[mr_druid]

Please go to the Wisconsin regional forum and check out the thread "any one see this". It was a letter to the editor in the Chicago Sun Times that slams sportbikes in an insulting, non-factual manner.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE write a letter to the editors (or even a short note) voicing your disaproval for this slander filled hate piece.

KEEP IT PROFESSIONAL because we want to show the editors we have an educated response to this stupid woman, we don't need someone to write something offensive and crude to make sportbike riders look worse.

Tom.

 

[Kastivich]

Heres a link for the lazy.
Click Like me.

 

[firefighter81]

"It takes longer to stop a motorcycle than a car."

Ummmmmm, yeah, another well informed motorists. For some of the things she is saying I actually agree with her, about the assholes wearing no helmets and no shirts with their equally naked girlfriends on the back. The rest of what she says is just uneducated bullshit. :boid

Jason

 

[Sirkbac]

"It takes longer to stop a motorcycle than a car."

Ummmmmm, yeah, another well informed motorists. For some of the things she is saying I actually agree with her, about the assholes wearing no helmets and no shirts with their equally naked girlfriends on the back. The rest of what she says is just uneducated bullshit. :boid

Jason

Um, in alot of cases, cars do stop faster than bikes. All comes down to 4 big rubber patches vs 2 small ones.

 

[firefighter81]

Maybe I'm just too used to my bike, when you are on a bike that weighs 300lbs wet and have brakes made for a Ducati 916 it tends to stop pretty quick

Boy, guess I'm the uneducated dickhead in this post :banme

 

[nig]

Um, in alot of cases, cars do stop faster than bikes. All comes down to 4 big rubber patches vs 2 small ones.

It also comes down to stomping on an idiot-proof pedal with ABS versus having the skills to operate the anchors on a sportbike. Most riders don't have a chance.

I don't have a problem with the article though. It's one of the more flattering ones I've seen, sadly. She's right; the people she describes are morons, and she's telling cage drivers to watch out for motorcyclists, which isn't a bad thing.

 

[phaderlanx]

Um, in alot of cases, cars do stop faster than bikes. All comes down to 4 big rubber patches vs 2 small ones.

Yeah maybe like a porsche 911, or some exotic lightweight car with big brakes. Maybe. This ladys ford taurus is not going to have near the stopping power of my 600SuperSport.

Four tires Is going to be more effective if the car has the ability to exploit it.
You think a semi truck with 18 wheels and brakes on all of em is gonna stop faster than our bikes? C'mon. There are VERY few cars on the road that can out-stop a bike (when the rider utilizes them properly)

"Plunge a stinger into your rear bumper?" hahahahhahaha look at that brilliant writing ability, with the visual and everything. :alky

"Maybe it's to cut wind resistance and go faster. Maybe it's to avoid bugs, I don't know." Yeah, you definately dont, do you?

:angry

Its just too easy for me to pick apart that article piece by piece. What a pathetic attempt at journalism. I award this bitch no points, and may god have mercy on her soul.

 

[f4igrad]

the 4 contact patches vs 2 thing is overblown, because you have to take into account weight, suspension, rubber stickiness, etc when you talk about braking or cornering. The motorcycle's small contact patch is responsible for a LOT less weight than an SUV, which this author probably drives.

 

[Squid Killer]

Bikes can out stop maost every car made. It doesnt matter if they have ABS or not. Bikes like the huge Honda Valkyrie can go 60 mph to a full stop in 107feet. I dont know of any street cars that can do that.

Now back to the main subject. The real problem here isnt that this woman who wrote the article is a total idiot. The real story is that idiots on bikes (squids) give the rest of us a bad name and many other car drivers feel the same way as her and thats not a good thing for us. They are the majority and they can change the laws affecting us.

 

[silent_R1]

I am personally kinda pissed by the article, it seemed that she didn't take any time at all to maybe talk to people that are in this community. Yes, I ride fast and take chances, I also wear my gear. Does that make me a squid? sometimes. I also take the majority of my hard riding to the track. I think she should've gotten her facts straight before she just started printing inaccuracies.

thanks to articles like that, cars that dislike us, are going to do so even more. of course, thanks to riders like the ones described, allow idiots like that to have ammunition against the rest of us.

 

[Nate Dogg]

That is just about the furthest thing from good journalism. This woman made attacks on the subjects (motorcyclists) rather than providing factual information as to why motorcyclists present a danger to themselves and other drivers. You cannot expect to have an intelligent individual legitimately consider what you write when all you do is make attacks on a certain group. However, I am sure that her sightings of helmet-less, shirtless guys and scantily clad women weaving through traffic are true, as we've all seen the same thing. The unfortunate part is that this woman classifies all motorcyclists in this category.

 

[mercutio80]

Wasn't there already a thread about this?

I don't have a problem with the article. She may have a few facts wrong, but she's simply trying to make people more aware of motorcyclists.

The fact is there are enough idiots on bikes out there to give the rest of us a bad name. At least she's not advocating violence against us.

 

[JDSV650]

Although a poorly written piece full of bias and such, I must agree with her. This is how I feel about a chunk of the motorcycling community. Maybe its living in a college town where its cool to "pimp" and "pose" but I get sick of this behavior as well and I refuse to ride with anyone like this to avoid (as much as possible) this stereotype.
Flame on

 

[NoXeN]

seems like shes writing about squids

i dont see what the problem is really

 

[firefighter81]

Well, as has already been said several times above, her editorial generalizes all sport bike riders as being the same way as the riders she is writing about. This is bad for the rest of us because it just makes the sane riders out there also get a bad rep. Think of it as the way bodybuilders get stereotyped as "steroid freaks." Same deal with bikes, some riders are squids, but most of us aren't.

 

[leemajaz]

i'd rather have people weary and hatefull of me and the bike (thanks to this post and those who think like the author in question), then not pay close attention to me while riding. opinions are like assholes everyone's got one. she's intitled to it like i'm entitled to call her a bitch!

 

[vuu16v]

One of the Brit bike mags tested an '04 GSXR 1000 vs. one of their employees newer MG w/ ABS. The GSXR had a current WSB racer on it and the car had it's ho-hum owner in it. The econobox stopped w/in 6 ft. of the bike but did it quicker. Now, if an econobox can almost outstop a WSB racer when it's planned, what chance do you think you have in a panic? Things are NOT always as they seem.

Back on topic, where's my link to write them? I can't find it. I also agree w/ nig, she's generally on point but makes ZERO attempt to not stereotype us all. I'm sure she's not the stereotypical soccer-mom wandering into my lane while talking on the cell, turning around to smack her kids or putting her make-up on, now is she?

 

[exup25th]

I think that in the US most of you have a slightly different atitude to motorcycling than here in the UK where the hypersportsbike is King..
Speed is not the biggest issue in the US but if you read the press over here (MCN being the worst) Then you are a wuss if you don't ride a sportsbike and you are also lame if it under 600cc.
75- 80% of bikers in the UK ride sportsbikes and when its warm the worst crawl out of the woodwork and fly down roads as fast as they can with no regrad for other drivers and even other bikers....It may be OK on a racetrack with trained marshalls warning you about whats round the next bend, air wallsm run off areas, trained paramedics on stand by etc etc...
I hope it never gets that bad in the US where they still may be in the minority as in the UK the safer riders are few and far between...
I also can see the point of what she has written as nobody will notice when you are good but everyone notices you when you are bad..
Call me cynical but when you work in the Ambulance service with your paramedic colleagues who frequently go out on wednesday summer evenings and scrape up the aftermath you may be too.

 

[madiaz]

i like this article. the title describes the dumbasses that unfortunately ride motorbikes.
the point of the article is quite clear and positive " it is up to us to look out for these dimm wits." she even describes what to look for and sounds etc. and what to do.
dont's judge the author. she must have had a good reason to write the article. maybe she has a friend who's son is paralyzed because someone smoked him. maybe she has seen first hand someone injure a bike rider.

this article is aimed at the general population and written in a way they may understand that they need to pay attention to bike riders. not only can this benefit the dumb fu$# but also the responsible riders out there.

the real shame is that there "are" the dimm wits that ride without gear with passengers and use public roads as a race track. that's the real people everyone should be upset about. if these assholes were not on public roads this article may not have been.

regards.
,m.a.d.

 

[alaska cajun]

Sometimes the truth hurts.

She wrote it in way the the boneheads in the cage can relate to.If anything she is trying to get the people in there cage to look out for us.

I would be willing to bet that she rides.