Motorcyclist filmed death of friend as they broke speed limit

[HankB]

The key is NOT the speeder's skill it is the skill of all the rest of the drivers who are near enough to affect the speeder.

Well said.

My (least-favorite) cousin was in his 50s when he got himself a motorcycle. He drove carefully & within the law, but was hit by a woman who pulled out of her lane without looking and sideswiped him. Aside from a broken collar bone and some nasty road rash he was OK, but if he'd been in a car the only damage would have been to some sheet metal.

He doesn't ride a bike any more.

. . .  about fifty percent of drivers are below average in one or more of the following: reaction time, vision, attentiveness, driving skill, good judgment, or the quality of their vehicle.

And what percentage are either yakking or texting (  ) on their cell phones? THEY'LL see motorcycles for sure.

[zahc]

I've had that happen, which is why the 170mph section of that video I find just as concerning.

You sure that the speedo in that video was reading mph?

170kph=105mph

[Firethorn]

Part of my deal with motorcycles is that 99% of my riding is highway, not residential or even business.  Not crowded highway either.

[Iain]

You sure that the speedo in that video was reading mph?

170kph=105mph

Not many speedos read kph over here:

It later emerged Bowden was clocked at a top speed of 156mph, but his speedometer had reached speeds of 170mph, Truro Crown Court heard

Interestingly I was on a bus today, going along a single carriageway twisty road that is limited to 60mph. The bus was probably doing 45mph and had a queue of about 20 cars behind it. Bike speeds past them all on the outside, driving in the lane for oncoming traffic. Wouldn't be surprised if I was told he was doing 80.

[Balog]

I thought one was allowed to exceed the posted limit when passing? Over here anyway.

[Marnoot]

I thought one was allowed to exceed the posted limit when passing? Over here anyway.

Every state driver's manual I've ever seen says that you're still required to stay under the speed limit when passing.

[thebaldguy]

I remember a professional superbike racer a few years ago who didn't ride much on the street.

He said it was too dangerous.

[zahc]

My local (now closed) motorcycle shop told me that one of the major accessory manufacturer's came to their part of OH to shoot a motorcycle ad, due to the abundance of scenic, twisty roads. They said they tagged along, and the professional rider not only blocked off all traffic on the mild curves, the curve was also swept clean and he personally walked every inch of it, before riding mildly around it for the camera, wearing full racing leathers of course. Contrast this with weekend warriors who would take the same curve faster, wearing  a Tshirt, blind, and with traffic, while having 1/10th the skill as the racer in the first place.

[bk425]

Haven't dropped a bike yet, not even in class.  One lady did it once in class.

snipbk

Two things, first let me type in favor of dropping a bike:
You should. -Particularly- if you take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation curriculum, most of those classes are taught on very small donated machines that withstand the practice well and until you push your -slow- speed driving skills hard enough to fail... well, it doesn't seem to me that you know your skills.  If we're talking about "dropping" at speed then I'm certainly with ya. "Drop" just doesn't seem like a description of a skid, slide or impact at normal driving speed.

Second thing; several folks have typed about accidents where they rolled onto the throttle while meaning to stop. All the cases here iirc involved a "borrowed" bike. My MSF instructor had one thing to say about "lending" a friend a bike: no. He didn't talk to us about borrowing a bike because at that point we were all owners looking to become safe. But the statistics covered in class made the proportion of accidents on "borrowed" bikes just really huge. Basically, "loaning" a bike to a friend is a bit like playing mumblety peg with them except with the purpose of hitting them with the knife instead of missing. Don't loan someone a bike unless you hate the bike and dislike the person too. Someone offers to "loan" you their bike? They either don't know enough to be safe or.... you should probably just get in the car and leave.

Motorcycles, like guns are not "safe" or "unsafe". They are powerful tools.

[CNYCacher]

So, how to you prevent rolling the throttle when the bike is trying to get away?

I am assuming you try to maintain your wrist and forearm low so that if your wrist straightens it naturally rolls the hand forward, but I have no idea.

[zahc]

When I rode dirt bikes, I was instructed to endeavor to keep my elbows up, and thus maintain a grip on the throttle that is more like grasping a doorknob than holding onto a chinning bar, if that makes any sense. This allows the arm to flex extended and collapsed back and forth without necessarily torquing the throttle.

One must maintain a grip on the throttle such that being thrown all the way back with the wrist straight does not cause the engine to rev. In this position, the engine should be at an idle, and to accelerate, the throttle should be turned not by 'getting another bite' on the twistgrip in this same position, nor by dropping the elbow and trying to bend your wrist back and down, but by lifting the elbow and rotating the forearm, the doorknob way,  which requires one to first scoot up and bend the elbow slightly. In that type of cycling it is not conceivable that you will have to apply throttle while your arms are fully extended. Your arms are always bent and you are foreward over the motorcycle when you are applying throttle.

 It's a lesson you learn fast because you cannot let go of the twist-grip to adjust your 'null position' whenever you want, and nobody has enough strength to hold his wrist in a non-straight position while hanging on for dear life. With road bikes, though, I can see this being a real problem due to the handlebar and riding position geometries involved.

[Strings]

You don't necessarily "prevent" rolling the throttle...

 Me, I always have me fingers curled over the clutch lever in lower gears: if something were to "throw me back", it'd be pulling the clutch too...

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

WINNER!!

[Hawkmoon]

I thought one was allowed to exceed the posted limit when passing? Over here anyway.

Apparently not in New Jersey. At least not according to a Red Lion County mountie and the local traffic court magistrate.

Been there, done that -- and they didn't even give me the dang tee shirt.

[Lee]

So, how to you prevent rolling the throttle when the bike is trying to get away?

I constantly shift my grip on the throttle (it's called "rolling off"). At slow speeds a lot of people simply make the mistake of holding onto the runaway bull instead of letting go and possibly falling over.  Better to look foolish on the ground than run through the front window of a convenience store or plow into someone.

I've only had one close call in the past two years of riding.  That also involved a sport biker showing off.  He was nowhere in sight when I pulled away from a four way stop - in a 45mph zone.  He passed me about  10 seconds later at well over 100 mph, and was about 1 foot to my left as he went by.