Just a a quick reminder

[mabupa]

Just wanted to remind everyone to please be safe out there. I know for a lot of you is that time of the year when you put your bikes away for the next few months, but for some of us, the best riding weather and “riding season” is just getting started. I’m in an area that’s being developed and growing at an alarming rate (IMO) and we’ve had two fatal motorcycle accidents within the last 10 days. 2 fridays ago a 20 year old decided to make a U-turn during heavy (at 5pm) traffic on one of our main streets and killed a 42 year old guy on a goldwing. This past Friday evening we heard a helicopter over our house and were not sure what was going on, but turned out to be another fatal motorcycle accident just outside the subdivision We live in. Guy looked to be about my age (mid 30s) and was on a black cruiser. I later saw a post on our neighborhood page from the widow. She doesn’t even look to be 30 years old and turns out he left behind, not only her, but 4 children, including a baby. Heartbreaking stuff to see and both accidents within walking distance from my house, so I pray the big guy protects all of you while you are out enjoying your bikes and be as alert as you can and on the lookout for all these distracted/reckless drivers out there. sorry for posting sad things during holiday season, but these two fatalities really got to me.

 

[Kiwi Rider]

Thanks @mabupa, I am keenly aware of the dangers of riding during holiday season, the 500km ride with 30 other bikes I just went on last saturday was fraught with danger . .
I was road raged with a car I had just passed, on my tail by a yard or so, he must have taken exception to being passed and attempted to either scare me or knock me off.
Thankfully with a twist of the wrist the torque of the mighty Hayabusa put him far back in my mirrors and I was safe again, phewww!
There were 4 riders crashed on the very piece of road I can not stand riding, way to treacherous, and I had listened to that still small voice that said "avoid that path, take the other route home . . ", I got home safely riding on my own with no interference from anyone, Police included.
Christmas time here on the roads is called 'the silly season', for very good reason!

 

[hayabuser]

Worst part of rain-forest living (besides the rain) is the mess of dropped leaves and pine needles sliming up every shadowed corner of the road.

Be safe, all.

 

[mabupa]

Thanks @mabupa, I am keenly aware of the dangers of riding during holiday season, the 500km ride with 30 other bikes I just went on last saturday was fraught with danger . .
I was road raged with a car I had just passed, on my tail by a yard or so, he must have taken exception to being passed and attempted to either scare me or knock me off.
Thankfully with a twist of the wrist the torque of the mighty Hayabusa put him far back in my mirrors and I was safe again, phewww!
There were 4 riders crashed on the very piece of road I can not stand riding, way to treacherous, and I had listened to that still small voice that said "avoid that path, take the other route home . . ", I got home safely riding on my own with no interference from anyone, Police included.
Christmas time here on the roads is called 'the silly season', for very good reason!

Glad your ride ended well and you made it home, Greg. I have not been on the road much and even downgraded my insurance coverage for this year to save some money while the bikes sit in the garage. When I do get back on the road, I’m thinking about upping my coverages to something higher than I originally had. My thought is, if we had issues with uninsured drivers before, how much worse is it going to be now that there are some many people without jobs and too many personal and financial problems that makes them concentrate less on driving and more on their hardships?

 

[Kiwi Rider]

Glad your ride ended well and you made it home, Greg. I have not been on the road much and even downgraded my insurance coverage for this year to save some money while the bikes sit in the garage. When I do get back on the road, I’m thinking about upping my coverages to something higher than I originally had. My thought is, if we had issues with uninsured drivers before, how much worse is it going to be now that there are some many people without jobs and too many personal and financial problems that makes them concentrate less on driving and more on their hardships?

Yes, I will be cutting back on my rides too for the same reasons.
When I see some one snap and suddenly pull some dangerous manoever on the road, I wonder if they are on serious drugs.
Here in NZ we have widespread methamphetamine use and that tends to cause psychotic behaviour in long term users, but it's impossible to predict who is suddenly going to take issue with a pass that you may have just completed.
It seemed to be about 2 out of 10 vehicles pull over a bit and let you pass easily, but the rest seem unaware you are even sitting behind them or approaching them from behind. I'll bet the ones that pull over a bit are motorcyclists driving their car on that day!

 

[Corey Mathery]

Yeah, its always good be as vigilant as possible! I daily drive, and I do my best to never get complacent or too comfortable.

Even something as simple as coming up to a green lit intersection, I am always trying to be hyper aware.

Stay aware, and pay attention. Gotta do the best we can to keep ourselves safe, because the other drivers sure aren't going to pay extra attention for our sake! Always pretend that you are invisible!

 

[HayaWakened]

Yeah, its always good be as vigilant as possible! I daily drive, and I do my best to never get complacent or too comfortable.

Even something as simple as coming up to a green lit intersection, I am always trying to be hyper aware.

Stay aware, and pay attention. Gotta do the best we can to keep ourselves safe, because the other drivers sure aren't going to pay extra attention for our sake! Always pretend that you are invisible!

And keep your equipment well maintained As in the bike

 

[Dopey]

Yeah, its always good be as vigilant as possible! I daily drive, and I do my best to never get complacent or too comfortable.

Even something as simple as coming up to a green lit intersection, I am always trying to be hyper aware.

Stay aware, and pay attention. Gotta do the best we can to keep ourselves safe, because the other drivers sure aren't going to pay extra attention for our sake! Always pretend that you are invisible!

A lot of guys I ride with kind of think it's funny the guy in the big bad busa is always in the back of the pack or taking it easy because I'm always looking at every car and intersection hoping that no one does something stupid. Don't get me wrong i have my stupid moments but I try to make sure they are somewhat controlled. We had quite a few riders go down this year a few Ive rode with and were a few that did not make it unfortunately. We have quite a few Facebook pages and group chats riders around here use and if someone goes down there is usually a check your people message sent out, luckily my close riding buddies have been good. Even worse most of this season there was some people deliberately running bikes of the road and shooting at them as well. Few friends in some clubs lost brothers, also had the police tell us be safe that in under 2 weeks there had been over 50 reports and accidents tied to the same description of cars. There is plenty of ideas of who and why but at the end of the season we still had no definitive answers.

 

[mabupa]

Yes, I will be cutting back on my rides too for the same reasons.
When I see some one snap and suddenly pull some dangerous manoever on the road, I wonder if they are on serious drugs.
Here in NZ we have widespread methamphetamine use and that tends to cause psychotic behaviour in long term users, but it's impossible to predict who is suddenly going to take issue with a pass that you may have just completed.
It seemed to be about 2 out of 10 vehicles pull over a bit and let you pass easily, but the rest seem unaware you are even sitting behind them or approaching them from behind. I'll bet the ones that pull over a bit are motorcyclists driving their car on that day!

When I moved here, people would stop far back and flash their headlights to let you out of the parking lot and merge into the road, but there’s too many people moving from big cities and bringing their bad driving habits and manners. Courtesy went out the window and the quiet areas with cow pastures are now full of new subdivisions. I went from having to worry about wild animals to having to worry about the driving kind of wild animals and those are a lot more dangerous. I’ve had my fair share of encounters with wannabe racers on their mom’s explorers and also rude people and I always make it clear I’m not interested in playing motoGP on public roads and the mighty busa manages to get way from the rude ones easily. I’ve gone as far as pulling over to get rid of those people.

 

[Corey Mathery]

When I moved here, people would stop far back and flash their headlights to let you out of the parking lot and merge into the road, but there’s too many people moving from big cities and bringing their bad driving habits and manners. Courtesy went out the window and the quiet areas with cow pastures are now full of new subdivisions. I went from having to worry about wild animals to having to worry about the driving kind of wild animals and those are a lot more dangerous. I’ve had my fair share of encounters with wannabe racers on their mom’s explorers and also rude people and I always make it clear I’m not interested in playing motoGP on public roads and the mighty busa manages to get way from the rude ones easily. I’ve gone as far as pulling over to get rid of those people.

Honestly avoiding conflict on a motorcycle is the smartest choice a motorcyclist can make!

I'm like you, I am glad the Busa makes it easy to get away from some idiots!

 

[Bumblebee]

Always good advice to ride defensively, properly dressed and having your bike maintained....every little edge one can get is always helpful.

I ride like everyone is out to run me over and trust nobody when I'm on the bike. If a car flashed for me to turn, I'm apprehensive as there could be someone passing them on the right...one never knows until you are under the bumper of a car or truck...

I've always had powerful bikes so the allure of twisting the throttle to make an idiot disappear in the mirror is not a new or alien concept to me and it is my "go to" response for tail gaters.