Topic: A tragedy in New Zealand.....

[toycollector10]

A young guy, only 20 years old. He loved to pull wheelies and 3 days ago at 04.00 AM he pulled one too many.
The Transport Accident Investigation Committee report isn't in yet, it's early stages, obviously. Initial reports
indicate he pulled a wheelie while doing around 150 kph and when the front landed the steering head/yoke collapsed and he
spilled off his bike and was cut in half when he went through the wire-rope barrier.

My thoughts and feelings are with his parents and friends.

I see this stuff all the time on youtube.com.   Are these bikes built to take it?   How many can you pull until the welds just say, "that's it, I'm done"??

[cben750f0]

i hear you mate, you cant expect every year to make a lighter, more powerfull bike and something not to give eventually...

thoughts go out to the family..

peace

[Raul CB750K1]

The main battlefront of the motorcyclist associations in Spain is to press the government to eliminate the sheet metal barriers that keep cars from getting out of the road if they lose control, but have proved lethal to motorcyclist even in a low speed spill.

Apart from that, I've read in some different occasions about frames breaking apart at the steering neck. Seems that the newest bikes such as the Suzuki GSR, Yamaha FZ6 and the like, with alloy frames, break quite easily at the neck. People who have posted about it swear they were not doing wheelies; most of them has been at low-to-medium-speed head-ons, and they freak out how the frame broke instead of bend like in the steel tube type.

[Rocking-M]

A young fellow here just trashed a R1 while wheeling it.
He was running a pretty good rate, I haven't talked to him but
will, he's the son's girlfriends cousin.

The bike was described by a witness as being broke in half.


He was fortunate to only break an ankle.

[andy750]

I read on another forum that when thieves break the steering lock on sports bikes they can damage the frame, and essentially make the bike a right-off? Dont know how true that is but in the context of this thread very possible.

Raul - you make a good point about the metal barriers being deadly for motorcyclists -whats the alternative?

Andy

[S-Dog]

puffy globs of marshmallows.... 

[754]

Anyone ever read Kosmans warning in his catalog, goes something like.

Racing parts are built for lightweight and as such are subject to frequent inspection.

As bikes are built lighter and lighter this will become more common, the days of dishing out  endless abuse to a heavier overbuilt bike have gone by the wayside....IMO.

[Raul CB750K1]

Raul - you make a good point about the metal barriers being deadly for motorcyclists -whats the alternative?

Andy

Most of the fatalities happen because, even at safe speeds, if you loose any of the wheels and skid on the pavement, what could end in a simple rash ends in a tragedy because of the metal barriers. Barriers are installed with cars in mind, not motorcycles.




The alternative, as the motorcyclists associations defend, is a "motorcyclist-safe" barrier, with a system that absorbs the impact, avoiding the bike or driver to slid under the sheet metal or hurt with the pillars.




¿The problem? Estimates say that the cost of replacing all the barriers would be around 43 million euro. Too much money for too little political "return of investment", as motorcyclist are seen as a minority. What is worst, the road maintenance is a state issue, not a national issue, so it has to be negotiated in each province. At least we are getting media attention lately, and we have reached a couple of agreements with different governments. There is a national demonstration scheduled for nov. 10.

Unfortunately, the people that pulls wheelies, make burnouts or ride like if there is no tomorrow only give us the rest of bikers a bad name. Still many people think "if they kill themselves it is their problem, they ALWAYS ride like crazy". I don't want to get killed just because I find sand in a blind turn and my bike crasses into the barrier. I accept the fact that I will scratch me and my bike, but it's not fair that I have to die for an spill.

[S-Dog]

A young guy, only 20 years old. He loved to pull wheelies and 3 days ago at 04.00 AM he pulled one too many.
The Transport Accident Investigation Committee report isn't in yet, it's early stages, obviously. Initial reports
indicate he pulled a wheelie while doing around 150 kph and when the front landed the steering head/yoke collapsed and he
spilled off his bike and was cut in half when he went through the wire-rope barrier.

I am going to sound cold with this.... But when you pull wheelies at 90+ mph, you deserve whatever comes.  That is, at best, an idiot move.  I love watching that stuff on you tube just to watch people ruin their bikes doing stupid tricks.  While it is never a good thing for someone to lose their life.  Darwin helps us out so irresponsible people like this do not end up killing someone else too.

[tramp]

same same
sorry for the loss of life but guess what
the darwin theory works

[333]

I gotta side with S-Dog and Tramp.  And stuff like that gives ALL riders a bad name.  How many of us have mentioned riding at a party and then only heard about someone who got mamed or died, or heard rants about how "all bikers weave in and out of traffic at high speeds" from non riders?  Tragedy, yes.  It didn't have to happen.

[Rocking-M]

Got to disagree with you folks.
There are times you can wheelie safely if you try. For instance I just found a new motorcycle tire source
where I can buy tires and have them mounted cheaper than I can order on line etc...
The fellow who runs the business is 57 years old and been riding since at least the 60"s.
He told me that he's been clocked on his GSR 1000 at 150 in a wheelie.
He doesn't do it when in traffic or where the road allows folks to enter the scene.
He picks a "safe" spot (I know it's not real safe to wheel at 150 )
Anyway my point is you can try it and not endanger anyone else.

If you bite the dust it's the risk you take but the statements about
Darwinism at work are in my opinion just bs.

[seaweb11]

I like to push through the corners hard, but at my age "46" have no interest in lifting the front wheel.
This from a guy who by the age of 18 had broken 30+ bones and had many serious concussions.  I'm old and I know it  


I can still remember not being able to pick up and hold my 1st daughter for months after she was born because I had a broken collar bone

YouTube is fun to watch, but it is a younger mans play.

Sorry to hear about the dude in AU, but hey..you play..you pay.

[333]

Tell me one place on this earth where it is legal to wheelie on public roads.  Besides,we are not talking about trying to get your front wheel off the ground for a couple seconds.  We are talking about someone who rode a wheelie at an extreme rate of speed.  And Rock, you said yourself:

(I know it's not real safe to wheel at 150 )

And Seaweb, Either you broke all 30 in one shot, or you had a REALLY interesting 2(?) years of street riding, or most likely, broke most of them off road.  Either way, I'm sure you were glad to be able to be around to hug that child at all.  I know we're glad your around to help with the boat projects.

I believe Forrest Gump put it best: "Stupid is as stupid does".

[seaweb11]

Only a couple of broken ribs and knee tears from bikes. The rest was just being an idiot as a kid
If the phone rang at my parents house during the day they would Cringe!!!!!!!

Jump 1st ask questions later   It's a great motto when you're made of rubber as a kid.

[mrbreeze]

I see sport bikes doing hi speed wheelies all the time out here in California. I think it is about the dumbest F%$#ing thing a biker could do out on the street where it can easily cause major catastrophy. It takes more brains to be a living biker.

[techy5025]

I'm not sure that the words "wheelie" and street can be safely included in one sentence. Is the rush you get from doing one the same if no one is watching? Knowing how a light cross wind buffets a sport bike, I can't imagine what a gust would do at over a hundred...on one wheel. 

I ride to an "old timers" meet almost every Thursday. After being run off from at least 5 prior meeting places...that I know of..., the sport bikers show up at about 10pm to plan their nightly exploits. This usually partly consists of multiple wheelies on the six lane heavily traveled road in front of the business we meet at.....as they leave. So far I've only seen one crash, but it was with another bike that took them both out. No injuries... thankfully.

As I sometimes show up on the F4I (a favorite amongst stunters for some reason) I get into some interesting conversations with them. Usually the first question is "how fast have you had this one?"  When I tell them "about 70" they seem to loose interest. 

I enjoy riding a sport bike, but no different then I ride the 750, and I still managed to drop it once. 

Jim

[crazypj]

I think most people here are missing the point, if you want safe, just give up motorcycles and take the bus, even a car is probably too dangerous for an untrained non-professional driver.
 Its a shame when someone dies, maybe it is natural selection. Its easy to be fatalistic about these things but, guess what? no one lives forever no matter what you do so you may as well get your 'fun' however you can and whenever you can , just do it in a way no one else gets hurt (I don't mean the 'survivors')
 I think I would rather be dead than quadriplegic, particularly if my mind was still intact ( don't give me any BS about what you can do, I want to do what I want to do, and it wouldnt be having some one feed me or wipe my ass everyday
 I don't like  to see kids wheely'ing through traffic but they do have a higher skill level at it than I do (and I've done some 'quality' hospital time from doing high speed wheelies, 75~90 mph range)
 Most couldn't go around a corner at a decent speed to save his/her life though.
  Stop acting like a bunch of boring old farts, remember the old adage,
 'I didn't stop riding because I got old, I got old because I stopped riding'.
 BTW, I'm 50, still pretty young, but it takes longer to recover if I fall down compared to 20. 30 or 40.
I wont have anything bigger than a 600 as the temptation is too great .
 'We' have basically slow, heavy, ill handling motorcycles. Its fun at 60 and dangerous at 80, 100 is OK and you can feel like a hero. If you want to do 45~50, get a scooter and the benefits of 150mpg or more
PJ

[toycollector10]

O.K., my point was that the kid was "young, dumb, and full of c....." but it was sad that he had to die.

Hey, I watch those guys on youtube and I normally post up something a bit pithy....

Look at this idiot.

He hasn't responded to my comments, maybe he's dead right now....   Probably he is, by the way he rides.

my point was that it is the bloody barriers that are doing a lot of damage. A lot of countries are tearing them out and replacing them.

The type of barrier in question is one that is just a line of poles with a one inch steel wire laced along it. If you hit it as a motorcyclist doing around 70 kilometers an hour, 45 MPH....ish, you are going to lose a limb or die. This barrier cut him in two for goodness sake...!

If he had hit a smooth concrete barrier he would have probably walked away from it. I hate those wire barriers and every time I see one I start to feel real creepy......Even when I'm in my car....

To quote "Bobby Dy-lan"

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense  (It's all over now Baby Blue)...so how prophetic...??

[Raul CB750K1]

It happened at 4:00 AM. I would like to think he decided to do his stunts early in the morning to minimize the risks onto other motorists, rather than to minimize the change of being ticketed or because the highways was less crowded.

I'm a father of two and this kind of things make me think about his parents. If he decided to run the risk and paid the price was his decision, but what would his parents think? How would you feel when you have been waking up to feed a baby, driving him to school, saving for his education, getting a second job to make ends meet so he could go to any college he want, and then he decided that the rush of a high-speed wheelie is what makes life worth while? If I was his father I would be devastated. A 90 mph wheelie can prove deadly even without wire barriers, it doesn't take a genius to understand that.

[crazypj]

Except for several entrances onto main road, (most of which were visible, the one after the uphill section was stupid) its a pretty boring video. He's actually a pretty safe rider. How many of you out there have actually ridden a modern big bike? At over 100mph? over 150mph? Its too easy.
 We are all doing over 17,000 MPH just sitting still
 Didn't do any passing on double yellow lines, stayed behind cars and trucks, whats the problem??
 I haven't seen the type of barriers you mentioned but ARMCO was being removed from race tracks shortly after it was installed, in the 1970's so it isn't a new problem
Road engineers are trying to do the greatest good for a bunch of retards (in general) who shouldn't be allowed anything more technical than a ham sandwich. Make cars less safe and vast majority will start driving better or give up.
 Volvo sold 'safety' for years. Any form of wire barrier is going to be dangerous, just a lot more dangerous to motorcycles.
PJ

[andy750]

I agree with PJ  - what exactly is wrong with the video?  As PJ said the uphill at speed wasnt the cleverest idea BUT he dosent overtake anything, he keeps his distance from the vehicles in front and speeds when the road is clear? So whats the big deal? Ive seen a lot worse.

Its not like he is racing around a track on a CB750 wearing a "classic" biker jacket with no armor (although does have nice little buckles on the shoulder  ) and leather trousers that are flapping in the wind (again with no armor  ).....no one is perfect 

cheers
Andy

[scondon]

  I've seen my share of riders in baggy shorts and tennis shoes doing wheelies in the fast lane to know that I don't care for it and even get a little pissed that I get lumped in with them just because I ride a motorcycle. When I first read this post I understood it to be a rather tragic consequence due to the combination of speed, equipment failure, and bad "safety" engineering. That is to say, toycollecter, that I got why you posted this right off the bat.

   When I got back to this thread and saw how many people turned it into a "stupid people deserve to die" thread I became a bit embarrased to be a member of this motorcycle forum. Yes, there is risk in riding a motorcycle at ANY speed, ANYwhere, and pushing the boundaries/ doing stunts increases this risk. The lesson to be learned for us, in my opinion, is that extreme consequences can happen and to not take for granted that we have been spared these type of results. What I'm reading here is almost gloating over the stupid wheelie kid dying, mixed with a tinge of "better than thou" arrogance. Of course this is just my take on what I've read and not meant to pin anyone posting here as arrogant or heartless.

   Thanks, crazypj, for bringing in another view. If we all "deserved what we get" when doing something reckless on a motorcycle, I doubt that the forum membership would even reach 100. Most of us would be dead, in my opinion. Better to "take the bus" if you want to avoid having people say these things over your grave. So what if that 18 wheeler jacknifed beside you and spun you under the wheels? Some people will say that you knew motorcycling was a risk and suffered the consequenses of your decision to ride. Some might even call you stupid for ever getting on a bike in the first place.

  OK, done venting

[Raul CB750K1]

scondon, you are giving arguments with false premises. If you are riding your motorcycle and a truck jacknifes and kills you is just an accident, something that happens as soon as we cross our home door. Parachuting, bungee jumping, hill climbing, motorcycling, are all sports that involve risk, but a good deal of risk management can keep the chances of a fatality at bay, letting the one who practices the sport enjoy it in a safe environment. Parachuting will use a safety second unit, will double check the ropes, and will renew the sail after a given amount of time. The same goes with bungee jumping or hill climbing. Pros will double check the equipment, will use a second rope or elastic strap in case the primary fails. Motorcyclist will make sure the tyres are in good shape, the brakes in good working order, and will ride looking out for danger and trying to be in control at all times.

If somebody starts parachuting, bungee jumping or hill climbing and doesn't follow the expert advice, I let them learn from experience. Unfortunately, many times we don't have a second chance. I ride motorcycles because, even when it is dangerous -maybe because of it-, I know that if I control the machine, the gear and the riding, I have many chances to leave an accident with no big damage to my body. Otherwise I would not ride. I would love to learn how to do wheelies and stoppies, but for that I would need a powerful bike, deep pockets to pay the tires, parts and gear, and medical bills. The pain involved is not worth the kicks of the stunt riding for me. Low-speed wheelies are fun to watch and you have many chances to walk away unscathed from a crash. When you pop a wheelie at 90 mph, you know that the first mistake will be one too many. I suffer for any lost life, but if you choose to run in front of the bulls just because it seems like a good idea, be ready to pay the consequences.


Going back to the truck example, any accident we suffer on a bike will be seen as stupid by non-motorcyclist. Why? If it happens on a leisure ride, they will say we had no need to be riding. If it happens while we commute, they will say we could have commuted by car that is safer. They couldn't be more right. Commuting by bike is as necessary as popping wheelies at 90 mph. Well, I almost double the age of the poor kid in NZ, so I have probably forgotten how is life in the late teens....


Maybe it is just that bikes are bought and ridden with the crotch instead of the brain.

[toycollector10]

Well if you jokers can't see anything wrong with that video then good luck to you. The guy is passing many driveway exits at high speed. Like I posted up, I don't think he is going to live very long if he keeps that behaviour up.

Actually what you can't see of me in that track shot is the back protector and the Fox armoured sleeves under the jacket.
I passed scrutineering, and like we say, everything has a risk involved and I accepted the risk of not wearing a one piece racing leather because I don't own one.