The most shocking statistic I heard recently, the largest contributor to a fatal accident Flat TYRES ! Up to 76% of fatal single vehicle Motor Cycle Accidents a Flat Tyre was found , that was not caused by accident damage !!! This is from the Horses mouth so to speak , My Brother is good friends with a local bike riding police officer. He is the districts crash Investigation officer, the next most shocking statistic is 40% are Returned Riders, Vehicle maintenance guys ...!
Both those statistics are quite believable, if the pressure drops by just a few psi on my front tyre the handling is pants, is this something to do with modern tyres as I can't remember the same on my bikes of the 70's and 80's. With accidents in returned riders, not surprising as the bikes these guys were coming back to probably went faster in first gear than their previous ones did flat out but I would think that would be higher over here as the percentage of returning riders was extremely high a few years ago , propably from my era. How long do you have to have returned to motorcycling before you're no longer a returned or born again? Or is this stamp going to be on me for the rest of my life?
I don't think it matters what you wear some people are just dickheads like the woman who thought she did nothing wrong overtaking me (while riding my daughters 125 with L plates) in a 30 limit (I was doing 30) on a series of blind z bends in a village or the "brave" two young men who thought cutting up my daughter then stopping the car to shout and swearing at HER a seventeen year old was ok c**ts I wish I was riding her bike that day! a lesson in manners would have been given
I think it is more a commentary on the decline in mechanical awareness amongst the population at large for whom a vehicle's maintenance excites as much curiosity as that of a washing machine. You just switch it on, don't you? Check out car tyres in the supermarket car park. It does not take long to spot some very soggy ones.
Reminds me of a friend's daughter who was mildly alarmed when a red light appeared on the dash on the motorway. Mmmm, she thought. I'll have to ask Dad about that. So she kept driving, it went out and the engine went bang.
I do honestly think bike awareness should be a mandatory section in all driving lessons… not enough emphasis is put on what the difference between bike and car use of the road is…
Most of the returned riders who have serious or fatal accidents, have been away from bikes for 20 plus years. And as Crispey said, the last bikes ridden wouldn't have any way near the performance or ability of Modern bikes ! My Laverda RGS 1000 did 220kph un modded, I got it to exceed 260kph with exhaust,intake and ignition adjustments ! My 94 Trident did 200kph in 4th gear!! With 2 more to go,and it went harder round corners ! Stopping better, without a single modification ! The reliability of modern machines is stunning in comparison to the 50,60,70's cars and bikes ! Cars still look like new when they are 8 to 10 years old. Tubeless tyres can lose air quicker than the old tube tyres. And it doesn't help that modern tube less fat tyres on wide rims have so much "carcass" that a tyre with less than 20psi can look OK when the bike is parked !!!
My daughter doesn't use her bike every day but when she does use it I get her to check tyre pressures, oil and the operation of the lights, indicators, horn etc hopefully making this a good habit
Just got my daughter her first car. This week we changed all filters and oil, cleaned up suspension and brakes, all waxoyl and painted. Bloody made sure she did as much as possible, but kept close eye on her. Even had her sit there whilst I soldered her stereo connections. No way I would let her out on the road without her being able to do simple tasks. I could before I drove and so will she. Best bit is, she wants to
Good use of available materials, wood blocks to raise car, card board box as back spill and an old oil bottle as the catch/drain reservoir, true Scot thrift and make n mend. Big Thumbs up
