Afternoon,

Since arriving here, it became quickly apparent to me (IMO), that the standard of riding here isn't as good as it is in the UK and mainland Europe. That said, I'd not yet witnessed someone try to argue with someone in a car while on a bike until today (something I saw too often in the UK while riding and it's not smart).

A couple (who I'm sure are British based on their clothing and attitudes), on a cherry coloured old touring motorcycle (I'd say BMW or Honda), with the plate BT72* (I've starred out the last bit for their privacy), decided to try to play games with me, flip me the bird etc on highway 1a westbound between Calgary and Cochrane. If you're on here, you were wearing matching grey BMW outer wear and had grey lids (Shoei or Arai).

To the rider: your primary consideration should be your pillion, not angering other road users. You are vulnerable on a motorcycle and you should never forget that - you're also wholly responsible for their safety.

To the pillion: flipping off other road users isn't smart. One day you might do it to somebody who does more than a shake of the head and a moment's worry about how long it is before someone else does something more.

Ride safe, please.

Rant over...

Many riders over here are ****ing retarded

I've posted before that motor cycling in this part of the world consists of:

1. Purchasing a full on fat boy Harley
2. Dressing like a reject from the Blue Oyster club complete with Chaps. Definately chaps. That can't be emphasised enough.
3. Having a loud pipe so that people look at your chaps.
4. On a sunny day. Dressing in the gear. Jumping on the "hog" and riding, noisily to your nearest Timmies. And I do mean you nearest.
5. Parking up with other hog owners to admire their chrome. And chaps.
6. Going home.

Actually riding the bike anywhere other than the nearest Tim Hortons is definately frowned upon. Unless you are riding one of those "crotch rockets" which appears to be to me, as a non motorcyclist, as "anything that isn't a hog".
Presumably because you can't wear chaps if you are riding a fireblade, ninja or "ducateh"?

I live in a timmies black hole, its 30 km to my nearest. (No timmies, no internet... why do I bother)

We get troops of bikes passing all the time in the summer, convoys of them. I presume this is because its a nice twisty bit of road with views of the river and few if any cops about.


I never "got" biking here. You cant do it in the winter, too cold and icy. You cant do it in the spring, too much grit on the road and bugs in your teeth, you can do it in the summer, but you dont have AC, so you sweat to death in your leathers breathing in exhaust fumes in a traffic jam because you cant filter between cars here.

So that leaves the fall. Seriously why bother.

Oh, and you can insure a car for 6 months and take it off the road over winter, but a bike policy has to be for 12 months. Great.

But you do have a legitimate reason to wear chaps I suppose. Perhaps thats the draw?

Me personally?

I did have a RL Chaps golf shirt once...

One beef of mine is they‘ll take the motorcycle license test on a 350 then go out and buy a bike 3X bigger and take off without the experience to handle it. There should be a graduated qualification system; 3 or 4 classes of license from scooters to 1,000cc +.

In an exciting conference recently we were discussing the value propositions of accounting firms. To emphasize that value propositions are not always what we expect the moderator quoted a senior Harley Davidson executive who said, "Harley Davidsons exist so that middle aged accountants can get dressed in black leather, drive through small towns, and frighten old people."

Q: What are you rebelling against?
A: What have you got?

In comparison:

Canadian bikers - Ride with a false sense of fashion. Not only do they look like a Village Person, it's often their downfall when they crash.

British bikers - Ride with a false sense of skill. That's more often the cause of their demise.

Personally, part of the bike licensing should include a talk with those impacted by reckless riding, and a minimum of 20hrs on a race track to understand limitations (theirs and the bikes) and garner some skill.

When my son asks if he can get a bike, i'll certainly allow it. The caveat is he must race on a track for at least one year, and ride along with me on the road for a year (can be the same year). There'll be no chaps, skull caps, homo-erotic tassells dangling from a poncy leather jacket, and no flip flops. He will wear a chest protector, back protector, full face lid, one piece leathers, kevlar gloves, and excellently supported boots.

Hic

I think that's overstating it somewhat, and it depends where you live. I insure my bike from April through October. There are some lovely spring days to ride, and major routes around here have been swept by then. More minor roads certainly by the end of April.

There's no point/appeal to riding through towns or cities, so filtering's a minor issue. My commute, when I choose to go by bike is pretty traffic free so again a non issue.

Perforated/vented leathers work fine in the summer, as long as you maintain a bit of pace, or I take a ride into the mountains where it's cooler. A little sweat never hurt anyone and a t-shirt fresh out of the freezer keeps core temperature down for a reasonable time.


Depends on your province - no problem for a shorter term policy in BC.

What happened to personal responsibility, and some common sense with the throttle hand? Have you seen proposed EU directives on extensions to graduated licencing? I suspect it'll make getting on 2 wheels so onerous many people won't bother.

I agree. It's just as easy to kill yourself on a 250 as it is a 600 or thou. In the UK, speed around corners was the main issue, not straight line.

A kid at school killed himself by crashing his C90 into a telegraph pole. No different to Dave Jefferies on his GSXR1000.

This is just my opinion, but riding safely is a skill that is quickly forgotten. I'm talking about cornering, road position, how to achieve the best visibility of the road ahead, how to recognise danger etc... And don't get me started about shorts and flip flops. Invest in a good mesh suit (best thing I ever bought).

It could be that I've only been riding a short time and it will come more naturally with time (only had my full licence 2 years), but when I haven't ridden for a while I find myself coming out of a corner calling myself an idiot, not because I was really dangerous, but I could have done it a lot safer with less effort.

Perhaps only being able to ride after a long winter break dulls a basic Canadian rider's ability, that with laser straight roads for miles with no corners to keep you on your toes - In my opinion the dullest and most dangerous ride I ever had was on a motorway. I always found the twisty rides safer as my attention *had* to be fully switched on.

Anyway, I'm babbling with little point so I'll stop and wait for people to pull my pointless rant apart

Usually issues in a straight line are mechanical. Issues on corners are rider.

Unfortunately for most riders, being in the zone doesn't improve skill or understanding of limitations.

Doing anything after a long layoff takes a little adjustment but it soon comes back if you had it.

Get the buggers on track to get to know there bikes better.