Biker killed in Marsfield yesterday

Read the sad news today - apparently a bike came together with a bus on the
corner of Epping Rd and Herring (near the El Rancho hotel). This is all I
know but that's more than enough.

Always hard to swallow but when it has happened around the corner from where
you live, makes it all a bit more real life. I took it a little easier
today...

Keep safe,
Cheers,
Dave ZZR600 => ST2 (stolen) => '03 XX

 

From a posting to the Syd Uni MC Club list today :-
"

Unfortunately a former colleague and very close friend David Reilley was killed in a motorcycle accident on Saturday morning.

Many of you may know him as Dave from MCA in the city.

The details of his funeral are not available as yet but I will forward them as soon as they come to hand.

Anth.

"

 

I drove the cage past this ... bike into/parked against north west
taffic light .. buss stoped in herring road facing west. Just before
this I had a motorcycle sit on my rear, then overtake accross an
unbroken centre line .. did the same to the next two vehicles ..
changing lanes without indicators ... death waitin to happen. Must have
got there all of 40 seconds earilier ... guys take it easy will yar...
it is Xmass.

 

It's a concern how easily we can build up feelings of invincibility. I know
I have to keep check, especially with so many horses in the right hand.
Certainly many of us (and I include myself here from time to time) don't
really help our longevity stakes by pushing it too hard, especially in a
somewhat random environment like a busy road. So often I see other bikes
flying into a lanesplit at 80+, screaming up the left lane past crawling
traffic - passing through dozens of blind spots in an instant and riding
only feet from the back of cars at highway speeds. Always a bit frightening
to watch and I always hope the individual concerned makes it home OK despite
playing the odds.

However you look at it, it's another waste of life.

Cheers,
Dave ZZR600 => ST2 (stolen) => '03 XX

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 8 Dec 2003 10:17:22 +1100

yup. Because almost all the time you *do* get away with it.

Leading to feelings of invincibility and that famous "acellerate to get
out of trouble" which is a very power-inducing feeling.

Trouble is... it all works if everyone else behaves properly. If
everyone else is slowish and careful and predictable, you can get away
with being fast and a bit sloppy and being unpredictable.

But if everything else *isn't* perfect, if someone else is a bit sloppy,
and doesn't look properly, or worse, if you are hidden behind a van or
truck and suddenly appear....

Then the shit hits the fan and the bike hits the road and it's all over
Red Rover.

Almost all the time there's enough slack built into the road system
that the fast awake biker can take advantage of it and be fast and
unpredictable and yes, sloppy. But if someone else is using up that
slack, then it's not there for you to use, and bang!

I take up some slack all the time. I travel mostly faster than other
vehicles, I'll change lanes faster than cars can, and fit into holes
they can't fit into. But I only take up a little slack, I do my best to
make sure there's plenty left, and I create it when I can. So when some
other bastard takes the rest up because of carelessness or inattention
or aggression, I'm not the one paying for it.

Myabe it's because I'm not male, I dunno. I find that I don't (and
can't) view the road as some kind of game I have to win. I can (and do)
view riding as a fun activity and sometimes fast riding on the right
bike, even in traffic, is a thing I enjoy. But even then, I'm well
aware that it's a dangerous game and it's too damn easy to make it into
a competitive one, and get more of a rush from "beating" the cars than
is safe or intelligent.

When that happens, I make myself get back into the "ride the bike, enjoy
the world, what the **** does it matter if that bloke's in front anyway?
There's always another traffic light" mindset.

Ain't none of us knows what happened to the bloke who was killed. He
may have been uterly calm, careful, and law abiding, and still got done.
That can happen, it's the terrible truth of riding that I for one do my
best to forget.... But the odds are that he wasn't, the odds are that
he took up too much slack and lost the bet that no one else was doing
the same thing.

Zebee

 

Hi Zebee,

So true. I'm happy to have had years of driving in Sydney traffic along
with years of cycling through it before attacking it on a powered bike.
Much of the 'randomness' isn't really random when you're expecting the old
duck to late swerve to avoid the parked car, or the SMSing teenager to drift
into your lane or... etc. The 6th sense thing can only grow with experience
and I would hate to develop that, here in Sydney at least on a bike.

For me I have to be in the mood for something of a traffic blast - usually
returning from the city late afternoon. As you say, I usually travel faster
than the magical 85 percentile but am happy if some hoon wants to pass me.
The traffic light mentality is a good one eh? Must drive some people mad.
In the few thousand lane splits I've done however, there's never been any
sign of a complaint - touch wood.

An old and experienced motorcyclist uncle of mine offered the following few
points of note:

- cars always change lanes coming up to lights, so keep an eye out for that
- don't follow cars too closely (obvious) and ride behind them to the side
(ie. in a wheeltrack) - easier to swerve if they brake quickly etc.
- relax - tension in the arms will prevent the front of the bike from doing
its job, esp. over rough stuff and will just translate any frontal activity
to the rest of the bike through the rider (sounds like Keith Code to me)
- a few other things that have been helpful I'm sure, but that I'm
struggling to recall!

Yes, I refuse to subscribe to the "ten thousand things out of your control
that will kill you on a bike" line. If we stopped and looked hard at most
of the things we enjoy in life, we'd probably not do anything.

Cheers,
Dave ZZR600 => ST2 (stolen) => '03 XX

 

I used to always slice up the middle at the lights and sit at the
front of 'the grid'.
One morning I took the car to work due to really bad weather, anyway,
I was the second car in line when a car came flying through a red
light got T-Boned by a car that was going through the green.. The
collision made the car in the wrong go flying across the intersection
wiping out the car in front of me.. ever since I have not had the guts
to slice up the middle and I have also started riding with less
aggression...
The funny thing is I acctually enjoy my ride to work more now that I
sit back and just go with the traffic..

We do go on about how bad car drivers can be, but sometimes you really
gotta wonder about some of the riders that seem to have a death wish..

 

This is the sort of thing that makes the spine tingle. The other day I was
riding over a crest (at the speed limit) in light flowing traffic. Over the
other side, the traffic had stopped and I was bearing down on a dump truck.
In the wet I would have had a lot more 'fun' trying to stop but did manage
to pull up, though it was close. Had I been nailing it, the whole thing
would have been quite a different end result I'm sure. Same applies to
flying around tight corners, riding waaaay out of your visibility. Although
I have been know to 'give it some' up the Old Road, there's always the
thought that you could round a corner hard, and straight into a peleton
doing 15 km/h up the hill. Yikes.

I took a lone spin up the Old Road early on Sat and given the number of
police at Berowra, decided to enjoy the scenery and ride all the way and
back in 4th using no brakes. A completely different way to ride, a
challenge if you want to tuck in a little, and something I like to practice
a bit. This is a little something to pull out when you don't feel like
winding it on or if there are police around. Focus on being smoooooth.
Thanks Cam for the intro to this little diversion!

Yes, there's plenty of them around.

Cheers,
Dave ZZR600 => ST2 (stolen) => '03 XX

 

Add to list:-

1) ALWAYS look both ways when taking off at lights for redlightrunners. (Look right first as that is the nearest to your position.)

2) On freeways with off ramps, beware of cars veering across (and over you) as an impulsive driver remembers they need to exit.

3) Approaching green traffic lights, always scan both ways for colourblind idiots sailing thru their redlight.

4) Approaching crest of hills, avoid positioning near centreline. Generally avoid towards centreline with oncoming traffic anyway.

 

I rode down there on Wednesday morning. No cops. Hardly any traffic at all
actually. Wish I could say the same about the rest of my ride across
Sydney.

Nev..
'03 ZX12R
'02 CBR1100XX

 

(Look right first as that is the nearest to your position.)

you) as an impulsive driver remembers they need to exit.

idiots sailing thru their redlight.

Generally avoid towards centreline with oncoming traffic anyway.

These are really great habits to get into..........

as a bike courier I can vouch that all will save your life - PAY ATTENTION
to 'em - I've lived another day from rule 1 & 2

add to list

1. Drivers around you will nearly always betray themselves with tell tale
signs if they are about to do something stupid - BE AWARE.

2. If anything is blind then assume the outcome will be dangerous.

 

I agree Dave. A lot of what happens to us is in our own hands.

Riding defensively is something we have to do every time we put the helmet
on. Thats not a line from a government pamphlet, thats just common sense.
Random shit can happen (like a rottweiler bounding out) but a lot of our
destiny is up to us. SMSing teenagers or redlight runners or drunks can
often be avoided if we are alert to them and put ourselves in a position to
avoid them.

And when the random shit does hit us, are we wearing the right gear? It
won't stop everything but I can tell you one thing, you will never find me
be sitting in an emergency room wishing I'd worn my Dririder or boots etc.
Whenever it seems too hot to wear everything, or I'm not going very far, I
just have a little motto. All the gear, all the time. Motorcyclists often
don't get second chances.

 

All good advise being posted here..was sad to see this stack first hand
, arrived at the scene about 10 minutes after .
But the thing was i was there to attend a group ride for some learners
that morning, meeting in the car park of the Ranch. One of our lead
riders went to ask questions of the rta guys that had gathered at the scene.
The story goes that he was racing a mate who had stacked a few k's
before him, havent heard more on that yet. there were no brake marks he
travelled through the bus lane (on the left) into an oncoming bus...
Anyone know how far across Epping hway a bus would travel to reach the
centre?? This guy was foolish and lost it.. Very sorry for his family
and friends still leaves a bitter taste for me and sad to have to escort
learners past this only 40 minutes after it had happened..
Be careful enough idiots out there without our own adding to it..

Ride safe Cheers Mark..

 

In the trade, that is known as "shameless exaggeration"... next time you're
pulled over up the Old Rd for a license/breath/colour-of-your-socks test,
see if the copper regales you with the tale of the three fatalities which
occured there the previous weekend, or yesterday, or earlier that morning,
or 15 minutes ago.

Flights of unnecessary hyperbole are part and parcel of the sort of
personality which goes for the "Look! I have a badge! Quiver before me!"
professions...

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 8 Dec 2003 17:36:54 +1100

For example...

If a car is moving slowly in a backstreet or shopping street... don't
pass it, the driver's looking for an address or a parking spot. which
they will dive for without indicating. The slower and more annoying the
vehicle, the more likely they'll turn just as you get fed up with them.

I was looking through austlii for cases involving bike helmets for
something the MCC is doing and noted how many injury cases were about
the rider passing a car that turned into the bike. Austlii's case law
is not representative of cases, as it's a caselaw study resource, not a
record of all cases tried, but there were a lot of them.... meaning
that they are tricky to determine both liability and damages.

In pretty well all the cases, the rider was partly or wholly at fault
for passing without due care, although the driver often had some
liability for not checking someone would be inconvenienced by their
manouver.

Mind you, being in the right is little consolation in hospital!

Zebee

 

"> If this guy's death serves to make one less idiot on a bike, then his

I've read some stupid things in my time....but

 

Which is probably why I feel less comfortable riding with a group of
bikes than I do riding with a road full of cars.

---
Cheers

PeterC [aka MildThing]
'81 Suzuki GS450-s
'87 BMW K100RT

www.dmcsc.org.au

 

Hi Peter,

Well, perhaps you'd better pick a different bunch of riders. Assert your
standards for group riding and if people don't want to comply, don't ride
with them. I've been fortunate enough to ride regularly with a bunch of
like-minded bikers and we are pretty clear on how things roll - no
overtaking, establish order at each breakpoint and travel at your own pace
etc. Sometimes these 'rules of engagement' don't apply but they constitute
some kind of understanding between parties. Over time you get to know each
other and things become mechanical and you can just concentrate on enjoying
your ride together.

I think you've got to be a bit hard nosed about your own involvement in a
group ride.

Anyway - have fun and keep it safe.

Cheers,
Dave ZZR600 => ST2 (stolen) => '03 XX

 

It's a concern how easily we can build up feelings of invincibility. I know


Would agree 100%

 

~
Come off it Biggus; you're the one who's always preaching VINCIBILITY!!
All that shit about "wear armour or you'll be annihilated" or "if you don't
wear a fullface helmet your sphincter will be invaded by pigeons"!!
You are the harbinger of uninvincableification!
Clem