I beg to differ. I have yet to EVER see someone ride a crotch-rocket responsibly. It's all about how fast they can go, who they can cut off, and how they can do it while the police are powerless to stop them.

There's only one solution: ban them from the highways. These are RACING bikes, just like a formula-one car. You can't legally drive an F1 on the highway, so why should you be allowed to drive a bike, intended solely for racing, on the open road? If you want to race, then do it responsibly: on a track. There is no room for these things on the streets.

 

I disagree with that completely. Yes, sport bikes are fast - extremely fast, to be more accurate. However, they are just as street legal as a Dodge Viper, a Corvette ZO6, a Ferrari Enzo, a Bugatti Veyron (1000 HP!), a Lamborghini Murcealago, etc. Just because they are fast does NOT mean they should be banned. Here's the difference: If you wreck in a motorcycle, you will only take out yourself, not everybody around you. You're more likely to hurt someone else at 15 MPH in a Crown Vic than you are on a sport bike doing 90.

Each and every one of these cars are built for SPEED, handling, and nothing else, but how often do you see people with these vehicles driving them reckessly? I haven't ever seen that. I can get into a Ford Festiva and drive recklessly and kill a bunch of people. On the other hand, i can buy a Ford GT, and drive it perfectly safely and act with consideration to other drivers.

So, following this logic, we'll ban all things considered to be "sporty" or "fast". Everyone will either have to buy crown vics, or base model Focuses. Is this the answer? Responsiblity lies in the DRIVER not the MACHINE.

Okay, I'm off my rant now! BTW, I ride a Suzuki Intruder, looks similar to a Harly sportster, NOT a sportbike.

 

Wrong. People in cars have already been killed by sport bikes ripping through them at 150mph, or forcing them off the road because of their antics.

Thank you for helping me to make my point. Those incredibly-fast cars ARE driven responsibly 99.9% of the time; the sport bikes, in my experience, are NEVER driven responsibly. Until someone can get these idiots-with-a-death-wish to ride their crotch-rockets with consideration for the drivers around them, BAN 'EM.

 

Cool heads prevail, hot heads go to jail!

 

I have several buddies who have bikes, a couple with rice rockets, some with Harleys, and so I don't want to come across as "anti-bike", BUT, there is a BIG difference between motorcycles and other vehicles on the road, and that being, there is much, much less room for error on the part of everyone when bikers are out on the road. Whereas pulling out of a parking lot and cutting off another Ford driver - totally by accident - might cause a few grand's worth of bodywork, a few bumps and bruises, some hard feelings, and a $65 citation, on the other hand, if that same vehicle were instead a motorcyle, then that same mistake could very easily turn into critical injuries and even death for the biker. And accordingly, that same $65 ticket turns into a criminal charge of negligent manslaughter with a motor vehicle. Same innocent mistake, but drastically different (and very sad) consequences for everyone involved

Point is, bikers increase the risk for everyone out driving on the road, not just themselves.

 

I"m sorry to catorgrize most Sport bike rider as reckless, but most are. I work with several and when they talk about their bikes, all they talk about is how fast they were going or what stunt they pulled. Near my work there have been 3 death in the last year or so. One guy rode a wheelie in to his buddy and killed him. One guy t-boned another bike and one decied to play superman on his bike by standing on his seat at what is estimated at 140. I took over 2 hour to find that guy in the soybean field that he ended up in when his bike hit the curb. I had one crotch rocket almost impale himself on my open tailgate leaving work because he was following so close to me when he tried to pass me. If he had hit me i would have had him and his girl in the back of my truck.

My feeling is that if these people want to ride like that, take it to a track and when they die their family can blame only the rider and not try to blame some else.

Rant done.

 

Yea, bikes are a pain and many drivers act like jerks, and many drivers are very young and hot headed. Do they deserve a beating? Maybe. Do they deserve to be murdered while being sandwiched between two cars and crushed to death. No.

You can go watch Dukes of Hazzard (1st and 2nd generation) and have a good time watching Gone In Sixty Seconds, but, think crushing someone to death is deservable?

For that Honda to catch up they could not have been going that fast and they had to slow down. The Honda driver is 100% wrong and deserves to die for the murder he committed or at the very least get life behind bars, imo.

 

The idea that anyone who rides a sportbike is reckless is absurd. I own one, and I definitely am not reckless, but I am 35 years old. If I had had one when I was 20 now that would have been a different story. Maybe we should put a limited ban on them according to age.

 

Maybe. But I've never seen a Viper ride a wheelie for 3 miles around curves and over blind hills. Never seen a Z06 do a stoppie at a red light. Never had a Bugatti pass between me and the car next to me while riding on the white divider line while all 3 of us were at speed. I've seen SQUIDS (SQUirrley kIDS) on crotch rockets do all those things.

I've listened to the police scanner as some guy on a rice rocket evaded the police for over an hour at speeds in excess of 130 mph on rural 2 lane back roads. Actually it seems that these monster bikes would lead themselves to criminal activity. Light, fast, highly mobile, can go where cars can't. Knock off a bank, make a get away to a hidden spot (parking garage, overpass etc) ditch the bike and drive off in some plane jane car (white van).

I agree, banning these things is excessive. But they are being abused and other peoples lives and property are being put at risk by this behaviour. I belive current laws are adequate if they can be enforced. Maybe give municipalities the ability to sieze and auction bikes that are being abused in the manner described above.

 

NEWS UPDATE..... This guy ran over his girlfriend 4 years ago with his car.... She lived to see another day. The rocket jockey cut off the wrong guy at the wrong time.

 

The point I was trying to make was that these motorcycles can be used in a very safe, considerable fashon, as well as any other car on the road. Ban the operators, not the machines.

 

I had a sportbike for a few years (95 gs500) never took her past the speed limit. I've got several freinds who I'd say are responsible on thier bikes.

For everyone stating that most bikers are wreckless take a look a few threads down and see how fast some of us have gone in cars, myself included, its a 5 page thread!

 

I have seen a few pictures of wrecked sports cars on the net, I would say to ban the drivers not the machiens also.

 

A big difference is that a sport bike is attainable by someone without the age or experience to handle that kind of supercar-like performance. A bugatti, viper or Lambo is not.

 

There are plenty of folks killed every day by inexperienced drivers in heaps costing WAY less than exotic sports cars...it's not about banning the machines, no matter what type or how much/little they cost...it's about banning the idiot that doesn't know how to handle it responsibly.

I hate to admit it, but I had a (crotch rocket) 93 Honda CBR 900RR back in the summer of 92...why they called it a 93 I don't know but it was the first year for that particular bike. I was 32 at the time and a coworker had just bought a CBR600...and was bragging about how he'd pushed it past 150mph up on the interstate. Not to be outdone, I went up to the interstate and cracked the throttle open and didn't let off until the speedo indicated 175mph! I had wondered how fast she'd go and "just had to find out at least once". That was the first and last time I've ever piloted anything at that speed. Was it responsible??? Of course NOT!

The majority of us have done or will do something in our lifetime we're not proud of...that was one of mine...of course, it was in broad daylight on a near-deserted interstate. Not an excuse...but a little safer than where a lot of "stunt" riders show off...