Smarties Bar & Grill #76

I took the basic Rider safety course and I'm currently watching some YouTube by Tony paladino called ride like a pro, he's a motorcycle police who teaches bike skills.

So many bike accidents are entirely avoidable. Following a vehicle too close is asking for it, intersections are needless to say a point of friction potentially. The majority of bike accidents happen at intersections or curves.

I use mine to take back roads whenever possible and avoid highways unless it's non-peak traffic hours. What's around here really isn't a whole lot of traffic but there are some real idiots on the highways.

I have three helmets two of which are full-faced and one is a half shell. I know a full face offers much better protection than a half shell but I figure a half shell is better than nothing.

Here in this Florida summer the heat with a full face is really bad. I also don't like the fact that I feel like I can't hear very well and I can't see as well either. I feel like what's the point of a helmet offering better protection but if it is more likely to get you in an accident?

People turning left in front of you at an intersection is probably one of the biggest hazards to watch for. But I know your roads are "backwards" over there so imagine It reversed.

I don't care much for the highways because even when the speed limit is 45 and you're in the right hand which is the slow lane you still have people that want to be up your ass instead of get over in the left lane.

If I have my druthers I cruise along at no more than 40 on back roads. Anything over 40 you think man if I go down it's really going to hurt!

 

You have to ride a bike like everyone is trying to kill you.

But remember though we all die someday, not all of us truly live.

 

You need more roundabouts.

http://www.destinationzerodeaths.com/Home/KnowTheStats?Story=Roundabouts Save Lives

 

I know what those things are. They have them in Sarasota county about 50 miles away from here. Not a good idea for Florida drivers. No one seems to have a clue what the hell to do in them. That's almost as bad as Florida drivers on the very rare occasions when we get a dusting of snow. The roads go completely to hell.


You might have heard me express my opinion before and I was not being hyperbolic or dramatic.... I fear a reckless or distracted driver more in my day-to-day life, then I ever fear becoming a statistics of firearms violence or accidents.

At least most of the time when people are handling guns they understand how dangerous they can be and treat them with the due respect they deserve. But you have so many people behind the wheel of what essentially amounts to a 3,000 plus pound bullet and they act like it's nothing.... Paying attention to the road is not more important than their text message or doing their hair or their nails or whatever it is that they have decided is more important than driving safely.

As a motorcyclist one of your most important jobs is to always choose Lane positioning that makes you the most visible to a motorist. A big part of that is also simply not following too closely especially at intersections.

One common sense thing to do when you pull up to a red light is to make sure you don't pull up too closely to the car in front to leave yourself room to go left or right of that car if you hear brakes squealing behind you and someone's going to come and hit you from behind.... You always leave yourself and out and always depend on motorists to do the dumbest thing possible because there are fraction of them that will do just that.

The excuse given by so many motorists when they strike a bike is that they did not see them.

Your job on the bike is to remain as visible as you possibly can.

Of course none of that matters if drivers are simply not paying attention to driving

 

New Jersey (US) had a number of 'roundabouts'.

The primary exercise was similar to the Indy 500, with less experienced drivers entering and leaving the melee at random. While participating, one would attempt to complete what was known as the 'Patterson Plank Road Exit' which involves crossing 3 lanes of active traffic within a half mile, without the use of a blinker.

Down here in the South, the common version is a 4-way stop intersection, where by normal logic, the permission to go is given first by who got there first, then in a clock-wise direction. In some areas, it is not by who got there first, or the clock-wise method, but by who has the most lug nuts.

 

I hope nobody is suggesting that Americans are incapable of learning how to use a roundabout properly.
After all, the Australians managed.

 

Lots of them in Europe.
Golden rule...give way to the right.
Famous roundabouts...M25 around London and the Périphérique around Paris. They are just huge versions of the usual ones.
They come in all sizes including ones most drivers just go over unless there is another car at the junction.
They make driving very much easier and more fluid.

 

I wish you could come to Florida and get a few thousand miles under your belt and see what goes on on the roads here!

When I stop at a light I do not shift into neutral. I stay in first gear and keep the clutch held down. That way if you need to move in a hurry you're not sitting there trying to shift gears when you really need to be moving

 

They also save lives.

UK road deaths (2019) 2,026
US road deaths (2018 ) 39,888
Per 100k each year, US 12.4, UK 2.9
25% of all fatal accidents in the US are at intersections. That's 10,000 lives a year which could be saved.

 

...or to the left outside the UK.

 

We have a roundabout near my house.

 

That's the beauty of roundabouts.
You have to slow down when you approach them even when traffic free.
With traffic lights you are tempted to speed up to beat the lights.
It's the high speed of impact which makes lights so much more dangerous.

 

How long did it take you to learn how to use it properly?

 

It is really a no brainer. Not hard at all

 

Have you found that it increases traffic flow?

 

I haven't noticed. But it does decrease accidents.

 

But here in the USA instead of efficiency we would rather sit there at red lights and roast our ass off assuming you don't have air conditioner and burn extra gas

Riding back roads in town on my bike anyways, I rarely have to sit at red lights. My bike is air-cooled instead of having a radiator system which has its pluses and minuses. On the plus side it's lighter weight and less expensive and less maintenance to do because you don't have a radiator.

On the downside it does not like to sit idling for more than 5 minutes because you may risk overheating if you do. My bike is perfect for these back roads that are full of potholes and all the dirt roads around here but it wouldn't really be a great choice for a lot of City traffic riding.

But then again my bike can go anywhere and if you're at a light and you can get around it by going through a ditch or something and there's no cops around..... I'm not saying you should because that make people sitting in their cars at red lights hate motorcyclists more than they already do. I have never done that but I could see how it would be very tempting with a dual sport bike. I can go right up over a 5-in curb like it's not even there.

 

~ That guy is amazing. Probably one of the best instructors. He's right there in Florida too ...

 

I had a 800 Suzuki boulevard. Shaft drive, kick shifter, saddle bags, brand new. I miss that bike.

 

~ I remember those — very nice ! I had a new Suzuki 550 . Nice to ride in the city back in the late 1970's ...

 

Mine was 2009. Blue and white, sissy bar, etc.

 

Life is short, get another bike. I love my street legal dirt bike. Go anywhere, town or county. Just not great for long highway trips.

 

My wife said I could have one as soon as the car is paid off. She had a 750 Honda. The Honda was fastest. I might look into a 500 Rebel. I want a bike that will take me through Mobile down to your neck of the woods. It is so freaking hot down there. I about burnt up the last time I went south. I will go down the east coast next. The last time it was the west coast.