Admin]

... might be a good idea to post it on the web.

LeRoy can send said email on request. It is rather upsetting and certainly not for sensitive viewers.
I've deleted it immediately.

[tj]

Thanks Admin.

We enjoy our biking and don't need to be reminded of possible gruesome eventualities. I usually end a discussion of a 'recent bike accident' abruptly with; 'what's the use of reliving it?'

'Elke sport het sy beserings'.

...and then, the common factor in 220km/h and 280km/h is one, death. Spread over the road or in one piece!

[LeRoy Olivier]

Yes it is somewhat gruesome - but a reality check every now and again not such a bad thing - at least we are then reminded of the consequences should we travel faster than out "Gaurdian Angels".

Principle here is - dont exceed your ability and your bikes ability - always stay within the 70 - 80% margin of your en your bikes capabilities.

[tj]

Principle here is - dont exceed your ability and your bike's ability - always stay within the 70 - 80% margin of your en your bike's capabilities.

Now, this is wisdom!

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