Myself and my friends have come to the conclusion that sports bikes must be inherently unstable especially when encountering a bike coming in the opposite direction. Even a slight movement of the head, or the motion of hitting your light switch with a thumb may cause them to swerve out of line, let alone the thought of removing a hand from the bar to, say, wave....
We have come to this conclusion after riding out this weekend and having a VERY small percentage of our nods/waves/flashes returned. At first I thought I was just me being ignored as usual 'cos I am on a Harley (fair enough, if you want to ignore me I ain't gonna cry) but the rest of the group experienced the same, on a Bandit 1200, SV650 and a GS1200R.
Case in point.... this weekend at Crieff, we were getting ready to pull out of a layby, saw a group of about 15 bikes coming down the road. First two bikes (Harleys, not even sure if they were with the other group) acknowledged all of us, the other 13 sports bikes didn't even look in our direction. Weird eh?
We've only noticed it recently 'cos normally we see fairly few bikes but in the last couple of months there have been quite a few large groups riding out.
(Maybe it's time to unleash the roaming elephants on the Highland roads again.....)
I think sports bike manufacturers should look into what is an obvious design flaw...
I've come to the same conclusions, with the addition of sportsbikes being unmanageable at low speeds ...i.e. in traffic. I've also drawn a conclusion that it's not just a problem with the bikes, it seems that many of their riders have lopsided or shifting egos, which can adversly effect the handling characteristics.
Agree ft! (and if I catch up with that twat that almost took me and my girlfriend out on a blind corner the other week I will happily 'rearrange' his ego.)
I should also add that it seems their kickstands must be very fragile too. I rode past a group having a break at a petrol station this morning and the best they could do was gawp at me. I am guessing the draught off any sudden movement such as a head nod or wave could easily have toppled their bikes over....
Maybe that's why they use paddock stands at race meetings!
I think its a new craze actually have noticed less and less bikers acknowledging me....luckily I do not get offended that easily highlight of my day is a scooter I pass every morning go out of my way to wave at the guy and give him the thumbs up...still waiting for him to crack and wave back :)
Ooh, I'm gonna try that one, flattie!!*
Well, it will have to be a "slow down, police UP there" sign... they use helicopters here now!
*flattie or ft - whichever one doesn't make my nose bleed....
RustyKnight In: Newton Aycliffe
Posts: 2462
Karma:
*Might have something to do with many bikes only being used as toys by car drivers, on sunny Sunday afternoons*
What's wrong with that Rob?? There also seems to be a hardcore of veteran bikers that actually believe if you don't ride every day and in all weathers you're not a 'real' biker!
Seems we have an ego issue at both ends of the bike spectrum but there's also a bunch of us in the middle that get enjoyment from dry weather riding and see no fun in getting pi**ed wet through and freezing cold when there's a lovely warm car on the drive
As a returning biker i'm amazed how much things have changed in the last 20 years and no matter what you ride you'll get ignored by other riders as waving/nodding isn't classed as 'cool' anymore
Well I ride an SV sport and my riding position has been described as head down ass up lol
Does not stop me nodding at others and on a recent trip in France where a wave is the norm I waved at all who passed or waved to me, did not cause any wobbles and some were done at 130kph!
i ride a BMW and they dont even nod or wave what is the world comeing to i wave at sports bikes all the time (as i pass them on the bends hee hee hee) no your right tc not many people nod wave anymore hey ho
But I still say it's the rider... Shocked me a little in france when one guy went past me on the inside next to a roundabout and his leg came out at an almost 45 degree angle ... Then Mr P pointed out it was the same as a wave lmao
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