Getting a knee down

There's nothing quite like the experience of riding a motor bike; The rush of the air, the thrill of the speed and the excitement, addictive-fear, of throwing a powerful bike around a race track. The image below is not me but I've done a reasonable amount of track riding (public track days) in my day with a few bikes: Yamaha R6 (600cc) and R1 (1000cc) as pictured mainly but also on a Yamaha TRX 750 and an Aprilia RSV Mille (1000cc).

You'll note I mention track-riding above however most of my riding has been done on public roads. It's not quite as exciting but riding a motor bike just about anywhere has a certain charm and I love it. One gets a similar thrill, although the speeds may be somewhat slower, and it's much more difficult to get your knee down which is a commonly used measure of how hard-core a rider is. The greater the lean-angle when cornering the greater the speed must be (centrifugal forces are in play here) and the braver the rider must be.

On public roads it's almost impossible to get a knee down onto the bitumen, as the rider to the right is doing, without actually breaking lawful speed limits. The speeds (and roads) are just not suitable. Bike image source

Riding on public roads bring different challenges than on the race track. Public roads are often very uneven with differing surface types, potholes, reflectors, painted marks and oil/fluid deposits from other vehicles. There's also other traffic, sign posts, traffic lights, kerbs, pedestrians and the like...It's certainly not the nice smooth surface of a race track with huge run-off areas and all traffic going the same way. Add to that the fact slick (race) tyres are not permitted on the roads and that a bike will be set up differently for the road than at the track and it's quite obvious that track riding and road riding need to be treated differently. Crash, or fall off, on the road and there's a good chance it'll end badly and maybe on the track the probability of severe injury is mitigated somewhat.

I've never fallen off and so far have not crashed however it's something a motorbike rider is always conscious of and most riders will ride accordingly. Not all of course and there have been times I rode unsafely on public roads. I'll admit it.

I was killing time looking on YouTube for motorbike videos and got fixated on crash videos when I came across this video below. It's a made up thing and judging by the comments on it many people feel it is a very funny video. I kind of get it I suppose. It's in German so if you are too then you're good to go. If not then read the subtitles. You'll have to watch to the end though. Don't worry, it's not too long.

Funny? Hmm, I don't know; Sort of I guess. However there is an underlying message here and as a motorbike rider it's an important one. Safety.

Inattentive driving is an issue here in Australia and probably elsewhere also. Mobile-phone, driving whilst drunk and of course the simple fact that there's more traffic means more accidents are likely to occur. Some of these accidents are minor however if a motorbike is involved there's a fair chance that major injury or death will occur. Coming off a bike means the rider is on the ground. getting run over by a prime-mover, or even the smallest of cars, will ruin a motorbike rider's day for sure.

Imagine being the rider in the video above or maybe the driver of the truck...

We all use the roads, and we all want to get to where we are going safely. Be attentive when driving or riding and remember who may be left behind in the advent of a road death through inattentive driving.

P.s. If you want to get an idea of what an amazing experience racing a bike is like take a look at the video below. It's a point-of-view video from the Isle of Man TT which is a race run on public roads. One lap takes around 18 minutes (under 18 minutes) and this video will give you great idea of what riding a fast motorbike is really like...At least visually. Loads of great footage here over the lap especially when the riders are out of the villages...