Because motorcyclists *always* drive the speed limit in a reserved and cautious manner.

/bwahahahahaaaaaa, *cough* ahahahahahahahaaa

Ok, seriously, most mature prudent bikers I know (that specifically excludes the 18-25yr old newbie sport-biker males) dont' really watch the speedo - they tend to ride at a safe and approprate speed for the road, visibility, traffic and weather. I think not having seat-belts, air-bags and a metal cage around you tends to make one consider safe riding very seriously. Either that or yer dead, as so many young foolish inexperienced riders end up. Testosterone & two wheels don't mix.

/and yes, I go *very* fast on well known, dry, daylit, empty roads - that's part of the joy.

I go about the speed limit - I actually enjoy tooling along on my bike. Of course, it's not my primary transportation, and I usually ride it just to go on a bike about.

pics of my baby can be seen here

0-70? yes we can do it, got a couple of seconds?

speedometer?...What speedometer?

I must be having the same problem with my Ninja...

I just had to post because it is a bike related thread....

Who has the link to the video where the guy reaches an insane speed on a motorcycle? Care to post it?

I usually watch the road and all the cars that are trying to kill me, and not so much the speedometer; pay too much attention to that thing and you'll splatter all over the Buick in front of you.

Im with peck on this one... and it doesn't even matter what you drive. I drive my car with the speed of traffic, so I don't get any tickets. Hell, my speedometer stoped working 4 years ago.

Wow! All my cars have this problem, too!

/ahem

Sorry officer, I was just on my way to have my speedometer calibrated. I had no idea I was doing 95, its a Honda.

Sooo, the cops are going to give back the money from these tickets right? Right? Right.

i pulled the speedo out of my cruiser and put in a tach (which it did not come with).
i find the tach endlessly more useful than the speedo.

/responsible bike-commuter

somewhat off topic but i once got a ticket in my VW because the speedo cut out as i was going around a corner... turns out that the speedometer relay has a tendency to asplode in 3rd generation watercooled VW's.

mindlydistributated

Nice bike...

I typically ride the speedlimit.. or a safe speed above or below the posted limits.

Not to say this article is bunk, but most speedos come with "optimistic" calibrations. Read any motobike mag (or car mag, for that matter), and you'll see that speedo vs. actual is ALWAYS tested, and almost always shows less speed than reported.

/1979 BMW R100/7
/1997 BMW F650

2004-06-02 03:38:10 PM skinink


Just a cospiracy between Honda and the people who are in desparate need of organ transplants.
====================

Actually that would probably be Harley.. The typical GoldWing rider has on more safety gear than a Roman gladiator...


BTW.. I thought you always had a pic in your post?
Also, add an "N" ...

I was in traffic court once and a guy beat a ticket by proving his speedo was off, he had a receipt and statement from a repair place saying it was not accurate and was replaced.

"Bathing suit manufacturer recalling banana hammocks because chronically optimistic speedos are getting owners in trouble with the law."

Actually most sportbike riders I know ride safer than the cruiser guys. See, we wear full leathers and don't down a 6 pack at the local Hardly bar trying to be "real" bikers. We just put down the shield and farking ride.


Fark a Duckk

hard to speed on my Yamaha Vstar 650.

/not at all fast.

My Ducati has that problem. The police don't seem to care.

"seriously offficer, the speedo said 60! not 110! It is those darned italians...they screw everything up!"

bikes are the best....0-60 faster than any street legal car on the planet...for a few grand.

There's nothin like a duc!
/2000 Ducati Monster 900 Dark named "El Diablito"

Never did like those honda LCD speedos. They all seem wrong, including my bros rc51. newbie f4i owner: 'lol, I was doing 180!@" yeah, thats why my analog speedo said 140 as I passed you... pffft. (not that it is accurate either).

You want accuracy, run with gps.

most sport rider *you* know. Take a look around at the 18-25 yr old a-holes riding around on cbr929s. crazy idiots. many more are idiots than are safe.

most speedos come with "optimistic" calibrations. Read any motobike mag (or car mag, for that matter), and you'll see that speedo vs. actual is ALWAYS tested, and almost always shows less speed than reported.


Yeah and most tires don't burst suddenly under normal load. Sometimes mistakes are made in manufacturing that only come to light later. shiat happens.

I guess I just don't get caught :P

/see profile

Judasdiomedes is right.
Almost all motorcycle speedometers are 5-10 percent fast, including my (now departed) '99 Honda Interceptor.

I think most Harley people are the organ doners. Most Harley owners I see drive by do the Geico protection (minimum coverage).

I'm one of the freaks with a full helmet and skid jacket and gloves.

Of course, I also suck and pretty much do the speed limit...

I'm gonna have to use that the next time I get pulled over....

"But officer, my( and or your) speedometer must be defective"

At highway speeds, 80 feels like 60 and 90 like 70 on a bike, or mine at least (KLR 650).

Couldn't agree more, purple_duckk. Makes me chuckle when a Harley douche flips me off for no other reason than my ZX-7R doesn't have any chrome and wasn't made in America.

/hopes all of their beards get caught in the spokes

First gear, it's alright
Second gear, I lean right
Third gear, hang on tight
Faster, it's alright

Amazingly, the chronometric speedometers fitted to classic Triumphs were very accurate, merely illegible because of the blur caused by the vibration.

/ridin almost as long as been walking, and far more proficiently.

I didn't know it was even possible to break the speed limit with a Harley-Davidson?

/farking heavy pieces of cast iron

My fave is the idiots that suddenly decide they are bikers just 'cause they bought a Harley. They ride around in shorts and flip-flops. It's easy to tell who has never riden before. Anyone thats ever experienced road rash wears boots and leather. Flip-Flops no less

heh.. my first trip out of the showroom on my first bike I hit a patch of cinders in a turn and wiped out. Rash all up and down my leg. Taught me to always wear leathers.

I own a 2001 Honda CBR600F4i and a GPS unit. According to my GPS my motorcycle has been off by 10% since day one. I took it to the dealership several times and complained about it and was told there was nothing they could do about it. I finally gave up and bought a "yellow box" speedometer re-calibrator. It is essentially made for people that put different gears then stock on their bikes (for wheelie junkies). On older motorcycles the speedo was taken from the front tire. On newer bikes they are taken in the transmission, so any change in gearing results in an inaccurate speedo. I was able to fix the 10% difference by using the yellow box. Here is a link for anyone interested...
http://www.blackrobotics.com/

There was an entry on fazed.org a couple of days ago, where a guy put a videocamera on his handlebars, got it up to about 180, and sped through a radar trap, right by a cop!

Talk about dumb. . .

Dumle yup, quite possible to break interstate speed limits in under 5 seconds with a sportster. Not sure about their other bikes.

Not sure what the upper speed cap on one is.

Time to break out the Torque quotes

"What is it with cars that make them all assholes?"

Zenferret
Nice oldschool Z!
Salvageable post-wreck?

my fav is when guys on sport bikes, friends included, pick up random chicks in booty shorts, tank tops and high heeled sandals and cruise on down to bike night. More often then not the chick has never been on a bike (hence the outfit) and are unfamiliar with the concept of holding on when you ride 2 up. Always gives me a good laugh when he gives it gas and she doesn't expect it.
Oh and to those of you who never ride motorcycles, don't try to talk to a rider who's wearing a helmet unless you can get them to turn off the bike. We can't hear you.

pudding7 some of us wear full helmets, skid jackets, and boots ;)

I have no problem getting my Harley well past the speed limit. Had a guy jump on me one day with a VMAX, and he was very surprised when he couldn't pull away on me. At the next light he's looking over my bike. He asked me what year it was and I smiled and said 1978

This is off-topic but funny as hell:

I was sitting at the coffee shop the other day when this dude rides up on a 1955 Triumph 650 with a factory original sidecar, and the whole thing is just showroom-floor immaculate! Furthermore, he's got this little "sweet thing", cute little girl about 16 or so, in the sidecar.

"That sure is a nice looking piece you got there," I told him, gesturing in the general direction of the whole works.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKK!" says the girl.