Motorbike Vs W202

[R2D2]

I was minding my own business this morning trundling along in the filter lane for a narrow motorway turnoff when a huge motorbike overtook me at about Mach3. He missed my car by about 2ft and carried on to the first of two roundabouts which were empty. I realised he needed to brake a lot to make the roundabout so I went after him. By the first roundabout I nearly caught up with him but as soon as the road straighten he zoomed off, so off I went again towards the second round about (which I know well)he slowed to take the inside lane around this biggish roundabout so I took the outside lane and didnt brake but nailed it right the way round and over took him!! Obviously as soon as the road straighten he was gone in an instant but these big bikes aint got much grip in the corners have they.

 

[guydewdney]

not in the cold / wet - no... its scary, esp when there is a) the possibility of a bit of gravel / dust / dirt which will spit you off in a second, and b) diesel... esp on roundabouts ESP if near a petrol station.

sub 70mph a bike can usually out corner a car, above, car wins.
braking - car wins
acceleration - bike wins (up to about 140mph)
traffic - bike wins
cold / wet / rain - car wins
luggage - car wins
grin factor - bike wins

 

[R2D2]

I guess that sums it up. I certainly wouldnt lean as hard on a bike as I did in the car.

 

[Shude]

There is something satisfying about overtaking a bike on a roundabout, I've done it myself and it's fun

I must admit I actually got quite impatient behind a biker going around some mini roundabouts, I'm sure he'd have been faster if he got off and pushed it around them . Naturally he teleported away as soon as he was vertical again though.

 

[guydewdney]

some people just cant ride...........

 

[Sp!ke]

Yeah, quite surprised by this in the dry.... It was dry for you today wasn't it?

You gotto remember that there are plenty of 40 something bikers that have recently passed their tests with the money to buy exotic machines.


> GUY

acceleration - bike wins (up to about 140mph)

Don't necessarily agree with this one entirely. Mine still pulls like a train at an indicated 180 (where I lost my bottle). I know full well it will do 30- 40 mph more (assuming a 10 - 12% speedo inaccuracy at that speed). Roll on March where I hope to find out what it really does through the timing lights.

The new Aston Martin for instance claims to do 215mph, but at RAF Woodbridge through the traps it could only manage a true 183mph.

 

[R2D2]

It was slightly damp this morning.

 

[Pietre]

Cold bike tyres dont grip, get the same bike on a hot sunny day and see how he goes around the r/about. And dont get too confident about outbraking a bike you may come unstuck, mine has ABS and Servo assisted brakes and the stopping power has surprised quite a few bikers, so take care.

 

[R2D2]

I'm not planning on taking on bikes on a regular basis!

 

[Pietre]

I know how you feel though when they skim past frightening the living daylights out of you. Some are in such a rush you cant get out of the way quick enough, and its worse when you are on a bike at 140 and they still want to get past.

 

[R2D2]

....I was doing about 70 so the bike was well over a ton!

 

[Pietre]

I'm afraid that as a group, we motorcyclists have a few members who have the ability to give the rest a bad name. I dont appreciate it when they squeeze between two lanes of M/way traffic at 70+ mph, but i always move across the lane to leave as big a gap as possible when I am crawling through traffic as this is where the bike comes into its own. Mine has heated grips and a heated seat, but when i park the car at work and the temp guage says +0.5C sod the bike and give me the heater control.

 

[glojo]

Dry conditions unfortunately a 'big' bike will win. Our friendly test driver Tiff Needell had some large Italian super car that he lapped around Anglesey??? race track. I must confess the track looked similar to the Scottish one whose name is on the tip of my tongue. Anyway the bike won convincingly. Cars have four wheels that give fantastic grip especially around corners, but when upright the bike zooms off. Now a competant rider would be no slouch negotiating a roundabout, but roundabouts and speed do not mix for any sensible rider or driver (R2D2 )

Roudabouts are where lorries level there insecure loads..
Roundabouts are where buses usually get rid of overfilled diesel tanks...
Roudabouts are where people indicate in one direction, but mean another.....
Roundabouts are where drivers conduct important phone calls... Yawn.....Yawn

Okay,
Finally roundabouts are where most drivers exchange names and addresses with each other.... Think about it!!

Sorry about that,
If someone wants to show off, let them, they are just showing the whole World how stupid they really are..

And that's why I'm a tortoise and not a hare!!

Take care,
And have a safe journey,
John

 

[R2D2]

I agree roundabouts are dangerous John thats why I only did it when the roundabouts were empty. Safety is paramount to me as some know on here and we wont visit that area again but its because I enjoy cars and want safety that is why I completed the Masterdrive program, passed my Advanced test then retake every few years just to check, Ive also done skid pan training, karts and a little bit of single seater work. I've also driven at Knockhill, Goodwood, Lydden Hill and Brands Hatch. Ive also spent a whole day driving on the Millbrook Test ground and that might be why Maff got me to test drive his 500bhp car. I know I'm not invincible thats why I keep training!

The reason I felt able to push on the roundabout was because I know my car really well and when the back starts to go I can catch it.

 

[glojo]

at Knockhill,

The reason I felt able to push on the roundabout was because I know my car really well and when the back starts to go I can catch it.

Hi R2D2,
Thanks for checking the tip of my tongue Knockhill was the circuit I was trying to think of.

I am so pleased to hear that you take your driving so seriously. It is said that the day we pass our test, is the day we start learning bad habits.

It is quite clear that in your case this is not correct, and I now understand why Maff asked you to drive 'my' car (I'm still drooling)

Idiots sometimes bait other road users to race each them, it shows strength of character to simply ignore them.

Well done,
John

 

[Will]

Sounds like a cautious (or sensible) bike rider to me! As has been said, roundabouts (especially damp ones!) and areas of road near fuel stations are an uncalculatable risk for any motorcyclist.

To put into perspective the ability of a good, standard sports bike, for a couple of grand you can have a machine capable of 0-60 in around 3 seconds, and 0-100 in around 6! How many mass produced cars can beat that!

Obviously doesn't matter how much power you have, cold weather and damp roundabouts will slow you down!

Cheers,

Will

 

[Shude]

Finally roundabouts are where most drivers exchange names and addresses with each other.... Think about it!!

There is a roundabout near Bingley that has 5 or 6 exits and it's only a tiny little thing, ALWAYS has head lamp/tail lamp/indicator/glass spread all over it

 

[R2D2]

What town is called the magic roundabout, is Luton or Hemel Hempstead......it has one roundaout after another??

 

[guydewdney]

theres one in hemel, and one in swindon iirc..

I go through the hemel one quite reguarly - and find it no problem.... but it must be daunting the first time.

I said that bikes are better up to 140ish in relation to supercars - that have the grunt required to push all that air out of the way - bieks have the aerodynamics of bricks in comparison to supercars at that sort of speed... but I may well be wrong


I do find it amusing - and have done this reguarly - overtaking fartbloods, gixxers etc etc on my TDM, fully loaded, with three or four mates on equally loaded up / two up +loaded up going round the OUTSIDE of bikes on the A4 through wiltshire... on the long curves. But then I have been riding for 15 years non stop (god im knackered...).

Overtook a GSXR750 (2002?) on my goldwing once... admittedly the next roundabout (big / clear / open etc) I had to go over it at 90, and got the whole bike off the ground due to the camber (yes... i could see it was clear... ish)

 

[GRAV888]

theres one in hemel, and one in swindon iirc..

And Canvey Island