To speed or not to speed that is the question

    • 40 posts
    October 9, 2012 8:28 AM PDT
    I was wondering just how many of  you out there ride faster then the speed limits? I have a couple of friends that ride 10 to 15 miles an hr faster then the speed limit, if its 75 they'll drive 90, if it's 70 they will do 85. Me personally I will ride at the speed limit, my philoshy is get there safely no matter what time you get to your destination. But this friends must just the speed or they have a death wish. Personally I've fallen once and don't want to do it again( as you can read on my profile). With this in mind what is the norm out there ?
  • October 9, 2012 8:37 AM PDT
    I'm not exactly speeding, I just like to drive fast. Car or motorcycle. Not a death wish, I just like to move. But never in traffic or cities. There is very little traffic where I live, so it is easy to just move on out! And, the basic speed limit here (Austria) is faster than what is posted in the US, so I am sort of used to driving fast.
    • 846 posts
    October 9, 2012 9:05 AM PDT
    I use the road its self as a guild. Some roads are faster then others. In most case a little over the speed limit normally 5-10 over the limit. Highway is normally 70-80 ish.
    • 544 posts
    October 9, 2012 9:10 AM PDT
    I normally drive the speed limit or a little above but I get there in a hurry. In other words I rip it up getting to the speed limit or a few miles an hour higher then I level off. I use my cruise control if traffic is not to heavy. My goal is to avoid getting tickets so I don't drive excessively fast except in rare occasions. I mean a guy needs to know how his bike performs doesn't he?
    • 85 posts
    October 9, 2012 9:14 AM PDT
    Im with you brother, I lost that need for speed when I crashed out, and around here seems like theres a blue light waiting around every corner, and if they catch only one in a hundred, guess what number I am! Ride safe.
    • 5420 posts
    October 9, 2012 9:18 AM PDT
    I drive my car pretty much the speed limit. Laura and my son always say I drive like an old man. Probably 'cause I am an old man... until I get on my motorcycle, then I feel young again!!! However I don't ride as crazy as I used to when I was young.

    The speed I ride really depends on where I'm going and what I'm doing... When we do a day ride on the back roads around here, I usually ride the speed limit, sometimes even less if no one behind me just to spend more time enjoying the ride. If I am on the major streets or freeways around home just going somewhere I normally ride 5 over the speed limit or the flow of traffic. I would rather be just barely passing the traffic then having it come up on me.

    Now traveling the open roads on a long trip I will ride 10 to 15 over, sometimes even more if the road conditions permit. Not that I'm in a hurry, I just love to go fast!  But I very seldom ride for any lenth over 85mph.  And for some reason over 90mph I get this pain in my kidney... it's a real short pain about the size of Laura's fist

  • October 9, 2012 9:23 AM PDT
    I speed. I can't seem to help it. I speed on the bike, and I speed in my truck. I'm pretty good about not tailgating and messing with my fellow travelers generally speaking. But when it's just me and the road, sometimes I find myself really hammering on it. I fully recognize that this is not a good thing. Unfortunately, I have a fair share of stress in my life these days, and when things get seriously unhappy or stressful, I tend to light it up. Bad choice on my part...
  • October 9, 2012 9:51 AM PDT
    straight, flat, open road with no one for miles.. I've been known to hit triple digits... but for the most part (99.9%), it's just speed limit plus tax... the rush from the high speed aint worth the ticket, and at 100 plus, that bit of debree on the road thats an annoyance to avoid at slower speeds can kill you
    • 1855 posts
    October 9, 2012 11:30 AM PDT
    Nope. I don't speed unless you consider 5 mph over the limit speeding. I speed to pass someone just so I can get out of the lefthand lane as quickly as possible. I've never been in a hurry though I'll admit to drag racing some in my younger days.

    Peace
  • October 9, 2012 12:09 PM PDT
    I guess my right foot isn't as heavy as my right wrist. Seems like I do okay in the pickup - but on the motorcycle, I have to slap my hand once in a while. Easy to get to that 85-90 on the straight, flat roads in the OK 'handle.
    • 834 posts
    October 9, 2012 1:17 PM PDT
    Seams a few of us tend to ride faster than we drive - counting me!!!

    I usually run about 10 over and on them wide open roads 85 to 90. And I'm not in a hurry either
    • 2 posts
    October 9, 2012 1:55 PM PDT
    In the truck drive the limit or less - Gas mileage falls off above 60

    In the Mustang, keep up with traffic but no more.

    On the scooter:
    When on divided or heavily traveled slab - Keep up with traffic, no more, no less
    When on mostly untrafficked, boonie roads - 20 to unlimited, well actually almost never pass the century mark - When curves are marked with a limit see what multiple of it I am up to - Oh wow, some place on the east side of the Susquehanna there was a curved marked "10 MPH" and they really meant it. that was really dicey.
  • October 9, 2012 2:10 PM PDT
    All depends on the road, traffic etc, I never ride in a hurry other words, if I have to get some were and time is a issue I take the car, I don't ride for transportation, I ride for the enjoyment, Yes I will speed, I live in the UP of MIch. so there is a lot of roads that are in great shape that are empty of traffic and I have no problem pushing it, some times a lot. Yes I have been in a accident 5 weeks in the hospital 2 months of rehab and that was doing 15 miles hr on my peddle bike
    • 58 posts
    October 9, 2012 2:14 PM PDT
    The kids say I am an old man except when I am on the bike. I don't know. Whenever I look at the speedo, I am usually doing pretty close to the limit, with a few notable exceptions. There are a couple of marked curves around here upon which I just almost can't keep it under 60. Unless the wife is with me. Lucky, I know what you mean. My wife uses both kidneys...
  • October 9, 2012 3:09 PM PDT
    whitleydon wrote...
    All depends on the road, traffic etc, I never ride in a hurry other words, if I have to get some were and time is a issue I take the car, I don't ride for transportation, I ride for the enjoyment, Yes I will speed, I live in the UP of MIch. so there is a lot of roads that are in great shape that are empty of traffic and I have no problem pushing it, some times a lot. Yes I have been in a accident 5 weeks in the hospital 2 months of rehab and that was doing 15 miles hr on my peddle bike

    I bet you crank it up on the Seney Stretch   Long, straight, nothin' but swamp...

    • Moderator
    • 19049 posts
    October 9, 2012 10:08 PM PDT
    There is no place I need to be that causes me to be in a hurry! Truck, RV, or Bike. I usually hold the limit. The only exceptions are in the tight curves, conditions and traffic permitting, I do attempt to pull out of them at or above the posted limit.
    • 1 posts
    October 10, 2012 2:12 AM PDT
    I live ( when there) in a land that is flat and boring to ride or drive through. I usually have the cursie set at 10 to 15 over and have been know to spped up from there... Car or bike, now when I am driving work truck with trailer I slow down to 5 to 7 over. Depends on grade of hills if there is a warning for big rigs I slow down as if I was one. A lot of weight in work trailer so I listen to those warnings.
    Now the guys I ride with know if they are going 20 over I will be right there with them and have been know to start the road race. Curves and such I never look at speedo but have been told I can be a mad women zipping through the curves. When the guys race in front to zip through the curves on bikes they now refer to it as" pulling a Bitchy"... ; D
    • 601 posts
    October 10, 2012 8:14 AM PDT
    play every situation as I see it, road conditions, traffic, pillion, group riding....after 30 yrs on a bike ya kinda read it as ya see it and know your own and the bike's limitations, I have been know to wind it on to 130-140 just for the hell of it, but I know when to pull back...I've also cruised a coastal or mountain road at 20-30 just to take in the view. If I need to get some place in a real hurry, then its not the kind of place I want to be, so I don't go there (family excluded) speeding and hurrying are two different beasts, you speed=you concentrate on the moment....you hurry=you concentrate on the end point, that's dangerous ! When group riding I follow the Capt', if someone is acting the tool, then I just stop and have a smoke and meet them later, if I splash the bike it will be my fault, nobody else.
  • October 10, 2012 8:20 AM PDT
    After a cager sent me to the ER, I only go over the speed limit when trying to get away from a distracted driver. All the other times I'm checking the landscape and enjoying my ride!
  • October 10, 2012 9:10 AM PDT
    Can't ride any more, the Chemotherapy has about taken everything out of me. But back in the day we used to ride as fast as our motorcycles would take us. In the late 60's and early 70s there were back roads all over the country that no one worried about how fast you were going, and that suited me just fine because I was 20 years old with a Panhead Duo-Glide and ready to fly. Of course as the years went by I learned to slow down and enjoy the scenery and pretty much rode the speed limit or maybe 5 to 10 mph over it on the wide open roads.
    • Moderator
    • 19049 posts
    October 10, 2012 11:44 PM PDT
    rory1 wrote...
    play every situation as I see it, road conditions, traffic, pillion, group riding....after 30 yrs on a bike ya kinda read it as ya see it and know your own and the bike's limitations, I have been know to wind it on to 130-140 just for the hell of it, but I know when to pull back...I've also cruised a coastal or mountain road at 20-30 just to take in the view. If I need to get some place in a real hurry, then its not the kind of place I want to be, so I don't go there (family excluded) speeding and hurrying are two different beasts, you speed=you concentrate on the moment....you hurry=you concentrate on the end point, that's dangerous ! When group riding I follow the Capt', if someone is acting the tool, then I just stop and have a smoke and meet them later, if I splash the bike it will be my fault, nobody else.


    Neil, you have often put things in the simplest terms that make sense. This could not be expressed better!

  • October 11, 2012 1:08 AM PDT
    i usually go with the flow of traffic... if theres no traffic, i like to take my time, im in no hurry...
  • October 11, 2012 1:17 AM PDT
    I USUALLY DO 5 OR 10 OVER UNLESS I'M IN CITY LIMITS THEN ITS THE POSTED LIMIT, KEEP THE RUBBER ON THE ROAD!!!
  • October 11, 2012 1:19 AM PDT
    ANYBODY IN CASA GRANDE ,AZ RIDING OUT SATURDAY NEXT WEEK FOR RUN TO THE REZ ?
    • 40 posts
    October 11, 2012 1:26 AM PDT
    Guys thanks for your input I have to agree with some of you and do as you wrote depending on the situations. I however will always think about my safety first and utmost. As I wrote on my second part of this question, I make sure I know what the plans are , where they are going to stop, and as Rory wrote if someone wants to act the tool, let them see ya when I meet ya again. Great input guys, thanks.