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same here, not been knocked off but had a few close calls thanks to bike hating car drivers. I got hit by a car. Left me disabled, early retired from work on health grounds and triggered numerous medical problems that will affect me for the rest of my life. I took the risk and still like bikes but advise anyone to wear a decent helmet, protective clothing and boots / gloves. It horrifies me to see those during warmer weather riding in shorts, Tee shirts and trainers. BTW I was wearing the proper gear but when my head hit the angle of impact to the ground caused it to jerk and I suffered brain injury plus spine damage that affect my right side. Visually I just had a broken wrist and massive bruising but it was the hidden damage that cause the most harm. Paul H
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This is the best piece of advice anyone has given on here. Road traffic and the attitudes of car/van/bus drivers has changed massively in the last 20 years. It was the one thing I had to work on when I got back into bikes after an 18 year break. Just be careful out there and ALWAYS slow approaching a T junction where you can see a car waiting to pull out. SMIDSY is ripe nowadays (Sorry Mate I Didn't See You)! On a lighter note you'll have more fun and enjoy great MPG figures than you ever would in a regular car. Here's a pic of my bike to add to the others for inspiration (Sorry, not very retro!)
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Last Edit: Feb 5, 2012 8:50:36 GMT by daver555
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Dam you Dave555 I love super moto's especially the early noughty's KTM Duke's..
I have made a promise to the missus though that I won't blow good money on a bike until I can prove its not just a fad so my first bike will be mucho cheepo until I prove ( to myself also ) its a long term affair..
Sorry to hear about your tragedy "Composimmonite" and all safety advice well and truly taken on-board thanks.
I also cringe when I see a point and squirt blasting up the road in triple figures the rider wearing only jeans and t-shirt..
Makes sence looking for a good riding school I think I'll give my old driving instructor a shout he's into bikes now and I respect his opinion he has a old school attitude if you know what I mean.
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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On the subject of safety, the main self inflicted issue I see with bikes on the road, (with the exception of the obvious big bikes going way too fast) is tailgating. I'm not sure what it is that makes bikers think they can sit right on the rear right corner of the car in front, I guess it's the added feeling of direct control compared to a car, but I see a lot of bikers doing it, and it scares the curse word out of me. If someone pulls out of a side turning in front of the car, then that car's going to swerve right and hit it's brakes hard, right into where the bikers seem to love to sit, and despite feeling like the brakes are amazing when you're on a bike, they're genuinely wibblepoo compared to the average car on the road now.
Sorry, that's not meant as a moan towards anyone, it's just something that really bugs me. Obviously cars tailgate too, but I'd say the proportion of bikers is higher than cars, and while a car drive will end up with a big bill and some bent metal if things go wrong, the biker may end up having to be scraped off the road.
I'm occasionally tempted by the idea of a road legal 125 off-road bike just for some green-laning and messing about off-road without having to trailer it, but I should have a towing set-up soon, so I doubt I'll bother with the road legal bit if I get one. I'd be tempted by a road bike if I end up living in a big city, but I can't see that happening as I'm a bit of a country boy, and I'm all too happy on my push bike for the moment when I am in town. Still, it's interesting to hear the laws in the licences, something to bear in mind for the future.
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Last Edit: Feb 5, 2012 14:35:05 GMT by RobinJI
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I have made a promise to the missus though that I won't blow good money on a bike until I can prove its not just a fad so my first bike will be mucho cheepo until I prove ( to myself also ) its a long term affair. Todays top tip - if you're thinking of buying a bike this year, do it *now* (it's freezing, there's snow on the ground, and mentally people are still in "It's Wintertime" mode so bike prices are cheap. By Easter folk start thinking of Summer - and bike prices jump right up) ps - did you know there's a RR bike forum retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=othrmod&action=display&thread=97759Late edit to add (bad ) news about changes to the test in 2013... "Summary - Guy's and girls as you can see with the above information if you know of anyone who has started training by completing C.B.T or is thinking about doing their Motorcycle training then it is recommended they do it this year before 2013.. " www.retrobikes.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=798If you're thinking of taking a test, do it - do it now
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Last Edit: Feb 5, 2012 18:17:22 GMT by nomad
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crazymonkey
Posted a lot
ummm....what was I doing again???
Posts: 1,981
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On the subject of safety, the main self inflicted issue I see with bikes on the road, (with the exception of the obvious big bikes going way too fast) is tailgating. I'm not sure what it is that makes bikers think they can sit right on the rear right corner of the car in front, I guess it's the added feeling of direct control compared to a car, but I see a lot of bikers doing it, and it scares the curse word out of me. If someone pulls out of a side turning in front of the car, then that car's going to swerve right and hit it's brakes hard, right into where the bikers seem to love to sit, and despite feeling like the brakes are amazing when you're on a bike, they're genuinely wibblepoo compared to the average car on the road now. Sorry, that's not meant as a moan towards anyone, it's just something that really bugs me. Obviously cars tailgate too, but I'd say the proportion of bikers is higher than cars, and while a car drive will end up with a big bill and some bent metal if things go wrong, the biker may end up having to be scraped off the road. I'm occasionally tempted by the idea of a road legal 125 off-roa d bike just for some green-laning and messing about off-road without having to trailer it, but I should have a towing set-up soon, so I doubt I'll bother with the road legal bit if I get one. I'd be tempted by a road bike if I end up living in a big city, but I can't see that happening as I'm a bit of a country boy, and I'm all too happy on my push bike for the moment when I am in town. Still, it's interesting to hear the laws in the licences, something to bear in mind for the future. I know what you mean and I'll admit a few times I have done the same (mainly when I was younger but Ive grown out of that a couple years ago) the main reason behind it is (and I know this isnt an excuse but its a point of view) it happens mainly when a car driver pulls out on a bike or cuts him up, basically when they ignore them. the biker then gets closer and closer as if to say "can you see me now you pillock!!!!!" like I said Ive got out of those habits now its an early rider thing, after a couple years riding you learn just what the limits are, and that car drvers are out to kill you ;D hence you take it safer. just remember you're not just seeing for yourseld, you have to imagine from the car driver's point of view (blind spots etc) Lets face it we've all taken risks once or twice in our life but the ones that get me are the R1 and CBR style riders (not saying all CBR and R1 riders are this but its the general style of bike that does this) when they go to overtake on a blind corner doing 80-100mph. Have a couple of mates who generally ride like this and makes me cringe, have lost a few mates to them being idiots on bikes. By all means if you want to do stunt riding or drag racing be my guest, I'm thinking about giving stunt riding a go. But please don't do it on the road.
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whoever said dogs were man's best friend....obviously never heard of cable ties
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Todays top tip - if you're thinking of buying a bike this year, do it *now* (it's freezing, there's snow on the ground, and mentally people are still in "It's Wintertime" mode so bike prices are cheap. By Easter folk start thinking of Summer - and bike prices jump right up) Shhh... I've got two decent bikes tucked away that are going on eBay at Easter. This year should be interesting for brand new bikes, I've heard of lots of main dealers who haven't maintained stocks like previous years so their brand new machines will be to order. That might affect supply of used machines, or it might not if everyone is too skinted to buy brand new machines. It's a good forum, lots of knowledge sharing like on here. the ones that get me are the R1 and CBR style riders (not saying all CBR and R1 riders are this but its the general style of bike that does this) when they go to overtake on a blind corner doing 80-100mph I stopped riding with a couple of guys because of this. One guy took the driver's side mirror off a Transit with his shoulder and had to be nured all the way home because of the shakes. Unless you ride, you'll probably not understand how badly out of shape he was in that corner. My experience with guys like that is also that they're more likely to ride on SORN, run a bike to 100mph with no maintenance after six months sitting in the back garden or generally overestimate their own skills.
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yellowmini
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 46
Club RR Member Number: 116
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Been there, done that....... Did my bike test from a standing start 3 years ago. My advice? Absolutely go for it. As for how, you MUST do your CBT before hitting the road. You don't have to do the bike theory test beforehand but you can if you want. Your CBT certificate is then valid for two years. If you don't pass your practical test within that time you have to retake your CBT. If you're over 21 then I'd go straight for accelerated access. You just do your test on a larger engined bike (500 cc) and then you can ride whatever you like. Same test, just a different engine size. The test is now 2 parts, mine was one of the last single part tests. I did my CBT and test/training with one riding school. Didn't have a bike or any gear, just used theirs. Find a good school and take their advice. Just for reference, I'm a driving instructor (car), so I'm used to dealing with the DSA website. Not the easiest place to understand! Good luck, have fun and remember rule number one; everyone other road user is an idiot........
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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.....the main reason behind it is (and I know this isnt an excuse but its a point of view) it happens mainly when a car driver pulls out on a bike or cuts him up, basically when they ignore them. the biker then gets closer and closer as if to say "can you see me now you pillock!!!!! Yeah, that's one reason for it, I also find when bikes are just working their way up a que of traffic, they'll overtake one car, then just sit right on the corner of the next cars bumper until there's a gap to overtake again. Generally if there's the width to do so and a bike's coming up behind me I'll shuffle over and wave them past, but you can't always do that, and it's pretty horrible having a bike sat right off your bumper. I find ped riders around town tailgate very badly a lot too, normally the 16 year of guys on peds with big silly bodykit-esque fairings wearing a motorcross helmet, often literally within a meter or 2 of your bumper, but that's just youth and idiocy. I'd be quite interested to hear what changes are being made to the test in 2013, you can't get onto the bike forum without a login.
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I quickly learnt not to tailgate when following my mate Ashley into West Mids Safari Park where we both worked at the time. He was learning in his Mini so was driving in with his Mum in the passenger seat and I was being a tit in his mirror on my DT. Then a squirrel ran across the road, he slammed the anchors on, I did too and the bike went straight from under me. Ah, the foolishness of youth . . .
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@pistonbroker on Twitter
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I'd be quite interested to hear what changes are being made to the test in 2013, you can't get onto the bike forum without a login. My bad - I should have thought of that when I was posting the link (still worth joining though if you're into bikes ) Google found a similar list of changes here (written by somebody else so not identical but it gives you an idea) www.ridesafebacksafe.co.uk/news_more.asp?news_id=87My extract Riders under 24 years old will be required to go through more stages to reach a full licence (Category A). A rise to 24 years old for riding a full power motorcycle. An introduction of four categories of licence: AM, A1, A2 & A. A reduction in the top speed of restricted mopeds Includes 3 wheel and light quads. It's crazy, "30mph" mopeds now do 25mph when you put an adult on them - so the plans are to slow them down for safety Random pic-ness as an apology for drifting away from 4-wheel topics more - www.automotto.com/entry/russian-v8-powered-steampunk-bike-is-simply-retro-futuristic/more - www.automotto.com/entry/10-steampunk-motorcycle-designs-ages/
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RobinJI
Posted a lot
"Driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free"
Posts: 2,995
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Ah, cheers. I'm not really into bikes as such (well, not motorised ones anyway), so didn't really want yet another forum account I wouldn't use. It's just nice to know my options in the future. Like I say, if I lived in a big city then I'd look into getting one, and I like the idea of a road legal off-road bike, but I'm in no hurry. I'd never want a 50cc, and I'll be 24 next year anyway, so it'll only effect me for 6 months or so. Cheers for the info.
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