And ORR is a walk in the park? in sporbike street racing like in ORR, the risk mainly depends on the driver/rider not the vehicle, hence bikers who think they can keep up with your GT2 up those cayons, newbie riders who are unaware of the dangerous situations such bikes can put you in a fraction of a second, etc. Trying to dominate and control that risk while pushing yourself to the limit is part of the thrill just like ORR if I'm not mistaken, right?. You are never risk free of course but I have been riding bikes since 11-12 years of age but NEVER EVER lost it (in the street) and I'm not riding the king of the hill in street-race bikes (GSX-R1000 - k3) for cruisin' precisely, in Spain and Italy, "sport"bikes are a passion like in no other place in the world. Cars and bikes, each have their advantages.

 

I agree with the big bore bikes being no match, but I have personal experience with a CBR 600 F4i. I was on the Ocean Pkwy here in LI doing about 60 when a guy on the bike came up next to me and challenged me. I dropped down a few gears and hit it in my 993TT. I had about a 1/2 car on him and just kept on it from 55 up to 150. He was tucked in and really trying, but he couldnt catch me. And as i got over 130, my lead increased by about another car length. However, an R1 - CBR 9+ - GSXR-1000 would have been a much different story. I went from a CBR600 to 900.. No comparision in roll on power at highway speeds.

Carlos- be careful on that thing too! I gave up on those bikes. Too many people getting killed on them. Switched over to a V-ROD and I LOVE it. Very quick with some nice TQ and handles surprisingly well. While still dangerous as compared to cars, the urge to drive it like a idiot is not there as with any Jap bike. Oh yeah, and Porsche designed the motor for Harley - an added plus!

 

ah carlos,

to each his own risk profile. i maintain you take as much risk every day on a power bike as ORR 4-6 times a year with massive safety equipment and services around...

bike slamming the canyons and riding an LA freeway is ORR risk equivalent for me. to paint a rough picture: you need to be ORR above 150 before you equal the risk you take every day...

risk is the frequency of the outcome X the extremity or payoff of the outcome X the probability of the outcome.... i calculate this every day for stock investments...

and hi risk = daily biking X very high negative payoff [maiming or death] X high probablity of maiming or death [since you are a human bullet w/o a car shell protecting you] in any incident.

about 80% of ORR incidents above 200 mph, the driver has walked away due to required safety equipment and great support [medivac choppers, fire crews, etc]. the equation works better for me, but it's a personal choice.

 

Carlos,

I guess it comes down to the road and how "crazy" the bike driver is. The road was very curvy and slightly damp. On the straights, he would pull away slightly with his front wheel about a foot off the ground (at over 120 mph!). I would more than make-up the distance in the next curve. Maybe he was playing with me?

Bottom line is that we both agreed, under this situation, that the car and the bike were about the same.

 

I know what you are talking about ADOGNY, every once in a while now I get thoughts of maybe giving up on sportbikes before my luck runs out, especially after someone close gets hurt or dies but so far the heart overpowers the logic


Watt,

you may be right when comparing overall risks ORR to streetbike racing but you have to admit ORR is one of the riskiest cage racing there is and there are big risks too...



I agree Bill.
Also, maybe he was being a bit conservative with the road being a little damp but mainly, wheeling is not the best way to achieve max acceleration, it just slows you down a lot, so if he was wheeling more than a few inches on more than a few limited ocasions, he was fooling around for whatever reason. But in the corners though you will be faster no matter what, as you reported. So it depends on the road characteristics on wether you can make up the acceleration difference in the corners or not and viceversa.

 

carlos,

you are right that openroad racing is the riskiest form of car racing, but that doesnt address the point that power bikes are perhaps 400% riskier!!!! i bet the incident hurt-killed/crash ratio for bikes [at street speeds] is closer to 80%, vs 20% for ORR above 200, and less than 1% for all ORR.

i would maintain as well that circuit racing of bikes is much safer than street pounding them!!!!! what if you just raced them?

 

I dropped my 600 2x.. It happens and I was fortunate to walk away with no injuries. When an old college friend was killed in '99, that made me realize it was time to get away from these things. He was a much better rider than me, not saying that makes a big difference when cars enter the picture, but his accident involved him losing control of the bike. I saw what it did to his family, friends, etc and I realized I just had too much to lose and actually felt kind of selfish taking risks on the bike. I wasnt thinking about everyone else around me and what a terrible accident would do to them, let alone myself.

You dont have to give up the bike totally - just switch to a cruiser like myself. While it doesnt mean you are totally safe now, any bike rider knows that alot less can go wrong in most cases on a cruiser than a sport bike - the urge to fly isnt there as much nor do you want to because the bike isnt meant for that. There are plenty of other, more safe ways to get you speed fix..

 

There's a fine line between riding within your own ability, and the inevitability of someone not seeing you and knocking you off, regardless of bike size. Have found that most people who ride bikes end up much more aware car drivers (hopefully including myself in this) - you get an appreciation of road surfaces, cambers, debris, anticipating other peoples (ie cars) movements, and appreciate how you've got to be forever conscious of everything thats going on around you. I've given up riding around London - it's bad enough keeping the panels unbended on the porsche let alone having some tit sideswiping the bike as he/she/it swaps lanes without indicating or using mirrors.

As any bike rider will tell you, it's not if you have an accident, it's when, and the only question is whether you can walk away from it. (Even if it's walking on two broken legs, as was the case with my brother. Ow)

Having said that I tested a Benelli Tre LE at the weekend. Holy ****. Bikers wet dream. Mid life crisis at 34 anyone?