The few creating a problem for the rest of us...

[CNF2002]

Did anyone notice in that video that one bike actually did make a LEGAL pass in a passing zone ?

Regardless, I think it was biased despite them saying its a small number of bikes causing all the problems.

If they wanted to present a balanced report they should've.

1. Spent time on bikers obeying the laws and not causing trouble.
2. They should've showed car accident stats as well.

I will guarantee roads like that will attract sports cars too.

How on earth is it biased? It was a news report about bikers riding too fast on a particular road. Why would they waste airtime talking to bikers who aren't part of that group? That has nothing to do with the story! They were fair and gave airtime to the people who were concerned, and those involved.

It would be like doing a news report on a shooting at a convenience store, interviewing the clerk and witnesses, and then saying its biased because they didn't go to other convenience stores and interview people who don't rob convenience stores. Then talk about liquor store robbery statistics maybe? It makes no sense.

I think you are trying so hard to look for evidence of stereotypes and bias against motorcycles in the media that you twist anything around to fit your view. I think the real bias here is a few of us who have a bias against the media (or nonriders in general).

[ZooTech]

How on earth is it biased?

When your job is to bring an interesting and controversial news story to the viewers, you automatically have a bias. I should know considering where I work. The number one goal of the Columbus Zoo's "Educational" department is to bombard the visitors with anti-Capitalist and anti-American propoganda from the time they pass through the entrance to the time they leave. Nearly every video I install or sign I hang contains a message about how we consumers are destroying the earth and making life a living hell for animals on every continent. The most recent video interactive to go in was an Asian TV repair shop with five working screens. Each screen starts off depicting the earth and you can see little white dots popping up, each depicting 1-million people, as a clock advances showing the year. As the dots multiply and spread, four of the TV's start showing pictures of landfills, nuclear plants, dead seagulls, highways, traffic jams, and other urban sprawl. Finally, as each TV shows its contents faster and faster, all of them come together at the end and display the word "EXTINCT". Now, tell me, why didn't any of the TV's show Mother Theresa helping people, or the Red Cross addressing the needs of Tsunami victims, or the peaceful surroundings in Yellowstone National Park? Why did they only show destruction and pollution as the white dots representing human population grew in number? Because if they were to show the good that can and has come from humanity, especially out of the U.S., it would dilute the message and fail to move the viewer to feel bad about themselves and their buying habits (nevermind the civil war going on in Africa or the fact that we can't fix the world's problems). So, to me, the news clip was biased. Very biased, in fact - because of the way it was produced. You start out with peaceful, beautiful scenery and the sounds of songbirds and children playing. Then you show some traumatized woman in a dark room telling her tale over a dark musical compilation. Then you reveal the source of the trauma, an evil sport bike racing through the forest on a mission to kill pregnant women and disturb the peace. Now the mood is set, and you whip out statistics to drive the message home, ignoring the fact that the statistics make sense based solely on the fact that it's a tourist destination and more of everything, good and bad, takes place where people gather.

In other words, the clip was garbage. Now go buy a Prius, you Capitalist Pig!

[CNF2002]

Well it's only propoganda if it's not true, Zoo. We are stripmining the earth and making life miserable for all the animals. Imagine if a pack of coyotes came through your neighborhood and leveled your home, kicked you out and started living there. Or all your friends died because some frogs poisoned your drinking water.

I read somewhere, if all the animals could suddenly talk, we'd be voted off the planet.

Why don't you go back to complaining about how much it costs you to fill up your suburban

PS: I must have missed the part in the video where it said the evil bikers were targetting pregnant women.

[ZooTech]

Well it's only propoganda if it's not true, Zoo.

Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation directly aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviour of people, rather than impartially providing information.

We are stripmining the earth and making life miserable for all the animals.

Well then, shall we bother to bring up "survival of the fittest", or do you only play that card when it suits you?

Imagine if a pack of coyotes came through your neighborhood and leveled your home, kicked you out and started living there. Or all your friends died because some frogs poisoned your drinking water.

Or imagine of you're a baby deer minding your own business and a cougar lept out of the bushes and ripped your head off. Life sucks. Go Amish.

I read somewhere, if all the animals could suddenly talk, we'd be voted off the planet.

Ummmm.....okay. Well then. You can't argue with conjecture like that.

Why don't you go back to complaining about how much it costs you to fill up your suburban

Gas prices are down, and I drive a 4-cylinder with a 5-speed. Still waiting for that $4.00/gallon gas the Democrats promised us, though. Perhaps now that they're in Congress again they can make good on that.

PS: I must have missed the part in the video where it said the evil bikers were targetting pregnant women.

That's okay, because I missed the part where the police said they were powerless to do anything and the local mayor was complaining about all the revenue generated by the thousands of bikers that ride there every year.

[CNF2002]

We are stripmining the earth and making life miserable for all the animals.

Well then, shall we bother to bring up "survival of the fittest", or do you only play that card when it suits you?

I would argue that 1) humans are not fittest without our brains - just watch the OLN channel, they can't kill anything without being in a 20 foot high armored box with a high powered rifle. I've always said hunting is a lame sport. Grab a knife and go kill a deer, then I'll be impressed. And with our highly evolved brainsh, we have an obligation to treat other animals (besides us) with fairness and respect. And really, maintaining a balanced ecosystem is for our benefit also. Or maybe you want your great grandchildren to live in a landfill.

Imagine if a pack of coyotes came through your neighborhood and leveled your home, kicked you out and started living there. Or all your friends died because some frogs poisoned your drinking water.

Or imagine of you're a baby deer minding your own business and a cougar lept out of the bushes and ripped your head off. Life sucks. Go Amish.

The cougar needs to eat the deer to survive. I don't need to buy 40 gallons of gas to 'survive', its all just convenience. What price are we willing to pay for convenience?

Why don't you go back to complaining about how much it costs you to fill up your suburban

Gas prices are down, and I drive a 4-cylinder with a 5-speed. Still waiting for that $4.00/gallon gas the Democrats promised us, though. Perhaps now that they're in Congress again they can make good on that.

You must live in Ohio or something because gas sure was 4 bucks here.

PS: I must have missed the part in the video where it said the evil bikers were targetting pregnant women.

That's okay, because I missed the part where the police said they were powerless to do anything and the local mayor was complaining about all the revenue generated by the thousands of bikers that ride there every year.

You also must have missed the part where no one was complaining about thousands of bikers, they were complaining about a few sportbikers who are endangering others and that most of the bikers there were safe and courteous drivers.

Also the one lady who said that if the accidents continue people are just going to stop coming because its too dangerous. That applies to everyone, including the rest of the biking community that might want to enjoy a nice ride through the country, who can't because of a few squids.

[isnowbrd]

Why does it make a difference if you are driving a van compared to a bike? Because the possibility of doing serious harm is greater in a van?

PS I'm coming to MN end of November...any chance of snow??

When driving my cages, I always drive the speed limit and within the limits of the vehicle. If I were to take a right hand turn with a suggested speed of 45mph at 85 in my van, there is a real possibility of rolling it or running wide and hitting an oncoming vehicle and killing all its passengers. On my sport bike, I can effortlessly take a 45mph corner at 90. And, even if something bad happened, like gravel in the road, me hitting another vehicle head on has much less of a chance of hurting or killing it's occupants. That is my only point.

P.S. There is always a chance of snow here. This picture is from today's news. Amazing that it was over 70 degrees out two days ago.

[NorthernPete]

Legal passing...If you exceed the speed limit to pass, you can be charged with speeding.... technically.

to "legally" pass the person you are over taking would have to driving under the PSL.

[macktruckturner]

i bet this problem isn't such a big deal. the news guys probably just couldn't find good story to tell so they just dug up this beaten to death topic.

Wrong, it is a big deal - I know because I have pulled off the side of the road to assist in at least 12 accidents this year, and I have to ride 150mi just to get there. Every single turn there is blind, that is what happens when you're on a mountain, stone is very opaque. To compound the problem, these are very, very, VERY old mountains - that means gravel, which is everywhere. Falling rocks too. Oh snap, I forgot about the herds of deer that like to jump out of nowhere at all hours of the day.

Having done a good deal of riding in the very area discussed, I can say I have seen very few cagers I would throw any blame at, and that is a rare statement for me. Many of the folks driving cars/trucks on these roads have lived there their entire lives - they know every turn like the back of their hands, and can probably negotiate the mountains faster backwards in a schoolbus than you can on your 750. The PSL is very low on these roads for a reason - there are few guardrails, there is no run-off, and it is a freaking mountain. The people riding/driving at, below, or only marginally above said PSL are not idiots, or n00bs - they are responsible individuals.

It is a small group making all the fuss though. Thousands of riders hit North Georgia every weekend, the vast majority of them ride at a sane pace, and do so without incident. Every weekend that majority deals with nutjobs flying down the wrong side of the road into a blind left that curves back to the right around the ridgeline at over 100mph just to get past 4 guys riding slightly above the speedlimit. It is not an uncommon thing for said clowns to find their motorcycle burried in the side of the mountain a turn or three down the road.

I haven't bothered to go through the entire thread, and I'm sure someone else that rides in the area has probably already posted - either with comments supporting those which I have just made, or disagreeing entirely. At any rate, there is a problem and it is not being improperly reported. Those roads are great fun, even at normal speeds. No need to use your warp drive here. If you need to haul "O Ring" that badly, Road Atlanta is right there.

Photos from the region (GA 180, for anyone that cares - connects GA60 to US129)


Look center frame, that'd be a 636 about 30-40m down the side of a mountain after coming to a complete stop on the shoulder, which gave way and sent the bike down the mountain. This happened while my friend Shaun went wide, well below the PSL, to avoid what appeared to be gravel. It was a miscalculation any of us could have made at any time. The pavement was simply rippled and textured such that it looked like gravel. Having his back wheel slide on the yellow line he took it to the ~2 feet of shoulder - and came to a halt, feet on the ground and everything. Just as I leaned into the turn to head to a clearing I knew was about 200m down the road to turn around - he went over the edge as the ground below his front wheel broke away.



The death docs came to the scene, as the majority of all crashes at that turn are fatal, and require the rider to be removed from various trees in pieces. They hadn't planned on my friend being alive. Fortunately we were riding responsibly and the damage was done only to the motorcycle. Things could have been far worse - even at 30mph it would have been fatal to run-off there. 30mph is still below the PSL.

[scan]

One thing struck me, and it has been said other places here on this board, and maybe in this thread. Freedom is not free. Meaning there is a price to pay so we can have big CC bikes, open roads without huge restrictions, and the freedom to pick the kind of bike we want.

Accordingly that means we have guys who go too fast, ride bikes too big, and own bikes that are really designed for a race track. With freedom you end up with a few Verms. Personally I like having the options. And I think Zoot may have said something like this earlier, the tourist trade supports motorcycles in this region, more than it would it would make sence to stop bikes from riding spirited though these roads.

So I think the question was - what can we do about these guys?.... Nothing. Darwin. I hope others don't get hurt in the process. I guess if enought innocent people get hurt we riders will pay the price.

[qwerty]

Enforcement isn't that big a deal. A task force with a couple video//laser machines and a roadblock might work, IF someone could read the itty-bitty writing on the license plate going by at 120mph. In most states, an officer in pursuit must maintain visual contact with the pursued or have a positive on the tag to initiate a stop or roadblock or execute a warrant. An officer trying to catch a sport-biker within these constraints would endanger himself and the general public, and still have next to no chance of success. I don't think real-time enforcement would be safe on these roads for lack of shoulders and pullovers where perps can be stopped.

A high-speed, high-resolution video camera integrated with a video recorder and laser (much narrower field of detection than a radar) would allow for roadside detection followed by roadblock enforcement, mail ticketing, and/or warrants for arrest and confiscation. The equipment should require nothing more skillful of the officers than turning the device on and panning with the movement of the bike. A mouse-controlled magnifier would make the plate number readable. Video segments of single vehicles passing by will show the targeting is accurate. I doubt funds are available for such technology, considering the income generated probably couldn't be applied to the cost of enforcement.