cc limit for new riders

[LePhillou]

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Actually that makes a ton of sense. A Ninja noob video in multimedia is just one example of why. Timid people who don't have command of a vehicles' dynamics are an accident waiting to happen.

Yup! Just like at Trailtours with dirtbikes they take you through a single track which as your "final test"... as a non-dirt rider, it's very intimidating at first. But once you get through THAT without any problem, the confidence in your abilities increases quite a lot.

Who's gonna have an easier time running a 5km race? Someone who's been training for a 10km, or the guy who's just started training to get to 5km? Obviously, the better the training, the better the rider, additional experience in various settings always have their own lessons to learn from and that might save your life later on.

 

[RockerGuy]

Actually that makes a ton of sense. A Ninja noob video in multimedia is just one example of why. Timid people who don't have command of a vehicles' dynamics are an accident waiting to happen.

What does that have to do with track vs road?
I have never ridden track. Doesn't mean I am a terrible rider

 

[eljay]

The same would have to apply to cars and trucks as well.
Current testing is: "move car from A to B without killing anyone and turn certain lights on at the right time, do all slowly".

What does that have to do with track vs road?
I have never ridden track. Doesn't mean I am a terrible rider

 

[inreb]

What does that have to do with track vs road?
I have never ridden track. Doesn't mean I am a terrible rider

No it doesn't mean you're a terrible rider and I'll bet for sure you've experimented with what your bike will do. A lot of people don't and you can see that. You probably have a decent sense of how your bike will react in most situations. Corner tightens up unexpectedly? Ya, I think I can do this! A noob might fixate on the guardrail. A noob should be comfortable with brisk acceleration, not to race, but to have command over the bike. Lean angles, later braking into corners etc. are higher demanding skillz better learned on a road course, not parking lot.

 

[CafeRay]

I have never ridden track. Doesn't mean I am a terrible rider

You should ride on a track for a couple of laps. Makes you legit to give people all kinds of unsolicited advice and allows one to pretend track days are exactly like racing. Plus you get to scuff in those knee sliders, also legit.

 

[inreb]

You should ride on a track for a couple of laps. Makes you legit to give people all kinds of unsolicited advice and allows one to pretend track days are exactly like racing. Plus you get to scuff in those knee sliders, also legit.

This is sound advice. I did FAST in the late 80's with MM and AL, I've been offering insight in all forms of racing ever since. Money and time well spent.

 

[cool]

Body positioning, throttle control, braking points, lines, and whatever else I missed applies to anyone on a motorcycle that wants to take turns at a decent speed. You can't really (safely) learn this stuff on the street. However, I'm not as competitive as you so our view points may be different.

Lol wut? Body position?

Dude i would agree if you said Gymkhana but track school? Lol ....nope.

 

[Jayv]

What does that have to do with track vs road?
I have never ridden track. Doesn't mean I am a terrible rider

Biggest thing for me after i started track/racing was it completely removed all desire to ride like an idiot on the streets.

 

[ZX600]

This!
I am ashamed of the way I ride on the street these days, young me wouldn't approve

Biggest thing for me after i started track/racing was it completely removed all desire to ride like an idiot on the streets.

 

[cool]

Biggest thing for me after i started track/racing was it completely removed all desire to ride like an idiot on the streets.

I would argue that both have different thrills. Also at the track you only care one thing, cornering as fast as you can. Street requires you to control your survival reaction, its alot harder to master. Certainly not from couple track days.


Ps. Anyway to show how track days are not all that helpful for street is : remember that AMA racer that died a month ago? Yeah .... You think couple track days would help eh?

 

[Chhai]

Let's be honest with ourselves here. Part of the problem is that people riding the streets beyond the legal limits as if it were the track. How about people obey the rules of the road, and keep the hero riding on the track?
Did you not break your collar bone last year on the track? If you're pushing your limits on the street and or track, you can't 100% avoid a crash. At least on the track it's more of a controlled environment for crashes, unlike the street.

Body positioning, throttle control, braking points, lines, and whatever else I missed applies to anyone on a motorcycle that wants to take turns at a decent speed. You can't really (safely) learn this stuff on the street. However, I'm not as competitive as you so our view points may be different.

 

[Joe Bass]

You should ride on a track for a couple of laps. Makes you legit to give people all kinds of unsolicited advice and allows one to pretend track days are exactly like racing. PLUS YOU GET TO SCUFF IN THOSE KNEE SLIDERS, ALSO LEGIT.

I buy mine pre-scuffed off Kijiji

 

[LePhillou]

Knowing how your bike reacts at higher speeds (track) can translate to highway riding and manoeuvrability,

Knowing how your bike reacts at lower speeds and tight corners (gymkhana) can translate to city driving and obstacle avoidance.

Once you practice those 2 skillsets under professional supervision, you can't tell me that it will make a lesser rider than the one who's never practiced them over and over again.
By practicing them, you make those manoeuvres 2nd nature, making it easier to apply in a real life situation instead of having to think first and wasting precious seconds that could save your life.
Doesn't make you invincible, just safer.

And that type of thinking applies to most things in life.

 

[inreb]

I buy mine pre-scuffed off Kijiji

lol, I buy mine on kijiji. Off/on same diff.

 

[GixxerL2]

Ps. Anyway to show how track days are not all that helpful for street is : remember that AMA racer that died a month ago? Yeah .... You think couple track days would help eh?

I remember Norick Abe who died probably 10 years ago

 

[cool]

Knowing how your bike reacts at higher speeds (track) can translate to highway riding and manoeuvrability,

Knowing how your bike reacts at lower speeds and tight corners (gymkhana) can translate to city driving and obstacle avoidance.

Once you practice those 2 skillsets under professional supervision, you can't tell me that it will make a lesser rider than the one who's never practiced them over and over again.
By practicing them, you make those manoeuvres 2nd nature, making it easier to apply in a real life situation instead of having to think first and wasting precious seconds that could save your life.
Doesn't make you invincible, just safer.

And that type of thinking applies to most things in life.

I disagree if you actually need to apply your tracking skill on highway for maneuver .... Its too late... Your life is already on the line.

In fact i dont see those track skills are good at all. You better not get into such situation in the first place.

There are advance courses that teach emergency brakes and survival reaction. Altho the courses might take place on a road course, it has nothing to do with lapping your bike.

 

[Brian P]

Limiting the weight and power of bikes that new riders can ride won't stop *all* crashes, but it ought to help.

Problem is that the government is notorious for screwing up anything they can get their hands on, and I wouldn't expect this to be any different.

"You have to pass the test on the same weight/power classification of motorcycle that you wish to obtain a license for" is perhaps not an unreasonable concept. No time limits - but your basic written exam should only grant a license for scooters, <250cc, lightweight bikes, etc., and if you want to have a license on something bigger then you have to pass the road test on something bigger - and it needs to be a real test.

The classifications need to be both horsepower based and weight based. An 800 lb touring bike or Harley might not have much power, nor a good power-to-weight ratio, but that much weight can get away from someone in a big hurry, even if they aren't going very fast.

The recent crop of bikes with 40-something horsepower - CBR500, RC390, R3, Ninja 300 - are all in answer to a revamp of licensing across Europe. These are all a middle-licensing stage; one step above 125cc and one step below an unrestricted license.

In conjunction with that licensing revamp in Europe, France is being forced to revoke their long-standing horsepower limit - because it was found to not accomplish anything. BUT. You have to remember that it was found to not accomplish anything within the scope of THEIR existing licensing regime, which already doesn't allow someone to jump on an unrestricted bike without going through their licensing regimen. In other words, for riders who already have a certain amount of experience behind them, the horsepower limit serves no safety-related purpose. It does NOT say that a 16 year old freshly-licensed rider is going to be a safe operator of an unrestricted Hayabusa, because their existing licensing regimen did not (legally) allow this combination anyhow. The most that can be said is that there is insufficient statistical data about that combination, because it has not been allowed.

 

[CafeRay]

I buy mine pre-scuffed off Kijiji

Also legit.

 

[CafeRay]

Let's be honest with ourselves here. Part of the problem is that people riding the streets beyond the legal limits as if it were the track. How about people obey the rules of the road, and keep the hero riding on the track?

nah dude, weave through traffic at twice the pace and then yell and gesticulate at "cagers" when they try to change lanes. This is motorcycle culture, and why we wear back protection over our t-shirts (looking at you, Mississauga).

A proper track course, given by proper instruction, is very useful to know exactly what your bike can do, and how to avoid problems like target fixation, corner charging, etc. on the street. But any track course instructor will tell you that speeding around public roads is just stupid.

 

[CafeRay]

I remember Norick Abe who died probably 10 years ago

It was Dane Westby in March. Abe died when a truck u-turned unto him.

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