Bike Night - Thursday, August 23rd

The Doctor · Post by **The Doctor** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 3:13 pm

Damn Digi,
your luck sucks
Hope things turn around for you soon as you seem to be on the receiving end more often than not lately

rnbcbr1000 · Post by **rnbcbr1000** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:12 pm

Digi, 150+ on I-20!! You're lucky you ran into a nice cop the second time. I like to go as fast as the next guy but come on 150+ on a crowded freeway. If you were on some deserted back road I could understand but not I-20. I am kinda disappointed that you would do that type of shit and add to the negative perception of spotbikes. Maybe you should have gotten a ticket for the second incident and gone through all of the bs(jail, bike impoundment, fines, community service, etc) to learn a lesson. I am not preaching to ya, it's not my place but, just think about wtf you are doing. It's getting hard enough these days just to ride a sportbike and not get hasseled by the cops, we don't need to add fuel to the fire. Save that stuff for the country or even better, the track. Just my opinion on the subject, you are free to do what you please, just realize your actions affect all of us sportbike riders.

Firewa11 · Post by **Firewa11** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 10:25 pm

digi · Post by **digi** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 11:48 pm

rnbcbr1000 wrote:Digi, 150+ on I-20!! You're lucky you ran into a nice cop the second time. I like to go as fast as the next guy but come on 150+ on a crowded freeway. If you were on some deserted back road I could understand but not I-20. I am kinda disappointed that you would do that type of shit and add to the negative perception of spotbikes. Maybe you should have gotten a ticket for the second incident and gone through all of the bs(jail, bike impoundment, fines, community service, etc) to learn a lesson. I am not preaching to ya, it's not my place but, just think about wtf you are doing. It's getting hard enough these days just to ride a sportbike and not get hasseled by the cops, we don't need to add fuel to the fire. Save that stuff for the country or even better, the track. Just my opinion on the subject, you are free to do what you please, just realize your actions affect all of us sportbike riders.

I probably wouldn't have learned any lesson. I accepted the fact that I would get tickets when I got into sportbikes. It doesn't make it suck any less when you get a ticket, save for the fact that I told myself that it would happen one day, and it did. Wheee!

At least I didn't split lanes at 150. You want to know how people run into trucks, that's a good way to do it.

Believe it or not, I have calmed way down from my younger days. I lost my license 5 times in Oklahoma. I had a bike that would run (V45 Magna) and then a Porsche. Not to mention the muscle car that I drove during high school (yes, I raced, and yes, it was damned illegal, and yes, I won a few... )

With all that said, I have calmed down a great deal since last Thursday. I am getting a lawyer for the ticket, and I have been informed that it would be 2 months to a year (possibly two) before its resolved. Ft. Worth appears to be full. Chances of walking away from it are pretty decent, and if not, my money is good.

As far as I me contributing to the negative image of sportbikes, I don't think that can be helped, given what the sportbike community is up against. At least I am not shooting anyone while driving down the road.

BTW... I-20 happens to cruise at about 90MPH. Do you know how many times that I have almost been hit for riding WITH traffic? Countless. Usually because they are on a cell phone or they are texting. I try to stay ahead of the traffic, but I feel my 90 in a 60 was justified as all hell, considering that I wasn't even passing anyone.

Yes, you are right 150 is pretty excessive, and I was wrong to play chase with a bunch of other bikes. I'm not losing sleep over it, but I knew there was probably a good chance that I would get popped again, simply because those guys are prepared to run, and I am not.

*eyes firewa11* and some of us are crazier then me.

matadorCE · Post by **matadorCE** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:21 am

I do agree with your logic that faster is sometimes safer. I do ride and drive like that to find holes in traffic to give me the most space and reaction time possible. Doing 150 or even cruising at 90 (or whatever speed) is something that's left to the individual, and it's not something i'd personally not do. Not saying that it was wrong, but I don't like tickets (and higher insurance payments) so that's just not something i'd do.

As far as the image thing, yeah it's not helping but it's also a bit unfair to place all that weight on one person's shoulder. Everyone is (or should be) responsible for their own action afterall.

Whatever you do, make sure you stay safe out there.

Firewa11 · Post by **Firewa11** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 9:55 am

Oh I'm certainly not putting the image blame on Digi's shoulders, I'm guilty of doing stupid stuff as well in the past. I'd like to think that I've matured a bit, and if I'm going to play and go fast, it's on nice and empty FM roads out in the middle of nowhere, or it's on the track. It's not even about the tickets for me, it's about projecting a positive image for others regarding sportbike riders, but more importantly, it's about projecting a positive image to other sportbike riders.

When come up on that pack of bikes, you decided to join in, and to run with them. You've got some experience on bikes, but what about little Johnny you passed with that pack, that has been riding 2 weeks, and decides if everyone else is going to, why can't he? And his family gets to take a trip to the morgue in the morning to ID his body.

Stupidity encourages stupidity, so when you latch on and run with another pack of bikes doing stupid stuff, you're just encouraging stupidity... I completely agree that faster than traffic does keep us safe. Interstate traffic around here very rarely cruises above 80, and 10 mph over that is about right. Going faster limits your reaction time, but more importantly it limits traffic's reaction time. If you're worried about getting merged into by Bubba and his truck hanging beside him at 80mph, think about him merging in front of you when you're doing 150 and he doesn't even notice you coming up that fast. It happens ALL THE TIME, especially at night! At least once a month you hear about a biker slamming into the back of a truck at excessive speed. I've had plenty of near misses doing 90-100 that would have been near-death or death had I been going faster.

Do you really want your tombstone to read "I had to go fast to keep from getting killed by traffic. Killed by going too fast in traffic, <MMDDYYYY>"?

As members of a riding club that promotes safety and reduction in the risks we take on the street, it's our obligation to set a positive example. Now obviously we ride street bikes, and we go fast, so doing something silly like the speed limit isn't that image. But weaving in and out of traffic at 150 with a pack of other riders you don't even know isn't a positive example. Neither is coming back from a bike night averaging 130mph according to GPS.

Last but not least, you won't get beat up on the boards if you don't post up the stupid stuff you do! We've all been there, done that, but we're not going to encourage it by any stretch of the imagination. I'm sure there are plenty of people on other boards that would love to brag about that sort of stuff, but it's not FWMR.

Post by **DarcShadow** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 10:24 am

beat up, no, but ragged on, hell yes. lol

digi · Post by **digi** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 10:42 am

Not bragging, it was simply an experience.

I post up my experiences, good and bad, because I consider the people here friends and brothers. You can beat me up, you can rag on me, it doesn't really matter, as someone will learn from my experiences, and gain a bit of wisdom. My choices are not anyone else's but mine, and frankly, someone will learn from it, even if I don't.

You are right about stupidity encouraging stupidity, which is one of the morals I would hope that someone would learn from the situation. Pack of 14 bikes, splitting lanes at 150... and I am sure that some of them weren't as experienced as others. It's only natural to want to keep up, if you have anything competitive in you at all... which I do. I also know when to toss in the towel, and let other people be more stupid.

One thing that is constantly going through my mind everytime I get on the bike is how I could screw it up or how someone else could screw me up. That both helps me and hurts me. It helps me because I am usually right in predicting what the car is going to do... if I come up fast in the far left, and the guy is dogging it in front of me, I can bet that he is going to get over the minute I start to pass him on the right. If I come up on a car, and I notice that they are "micro swerving" in their lane, I can bet that they are going to make a lane change, and its probably going to be in front of me. I watch tires and movements in a lane, and can usually call it, and determine how it relates to my impending doom. So a good thing, maybe part of a survival reflex.

That same sense hurts me too, because in some situations where I should be able to open it up, take a good line, and lean in, I don't do it to my ability or potential, because my brain is calculating the death chance. I am not scared of wrecking or dying, this all happens subconsciously. I am not even pushing beyond my ability, or feel jittery, or jumpy, like you would when you know just went past your limit... its simply a voice saying that "if you do this, something bad could happen".

Anyhoo... thats my analysis for the day.

Firewa11 · Post by **Firewa11** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:21 pm

digi wrote:That same sense hurts me too, because in some situations where I should be able to open it up, take a good line, and lean in, I don't do it to my ability or potential, because my brain is calculating the death chance.

This is a great perspective when it comes to talking about getting bigger balls. Obviously not in the physical sense, because balls to big would be constantly getting smashed into the tank, and that would hurt.

I too had the same issues, but eventually you just go for it. When I'm haulin, I don't calculate the mortality factor into my riding. You just have to shut that voice off sometimes and go for it. It's important to keep that nagging feeling, but once you learn the limits of what you and your bike can do (i.e. track), you'll find yourself able to take that line or swerve at the right moment out of instinct.

Then, you will be one with the force.

Super Dave · Post by **Super Dave** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 12:42 pm

I think digi may have been born with a silver spoon up his perverbial ass. No offense though

But with all that crap as a teenager one might wonder

digi · Post by **digi** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 12:57 pm

None taken.

I bought my first street bike (the magna) for 800 dollars. I took a loan out from the bank in my own name. Paid for it with money that I earned working through school. I cared more about working and drinking then I did high school.

The muscle car was cheap too. I begged and borrowed everything for it, my parents had a dealership at the time, and my car was always broken down. I took automechanics in school.

The porsche I bought with money that I got from a car wreck. Went off a overpass at 80MPH (I wasn't driving) and people were knocking down my door to settle. Bought it for 7500 dollars, cash.

No silver spoon. Bought my first dirt bike at age 10 by working for my grandma, at her bbq stand. Cooked, busted tables, whatever I could do, for 5 dollars a day + tips.

My family works. None of them know what its like to live in a 300k house, although a few family members have built and sold them. Most of them have owned their own business, and make just enough for a comfortable living, but not much more.

Most Okies don't know what a silver spoon is.

Grinner · Post by **Grinner** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:54 pm

digi wrote: I also know when to toss in the towel, and let other people be more stupid.

I personally want to commend you on the above statement...

Not too many people can honestly make that statment and truthfully mean it. I've heard my fair share that make that statement and then cry like a little bitch when they screwup trying to put the blame somewhere else other than themselves...
As for the ticket...I would definitly fight it...majority of all tickets issued taken to court are always dismissed in one way or another and usually if one of those ways is taking Def Drive issued by the judge or City Attorney, it is usually not shown on your record for taking the course to dismiss the ticket so that if needed you can retake the course for another ticket later...

and lastly...this is just my 2cents...

digi wrote:I am not even pushing beyond my ability, or feel jittery, or jumpy, like you would when you know just went past your limit... its simply a voice saying that "if you do this, something bad could happen".

I personally feel that the jittery feeling is coming right up to your limit which is what scares the $h!t outta you and that going past you will just relax an roll with the punishment and if possible when you get up you will be laughin your sore ass off like mad...

Like I said...just my personal view of disaster...

Bird · Post by **Bird** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 7:46 pm

FireBalls summed up a lot of the feelings of members of this club ... don't do things that will add you to the list of 'those damn sportbike riders' or put you in the grave without even really enjoying it.

A buck fifty on 20 in traffic is just asking for the Grim Reaper ... it WILL happen if you keep doing it. God only knows, I've seen the other side of a buck fifty a lot more than most, and I've enjoyed every minute of it! BUT, you won't see me doing it in traffic or splitting lanes!

There's a time and place for everything ... I20 isn't it.

Our motto is Ride Fast ... Ride Safe. Part of the equation is missing in this story. Personnally, I don't feel safe riding at 70 with people I don't know .. too many variables. I'll take our Ride Leaders BESIDE me at 150+ over others I don't know at 70 in a pack any day of the week - at least I know how they're going to react and what they can handle.

Digi, we don't want to be coming to throw a flower beside the RIP ... please think about, and control, that monster within that pushes you to go faster and not let someone go a few mph faster than you are. We ALL have fast bikes ... bikes fast enough to put us in the morgue any day of the week. If you're going to insist on doing that, at least let it be said that you were riding with FRIENDS and just took the corner too fast ... not, 'riding with an unknown group of riders and was run into by someone changing lanes'.