Topic: Shameful

[tbpmusic]

Here's one that made my blood boil -

My mother (quite old now, and has absolutely HATED motorcycles since the first day I got one) has a "younger" friend with a teenage son.

Last week, this kid's "friends" badgered and pressured him into climbing on a vastly overpowered crotch rocket, and taking off down a twisty rural road.
The young fella had never been on a bike in his life - predictibly, he missed the very first curve and smashed face-first into a very large oak tree on this 150 hp monster.
He's now in a drug-induced coma, and doctors hold little or no hope he will ever regain any semblance of human activity at all.

Now this was a pretty nice kid, well-spoken, polite, a good student. He's now a vegetable, and his mother is inconsolable.
Not only that, my own mother has renewed vigor in her rampage regarding my continued riding.
Now I've never been hurt on a bike, never even crashed - not because I'm so slick or the world's greatest rider, but I'm extraordinarily cautious, always have been.

This whole incident gives me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
What the !@#?? is wrong with people??

I think the "friends" should be arrested and locked up, personally, but the cops just shrugged it off.
Crap like this makes it hard on all of us who ride, it's just shameful.
And I don't buy into the "kids will be kids" thing for a minute.

Sorry to rant - this really upset me badly.
For God's sake, BE CAREFUL, everybody.

bill2

[martino1972]

i hear ya...
few years back i was visiting some friends,and while we where walking in the front yard,the neighbore kid came out of his yard with his brandnew rocket on wheels.....he was 18 and just bought it the day before..
when he approatched he saw us walking and hit the trottle to show off how much power his bike had..
well,he showed us alright....a quick wheelie(not intended)....a slam on the rear brake from shock...a speed wobble...lost control,sliding over the pavement,and came to a stop around a power pole...
totalled the bike and enjoyed several months in the hospital...

i think they should have a system,where its impossible for those young kids to buy a speed monster..
lets say,need a driving record of some years orso,and a training cource for speed monsters etc.
that said,i got the change to drive one of those speed monsters a little while back.
well,im 36 with wife and kid,and hate to get hurt.....so i never made it past 3th gear before returning it to it's owner...those things are scary fast....

[Cvillechopper]

Only time I've tried to ride a rocket (mid -late 80s Katana) I had no idea what they were capable of having only ridden dirk bikes and smaller street bikes.  It didn't look all that scary and my friend said "You want to get the rpms up to about 4K then dump the clutch to really feel it off the line.  I was 17 I think and just believed my friend.  Any guesses as to what happened?

Luckily it popped up so fast I didn't have my feet on the pegs yet and it ran out from under my ass (one foot on the ground since I'm only 5'4") and I just let it go.  Busted up his fairing a little and he was laughing his ass off until I slugged him dead in the chest.  I got lucky. 

[ColinMc]

Graduated licensing system...that's what we need. I'm not saying it would solve the problem, but it would sure help a lot. It should be by how LONG you've had your motorcycle license too, not how old you are. Plenty of baby boomers buying giant cruisers they can't handle too lol. Plus I want some CBR400's and whatnot coming to our shores! mmmm, street legal Aprilia RS250....

I love showing people how it's done on my 250 Ninja. I've owned and still own a lot of bikes from 50-1150cc's and the smaller bikes are always the most fun. Don't get me wrong, you can get into trouble on any size bike, i'm just throwing some ideas out there that aren't by any means new.

I buy a lot of wrecked sportbikes from people, I love the reasons they give me for why it crashed.
"I was leaned way over in a corner scraped a peg and slid out"
"I avoided a (blank) by dumping the bike"
"The stupid bike handles like crap"
"The tires are junk from the factory"
"The front brakes just locked up on me out of nowhere"

Those are the popular ones, all things that could be avoided with proper riding technique. I can count on one hand the number of people I know, included professional racers that can get the most out of a 600cc sport bike and that's at the track. I bought one 250 ninja I ownded off a friend that had "grown out of it" and on his new gsxr750 he still couldn't keep up with me in the twisties when I was riding his old bike!

Sorry for the long rant lol...a little hodge podge, but some points are valid I hope hehe.

[winnipeg550guy]

Around here people are notorious for getting their motorcycle permit then running out and buying the Biggest, fastest bike they can find so that they can presumably look cool and be a bad ass.
 I agree with the graduated license idea, Want to ride a motorcycle? then be required to run a 250cc or smaller bike for 2 years then when your experienced enough they can upgrade.
 They have a graduated license system here for automobiles why not bikes.
 I love watching a weekend badass dump his bike after struggling to park in front of the sidewalk cafe's just so everyone can see him.

[333]

First, if what you say is true about the "friends" badgering, and can be proven, a lawsuit is certainly in order.  This kid's Mom needs to know this.

Then, a story.  I used to work at a dealer, in the parts department.  One Saturday, I came upstairs to go get lunch and when I went out the front door, I saw a salesman teaching a customer about the controls on a 600cc sport bike he was taking delivery of.  (I know you guys can see this one coming, but wait for it).  It's a busy day, there are about 6-8 people standing around watching, and the parking lot is somewhat full.  Full enough that at the end of the front row(the way the bike happens to be pointed) is a bright red pickup that is only half way in the space, and you guessed it, the other half sticking out in the lane.  I have this nose for disaster, so I stopped to watch as well.  The salesman is saying "now hold the throttle at a relaxed angle, and use your wrist to twist the throttle gently as you release the clutch lever".  The guy apparently had never ridden even a mini bike, much less a motorcycle.  The guy takes a hold of the throttle at a very high angle, so he couldn't do anything but grab a whole lot of throttle.  The bike revs way high.  He dumps the clutch and the bike bolts.  It was like the (bright red)truck was a magnet, because he couldn't avoid it.  WUMP!    I don't know what ever happened to the guy, whether he ever rode it again.  I do know that he did almost $4000.00 damage to the bike, which was about a $7000.00 bike at the time.

I don't know who's more responsible, the salesman, or the sales manager.  But somebody should have stopped that from happening.

[nickjtc]

I don't know who's more responsible, the salesman, or the sales manager.  But somebody should have stopped that from happening.

But then they just wring their hands together and say that times are tough and they just 'have' to make the sale. And if they don't the kid will only go down the street to the next dealer.

My favourite salesperson saying, after putting a ridiculously large (cruiser) or powerful (sport bike) under a complete novice:  "Well, the throttle does work in both directions you know."

[tramp]

most people don't know that 99% of the time there is no motorcycle accident
there is always something that could have been done to stop the accident
common sense is thrown out the window most times when it comes to inexperienced riders and salespeople
story here is about a guy who bought a harley after not riding for years
he never got out of his driveway befor dumping the bike
moral of story
bikes are alot smarter than you
start small and learn before you go larger

[fuzzybutt]

beemer/triumph dealer i worked at wouldnt sell a sport bike to anyone under 21 or without a valid license, not just a permit.

[nickjtc]

beemer/triumph dealer i worked at wouldnt sell a sport bike to anyone under 21 or without a valid license, not just a permit.

GOOD for them.