Are big bikes worth it?

[brokenbone]

a big bike is safer to drive then a small,

but it comes to naught if your path gets crossed by some

uneducated <deleted> thinking he has the right of way

[Tropposurfer]

Unless travelling distances e.g highways n freeways at higher speeds, in a place like Thailand not needed. Wanted perhaps but needed no.

[luk AJ]

I love big bikes (min 1000cc) but with age comes slower reaction and more fear.. so regrettably I had to settle for a 350cc scooter type. People choose race-bikes for the experience of super acceleration and speed.
Many take risks which one day will be fatal. I share the opinion of some other posters here to have a mandatory awareness and technical training, even after one day riders will remember this for a long time. I suggest to hand them a nice badge after the training which they can proudly display on their motorbike.


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[mok199]

One word ''consequences'' for actions, without consequences, lawless and fearless behavior will continue...their comes a time when citizens must respect or fear the law...Thailand has neither..

[djayz]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Extremely naive and makes no sense.

Where are they suppose to be?

Posted at every accident scene before it happens?

They should be out patrolling the roads and streets, doing spot checks, handing out fines for driving offenses, etc. in stead of lounging about in the station glued to their phones. 

[JonnyF]

Nothing to do with the bikes, Thailand needs to train/educate the riders and enforce the law.

 

I've had several big bikes here, GSXR600, 899 Panigale, MT09 and the only crash I had was on a 110 cc Yamaha Nouvo when I hit some idiot reversing down Bang Na Trat road because he hadn't stopped in time for the grilled chicken stall.

 

The focus on big bikes lately is just an easy story for the media because a few minor celebrities have crashed. A nice deflection from the real issues.

[jaiyen]

1 hour ago, MaxYakov said:

Big bikes should be restricted to racetracks. The ordinary motor vehicle infrastructure was not designed with them in mind. You don't see formula 1 cars on the roads very often. Big bikes are just splendid for dramatic, horrific demonstrations of suicide on ordinary roads.

A stupid comment from a dummy who knows NOTHING about bikes ! There is no bike anywhere near as fast as a Formula 1 car !  Would you like to tell us what you drive and where you get your experience of bikes from ??

[chrissables]

1 hour ago, MaxYakov said:

If one wants to do "touring" in Thailand and better avoid an early death one should rent a car or, better yet, take the bus. These spectacular crashes we've been seeing are not done with "touring" bikes but with racing bikes that don't strike me as being the best tour bikes such as the Honda Gold Wing, for example.

 

 

A Gold Wing for touring the mountains and hill tribe villages? I suggest you have not travelled or ridden a motorbike touring.

 

A bus, that would work if you could persuade the driver to slow down and turn up the side road/track to the view points for a photo opportunity. Give it a go and report back ????

 

I took this photo from an imaginary bus stop!

[jaiyen]

Are big cars worth it ??  There are thousands of very fast, expensive cars on the roads. Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati, BMW, Mercedes, Lamborghini etc.  Never hear any complaints about them and their drivers !  Except when they kill someone and get away with it !!

[geronimo]

As a former rider of big sports bikes, I would say the major causes of fatalities are:

 

1 Inability to control the machine at high speeds

 

2 Failure to take other traffic into account - that includes animals on country roads.

 

If you are travelling at 180 kph, it only takes a small thing to change in front of you and its game over.

 

Yes, they need to introduce in-depth training in order to get a licence.

[mogandave]

27 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

I wonder how much of the above stats were due to idiot car drivers?

 

I drive in Bangkok daily, and can state with relative certainty, that while there is definitely no shortage in either category, the percentage of idiots on bikes is greater than the percentage of idiots in cars. Of course these percentages are relatively low compared to the percentage of idiots driving tuk-tuks and red-buses. 

 

A motorcycle death is much like an unwanted pregnancy in that at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter  who’s fault it was. 

[Deli]

What about the countless idiot car drivers, having no clue who to handle big bikes as a part of the road traffic ? They urgently need education as well.

Witnessed just yesterday how a car pulled out of the parking lot and did not see the bike coming - accident happened. Luckily nobody got injured but clearly the car drivers fault.

[MaxYakov]

28 minutes ago, chrissables said:

A Gold Wing for touring the mountains and hill tribe villages? I suggest you have not travelled or ridden a motorbike touring.

 

A bus, that would work if you could persuade the driver to slow down and turn up the side road/track to the view points for a photo opportunity. Give it a go and report back ????

 

I took this photo from an imaginary bus stop!

So, you are handicapped in a way that you cannot drive a car or use a pickup that can carry a dirt bike? 

 

I think I know what your basic handicap is.

 

I have a good friend who raced motorbikes (both track and dirt). I watched him many times load his bike (race or dirt) into a small Toyota van and take them to the dirt or race track.

 

Visiting a hill tribe? Good one! I wouldn't visit a hill tribe even if I had a 6 X 6 with a quad fifty mounted on it.  

Edited August 2, 2019 by MaxYakov

[geronimo]

2 minutes ago, Deli said:

What about the countless idiot car drivers, having no clue who to handle big bikes as a part of the road traffic ? They urgently need education as well.

Witnessed just yesterday how a car pulled out of the parking lot and did not see the bike coming - accident happened. Luckily nobody got injured but clearly the car drivers fault.

I was driving my Honda Accord the other day, indicated and looked in the rear view mirror to make a lane change, nothing there, and by the time I started to move into the right hand lane, a Ducati 900 was already level with me and had I not had quick reactions, he would have been off! In defence of some car drivers, riding at high speeds and expecting car drivers to see you coming is more than a trifle optimistic!

[geronimo]

Another point is, a lot of Thai big bike riders think they can handle the machine and that might well be true, yet they fail to take other traffic into account.

Edited August 2, 2019 by geronimo

[overherebc]

2 hours ago, Worldplus said:

I Have a Kwasaki Z800..  I have had it for 6 years..  I ride it alot round Pattaya...  Only time I have dropped it was doing a u turn at walking pace and went down a fkun pothole..  Road conditions here are very bad.. 

 

Big bikes are much better than riding a 110CC bike.. They can stop quicker and get out of trouble quicker..

 

Its down to these idiots riding them at high speed and usually without a skid lid..  

 

I have ridden big bikes since I was 17..  Much prefer them than anything else..

Loved big bikes until I reached 60. That was when I realised I was no longer up to it combined with the lunacy of many of the drivers/riders/road conditions here. 

[geronimo]

Point worth noting, at 160 kph plus, you have around one tenth of a second to make a decision if there's a change in front of you.

[Tug]

400 cc is a (big) bike??holey cow that’s barley big enough for the freeway here in the USA that beeing said a 90cc is plenty fast enough to get you killed if you aren’t competent and extremely defensive be safe out there and don’t forget the helmet!

[overherebc]

8 minutes ago, geronimo said:

Point worth noting, at 160 kph plus, you have around one tenth of a second to make a decision if there's a change in front of you.

Does that include reaction time?

[geronimo]

Just now, overherebc said:

Does that include reaction time?

either way, it isn't a lot of time to decide how to respond. I can see how easily it could happen, a nice wide country road, decent tarmac, no traffic and away you go, yet the old lady on her tricycle or a line of cows crossing the road, or even a street dog could end it all!

[Mangkhut]

Its all about riding skills and attitude - of which both are often totally lacking amongst the riders....

[Rhys]

 

 

 

The under 300cc class seems to have the lowest rates of problems.  Explanation anyone?

[geronimo]

1 minute ago, Rhys said:

 

 

 

The under 300cc class seems to have the lowest rates of problems.  Explanation anyone?

Not many machines sold?

[unamazedloso]

More accidents and deaths is relevant to the rise in purchases, also population growth as well as stupidity.

There is way too many people that never learnt to ride properly. Scooters are not bikes!

I learnt to ride dirt bikes and race at the age of 8 and have ever since in all forms. I was taught very early that to gain control is to get out of control first and that total confidence should never be achieved because every ride will throw a new learning curve. Common sense needs to be taught AND learnt!

Thais jump on scooters as kids with no common sense instilled and the scooter isn't a bike that allows one to learn to ride properly, its a scooter! Underpowered, auto, backwards physics everything... 

 

This talk of different licensing is an absolute waste of time. The problem here is the riders not the size of the bike. 2wheels is 2 wheels.

 

Thai roads suck but people need to take responsibility. Im a 300km on thai roads nut but am well aware of all possabilities that things go wrong and i also check and maintain my own bikes so i know them personally. If i have a horrific accident its because i screwed up. Even if some douche turns in front of me thats happened countless times....

[Nowisee]

 

Many of the younger thai males have little concept of the consequences of no helmet, alcohol, speed, darkness and immovable objects along with no spacial awareness.  Not too mention proper motorcycle handling techniques. 

The other riders that are usually not going fast are most likely drunk, have pulled out or changed lanes without looking, texting or just the unlucky victim of another idiot driver.

 

Don't blame the roads.  You adjust your riding to the road, time of day and weather conditions.
Enforcement is not always the answer, education, training and practice is.  The clowns in brown uniforms are useless, do not put the hope on them.  

 

It's not the bikes.  Sport bikes are capable of amazing things and most average riders never come close to the capabilities of those bikes.  They usually go beyond their own envelope or don't have the training/skill set and that results in a crash.

 

There should be a MSF style training program here at low cost if not free.  Plenty of places to hold them, plenty of experienced/competent thai riders capable of being the instructors.  

I also think there should be more "Track Day" style events.  Give these guys a place to show off and/or learn their and the bikes capabilities.  

Ask anyone that has taken their bike to one of these and they will tell you, it changed the way they ride.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2019 by Nowisee

[Scott3000]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand’s market for “big bikes”, or motorbikes larger than 400cc, has been enjoying tremendous growth as well as notoriety due to several outrageous accidents that have been making headlines on a daily basis.

I call it "Smiling Mad Max"

 

Just went back and watched The Road Warrior again, the first time since '82.

 

The parallels are uncanny. 

Not just Thailand. Indonesia as well, and I reckon the trend has spread like wildfire across Southeast Asia.

Edited August 2, 2019 by Scott3000

[soistalker]

 

Anything bigger than a 400cc bike should come with an extremely hefty luxury tax. There simply is nowhere in the country where it is safe on the roads. 

I would never ride a motorbike in Thailand. Twenty years ago, I rented a motorbike in Pataya. I was living in jomtien. It was a weekend, and traffic was at a standstill going towards the beach, but completely clear on the other side of the road. I inched past the cars, got out into the other side, perpendicular to the road, when a very large pickup truck was barrelling down on me, riding on the wrong side of the road. He hit the brakes and I just waited to get creamed. He stopped inches from me.  Just some selfish Sonchai in a big truck. It too dangerous.to be on a bike in Thailand. Me me me!

[mogandave]

 
Anything bigger than a 400cc bike should come with an extremely hefty luxury tax.

So only the rich should be able to have a nice bike?

[overherebc]

29 minutes ago, geronimo said:

Point worth noting, at 160 kph plus, you have around one tenth of a second to make a decision if there's a change in front of you.

Agree. Factor together reaction, action, and say braking and stopping distance at 160kph which works out at nearly 45 metres travelled per second you have probably covered 100 metres before the bike even starts to slow down.

[geronimo]

2 minutes ago, soistalker said:

 

Anything bigger than a 400cc bike should come with an extremely hefty luxury tax. There simply is nowhere in the country where it is safe on the roads. 

I would never ride a motorbike in Thailand. Twenty years ago, I rented a motorbike in Pataya. I was living in jomtien. It was a weekend, and traffic was at a standstill going towards the beach, but completely clear on the other side of the road. I inched past the cars, got out into the other side, perpendicular to the road, when a very large pickup truck was barrelling down on me, riding on the wrong side of the road. He hit the brakes and I just waited to get creamed. He stopped inches from me.  Just some selfish Sonchai in a big truck. It too dangerous.to be on a bike in Thailand. Me me me!

I don't think hefty tax is the answer, more like mandatory training.