Sunny

Article 1 from the Playground of the Intellect

[u]How to Street Race – Survival and Winning

We have been there, done that. Paid the price for it and most probably are still shelling out installments of pain and uncomfort that is a by-product of a road accident. The physical pain is bound to be served with ample doses of the ineffective tonic called regret. We, it seems, have grown immune to this medication a long back in our teens. It simply doesn’t work well enough to stop us from riding recklessly on roads and feeding our ego while we are at it.

The positive point of discussing this topic is to tell the boys (who will race knowing everything-heck, people smoke and drink even though they know its bad for them!) how to do it safely.

So what are the major concerns of a street racer? – Survival and Winning. The order of importance of these two factors is regularly swapped at the start and within of an road cameo.

Before elaborating these two sacraments we would first like to delve in the depths of the mind of an average street racer.


I would never advise it until it is absolutely necessary to humble some smart ass- one who might be showing off his bike (twisting and making sudden moves) risking everybody else's life and who thinks that he is some racing god. They need to be taught how to respect rules and life. But one more question arises, are we give a contract to do that? If it is not our job, why add one more reckless soul on the road, that is yourself. This excuse of street racing seems logical to the mind unless we realize it’s perfect to fool oneself by thinking like this.

Why do we rip? What is it about bikes that makes us feel like we rule the roadways? It can be traced to one’s psyche.

One must leave no stone unturned to add to the queue of achievements, big or small. Every street race won is an achievement, every good start off a green light adds to one’s personality.

Every wrong move you make means that you might not be able to walk the rest of your achievement-oriented life.

Teenagers rip on the road trying to get attention from the birds on the sidewalks or maybe just to vent out their disappointments. Or maybe just out of habit. A machine which is so flickable with just enough power to get over the slope cant do much harm, can it. I say any machine on two wheels is dangerous enough to impair you. Increasing the speed only adds the risk involved exponentially.


Not that its is not dangerous in a car to do anything like that. But cars are expensive, big and not as flickable as bikes. Moreover we as bikers would like to stick talking about the two wheeled machines. I would like to add the quote : “What is it about driving cars that makes you all such assholes.!” , Ford, Torque, 2004

Leaning into a corner. That's a rush!

Doing a wheelie, it is smashing!

Because , deep down inside , under a facade of civilized behavior , we all want to be wild and free , unchained and uncompelled by the artificiality and superficiality that society is full of . Which is why a car , is like watching a TV : you’re surrounded , encaged, safe but restricted.

On a bike, you're part of the scenery, an actor in the live play, not a dull TV audience like in a car.

Why else are bikers reputation so bad and wild ?

It can also be attributed to the “Roller Coaster Effect”. With regard to this, human beings like that thing is their stomach and the pull in their hands when a roller coaster goes down and accelerates upwards. Same effect can be experienced in lower magnitudes on normal bikes while swerving and accelerating. On a super bikes, having bhp of the order 150~, the force is tremendous, almost equaling an orgasm.

Some points that might be distinctly identified:


1. You need to know your bike in and out, the gear ratios, power band. When to shift from a gear and to which one is an art altogether. Knowing the response characteristics of your vehicle. You must be able to know how your vehicle will respond under a given set of conditions. Like for example, on wet roads you might decide against taking much risks cornering because you know about the worn out rear tyre.

Brake properly, when braking use both brakes simultaneously as it will result in good braking.., brakes are the hardest working components of the bike! Keep them in top-notch conditions all the time.


2. Knowing your opponent is as important as knowing yourself and your bike. You can lock on to the category of the opponent you are facing within a few metres into the race. There is this guy who keeps his foot on the brakes and uses them a lot, this shows lack of confidence. But this guy is ready to take stupidest of risks to keep ahead of you. Perhaps he has too much confidence on his braking abilities. He should be avoided, or at the least, keep a good distance from him.

Then there is this macho man who swerves left and right trying to sweep all the empty areas of a 100 per Sq meter populated area. Its again better to keep away from him.

Third category can be identified as the level headed straight lined guy. He will go all out once he seen an empty stretch of road. But at least wont swerve left and right. Remember to shake hands with him after your cameo is over, introduce him to our community and congratulate him on his street racing attitude.

3. Be disciplined : You are in an street illegal street race already. Don’t make the matters worse by breaking basic rules unnecessarily, always overtake from the right, maintain a few meters distance from anyone ahead of you, wear a helmet, use horn where necessary, if night – flash lights before overtaking, if you are going really flat out its better to flash lights before at regular intervals to larger vehicles like buses not to scooters and other smallies, they might be taken by surprise and deviate from there trajectory creating a possible collision with you coming speeding from behind.

4. Protective gear: A simple fall at 40kmph can damage your bike, bruise you all over. If you land on a joint, like your elbow, it might lead to a dislocation, muscle rupture, broken tendons and bones. If you land on a sharp object, for example the handlebar of your bike, it might lead to irreparable internal injuries which are guaranteed to make you repent for the rest of you life, or even might lead to death. This can be prevented to a certain extent by wearing protective gear. Helmet, thick gloves, elbow, knee pads, chest pads etc. These can go a long way is dampening a shock. Check out at big shopping malls in your city, they might have showrooms specializing in sports equipment. A decent gear kit can set you back by 8 grand, but that’s nothing as compared to the safety and added confidence while riding.

Remember : Thinking that you can get away by a few broken bones is an illusion. You are not the commander of your destiny in an accident, if you were it would no longer be termed as an accident, it would have been a suicide! Even if you do have only a few broken bones, the regenerated stuff will not be perfect as the original organics.

5. If you think you can take a gap, don’t think twice. It could lead you to the hospital, Be confident of your choice. If you are level with your opponent and suddenly find a gap just wide enough for one of you to squeeze through, don't try to be the first to get through. Remember - only one of the two of you can get through at a time. If by some chance both of you get there at the same time - things might turn out bad.

The decision making abilities vary from person to person and slowly improve with experience. Also no one can predict the outcome of a street race even when one of the driver is a vastly experienced one.

Risks that have low probability of coming through shud not b taken in a Street Race.

6. Real world is not a video game : The vehicles on the road and are not programmed in a loop, you cannot predict their moves. Many people go zig-zag between mobile vehicles as if they know their future trajectory. Watch the space around you because you cannot predict how will the other motorists react when they see two bikes racing like escaped lunatics. In traffic the top – speed of your vehicles obviously is of no importance. Only the dodging abilities and pick up matters.

The most important thing during a street race, perhaps, is to be able to predict the moves of each and every vehicle in the traffic and most importantly, your opponent. Never panic, the left hand should always be on the clutch lever in order to be ready for quick gear shifts. On toe shifters, always put your foot tip below the shifter...cause if at all you panic there is no chance that you’ll down shift at wrong RPM.

It’s a bit like playing chess.

7. And hey, you can have kicks in dragging without dragging- make it seem like you are gonna race with a guy and then when the lights turn green, let him speed away stressing his bike's engine and u can enjoy a laugh right where u are- it looks as if the guy has just " bhaagaa dum dabaakar"!...remember the Thumbs-up ad?... I often used to humble smart-ass drivers by over-taking them once and then blocking their way and then slowing down to let them speed at monstrous speeds to end up killing their suspensions on the bad road ahead!!


8. Street racing on bikes against cars : Not a good idea! Drop it dude! Usually car drivers will let you speed ahead of them and win, if they don’t, you can be soon history. Its simple, they are on four wheels and don’t have to worry about balance as a biker has to do.

9. Never street race with a pillion. He will be scared to death! It’s a very rude and dangerous thing to do. Even if he is sporty and is supporting you, don’t take that risk!

10. Praying helps some people as well - so figure that out yourselves - if it works for you or not!


11. I am listing this as the last point so that it stays in the head of most who go through this article.

DO NOT STREET RACE!

Try not to pick a street race and if you do, pray to god that when you finish the race you and your bike are in one piece, The vast majority out on the roads are just trying to get home to their kids or to work in time (so that they can feed their kids) and you can end up hurting others and yourself in trying to feed your ego. The invincible feeling is nice while it lasts, but can get you a lifetime of regret.

We all own fairly powerful machines, and know how difficult it is to tame that hunger for speed and revs. However, prudence demands that we restrict it to rides on well known empty streets especially far away from any surprise elements.

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From the web :

a . http://www.enjoythedrive.com/content/?id=31665
b . http://www.policemag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=133
c . http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum...ead.php?t=3467
d . http://www.streetracing.com/news/
e. http://www.sromagazine.com/home.php?op=go&id=745
f. http://www.rasr.info/
g.http://www.advanceautoparts.com/howt...20031001SR.htm


Special thanks to the Contributors in the workshop:

ace619, ashu, MotoPsycho, ajith, rico, rahulthegreat, lovemax, Rare-Devil, d`iablo, slide n ride, theghostwhorides, rajazz, sumeet_great
, sete_on_nova, rev_limit, whacky_brains, ken, jee21183, tiger, rash_rp, sick_mind, turbocharged, baristoooo, Hatari, ehud,darius_b, FormulaWhine, Ricci,madmax

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smonani

Nice article mate. I really like the spirit.

L.P.

All of the article says about to see and major judge and teach only some notorious ill mannered rider's,biker,people showing their skills off. Judge them and then Hit it hard on the nail's head and out past them!

The Last point makes a Lot of sense!
Thanks for this addition sunny!

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46wannabe

Cool yet level headed.

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10 Commandments:
1)Thank thy God for being alive.
2)Thou shalt respect one's own life and the live's of other road users.
3)Thou shalt respect one's own bike.
4)Love thy bike as thy self.
5)Always wear safety gear.
6)Alcohol is a strict NO!
7)Thou may lust after thy neighbour's bike specially if its of the R1 kind!
8)Thou shalt ride with 'ultra-most' care and caution when on Indian roads.
9)Thou shalt never leave the engine running at long traffic halts.
10)Thou shalt follow all of the above.

outworldly maniac

I have tried a lot , these people will never learn . Absolute lunatics they are defying all sense in the world . Even youngsters drink n ride during day time , heck morning time , as it is they are dangerous even when not drunk.

The only thing that matters to them is plonk a fat ass tyre on the rear and swerve right n left and speed up even on streets where there is no footpath and poor pedestrians have to pray for their life . They dont even have the humanity to think that a small kid might come up in the front so try to keep low speed so that urgent breaking could be done .

I have seen accidents in front of my eyes caused due to irresponsible riding and could have been avioded easily if the person would have been riding sanely . Been the victim of accidents in cases where I was not at fault at all.

Somethings never change and some people never learn , no amount of effort is of any use .

__________________
Hope is a good thing ,
may be the best of things and
no good thing ever dies .

Get busy living or get busy dying .

- The Shawshank Redemption .

NitinGirish

I never felt the need to street race. Idiots are plenty, why add to the population Just ignore these maniacs, let them live in their illusion.

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www.xbhp.com/talkies/members/nitingirish-albums-rx100.html

monty007

I second THat..

DO NOT STREET RACE..leave this bullshit Crap of A**...wht if we get teached in sense teachin em lesson...

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samarr

Nice one!!

Riding on r15 in city, usually I face this issue every odd day from every odd possible bike and moped. I am not sure if a guy goes with city speed limit with proper jacket,helmet and gloves; does it hurt some one wildest ego? Even most of the time its irritating when u get ths unwanted invitations. For me biking is fun and my best thing to do in life after my job. The best way for me the no 7 point. Put power throttle when u start, jst when they feel the race is on, go slow on throttle and move to safer (slower side) and reach/carry normal speed. Let them shoot away and face the muzic of potholes, blind and deaf pedestrians. After all in city like Bangalore the first and last will meet at same point. It hardly make any difference.
Even before picking up my 1st bike(same r15), I was into xbhp. All riding skills, etiquette I hv learned is from here only. Now my friends and group also following same and modifying their skills.

Remember there someone is waiting...there r many things to be completed..

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I do blog.

Prakash994

Nice article Sunny....will change many people...

tibby

Nice article there! I'm sure it'll go a long way into infusing some sense into people (including me)

PS: I wonder why we saw it only after a gap of over 5 years!

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=> If you can dream it, you can do it- Walt Disney
=> Never to fall isn’t great, but to rise after every fall. – Confucius
=> Experience teaches slowly, and at the cost of mistakes- James A Froude

Group Riding Techniques: http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/art-safe...up-riding.html