The Bad Riders of Ontario Thread

Going fast, weaving, crashing, tickets. "I heard them before I saw them" so I guess loud pipes save lives? Only one rider mentioned in the post so did the other two get away? Only one had a visible plate. No reason at all to blow that corner with the speed they had.

See it frequently, never seen the crash conclusion.

Hard to police, doubt police even bother, they’re looking for low hanging fruit.

That said, they should collect plates and pay a visit looking for ins and current registration. Grab the bike if no ins.
 
Going fast, weaving, crashing, tickets. "I heard them before I saw them" so I guess loud pipes save lives? Only one rider mentioned in the post so did the other two get away? Only one had a visible plate. No reason at all to blow that corner with the speed they had.

I assume it’s the last guy. Going much slower than the other 2 so maybe a newbie trying to keep up.
 
Driving along a dark country road at a bit over speed limit. I hear a strange noise and can't figure it out. Dirt bike passes me on the shoulder at full chat. No lights at all. It was going maybe 5 km/h faster than me. Pulls onto the asphalt a car length in front of me and gets a big wobble as they cross the lip. There was a passenger but no passenger pegs so their legs were dangling like a dead bug. Probably dumb kids. They won't survive to adulthood if they keep that up.
 
Driving along a dark country road at a bit over speed limit. I hear a strange noise and can't figure it out. Dirt bike passes me on the shoulder at full chat. No lights at all. It was going maybe 5 km/h faster than me. Pulls onto the asphalt a car length in front of me and gets a big wobble as they cross the lip. There was a passenger but no passenger pegs so their legs were dangling like a dead bug. Probably dumb kids. They won't survive to adulthood if they keep that up.
No helmets, am I right ?
 
No helmets, am I right ?
Honestly hard to tell. They were close enough in front that my headlights weren't above the seat. I backed off to give them space obviously but they turned off onto another road. Without high beams, my lights wouldn't hit their heads.
 
Driving along a dark country road at a bit over speed limit. I hear a strange noise and can't figure it out. Dirt bike passes me on the shoulder at full chat. No lights at all. It was going maybe 5 km/h faster than me. Pulls onto the asphalt a car length in front of me and gets a big wobble as they cross the lip. There was a passenger but no passenger pegs so their legs were dangling like a dead bug. Probably dumb kids. They won't survive to adulthood if they keep that up.
Makes wonder how we all made it. When I was a kid, AGATT for dirtbiking was a Lee jean jacket and a pair of Kodiaks. I don't recall owning a helmet until I started riding on the street.

We rode the dirt concessions/lines and farm trails thru Markham and Stouffville, and used working gravel quarries and under-construction subdivisions on weekends for extra fun.

We crashed. We got hurt. We learned. All my buddies survived.
 
Makes wonder how we all made it. When I was a kid, AGATT for dirtbiking was a Lee jean jacket and a pair of Kodiaks. I don't recall owning a helmet until I started riding on the street.

We rode the dirt concessions/lines and farm trails thru Markham and Stouffville, and used working gravel quarries and under-construction subdivisions on weekends for extra fun.

We crashed. We got hurt. We learned. All my buddies survived.
We always had helmets and a couple didn't make it past high school.

Sent from the future
 
Makes wonder how we all made it. When I was a kid, AGATT for dirtbiking was a Lee jean jacket and a pair of Kodiaks. I don't recall owning a helmet until I started riding on the street.

We rode the dirt concessions/lines and farm trails thru Markham and Stouffville, and used working gravel quarries and under-construction subdivisions on weekends for extra fun.

We crashed. We got hurt. We learned. All my buddies survived.
You and your friends were very lucky. A fall an inch or more in another way and it’s lights out.

As @Scuba Steve pointed out many don’t make it. Just read the news over the summer about the off roading incidents. Many are t wearing helmets.
 
You and your friends were very lucky. A fall an inch or more in another way and it’s lights out.

As @Scuba Steve pointed out many don’t make it. Just read the news over the summer about the off roading incidents. Many are t wearing helmets.
I think it's a time and place thing.

I would never recommend people ride without gear now, but that was then and that's how we did it. If I recall correctly, up till the early 90s almost nobody wore helmets on bicycles, mopeds, ski hills, skate boards.

Safety gear can increase risk-taking and reduce the development of defensive skills, but the benefits of safety gear will always outweigh the losses.
 
A friend has said that they've lowered the speed limit on Tail of the Dragon to 30 mph and are strictly enforcing it, because there's been an increase in accidents lately. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
 
A friend has said that they've lowered the speed limit on Tail of the Dragon to 30 mph and are strictly enforcing it, because there's been an increase in accidents lately. Can anyone confirm or deny this?
Looks like speed limit changed long ago.

"Prior to 1992 the speed limit in both Tennessee and North Carolina was 55 mph. In 1993 the speed limit on the Tennessee side was lowered to 40 mph. In 2002 the speed limit was lowered to 30 mph, which is still in effect today. The North Carolina portion of the Dragon was lowered to 30 mph in early 2005."
 
A friend has said that they've lowered the speed limit on Tail of the Dragon to 30 mph and are strictly enforcing it, because there's been an increase in accidents lately. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Just got back a couple weeks ago. Speed enforcement isn't anything out of the ordinary. Center-line crossing is strictly enforced. A disproportionate amount of crashes there involve trikes rolling over. (I am not talking about the CanAm Spyder type trike; those are properly engineered. I am talking about the Harley and Gold Wing conversions, which have inherent poor handling characteristics.)
 
I was southbound on 50 last night just north of Bolton. 2 GS1200s came up behind me with the brightest headlights and floodlights I've ever seen on a vehicle. It was 6:30, still full daylight and they were lighting up roadsigns 200' ahead of me!

I'm all for good lights, but these were absurd. The 2 crash bar mounted lights must have been some type of offroad high power wide beam flood light, not conventional driving lights. To make matters worse, the way they were aimed 30 degrees (or so) upward and riding 10' off my tail.
 
I was southbound on 50 last night just north of Bolton. 2 GS1200s came up behind me with the brightest headlights and floodlights I've ever seen on a vehicle. It was 6:30, still full daylight and they were lighting up roadsigns 200' ahead of me!

I'm all for good lights, but these were absurd. The 2 crash bar mounted lights must have been some type of offroad high power wide beam flood light, not conventional driving lights. To make matters worse, the way they were aimed 30 degrees (or so) upward and riding 10' off my tail.
There are laws against that, but good luck finding anyone to enforce them.
 
Just got back a couple weeks ago. Speed enforcement isn't anything out of the ordinary. Center-line crossing is strictly enforced. A disproportionate amount of crashes there involve trikes rolling over. (I am not talking about the CanAm Spyder type trike; those are properly engineered. I am talking about the Harley and Gold Wing conversions, which have inherent poor handling characteristics.)
The Spyder, being a reverse trike will handle a hard turn. The typical conversions are a triangle footprint with no stance up front to counter a roll. Weren't the Honda Big Red trikes banned due to spinal injuries?
 
The Spyder, being a reverse trike will handle a hard turn. The typical conversions are a triangle footprint with no stance up front to counter a roll. Weren't the Honda Big Red trikes banned due to spinal injuries?

Yes, although I believe it was an "agreement" to stop selling them as opposed to an actual ban.

For the H-D and Gold Wing trikes, I'm not sure where the lawyers are. I'm not sure a company that builds motorcycles wants to get lawyers involved given that their normal product falls over every time when it stops unless the rider stops it happening. But, a motorcycle has predictable steering characteristics. With a trike, the rider's steering input has to switch phase when the inside wheel lifts off the ground. With three wheels on the ground, turning the handlebar right turns the vehicle right ("car" steering) then when the inside wheel lifts off, the rider has to turn the handlebar left in order to bring it back down (countersteering as a motorcycle does - it is now acting as a two-wheeler). That doesn't sound very intuitive. The Can-Am Spyder is low enough to the ground that the center of gravity is low enough that this doesn't happen easily (and stability control intervenes and says "nope" by slamming on front brakes).

While I was at the Gap (actually, while we were at the overlook), there was a nasty crash involving a trike about halfway along. Can't find any news articles about it, so I won't discuss what was indirectly told to us later. In discussing this back at the resort, we chatted with someone who had been involved in someone else's trike crash about 6 months earlier. He had a backward-facing GoPro and showed us screenshots. First photo, trike had just passed by in the opposite direction and had the inside wheel perhaps 100mm above the ground. Next screenshot the trike was at about a 45-degree angle. Next one it was almost on its side, and this is about when the rider/trike (not sure which) had a glancing impact with the bike following behind the camera bike. What happened after was out of view, but the trike rolled over and went up the embankment, then came back down and bounced back onto the road, into the path of the next bike in line, and that was a hard hit. Destroyed almost-new ZX10R, rider of that bike hurt his back. The trike rider was only wearing a beanie helmet and no other safety gear (go figure) and was also badly injured.

Yes, bad things can happen if you exceed the physical capabilities of ANY vehicle ... but single-front-wheel motorcycle-conversion trikes seem to have a very low performance envelope, and when exceeded, they seem to spit the riders off in front of them and then land upside down on top of them.
 
Philly: Hey Baltimore, hold my Monster Sparkling Mango.


*** Rider arrested. His boss saw the video and dropped a dime on him. ***
 
Rider posting on social media acting reeeeeaaaaaal innocent in all of this, admitted in article the jacket was obtained illegally, but then today posted a receipt for paid jacket? Strange. Says he got the bike back today, so stolen plate only, and not motorcycle.


Today just as I got into Dover at the main stop sign in front of Tim Hortons I was beside a guy on a cbr1000 with his plate bent completely flat/up and out of view for anyone to see...as we were stopped 3 bicycle cops came up on him and positioned their bikes around him, turned his key off and were about to escort him off the road....Heard them going back and forth but didn't stick around to see the outcome. Possible riding with no insurance or whatever else.
 
Rider posting on social media acting reeeeeaaaaaal innocent in all of this, admitted in article the jacket was obtained illegally, but then today posted a receipt for paid jacket? Strange. Says he got the bike back today, so stolen plate only, and not motorcycle.


Today just as I got into Dover at the main stop sign in front of Tim Hortons I was beside a guy on a cbr1000 with his plate bent completely flat/up and out of view for anyone to see...as we were stopped 3 bicycle cops came up on him and positioned their bikes around him, turned his key off and were about to escort him off the road....Heard them going back and forth but didn't stick around to see the outcome. Possible riding with no insurance or whatever else.
Seen a few of these 'novelty' plates on the street. Are the riders that stupid ? I guess so...
 
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