StroppyChops wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 2:46 pm An Australian mate and I rode motos down to SHV. I was ahead of him on an open highway, some yamma'd fool in a minivan overtook him, and then slammed into me sideways, with intent to kill (presumably). The only payoff I can imagine was showing off to others in the van, who had completely freaked out at what he'd try to do. Using my cat-like super-hero skills I managed to stay upright by bouncing back into the van and leaning against it until I got my balance back, and then I took off after the little shit who shot off. I was full-berserker at this point and stayed after him for 20 minutes before calming down and going back to find my mate, who was in shock as he'd lost sight of me when I took off and thought I'd died. He confirmed that I wasn't imagining things, the punk tried to kill me.

It's probably a good thing I never caught up with this idiot, as you'd have been seeing me in the media.

I'll ride my XR650 on the open roads, but never again on a moto.

Spigzy wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 3:43 pm

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 2:46 pm An Australian mate and I rode motos down to SHV. I was ahead of him on an open highway, some yamma'd fool in a minivan overtook him, and then slammed into me sideways, with intent to kill (presumably). The only payoff I can imagine was showing off to others in the van, who had completely freaked out at what he'd try to do. Using my cat-like super-hero skills I managed to stay upright by bouncing back into the van and leaning against it until I got my balance back, and then I took off after the little shit who shot off. I was full-berserker at this point and stayed after him for 20 minutes before calming down and going back to find my mate, who was in shock as he'd lost sight of me when I took off and thought I'd died. He confirmed that I wasn't imagining things, the punk tried to kill me.

It's probably a good thing I never caught up with this idiot, as you'd have been seeing me in the media.

I'll ride my XR650 on the open roads, but never again on a moto.

Damn, there goes my plan then - whilst happy to ride around PP, I've never felt the urge to risk life & limb on the national roads. A mate of mine suggested I join a bigger group when they head out and that was appealing. I figured I'd never been the point-man as those dudes are usually nuts & on sports bikes; and I probably wouldn't be the slowest on my 883, so the chance of being rear-ended by somebody not paying attention to brake lights would be much slimmer. But you're right, only takes an overtaking nut job to swerve into the middle of the pack and you're still gravel fodder. I better tell Victoria she's unlikely to see 5th gear any time soon.

Jerry Atrick wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 4:21 pm Riding in a group is inherently more dangerous, for many different reasons.

Jerry Atrick wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 4:40 pm

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 4:23 pm

Jerry Atrick wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 4:21 pm Riding in a group is inherently more dangerous, for many different reasons.

More info, please?

For anybody who wants to look into this in more depth, google is your friend. There's a fairly exhaustive amount of evidence that group rides are statistically much more dangerous.

Biggest issue is variance in skill levels; some are highly skilled, others are novice level, some who think they are highly skilled etc.

Then you have morons riding in formations, too close, poor braking skills etc and the space you have to deal with Cambodian road surprises gets smaller etc.

I usually ride solo. I might ride with one particularly trusted friend from time to time.

Jerry Atrick wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 4:21 pm However, keep your average speed above 100km/ph and its extremely unlikely that you will be overtaken by anything at all.