This may be controversial but got to be worth a discussion......
Long, stretching, weaving roads criss-crossing through North Yorkshire's stunning countryside provide a backdrop regarded by many as a bikers' paradise.
But the number of fatal crashes so far this year suggest this beauty is not without danger.
The death toll from January to September has reached 11 - a marked increase on the two recorded during the whole of 2012.
So why has the county seen such a significant rise and are the roads anymore perilous than other places?
'Lucky to survive'
The force's deputy chief constable Tim Madgwick said in many cases speeding bikers were creating their own fate.
"A lot of victims of fatal crashes are doing in excess of 100mph. We're seeing some clocking up speeds of up to 140mph.
"If a motorcyclist makes an error at that speed they will be very lucky to survive it."
The worst bit of all for me..................
"Seven out of 10 motorcycle deaths are down to driver error, and a proportion of that is down to speed."
He said intelligence had been gathered suggesting bikers were staging races between car parks in market towns such as Helmsley and Stokesley and using parking tickets bought at each end as proof of their speed.
I value my life, don't come ANYWHERE near me please...!!!!!
What do others think ?
I go to Squires regularly and while most ride reasonably sensible I've seen plenty of stupid riding,been overtaken on bends,crests of hills etc(while in the car obviously.....),some of these deserve to be in the accident they cause.Helmsley is very popular with bikes and a bad place to speed as North Yorks police are almost as heavy handed on it as the North Wales lot.The camera vans there have front and rear cameras so if you speed up to either side of the van and slow thinking they haven't got your number plate they then get the reg details as you go past so watch out for them.....
i have to say i think one of the reasons that the death toll has gone up on last years is quite simple!!! last year the weather was total pants and all the "fair weather and sunday riders" were stuck at home cos they didnt wanna get wet.this year the weather has been amazing compared to last year and all the fair weather,sunday and born agains are out in their droves !! ooooooh the suns out lets go and thrash the bike on the nice roads and cos they dont ride all year or in the bad weather they have no clue at all and think theyre invincible.and thats when it all goes pear shaped!! i take risks but everyone of them is calculated and i ride all year in all weathers with 36yrs experience which makes me the better rider and less likely to have an off or hit anything(3 accidents in 36yrs) not bad i dont think
North Yorkshire is my playground, though the Dales more than the North York Moors. All I can say is that on the roads I use your lucky if you can travel at 70 mph for any period safely, the thought of hitting twice those speeds frightens me, and thats speaking from 39 years riding experience! If the sheep don't get you the potholes/loose gravel will, and of course the better weather not only brings out the 'born agains/power ranger crowd' but also more 'mobile chicanes' in the form of dawdling cars full of tourists and push bikes weaving about 2-a-brest all over the roads
I have always felt folks have the right to kill themselves,
just don't ask me to feel sorry for them when they do,
its the one they leave behind that I feel sorry for.
more bikers should carry organ donor cards
there maybe one or two bits left that could be used
I agree with mow on this one, we all enjoy hooning around on our bikes but is it really necessary to treat the roads like a race track? I love nothing more than gunning it and I get a real buzz from the lean angle and feeling the back wheel starting to steer, but I rarely do it on roads that I dont know or have a great field of vision so I know what to expect coming out the other side of the bend/corner. I drive for a living and when I think of the times I have almost wiped out some tarmac hooligan because they have taken a bend too fast and they are encroaching on my side of the line, I go cold imagining what might have happened had I not been 100% vigilant. Admittedly it is mostly cars and vans that I encounter, but very occasionally I meet a biker who has mis-judged a bend and the capabilities of themselves and their bike.
As the performance of crotch rockets increases so dose the stupidity of the power ranger brigade.
Tbh i like to get about at high speed but some of these guys are just playing with death every time they fire up there motors. Many think there the ghost rider with ablity to do what they like with there 2000 miles a year experiance. I guess an R1 and a full set of eathers make it impossable to die.
But guys please to pass me on the left whilst in on a left hander kissing the black top at 60, the next time i might not see you pass me at a million mph and invent a new type of strawberry jam.
Riding like a mad tw*t has always been the way with bikers of a certain age. I'm not excusing it and I'm not condoning it but who on here can put their hand on their heart and say that in their youth (Assuming you have been riding since your late teens) you've not opened it up just for the sheer thrill of feeling alive.
When you get older you get wiser but when you're young you'll never die and if you do come off it doesn't hurt. Experiance teaches the fallacy of those beliefs. Sadly before they get the experiance it also costs some their life.
Ohh yes i have definatly opened her up and i have been riding since i was 16. So i know about having some fun. However some of these guys are Pushing it beond the limits of sanity. Double white lines, hump back bridges, 100mph filtering and more.
Have fun by all means thats why we ride, some find it harder to enjoy so ride a little harder but there are limits.
I think the problem is you need to be 20 to understand them Stuie. I look at some of the young ones these days and it frightens the hell out of me but it has always been that way. From the Tribas and Norvins of the 60s through the Japanese bikes of the 70s and 80s to the rocket machines they have these days. Foolish crazy youth and may they live to be wise old men.
Its not always down to bad weather or hasty riding moves, a few of you may have seen in the news that 2 weeks ago there was a collision in Yardley in Birmingham, bike 2 up versus pedestrian in the early hours of the morning.
Mmmmm I thought drunk pedestrian stumbles out in front of bike, nope it was drunk rider and pillion mounting pavement, pillion and pedestrian dead, rider critical.
Yet another sad case to add to the list
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