Motorbiking

[Forrest]

Problem with drivers vs bikers is that drivers do not understand how bikers need to position themselves on the road and tend to resent bikers fir their ability to cut through traffic.

Comments re nutter bikers are off the Mark - every person that rides a bike knows the dangers and rides defensively. Bikers account for a disproportionate amount of traffic accidents but cause fuck all of them ...

Hd

I have no problem with bikers that cut through traffic safely and legally, but there are quite a few that don't,
so I stand by my 'nutters' comment, though not for every biker, naturally.

Having said that, there are plenty of car/truck drivers that don't adhere to the rules of the road either.

[hd7055]

Ok, to put it bluntly a biker is much more aware of the car/van/bus/truck than vica versa - hence the disproportionate accident rate.

A properly trained biker will always put safety first. Having said that the amount of times I have watched couriers and cringed (well ok want to drag them off their bike and knock some sense into them) beggars belief. But watch anyone on a decent bike with proper protective gear and look at how they anticipate what's unfolding - not knocking drivers but bikers need a different skill set.

[dark-knight]

I am a biker and might seem like a nutter to other car users who don't understand how a bike is riden. Bikes have a great acceleration over a car, so what might seem a crazy overtaking maneuver for a car isn't on a bike. The handleing on a bike is better also. Also they're saver a speed as they have less weight so less kinetic energy. In an accident at 60 mph a range rover has 17 times the kinetic energy of a bike.

[up for it]

i found this when looking around i think i will stick to a car

Road Safety Strategy reports that the motorcyclist fatality rate in Ireland is the highest in Europe. According to OECD figures, a motorcyclist is two to three times more likely to be killed in Ireland than in other European countries
Motorcycles represent less than 2% of the total vehicle fleet yet motorcyclists account for 12% of road fatalities and 10% of road injuries each year.
In terms of fatality rates per 10,000 registered motorcycles, Ireland was found to have the second highest rate amongst the twenty countries compared.
Motorcyclists are vulnerable road users. In 2007, 33 motorcyclists were killed and a further 410 were injured on Ireland?s roads, accounting for 10% of all fatalities, and almost 5% of all casualties resulting from road collisions in the country. This is of particular concern since motorcycles accounted for less than 2% of all licensed vehicles in the Republic in that same year.

[hd7055]

Two points:
(I) bikes under 500 cc, scooters, etc have probably had no training
(ii) superbikes are way too much for public roads (going from 0-60 under 3 seconds and on to 190 mph on two wheels!)

In between there is a happy medium ...

[Derry lad]

Never owned a bike but been on a few. Biggest problem I had was not realising the speed that I was doing on it. Came into a 30 doing 90 and didn't think I was speeding till I looked at the clock. The speed on them is very deceptive and very addictive.

[ryder]

I still have my Honda 50 . Gets me from A to B and back again. Once I took Patty for a ryde on it

[Fitzy]

I still have my Honda 50 . Gets me from A to B and back again. Once I took Patty for a ryde on it

Did she ride side saddle.

[akasomeoneelse]

I have two 1000cc bikes (both sportsbikes, one is a V-twin and the other is an i4), they are friggin amazing. You do have to watch out for some narrow minded pricks in cars who intentionally swerve out on you when filtering through traffic. I pushed for a dangerous driving charge in one case because there was a traffic camera and it is perfectly legal to filter. Other than that bikes are fine as long as you take time to get used to it before you start pushing it on a bit. I also have a HGV licence (and drive a rigid) so I respect all road users.

[Nyna]

i have this one