good road rider?

[Ben.]

what do you think makes one?

to me going quick on a road doesnt require that much skill, 50% of people can ride really quick on the road. 49% value their life and dont. To me rideing stupidly quick on the road doesnt make you good, its fun, but not really skillfull. it requires balls.

Wheelies, stoppies, stunts, again not that skillfull, once you learn how to do it which shouldn't take more than a couple of months if youve got a stunt bike, you need balls to do it but holding a wheelie isnt that hard.

to me what makes a good rider is when you cock up, when someone pulls out on you and you avoid a crash, when you get into a dirty great big tankslapper and survive, when you almost fluff a wheelie but save it, etc.

To me, being able to handle yourself when everything goes tits up makes you a good rider.
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[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

For me it's how i smooth i get through/past traffic...holding back for a better view and generally using all the road when it's safe/legal.


Pat
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[Eddie Hitler]

[lurker]

[Acemastr]

Going round a corner leant over and feeling the grip and it putting a smile on my face, doesn't make me a good rider, i know i'm not great, but stick a random person on a bike and tell them to do it and see if they can.
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[mad4it028]

im nothing more than avarage but for me riding well is riding with an insain grin and laughing in my helmit fekk saftey lifes too short as long as i enjoy my ride/riding to hell with everyone eles so long as im putting no one eles at risk but myself that is
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[bikedemon99]

[hmmmnz]

i think a good road rider is some one who can hold back, and doesnt think they are a great rider.
rather than someone who is willing to go for gold.
crashing happens to every one, and im sure we all avoid crashes on a daily basis.
doing wheelies or stoppies isnt anything to do with riding at all, thats just showing off
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[D O G]

[Im-a-Ridah]

A good road rider IMO is someone who can react, almost instinctively to what happens on the road around them, whether they are riding towards a T-junction with a car waiting to pull out or doing 150mph kneedowns round the corner towards the dartford tunnel. A good rider respectively would avoid an accident with the car if its reasonably possible and would slow down as much as possible and filter through the queue of cars until reaching a safe speed, avoiding an impact.

Lots of people I see claim to have read roadcraft (I've read it too btw), or paraphrase the idea of planning the road ahead, but few seem to consider that this only lays the ground for you to make a quick choice of the best action to take in that event.

[MarJay]

Yes I agree anybody can go fast on the road if they are mental and have no idea of the risks they are taking.

However, a truly fast road rider will be smooth and safe too. There aren't many about but personally I aim to be smooth and safe rather than out-and-out fast. This seems to mean that when I manage to plan ahead and I am smooth I also get quicker.

Any idiot can turn the throttle, not many people can do it and be safe.
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[pyx_e]

[iooi]

[The Tot]

A good rider as the ability to plan forward and predict road conditions and ascertain potential outcomes before they arise by looking at the signs and information presented to them, which is essentially what's been said. A high degree of self restrain and the mentality not to be directly affected or goaded on by aggressive motorists would define a good rider.

The addition of small contributary factors will eventually lead to a rider being smooth safe and quick. I define a good rider as QUICK whereas nutters will be described as FAST.

I was tailing an IAM rider on an observed ride once and not once did he break the speed limit (momentarily on a 60 for overtakes and such), but through the twisties, he was VERY VERY smooth, hardly used his brakes, positioned him self in such a way where he took the corner at the appropriate speed. So effectively, his smoothness made up ground in corners whereas others might get to the coner brake harsh, go through the corner really slowly because they haven't assessed the severity of it and end up coming out slow since they're in the wrong gear. That's just one example.
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[Skudd]

[DaveH]

[DynaMight]

Everyone is different. I have friends who enjoy a ride because they've almost died 4 times. I enjoy a ride when I come back making no mistakes, no errors and have been as smooth as possible.

IMO Smoothest rider is the best, they can be more than fast enough but keep enough in reserve if the unexpected happens... but theres a good chance less unexpected stuff happens to the better rider because they've pre-judged most stuff.

This is why I find track days quite interesting when riding with people you know. You see them fly on the road but cant go any faster on the track or someone who is quite laid back on the road but utterly flies around on the track.
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[Fawbish]

And/or they get their adrenaline fix on the track or via other means, and dont wish to put others at risk
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[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

[skinny]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Speed on the road on its own is meaningless. Going fast on the road for most means ignoring the chance of things going wrong (or worse, not realising where things can go wrong). A fast suicidal rider will always beat a fast safe rider, right up to the point they crash.

Would say that a good road rider is one who looks ahead and uses the performance when it is genuinely safe to do so and can adjust their speed to the environment.

All th best

Keith
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[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Slow speed maneuvering, rolling along in a line of crawling traffic and being perfectly balanced with no meandering. Coming to a slow stop and then putting your foot down. Quick smooth take offs and not leaving your leg flapping for 50mtrs.

Pat
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[sickpup]

[ncrn]

A good rider to me is someone who is very good at observations, someone that doesn't take stupid risks and doesn't dick about.

Although really I reckon a good rider is one who makes it home without incident every day.
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