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When are people too old to ride motorcycles around town?


OneMoreFarang

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3 minutes ago, dddave said:

I'm 78 and have been riding two wheeled vehicles since my 'teens.  

I now live in Jomtien and have a small Honda Click 125 which suits my needs nicely.

I do accept that I am not the same rider I was 25 years ago, or even 10 years ago.

I'm not physically as flexible now so turning to look behind or at sharp angles to the side is more restricted.  Situational awareness, such as at a really busy intersection (Like Soi Diana/Buakhow for Pattaya dwellers) takes more concentration and caution. 

I avoid fast and busy roads like Sukhumvit and especially those requiring multi-lane crossovers and U-turns.

I leave a much wider gap between myself and vehicles in front of me and when pulling from a side soi into traffic, remind myself, I have nothing to hurry for and try to never cut it too close.  I also stifle the impulse to speed up and make the green light as the countdown clock hits "2".

One benefit of Covid has been much less traffic in the Pattaya-Jomtien area, especially the lack of hundreds of tour buses crowding every roadway.

Just taking it nice and easy.

My fear on smaller bikes is to be boxed inside by traffic with no escape. Especially being on the side of trucks who start pulling over before they use signal, no matter whats on their side, forcing them to brake and let them pull over. Blindspots everywhere, and reckless drivers who believe the bigger have the right to do whatever they want. It used to be Fortuner drivers who was the worst car drivers, now it is Ranger

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I am 80+ and have been riding a small bike around Amphawa and Samat Sekon along Rama 2 for  a couple of years now,but spend a lot of time with at least 1 foot on the ground at the kerb waiting for a break in traffic before considering many turns

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1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Is there a concept behind what they are doing? I still try to discover that.

 

I.e. if I am 2 meter behind a car I can be sure someone will squeeze into the "gap" between me and that car? Why? Maybe because they can, even if that won't help them in any way.

That happens where ever i have driven . Now i allow the intruder to have there way and drop back to a safe distance . 

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4 hours ago, itsari said:

I am 69 years of age and i know my reflexes are better than most while riding a motorcycle or driving a car . 

How do I know that you may ask . I just know it , believe me 

 

Only 68 with 46 years of riding, but reaching for salt shaker now.

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2 hours ago, Hummin said:

Thats impressive, I got 12 more years in my eyes, but might change my opinion when I get to 65. I guess we all go blind the older we get. 
 

as said in my experience the turning point for most is around 65 where I am considering them as dangerous to themselves and to others. Not many past 70 years in my experience still riding good, but have met one 65 year old aussie who still seems to be on top of it! Maybe you? Based in Khon Khaen?

Thats not me I'm English at 65 I was riding all over Thailand on my Versys 650.

Nice bike but lacked in speed for what I like in acceleration.

My Blade old but a great bike and 255 on nice roads is my limit these days.

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3 hours ago, transam said:

Think positive, if you think old, that is probably what you will get, and earlier than you think...????..????

The problem is old people who think they are young, how many commenting  on here had a bike license in their own country?

 

The problem here is old fogies who never had to do a decent test, suddenly reinvent themselves with lax Thai testing standards,

 

Similar to the blue diamond effect.

 

Old people should get tested yearly, they are a danger to the rest of us.

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11 minutes ago, sungod said:

The problem is old people who think they are young, how many commenting  on here had a bike license in their own country?

 

The problem here is old fogies who never had to do a decent test, suddenly reinvent themselves with lax Thai testing standards,

 

Similar the the blue diamond effect.

 

Old people should get tested yearly, they are a danger to the rest of us.

Light motorbike License 16 year old and big bike 18 year!

 

 

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1 hour ago, In the jungle said:

I think there is too much emphasis in this discussion on reaction times.

 

If you are a skilled rider you will anticipate problems in advance and you will maximise the time you have to deal with them by methods such as good road positioning to allow maximum lines of sight and safe braking distances to the vehicle ahead.

 

You also need good braking technique and the ability to evade threats.

 

Reaction times are a bit of a last resort.  Yes you need good reactions but you do not need to match Lewis Hamilton or Marc Marquez.  If you are relying upon fast reaction times on the road, generally speaking, you messed up earlier on in the sequence of events.

I think that is only half the truth. 

You can look ahead and anticipate what might happen.

But you can't control if some idiot behind you decides that he can still squeeze between you and a car.

Obviously looking in the rear mirrors should be done. But you can't do it often enough to avoid some idiots.

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