What did you do to or for or with your Laverda today?

Tippie said:
Put a bloody helmet on, Rune!
Is there much more to sort on it? Last time you had trouble changing gears.
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He has form in that respect. Also took the Baines Racing 750 Formula for a test run in 2023 helmetless...
However, I do recall being told by a time served mechanic, many a moon ago, that the only way to properly hear how a bike was behaving on a test run was without a helmet.
As for the 840 a few suggestions were made about adjusting the gear lever positioning etc, but I need to get a bit of time on it before I really know what is requiring changes.
 
Andy J said:
He has form in that respect. Also took the Baines Racing 750 Formula for a test run in 2023 helmetless...
However, I do recall being told by a time served mechanic, many a moon ago, that the only way to properly hear how a bike was behaving on a test run was without a helmet.
As for the 840 a few suggestions were made about adjusting the gear lever positioning etc, but I need to get a bit of time on it before I really know what is requiring changes.
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I never test a bike without a helmet, have seen in the paddock some accidents of those
 
Many states here in the USA do not require motorcycle helmets for anyone over 18 years old. A few states do not require a helmet at all for anyone. I rode for 15 years without a helmet before California required them.

I remember riding in Montana without a helmet when at the time they also had no speed limit. I saw Japanese sport bikes being ridden at over 100 MPH with the rider wearing only a shirt, shorts and sandals. No helmet, gloves or any protective gear at all. The speed limit in Montana is now 80 MPH but most people are going 90 to 100 MPH. And yes I now wear a helmet at all times on a bike.
 
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1200ts said:
Many states here in the USA do not require motorcycle helmets for anyone over 18 years old. A few states do not require a helmet at all for anyone. I rode for 15 years without a helmet before California required them.

I remember riding in Montana without a helmet when at the time they also had no speed limit. I saw Japanese sport bikes being ridden at over 100 MPH with the rider wearing only a shirt, shorts and sandals. No helmet, gloves or any protective gear at all. The speed limit in Montana is now 80 MPH but most people are going 90 to 100 MPH. And yes I now I wear a helmet at all times on a bike.
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All OK as long as the individual coughs up for his/her own health care after a mishap. But as soon as said individual relies on state/community funding to cover medical costs, it is only fair that measures are mandated to keep injuries and therefore expenditure to a minimum. Has nothing to do with freedom, more with wasting funds that could be otherwise put to good/better use. Little kids with leukemia are far more dependant/deserving than T-shirt-wearing, helmetless Brad doing doing wheelies with his 200hp Ninja in the midst of traffic on Highway 1.

Imho, depending on how negligent stupid they were, riders without a minimum of appropriate protective apparel should be denied a certain percentage of medical funding they would otherwise receive. Should also extend to general road behavior, speeding, etc. Reckon the situation on the roads would clear itself up quite rapidly, act like an arsehole, be treated like one. Would actually be a huge jerk in society on a whole if all the arseholes out there were suddenly treated as they deserve. :rolleyes:

While I'm no absolute fan of ATGATT myself, I do make sure to basically protect myself from the elements and from loosing acres of skin from a minor spill (certainly have learnt that lesson!). Not much one can do about the idiot out to T-bone and kill you at the next junction though...

Riding in the race paddock without a helmet, yeah, guess I'm guilty of that too. As participants of motor sports competitions normally need to sign a waiver and insurance rarely covers anything happening during the course of a competition, you're out on your own anyway. Pretty rude awakening though if something goes wrong.

piet
 
sfcpiet said:
All OK as long as the individual coughs up for his/her own health care after a mishap. But as soon as said individual relies on state/community funding to cover medical costs, it is only fair that measures are mandated to keep injuries and therefore expenditure to a minimum. Has nothing to do with freedom, more with wasting funds that could be otherwise put to good/better use.

Imho, depending on how negligent stupid they were, riders without a minimum of appropriate protective apparel should be denied a certain percentage of medical funding they would otherwise receive.
piet
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Good luck in getting cyclists to go for that one!
It has been demonstrated that pedestrian fatalities and injuries would be significantly reduced if they all wore airbag leathers and crash helmets.
Not to mention the reduction in rapes, if only all girls and women never went out unless fully covered.
Not the world I'd want to live in!
 
Pedestrian fatalities would be greatly reduced if these would use their eyes and brain while out and about. Reckon over 90% come down to personal stupidity, ignoring the most basic and simplest of rules.

Not convinced rape occurs less often in islamistic cultures... more a result of the general degeneration of society. But tend to agree, horny adolescent males and scantily dressed females don't mix well. Then, again an issue regarding up-bringing and mutual respect.

Cyclists... well, many, by no means not all(!), seem to be a very special kind of stupid, sort of like pedestrians³.

piet
 
Something I have noticed is how much faster accelerating traffic is these days, everything now has a turbo and way more gears in automatic boxes. I used to be able to pull out of my lane into local traffic or cross that same road with a sight of a car, not a chance these days. See a car and it's right on you before you blink.
 
you are not owning up to regularly riding on sunny days with only a helmet and gloves for PPE then Hamish, trainers, shorts and tee shirt for the rest,? you say (always) that you are in control, but you cannot prevent someone riding into you from behind or any other direction, last Septemeber I was riding on the M2 in foggy/misty conditions and could not go more than about 40MPH, visibility was horendous, I detected a big truck coming up behind me (as in heard it, visor open etc) in the gloom, and I swear to God that if I hadnt pulled over to the hard shoulder, he would have rammed my arse at his regulated 90KPH (56MPH) top speed that he was maintaining. The same could happen to you if a nutter in a super swizzer was coming up behind you in nice weather at 30MPH more than yourself, or when stopped for any reason, but still you persist in doing it.
CLEM
 
Vince said:
Something I have noticed is how much faster accelerating traffic is these days, everything now has a turbo and way more gears in automatic boxes. I used to be able to pull out of my lane into local traffic or cross that same road with a sight of a car, not a chance these days. See a car and it's right on you before you blink.
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Yes, Vince, quite true.

I have 400metres clear view of the road in one direction from my driveway and try not to disturb anybody approaching when pulling out with the car. Accelerating the diesel fairly briskly, I get about 300metres away before I have some motorised moron tailgating me. Quick calculations tell me they have simply ignored the 70kmh postings and were well over the limit for the time they were out of my sight (700 metres in 25 seconds or less works out to an average of over 120kmh).

Other direction is an entirely different matter. The idiots come belting around a corner 100 metres away and have a hard time braking to avoid hitting me when retracting from my driveway. They passed the first 70kmh signpost 300 metres ago... they obviously only had singing and clapping at school.

I get a lot of commuter traffic passing through my little hamlet, despite the posting, average speeds are around 90-100kmh. Traffic is mostly people who have moved out of the city (recognisable by the rego plates) into little semi-rural housing developments meant for young families with kids (recognisable by the type of vehicle), more often than not with a 30kmh (or less) blanket speed so the toddlers can "safely" play in the streets. How these people, that enjoy mandated safety, peace and quiet, can so obviously and blatantly ignore the well-being of others is beyond me. Guess most of them are just entitled arseholes...

Then there's the other idiots. Some sort of supercar at 5am every other morning, rockets through and is gone and out of earshot within 5 seconds, average velocity must be around 200kmh. Crotch rocket at full lean almost every evening, reckon about 180kmh, too fast to get a photo. Stupidity in abundance.

piet
 
The Sock said:
Good luck in getting cyclists to go for that one!
It has been demonstrated that pedestrian fatalities and injuries would be significantly reduced if they all wore airbag leathers and crash helmets.
Not to mention the reduction in rapes, if only all girls and women never went out unless fully covered.
Not the world I'd want to live in!
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Another road safety discussion I kicked off with a light remark to my mate, apologies. Common sense and margins of safety obviously vary greatly amongst us, and in my case at least they have certainly changed with age.
 
CLEMTOG said:
you are not owning up to regularly riding on sunny days with only a helmet and gloves for PPE then Hamish, trainers, shorts and tee shirt for the rest,?
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Fair's fair, Clem! I wear underpants and socks, too.

I wear the helmet because I'm legally compelled to. I'd prefer it to be a choice.
As I've often pointed out, I used to fly a jet, at 500mph, in a short-sleeved shirt.

I've always admired Albert Einstein, who said in a 1930 magazine interview:
"I have only two rules which I regard as principles of conduct.
The first is: Have no rules.
The second is: Be independent of the opinion of others."
 
In the late 60’s ( from memory) Scott developed a 500 twin two stroke racer for GP racing, was going to be a world beater.
Story goes they were going testing at an airfield and it wouldn’t start for the test rider- mechanic reckons he can get it going with a bump.
The team all push as mechanic runs and hops on Braap- Braap- Braap it fires up so he decides to take it for a quick blast to clear the motor before testing proper. He wasn’t wearing a lid, probably just overalls and it seized solid and had him off, very nasty.
Mechanics ( myself included) are the worst offenders - for years I would test bikes with new tyres/ brakes/ engine repairs in just overalls and an oversize helmet that was covered in oily hand prints with a visor that had been cleaned with a Brillo pad. I stupidly once tried to free an RGV250 clutch off by bump starting and riding it- It didn’t end well.
Point is , I think the helmet law saves us from ourselves.
 
If there's one thing that annoys me, it's selective freedom. Have the freedom to choose whether to or not to wear any protection, but then don't bother me and my collegues in the emergency & operation rooms with it, or make my insurance rise because of massive revalidation costs.
Accept those consequences too then :)

My collegues* on the emergency rooms call protectionless motorcyclist "organ donors" -either potential (accident waiting to happen) or real (when the arrive without flesh and scraped bones in the ambulance).

But as Clem and Piet already noted, it's not a safeguard against all bad things that can possibly happen :) And we've probably all done dumb things, including myself, even recently: https://laverdaforum.com/threads/ne...-musings-questions-updates.105771/post-565707

edit: I wonder how that works in the USA in states where helmets are not obligatory. If you get e.g. brain damage that is scientifically proven not to have happened (or would be much less) due to not wearing a helmet, does your insurance cover the difference or at all? Not meaning to stir something up, genuinely interested.

Keep safe!

*I work in healthcare IT where you get to hear (and sometimes see) a few stories... maybe colours my opinion somewhat.
 
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