over the speed limit?

[benny66]

i dont currently have a bike but i do have a car, i never go more then 5 mph over the speed limit. ive been reading alot latly about motorcycles as i get closer and closer to the purchase of my FZ6 and it seems to be all youtube videos and some of the forum posts are about going way to fast. now when i drive and some one blows past me in a 65 it tends to piss me off but when a motorcycle BLASts past me on the highway i see why some people dont give motorcycles the respect they deserve. i mean im fine with the riding on the shoulder and going between cars in a traffic jam but breaking a hundred on punblic roads bothers me. who here breaks the speedlimit by more then 5mph regularly on there bike and y?


i mean i understand the want to go fast. i race motocross and love speed but i dont like the idea of putting my life to chance in a situation on the road that i dont have complete controle over. on the track its controled theres almost no chance that some guy or a deer will run infront of me while im riding. on the road the difrance between 65 and 80 is big. thanks for any input and ride safe.

 

[lonesoldier84]

ride the speed limit on ur motorbike and see the tailgaters. see how much more uncomfortable you are with tailgaters on a bike than you are in ur car. in ur car its a mild annoyance, on ur bike its ****sville.

also, riding in the middle of a dense pack you are never at ease, you are constantly analysing all 5 people around you fingers tense on controls, feet and legs ready to react. pull out ahead of these people and cruise 10 kph faster than they are moving (which is usually 5 over to begin with) and all of a sudden you are nice and relaxed.

15kph over the limit with amazing braking power does not make you unsafe. as long as you have visibility you have ample opportunity to react safely. but constantly passing people is adding extra dangers as well. I will pull in between cage-blobs and find a nice spot for myself and cruise there. ill go 10-25kph over the limit to till i find my sweet spot then cruise at a speed which is usually within 5-10kph of the limit to maintain my sweet spot.

slow down while going thru intersections though.

 

[Stumbles06]

I'm with you Benny. I rarely speed on my bike (or car for that matter), although on a recent ride with some of my Aussie mates, I got up to about 170 Kmph, (only for a short time and on very open roads with plenty of vision), to try and catch up...lol (I was getting left way behind).

As you said, speed is great... but only in the right place.

Stay safe.

 

[GConn]

I can understand people that get pissed off with speeding vehicles BUT I hate people that get pissed off with bikes and "wow" themselves when a Lambo limited edition blasts by

That being said, everybody speeds on a bike sometimes. It's in its nature. Nobody dreamt of street bikes so he can always go slow. Bikes are fast and that's why they fascinate people.

Probably going to get flamed for this but it's still my opinion.

 

[steveindenmark]

You have the right idea Benny, which is a good start before getting a bike.

On the open road with no traffic I ride at over the limit when the road conditions allow.

In traffic and built up areas then I stick to the limits.

In traffic jams I ride through traffic with consideration of other road users and when I know it is safe. I never ride on the shoulder. All the debris from the road gets blown onto it and its a great place to pick up things which will blow your tyres.

I look at the Youtube videoes of guys speeding and racing on the roads and recognise them for what they are "Unforfilled motorbike racers who dare not take it to the track"

I would suggest you look at Motorcycle accodents on Youtube and figure out how many of the accidents are caused by weather, road conditions, bike faults. Then figure out how many are caused by total idiots.

Steve

 

[Nelly]

i dont currently have a bike but i do have a car, i never go more then 5 mph over the speed limit. ive been reading alot latly about motorcycles as i get closer and closer to the purchase of my FZ6 and it seems to be all youtube videos and some of the forum posts are about going way to fast. now when i drive and some one blows past me in a 65 it tends to piss me off but when a motorcycle BLASts past me on the highway i see why some people dont give motorcycles the respect they deserve. i mean im fine with the riding on the shoulder and going between cars in a traffic jam but breaking a hundred on punblic roads bothers me. who here breaks the speedlimit by more then 5mph regularly on there bike and y?


i mean i understand the want to go fast. i race motocross and love speed but i dont like the idea of putting my life to chance in a situation on the road that i dont have complete controle over. on the track its controled theres almost no chance that some guy or a deer will run infront of me while im riding. on the road the difrance between 65 and 80 is big. thanks for any input and ride safe.

Hi Mate,

What you are seeing is a very small part of motorcycling in general.
I had an old Honda CD200 Benly for two years. I was absolutely skint, that bike gave me some great great biking moments all at a massive top speed of 60mph on my daily 40mile commute.
It had great character, started every time did about 250miles to the tank.
It was stolen from my shed one evening, I was gutted. I would love to have it back as a winter hack.

Nelly

 

[idanny]

Benny I believe that your opinion of speed will definitely change once you get the bike. There are certain times when you can speed rather safely. Something to consider when on this subject is that speed limit's do not get updated as often as they should.

 

[HavBlue]

While you may enjoy going 5mph over the posted limit where I lived in California was the #1 place in the nation for citations issued above 100mph and it was more cages than bikes. Granted, not everybody was up at the century mark but many were well above the posted 65-70 mark and if you were actually going the posted limit you were going to get run over and especially if you were on a bike. Here, in Kentucky and the Tennessee area I swear this is the bump draft capitol of the world as folks tailgate like crazy and there are a huge number of rear end accidents. Out on the Interstate (freeway) you better be going 80 or again you'll get pushed right off the road and these folks have zero respect for a bike.

Now, as to the FZ6 and for that matter most 600cc sportbikes that I have been on, they love speed and they actually handle better the faster they go. Running at 65mph I'll still be in 4th gear while the bike is telling me to get my act together and step it up. The FZ6 is a rev machine and much like its sibling the R6 it wants to use those rpm. Heck, the bike doesn't even shift right below 5,000rpm as it tends to clunk and fuss about shifting. This isn't to say you can't putz around at the speed limit because you can and the bike will do it but it won't like it. The FZ6 is akin to a thoroughbred and it needs to be given it head.

I bought the FZ6 to use it for what it is, a sportbike with an ergo that promotes comfort at speed. It has shown to do many things and dollar for dollar the FZ6 is to me, the best bang for the buck on the market today.

 

[grommit]

Hi Mate,

What you are seeing is a very small part of motorcycling in general.
I had an old Honda CD200 Benly for two years. I was absolutely skint, that bike gave me some great great biking moments all at a massive top speed of 60mph on my daily 40mile commute.
It had great character, started every time did about 250miles to the tank.
It was stolen from my shed one evening, I was gutted. I would love to have it back as a winter hack.

Nelly

A CD200, well you have to be very, very sad to steal one of them, never mind owning one.:rof:

 

[Scott64a]

Yeah...

I said the same thing when I got my FZ6...

I usually do 5 over in my truck, so I started out doing 5 over on the bike.
That's when I realized that most other motorists around this part of metro Atlanta do 10 over, and WILL tailgate a bike or try to run you down if you are not more aggressive.

By aggressive, I mean "comfortably vigilant" with your speed.
It is, by the way, perfectly legal to speed if you are honestly avoiding an accident. By your actions, you are avoiding the very thing traffic laws are there for: accidents and safety.

I try to stay with the flow of traffic at all times, and usually ride the line to stay in ppl's mirrors and short attention spans.

 

[Tailgate]

Speed limits are one of society's biggest jokes. Take big rigs, for example: in CA they are supposed to max at 55 MPH. They're ALL doing 65+, sometimes more. The only time I expect to see a big rig doing 55 MPH is a tanker (those guys drive super safe, don't tailgate, always in the slow lanes. The rest of the pack (cagers)? Well, I would say it's usually all 5-10+ MPH over with many 15+ MPH over. You know what I notice the most? You probably guessed: tailgaters or cagers "overdriving." These people, you just know it: if there's an emergency situation they'll rear-end into traffic ahead before they can even adequately react because they're just following too closely. Many tailgate because they don't want to open up a "gap" because they perceive that somebody will take this as an weakness to change into their lane. I think, most tailgaters are just too stupid to know that they're lousy, unsafe drivers. Breaking news: you're not in a NASCAR race and you're only going to get to wherever a few seconds or possibly minutes earlier (if you don't crash) by tailgating. Imagine your next airline trip the pilot flew this way: not having back-up/contingency training at the ready in case of emergency. Almost everyday, it seems, inevitably some cager will go highway speed right behind me on my FZ (you know; he's so close your whole mirror is filled with this imbecile's vehicle). And you KNOW, if you have to make an emergency brake that this reckless driver is going to snuff your life out. What do I do? Find an out somehow? Sometimes, there's not much more to do than open up more the space between me and the vehicle ahead so I can dampen any emergency braking. I can tap my brake lights or gradually slow down but usually any person who would tailgate a bike is too dumb and will immediately take this as a type of confrontation or an assault on his "manhood." and continue the stupidity. I say before you get peeved at drivers exceeding the speed limit, consider the ones engaging in reckless tailgating.

 

[keira]

I say ride however you are comfortable. If that means you go the speed limit, then you may have other things to deal with, but one of them will not be discomfort over your own riding ability. You will notice when you get a bike that things are very different than in a car.

For example, I used to live a few miles away from a HUGE traffic circle. Two large, busy, high-speed highways intersected here and it was three lanes wide. One of the most unnerving experiences in my life was the first time I rolled up to the circle and traffic was heavy, so I came to a complete stop with cagers taking the circle at about 50 mph, people passing on one side, and I was just sitting there awaiting my fate... I have never been so uncomfortable. Now, when on my bike, I do my best to avoid stopping at roundabouts...if there is a gap, I go....in my car, I will wait for the right moment - very different.

 

[FZ1inNH]

On most streets, I just follow the flow of traffic and maintain a distance that allows me my escape route... that means don't tailgate a cage. I want people in the oncoming lane to have a good view of me and you can't do that hiding behind a cage.

Regarding the highway, I move around cars quickly to avoid any time spent in their blind spot. I absolutely hurry around any commercial vehicles and pickups carrying ANY load in the back for fear of what might fly off those. I find that "sweet spot" mentioned above where no traffic resides and cruise in that zone until something starts to close in. On that note, I do my dead-level best to always avoid the highway anyway so my speeding is limited a great deal. I'd much rather be on the back roads than the slab any day. I didn't buy the FZ6 to drive in straight lines.

 

[Avalon786]

Yeah i agree with most of the posts here. I want to go a little bit faster than the flow otherwise you'll feel more like a sitting duck. I speed from time to time but i do it for short distances, ill go from 80 to 100 then back to 80 in 10secs. But here on my freeways (yes their MINE...lol :justkidding: ) most cars are going ~85mph (between 75-90mph)

 

[Rushiku]

When one refuses to do more than the posted speed limit, because it's 'the law' and 'safe', one creates a restriction in the flow of traffic.

This restriction causes drivers following behind to become dismayed, upset, angry, and finally, anxious. Once they become anxious, they no longer care about anything other than getting around the restriction - and, quite obviously, a dangerous situation has been created.

Stop causing accidents and start moving with the flow.

 

[wrightme43]

I have been stopped twice in past 30 days. Both officers told me they do not write tickets for less than 15 over. One ticket and one warning.

I look at driving in traffic like this.
If I am the overtaking vehicle I have choice of where to pass, and I am in control.
If I am the overtaken vehicle I lose this choice. I like to have options, and I consistently travel faster than surrounding traffic to get to a open area. Cars travel in "blobs" I dont want to be around them.

 

[craig007]

A couple of years ago, I went for about 6 months driving (my car) only the speed limit. In this area, the highways are 55 mph but everyone drives about 70. When I was obeying the speed limit over in the slow lane, I got tailgated, cursed at and seemed to make people very angry. I think I was creating a dangerous situation by not following the flow of traffic. Now, I follow the flow when I'm in a car. On my bike, I am about 10% faster than the flow (when conditions permit). The exception is when I'm passing someone on a two lane road. On those occations 20 or 30 mph over the posted limit during the pass is not unusual.

So, I agree with the majority here. Going a little faster than the flow is best IMO

 

[sideslider]

Some good points here...

I am a noob but I wanted to add to this thread because I hear a lot of "if I am tailgated I speed up" type talk.

I remember from my motorcycle safety course being instructed to SLOW down when being tailgated to allow you and the guy behind you more time to slow down if things go bad...

Does this not apply here?

 

[hunterfz6]

Hey slideslider, where I live, if someone gets on your arse, and you slow down on them, they will probably pull a gun and shoot you. Get out of the way or get ahead of the jerk and out of the way. I get crap all the time because my work truck has GPS tattle tale when I hit 70 I can get wrote up and lose my job, so I have a cap on my speed. When the freeway speed is 75 or 80 I just have to adapt and it sucks. Its a real test of my man hood to just move over , but when the slow lane is 60, and the fast lane is 80 and I cant go the speed limit, I start to get pissed.

 

[sportrider]

I normally run 10-20 MPH over the speed limit. I feel safer passing everything then being passed. I've been riding a 250 to work for the last 6 weeks and I miss the top end of the FZ6 on the freeway.