Urm, no. You are forgetting energy is proportional to the square of speed.
A 200kg bike at 160mph has the same energy as a 1000kg car at 72mph. A 200kg bike hitting a car at 160mph would be devastating to all involved.
Excessive Sentence : 166mph biker
- Thread starter Amps
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Urm, no. You are forgetting energy is proportional to the square of speed.
A 200kg bike at 160mph has the same energy as a 1000kg car at 72mph. A 200kg bike hitting a car at 160mph would be devastating to all involved.
Couldn't agree more - a friend had a nasty experience where a biker went into the side of his car. He was turning right at a crossroads at a filter, the biker thought red meant "go" and slammed into the side of him.
The biker wasnt hurt but his bike was a bit damaged, the car was in a pretty bad state (Clio with plastic wings), but the affect on my friend was quite profound and thats without any injury/death.
Turns out the biker was uninsured and ended up sending my friend threatening messages telling him to pay for the damage to the bike.
I'm not stereotyping but some bikers really don't help the bad image they have!
Actually, it's very well known bit of road round here. It's the main road from Edinburgh to the M74 at Abingdon.
The stretch where he was caught is about 1.5 miles long (iirc) and you can see from one end to the other. It's as straight and longer than a runway, though a bit more undulating and narrow! Dolphinton is at one end and the other end leads into some pretty fast road too.
People will hit 120mph+ in cars on a very regular basis (you come off downward slopes at either end) and I've been passed by bikers probably not going too much slower than the guy in question.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying that makes it safe to do that speed though but it can be tempting to give it some.
EDIT: quite a good pictue:
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Nope, unless repeated at least twice, and in much worse conditions than a 1.5 mile straight.
He didn't kill anyone though, look at the above pic, if that road was empty, who was he supposed to kill
?It's not imo, people who need to be removed from society as long as possible get off with less punishment than a biker having some fun on a straight road...
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That realllly isn't the point though is it!
Yeah I know of that bit - but I wouldn't call it remotely sensible to do 160+ mph on it... side turnings with little visibility of traffic before it turns out.
Theres a stretch a few miles from that on the A72 thats almost as long and straight but has perfect visibility and a good clear run up for the road coming to the junction mid way down - so you can see its clear before you hit the throttle and your good all the way down.
Nobody's saying it's sensible and iirc, the only access points are at either end of the straight. There's a couple of field or forrestry entrances but they've got plenty of space between the gates and the road and it's very easy to see from a distance away if there's something about to pull on to the road.
If the road is clear, the only real danger is someone pulling out of a lay-by and mis-judging your speed.
It's a very well known spot for bikers and others to go to for a "blast" and if you are minded to go flat out, that's where you go. There's better driving roads close by though.
Not sure what your getting at in your second para. Can't recall the bit you refer to.
I'm sure every sportsbike rider has at sometime or other hit similar speeds on public roads.
Very unfortunate for him that they are using him as an example. A ban yes.. But to be oggled at in the shower for the next 4 months is not something you'd wish upon him...
Very unfortunate for him that they are using him as an example. A ban yes.. But to be oggled at in the shower for the next 4 months is not something you'd wish upon him...
It will make sitting on that small hard sports bike seat more difficult.
Man of Honour
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I'm sure most car owners have tried to find their Vmax at some point in their driving life. Is it ever sensible? No... is it the crime of the century? No. Does it deserve jail time? No.
Devil's advocate - shouldn't you then not overtake? Is speeding suddenly acceptable when overtaking?
Don't get me wrong - I ride too. But is overtaking a justification to speed?
you know what
My vectra is supposedly capable of 161 standard, bit nearer 170 with it remapped but ive never even dared try and get near it
In my last car, I thought i was speeding in the safest place in the world, midnight, on an empty motorway going down hill. Not a single car on the motorway. "what about unmarked police cars" i thought - well there wasnt even another set of headlights in front or behind me - so there cant have been any unmarked cars. So with an empty straight motorway in front of me, i put my foot down and hit 115.
And what happened ? there was a copper in a layby further up the road with his lights off and a speedgun pointing up the hill.
I'd never attempt to find my vmax on public roads, theres just too many chances of being caught as you never know when ...
i dont intend on losing my license again.
Sometimes the legal system baffles me with decisions like this, it’s a bit OTT sending him to prison, a ban of 1-2 years and a hefty fine would suffice, but it does look like the guy either got made an example of or had a bike hating judge I guess.
It's different on a bike, they just accelerate so fast that you can do ridiculous speeds in no time at all. The fastest I've ever gone in my integra on the public roads is probably only about 100-110 but when I had my bike I would do 130+ everytime I went for a ride on the thing and have done 165+ on it.
I bet your vectra would take a long time to get to 160mph, a GSXR1000 would not...thats why you would never dare to try it.
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Well I've always been taught (and this by a Class 1 police driver) that to minimise the TED (time exposed to danger) you should overtake swiftly. This means dropping back, allowing yourself space to build up speed so that by the time you perform the overtake you are at a significant speed to make the overtake procedure as quick as possible. Now bear in mind on a bike you can do 0-100mph in 8s or less it's very easy to build up the speed.
I've not been pulled over for overtaking before - but I don't keep the throttled nailed once I've overtaken, I drop back down to only 2x the speed limit
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Pretty much the same. People always ask if I've maxed it - and I've not. Not for fears of safety but I'm just so worried about getting nicked