OT: LOL!

I think I have seen that report too. IIRC, most of the single vehicle accidents were 'failure to negotiate a corner', and happened below the speed limit. In other words, muppetry. The other common cause (no surprises here) is a head-on during a badly-planned overtake. If you've got one horsepower per kilogramme of bike, you start to think you are invincible. (That power/weight ratio would have given the 4.6 Rangie 2250 bhp instead of

There's a bend near Aberystwyth on the road back to the Midlands where the cops reckon all the really bad accidents happen. It's a tight but on a fast stretch, about 5 miles out of Aber. The cop who told me about it reckoned that the born-agains stop at Aber for a coffee and then set off back to Brum (or wherever) and forget that their tyres haven't warmed up again. First really demanding corner, down they go like skittles.

According to them they weren't "going to fast"... The fact that they came around a corner and couldn't stop when confronted by a right turning Land Rover 50yds from the bend does somewhat indicate otherwise. Having said that how many of us *really* *truely* drive completely within the forward vision stopping distance?

Even the remoter bits of Wales are densely populated comapred to bits up here. On many of the roads up here you can easyly be 5+ miles from any habitation that might have a phone. Off road and you can be 10miles... The lack of population and the hills means that you can't rely on your mobile working either.

I think that applies to many drivers of almost any vehicle.

Barking and going round corners really don't mix but it's *very* hard not to brake when the only thing you can see infront is a tree. It takes a very concious effort to stop braking (if you are) and push a bit of power on.

Yep, it's the not coming off that damages, but any sudden stops you make after coming off. Though to slide down the tarmac for a few tens of yards needs some good leathers or you'll just leave a trail of flesh and bone behind...

Right-hand for the bike yes. It's how the majority of "fast" bikers come round the bends up here. Many a time I've had to take avoiding action or had the biker miss by just a few feet.

I have a feeling he may have been one of the "born again". It is that type that generally kill themselves round here. The younger ones tend to get away with just being a bit damaged.

Perfectly fine, only one bike clipped the front of his Land Rover, just a small dent in the front edge of the near side wing. I think the dent is still there.

Good question. Car drivers, hardly at all (crumple zones and airbags tend to reduce the feeling of vulnerability); bikers quite a lot, I would say - although not these two, obviously. I often have a 'discussion' with a colleague at work about this. He rides an R1 at silly speeds and boasts about it, so he's a bit of a dick, but he maintains that it is "impossible" to ride within the distance you can see to be clear, as you would be stopping the bike for every minor junction. I will admit to slowing right down in places where vision is poor (blind exits on narrow roads), but most of the time you just ease it off until you can see you are safe. Every time this guy passes a farm entrance or minor crossroads at 170 I think "what if?" - and one day it *will* happen. One of the great things about a bike is that you can slow right down for an obstacle, and once you're past you're back up to speed in seconds. I can ride proper quick when the road conditions allow (which brings us back to Nige), but I'm not afraid to ride like a pensioner if the road conditions demand it. I've been riding since I was 17, and as they say, I didn't get these grey hairs through luck.

lovely typo, BTW :-)

Which is why the coppers recommend track days. You can train yourself out of these 'natural' reactions, and if it all goes wrong, it's usually only metal and pride that is bent.

Agreed. For confirmation, see

Supposedly correct line would be - keep as far to the left as is safe on corner entry, wait until both road edges of exit can be seen clear, turn in and apex the corner late. This is slower than the 'racing line' these guys were taking, but you get to do a lot more of them, over time :-)

On or around Fri, 3 Oct 2008 18:04:13 +0100, "Rich B" enlightened us thusly:

now, that sounds fun...

On or around Fri, 3 Oct 2008 14:20:27 +0100, "Rich B" enlightened us thusly:

hope he recovers.

s**te on the road can of course catch you out in a car, ditto diesel etc. I once had the 110, at about 25 mph max, first of all head towards the (then) Talley post office, then swing around about 30 degrees more than would have been needed to negotiate the corner. Didn't investigate, but I assume diesel and wet road combined.

No injuries or damage, but just goes to show - I've done that corner many, many times in many vehicles without incident. Had I been on the bike I'd have doubtless been on me ear.

I also once followed a BP artic tanker (in one or another car) down the road which was spilling diesel or similar from the pipes stowed alongside the tank - the result was a road surface which did in fact offer more grip than sheet ice, but not a lot. There's never a dibble about when you need one, is there? I'd have had no qualms about shopping this bloke - pure negligence.

On or around Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:13:39 +0100 (BST), "Dave Liquorice" enlightened us thusly:

I try to, and mostly succeed.

Your (sometime) occupation tends to make one drive with extra care.