Saftey poll

[chunkygoat]

24

I always wear my gear, took the course, practice my skills almost daily.

The killers were speeding and passing on the doubles which i tend to do out here in the middle of the country where people drive tractors, horse'n'buggies, and go 35mph on 2 mile straightaways.

I thought I would score much higher but 24 wasn't that bad.

 

[OZXJR]

I scored 25 .I thought it would have been higher too.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

20 here. Seems to be a popular target zone.

Kenny, what did you happen to score?

3) What stage is your riding training at?
a) None (5) b) MSF Beginner in distance past (4)
c) recent MSF beginner or ERC (3) d) MSF and Frequent Practice (2)
e) MSF, Practice, and track school (1)
f.) MSF Rider's Coach/Instructor (0)

I added another line item, being an instructor should be zero.

With that, I scored 17. I got dinged because I ride often during the night, so that was 5 points which I totally disagree. Still don't know how night riding can be any more dangerous than riding during the day. Yes, there are certain areas of riding where you have a disadvantage vs riding during the day, but I think you gain just as many advantage as well.

 

[oogie]

23 skiddoo speeding,double-yellow passing,never taken a rider safety course, but forty years ago when I first threw a leg over a bike I went helmetless a lot, hauled ass,never paid attention to traffic around me and rode like I owned the road....which got me hurt in a collision with a cage turning in front of me. Now I'm more cautious when being reckless

 

[VEGASRIDER]

I scored a 14, just made it as safe. Four 2's and the rest 1's...

I ride to enjoy it. If I'd taken this same test 20 years ago, I'd have scored :ban:

I've learned a lot over the years and the days of living foolishly are long gone. I'm saving that for the track. :rockon:

Re: Northeast FZ6 Meet - Aug 23rd 2008
Rob.... you're a slacker! :justkidding:

I apologize for breaking away like that. Knowing there was no other turns back to Lincoln, well, I hit the twisties with a passion and let the throttle decide the pace.

In retrospect, I should have gathered the masses and explained the tail of the run would have been two groups, those that wanted to push the envelope and those that would not. Rookie mistake for my first lead in a group ride. :don'tknow:

LOL!

 

[SovietRobot]

That poll seems to have been written by someone who works for an insurance company.

Riding at night? Sure it's not ideal, but is it so much more risky?

Speeding, it doesn't make a distinction between squidly speeding(going 100mph past traffic on the freeway) and the occassional 20mph over on an empty straight.

Crossing on a double yellow, again, no distinction. For example if you're on a long straightaway, and there's only one other car in front of you going half the speed limit, are you not going to pass them just because there's a double yellow?
Doesn't mean you pass 3 cars on a blind curve.

Anyways I scored a 16, probably because I'm ALWAYS trying to "be seen", by riding in a visible line, altering my line when conditions call for it, keeping a marginal distance, etc

 

[jazzpaintball]

That poll seems to have been written by someone who works for an insurance company.

Riding at night? Sure it's not ideal, but is it so much more risky?

Speeding, it doesn't make a distinction between squidly speeding(going 100mph past traffic on the freeway) and the occassional 20mph over on an empty straight.

Crossing on a double yellow, again, no distinction. For example if you're on a long straightaway, and there's only one other car in front of you going half the speed limit, are you not going to pass them just because there's a double yellow?
Doesn't mean you pass 3 cars on a blind curve.

Anyways I scored a 16, probably because I'm ALWAYS trying to "be seen", by riding in a visible line, altering my line when conditions call for it, keeping a marginal distance, etc

The questionnaire was originally designed for newer riders (1-3 years of experience/under 12,000 miles of riding done). I will develop a new one tonight (its 9 am here) for more of the typical rider.

 

[bluenova]

21, high risks were speeding and riding at night. I would have to disagree though, riding the Brussels Ring everyday should add 20 points.

 

[Humperdinkel]

22 for me , just scrape into the low risk area :cheer: I really like night riding though .......It will make Mrs Humpy happy

 

[reiobard]

i scored a 15... not too shabby! if i were only influenced by peer pressure less....



BTW Ken Condon is a great guy and very cool to talk to. He is one of the instructors at one of the track day companies at our local track. We know all the instructors and have had a chance to talk to him in social situations a few times. Also glad to see that people are finding his book useful!

 

[jazzpaintball]

i scored a 15... not too shabby! if i were only influenced by peer pressure less....



BTW Ken Condon is a great guy and very cool to talk to. He is one of the instructors at one of the track day companies at our local track. We know all the instructors and have had a chance to talk to him in social situations a few times. Also glad to see that people are finding his book useful!

His book, as well as Kieth Code's and David Hough's books, are a great deal of help. It will be interesting to see how much Ken's book differs from his predecessor: David Hough's Proficient Motorcycling

 

[abacall]

19. Sounds about right.

 

[FZ1inNH]

Re: Northeast FZ6 Meet - Aug 23rd 2008
Rob.... you're a slacker! :justkidding:

I apologize for breaking away like that. Knowing there was no other turns back to Lincoln, well, I hit the twisties with a passion and let the throttle decide the pace.

In retrospect, I should have gathered the masses and explained the tail of the run would have been two groups, those that wanted to push the envelope and those that would not. Rookie mistake for my first lead in a group ride. :don'tknow:

LOL!

You mean "Eric", right Kenny? That is from one of my posts...

Yes, speed was one of my #2 answers. Couldn't say never but it is rare as there are too many police traps in this area. Not worth the tickets to push it beyond that rare moment.

Now, when I say speeding, I'm talking about the 10+ MPH over the limit that raises the hackles on the LEO's neck... If we're talking about 9 MPH or under, then I don't consider that speeding here because no cop here will stop you for that unless it's a school zone.

 

[jazzpaintball]

You mean "Eric", right Kenny? That is from one of my posts...

Yes, speed was one of my #2 answers. Couldn't say never but it is rare as there are too many police traps in this area. Not worth the tickets to push it beyond that rare moment.

Now, when I say speeding, I'm talking about the 10+ MPH over the limit that raises the hackles on the LEO's neck... If we're talking about 9 MPH or under, then I don't consider that speeding here because no cop here will stop you for that unless it's a school zone.

Relitive speeding in the sense of a bike, especially in back roads/twisties, is 15mph (25kph) over the limit

 

[Sawblade]

I got a 20. The night and speeding ones killed me.

 

[Wavex]

24points here...

3) What stage is your riding training at?
a) None (5) b) MSF Beginner in distance past (4)
c) recent MSF beginner or ERC (3) d) MSF and Frequent Practice (2)
e) MSF, Practice, and track school (1)
f.) MSF Rider's Coach/Instructor (0)

I added another line item, being an instructor should be zero.

With that, I scored 17. I got dinged because I ride often during the night, so that was 5 points which I totally disagree. Still don't know how night riding can be any more dangerous than riding during the day. Yes, there are certain areas of riding where you have a disadvantage vs riding during the day, but I think you gain just as many advantage as well.

Hey Kenny, I think you're reading too much into this test... it is obviously not possible for a standardized test to cover every and all case scenarios for all individuals out there, and it was designed to give you an "idea" of where you stand, not a definitive personalized risk profile... The reason why riding at night is considered more risky than during the day is pretty obvious... 1st there's the rider's visibility factor, but also the fact that you are less conspicuous at night... I believe it is also due to the statistics that increase dramatically on Friday and Saturday nights after the bikers leave the bars... Of course you'll tell me you don't go to the bar when you ride at night, but again it's irrelevant for this general, "rough order of magnitude" risk test...
Finally, being an MSF coach doesn't automatically reduce your risk to zero... instructors are subject to accident/riding error too!

 

[ozzieboy]

I'm with VEGASRIDER on the night question. I ride at night all the time. I head straight into the twistys and might see a dozen cars on my ride home instead of 5000 during the day. I can see them coming better, which is far more important than visibility in my book as I think that anyone that is relying on cagers to avoid them is not long for this world.

Wildlife and road surface issues are really the only 2 things that would be different in my book. So you take it easier and travel the routes with no traffic and good lighting.

I've had hundreds of near misses during my daytime commute and only 2 night time near misses...a tree branch over the road, mid bend and a traffic light turning lane change from a person who should have been sitting comfortably on a bus.

I feel an awful lot safer at night.

Aside from all that I got a 22 for my commute and a 28 for my weekend riding. I felt it would reflect how i ride with greater accuracy to break these up.


Cheers
Mike

 

[Wh0M3]

19 for me...

I tend to be influenced when there is another rider around. I may try to "keep up" with them but not into trying to do some crazy stunts. I also have a hard time with speeding, but I never try to pass on a double yellow. Where I live if it's a double yellow it's because of a curve or something else that wouldn't be so good for passing. Besides when ever I do pass I still judge it as I would my car.. give me twice as much room as I would really need.

What saved me was going through MSF Skills course. I wanted to make sure I took the course before I got out there and did something that would be considered a bone head squid move.. like breaking while in a curve. The course saved me, I may not be riding right now, but I can say I will be soon.

btw.. I agree with everyone who have been saying riding at night isn't so bad however, my accident happened at 5 in the am, it was dark enough that head lights show bright, and you can still see everything around, however the guy that pulled out mis judged the distance because people tend to judge distance by size. A motorcycle looks smaller when you just see the headlight so it might have looked like a car further away with just one light out. SO..... take it for what it's worth.

 

[Ghost Weim]

14 here.

 

[goker]

15... I guess I am getting old.