"Crotch Rockets" an alternate opinion

[Snake]

It is very interesting reading, this business about "crotch rockets". After reading all the posts, I would like to offer the following:

- it is correct to say that the drivers of some trucks and cars are part of the problem. You cannot say the truck or cars themselves are the problem, because in all vehicles driven by someone, the person responsible for driving the vehicle is just that - responsible.

One must remember that any bike - a 400 pound sports bike / crotch rocket or a 900 pound cruiser will never win a battle with a 4 wheeled vehicle. The biker must drive much more defensively than a vehicle with more bulk.

(In case you wonder - I trained motorcylcists for two years with the Canada Safety Council. I drive a rice grinder cruiser)

It was noted in one opinion that the noise of larger motorcycles was leading to the perception of speed. Noise is a different issue - one of concern, but you can get hurt far easier by excessive speed than by noise (you can be deaf and live!). Excessive speed and dangerous passing, at speed, are a greater concern.

Do I need a radar gun? Hardly - when I am going 70 kph on the Westside Road, get passed and lose site of the passing vehicle in an instant, I do not need a radar gun to see that the vehicle which passed me is speeding excessively. Car or bike.

"It is perfectly legal to pass on a single solid yellow line as long as it is safe to do so." True - right out of the BC Drivers Training book. But "safe to do so" means not going over the posted speed limit in passing to begin with (talk to your friendly neighborhood RCMP), and it means that all safety factors must be taken into account. If you are going 70 kph on the Westside Road (assuming that is the posted speed limit) and you are passed as you approach a corner, that is not safe. No matter that the bike passing can be handled better or not. I drive a cruiser, and can take corners much faster. But if I hit some gravel thrown up in the road by some vehicle going around that same corner and fall down at speed, then I deserve to get some road rash (if I am lucky).

The posted speed limit on the Westside Road is either 70 kph or 60 kph - not 50 to 80. Those travelling at 50 kph on Westside Road will be going under the posted limit. If you see this being done in a relatively straight area of the Westside Road, and it is safe to do so and you have a single solid yellow line, by all means pass - but do not exceed the posted limit. Otherwise it would be unsafe to do so. If you pass on a corner, it is unsafe to do so, whether or not you have a bike or not.

I agree on those vehicles of all stripes who cross the line - if their speed is a factor which causes them to cross the line, they are not safe in doing so. If there is oncoming traffic it is not safe to do so no matter what the speed. If you cannot see if there is oncoming traffic (around a corner) it is unsafe to do so.

Some say Sports Bike; some say Crotch Rocket. Crotch Rocket was a term we used in training bikers. So was street pizza to illustrate what happens when you have a collision. However, there is no difference in the bike itself - any bike (cruiser or sports bike) driven responsibly is a cruiser or a sports bike. Any bike driven at excessive speeds irresponsibly becomes a crotch rocket. It is not the bike that is responsible for this change - it is the driver. If you drive a sports bike on a race track at high speeds, it is a sports bike. If you do the same on the Westside Road, it is a Crotch Rocket.

As for the business of "people with clipboards" - if you are going at the posted speed limit, you shuold be able to observe all road hazards (deer, coyotes, bears, people with clipboards). If the road hazards are such that the posted speed limits are too fast, then rather than go to the limit, you are obligated to slow down. The advantage of bikes is that they can brake fast and safely (in the hands of a skilled driver); you can accelerate rapidly out of danger properly (in the hands of a skilled driver); you can avoid collisions (in the hands of a skilled driver). We had a saying in training "there are bold drivers, there are old drivers, but there are no old, bold drivers".

If you are truly a professional driver, properly trained, and responsible in your handling of any vehicle, then you have a much better opportunity to drive the Westside Road safely and truly enjoy it.

[Jo]

Excellent post, many thanks for your contribution, Snake!

[SheWolf]

Here Here!! It's the responsibility of the driver/rider of BOTH 4 wheel vehicles and 2 to keep the vehicle under control. I just don't agree with being tagged as something that I am not. The 'You fly with the crows, you will get shot with them' thing seems to come into play here, but there again, it only takes one or two idiots to ruin it for the rest of us....CARS INCLUDED!!! The fact that bikes are more nimble is definitely true. The majority of motorcyclists I DO see out here are responsible, mature adults who are out either on a leisurely ride, or just heading home. In my opinion, Jim Edgson needs to stick with doing his job. Make the ROAD safer by working with the MOH and Argo and get some of the dangerous parts of the road fixed, which people have been expressing for YEARS, and not try to puff out his chest feathers to make himself look good over something that really is NOT a major issue. All this is going to do is waste the taxpayers money having the cops come out every time one of his neighbors whines that they ASSUME a motorcycle is speeding. He did this very same thing in regards to calling the fire dept. every time someone saw smoke. Wasting taxpayers money. I was also on the fire dept. out here and in the years I spent serving the community, I can count TWO motorcycle accident versus the MANY car/truck/motorhome accidents (in a 6 year period). Both accidents were not due to the cyclists speeding, it was due to gravel on the road that the vehicles ahead of them had thrown out onto the pavement when their own vehicle left the pavement partially and kicked up loose gravel off the side of the road. I am not going to debate the how's and why's but I surely am going to stick up for those who are responsible riders out there who do "Ride the limit, and stay within it!'

[dandynick5]

My only addendum would be "Know Your Limit". Good posts from both of you.