What is it with cyclists ?

[Haselsh1]

Overall, with a few exceptions the power to weight ratio of bikes seems to have gone down I reckon. Compact sports bikes like the Aprillia RS250 with 72 bhp and the Kwaka ZZR400 with around 63 bhp, that were light, compact and seriously quick, are long gone. Most middleweight bikes seem to struggle to produce much more than 30 bhp these days.

The top sports bikes like the Kwaka H2 and new BMW's have monstrous poke, but you don't see many. They are just too expensive.

600's seem to have more or less levelled off in performance for the last twenty years or so. Probably just as well, they are compact rockets that have more poke than anybody can fully employ for (sane) road use. No real world car can keep up, that's for sure.

In 1983 when I bought my then Kawasaki GPz750 sports bike it had a maximum of 86 hp and weighed around 230 kgs. An absolute joke by modern standards. After that I bought a Kawasaki GPz1000RX which had around 125 hp and weighed 250 kgs. This gave it around 500 hp/tonne. At that time I was around 28 years old. These days, a normal bike of comparable size would be a Suzuki Hyabusa with 173 hp and a weight of 266 kgs. I think that in my life so far, things have really moved on into the almost irresponsible.

I certainly agree that very few cars are ever going to compete.

[walpurgis]

Here, on youtube (the bike in front). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23d50vT2RyA Aprilia RS250 doing 240 kph (150mph). There is no middleweight bike that comes remotely close these days, let alone a 250! And this model is over twenty years old.

[Qwin]

My biggest grip is most, but not all cyclists, just ignore the highway code and put themselves and others at risk.
Bikes, and mobility scooters on pavements are a pet hate, some of the mobility scooters are as big as a Harley and will do a lot of damage to any pedestrian they hit. Its a grey area, as some of these scooters are larger than others, have lights/indicators and some don't, some use them on the road, some the pavement. Like bikes, I don't think any of them are compelled to have insurance, so if your injured by them, your goosed, as I wouldn't like to try and take an injury claim through the courts. I think insurance is more important than registration.

As for the idiots that race around walkways timing themselves, just push em over, if they are that close, they are too close.

P.S. I use a bicycle, I would like to think, responsibly.

[struth]

only class 3 invalid carriages can be used on road (except in exceptional circumstances, when class 2 can) and must use lights like a car. they have a max speed of 8mph(on Rd only) or 4 mph on pavement as per class2

[martian sunrise]

This thread reads like the rantings of a load of Daily Heil reading wankers to me. I expected better.

indeed. it's breathtaking. imagine what it would be like if they let these cyclist fuckwits use cars - imagine what would happen!!!

oh, wait...

[Haselsh1]

Ken I could not agree more. No insurance at all even given the damage they could do. Serious injury or death and that leaves you or your family having to chase a court action for two years or more with no real guarantee of any outcome but in the meantime, this idiot would be completely free to do it all over again to someone else.

[Haselsh1]

Here, on youtube (the bike in front). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23d50vT2RyA Aprilia RS250 doing 240 kph (150mph). There is no middleweight bike that comes remotely close these days, let alone a 250! And this model is over twenty years old.

Yes I remember the Kawasaki KR1S when it first came out way, way back when. Fantastic machine but knackered after about 10k miles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_KR-1/KR-1S

[Qwin]

only class 3 invalid carriages can be used on road (except in exceptional circumstances, when class 2 can) and must use lights like a car. they have a max speed of 8mph(on Rd only) or 4 mph on pavement as per class2

Cars do not have to have lights, but where fitted have to work (age related).
I don't know if the mobility scooters are classed as invalid carriages, would have thought not.

There is no restriction of the use of the roads. For classes of vehicle listed, they have to stick to the regulations applicable to them. Unclassified vehicles or uses have no rules as they fall outside the qualifying descriptions.

[Arkless Electronics]

We just need to ban cars and that's nearly all the safety issues sorted. Proper road users like bikers and cyclists can then have the road to themselves as they should do of course

[martian sunrise]

Or just not cast blanket aspersions on groups of people based on one linking factor. swap 'cyclist' with some other group of people and see if they would be comfortable spouting the bile.

ie: "most, but not all [insert: women/black people/homosexuals/etc] totally ignore all [XXXX] and cause [XXXX], fucking it up for everyone..."

extreme, I know, but the point stands.

I reckon people just need to rant and blame.