Good or Bad riding? or is this acceped???

I used to ride like that and have the scars to prove it.
I blame it on peer pressure, when I was young and riding within the law my mates told me to ride like a man. Which in essence ment top speed everywhere and lane splitting on single carriageways. Sadly most of them are dead or so injured they'll never get on a bike again.
You've got to leave a margin for error, for yourself and every other road user.

I have to agree with everyone here. You can't say yes or no unless you know exactly the situation. However, even though you aren't the most experienced biker in the world, you obviously passed the test and are therefore qualified to say if you think something is absoloutely mental.

Unbroken whites are put there for a reason and If we're talking about the brow of a hill or a blind corner, then its safe to assume that its probably not safe to overtake.

Im off to look at curry recipes now - you made me hungry.

Originally Posted by jonboy

The good news is that these sort of riders are unlikely to survive too long, as Darwinian law takes over.

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Well I beg to differ. If these riders are indeed likely to die by their own hands, so to speak, that is bad news for all of us as it's one more bit of evidence 'against' motorcyling. What we should be aiming to achieve is fewer biker casualties, otherwise we are indeed all tarred with the same brush as irresponsible nob-eds who take up disproportionate amounts of NHS and emergency services' time and effort. We don't want these guys to die, even if they were riding like ****s (and no disrespect to the OP but he might not have the experience to make that judgement??). We want them to strive to ride better and smarter, safer.

Originally Posted by Ken McCulloch

We want them to strive to ride better, smarter, safer and without a t*pbox

Yes you have a good point .


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Originally Posted by jonboy

Yes you have a good point

you just cant help yourself can you greg?

Riders like that don't bother me, of sorts. I used to be one of them. With youth comes the fearless factor. As I grow older I think more of the "what ifs" and as a consequence my riding has become slower, more controlled, and every single thing is a "what if". Only the "what if's" are analysed before the event rather than after it. When someone like that passes me, my thoughts are what to do when I get to the accident. I slow down for a short period of time to make sure that I don't end up riding into the already occurred accident at speed. This has actually happened too, it was not a pretty site.

There will always be riders like that, and we will always be tarnished with the same brush. You just have to make sure that you are not one of them. Riding bikes always means taking risks, it's the nature of the sport. There are some that will take more risks than others. There are riders who ride fast and take lots of risks, but also consider their own life, the environment in which these risks are taken and don't wish to make unnecessary risks which will raise the stakes. Then there are the lunatics.

Originally Posted by BigApe

Riding bikes always means taking risks, it's the nature of the sport.

An interesting point but do you mean extra to the inherent risks of actually being on two wheels rather than four, or do you mean that riding a bike means that you (as a matter of course) occasionally put yourself in a postion of risk (like a dodgy overtake etc) otherwise it would simply be too boring and unexciting?



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Originally Posted by jonboy

An interesting point but do you mean extra to the inherent risks of actually being on two wheels rather than four, or do you mean that riding a bike means that you (as a matter of course) occasionally put yourself in a postion of risk (like a dodgy overtake etc) otherwise it would simply be too boring and unexciting?



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Yes I mean that we take risks more than any other road user. It's par for the course. We overtake far more than any other road user. That in itself says that we take more risks. We are also more AT risk than other road users.

I'm still confused. What I'm trying to understand is whether you mean that we take risks (i.e. gamble on the outcome of an action) or are simply at greater risk than car drivers because we're exposed and on two wheels.


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Originally Posted by jonboy

I'm still confused. What I'm trying to understand is whether you mean that we take risks (i.e. gamble on the outcome of an action) or are simply at greater risk than car drivers because we're exposed and on two wheels.
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I think they're saying both.
We do take more risks than somebody in a car, for the simple fact that if something does go wrong then we can get hurt.