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Mark Hinchliffe·
Motorbike news
··9 Comments·1 min read

Motorcyclists should encourage cycling

Cycling kawasaki bicycle

If motorcyclists want to advance their cause – politically and socially – they should be encouraging kids to take up cycling.

I’m all for getting young kids hooked on bicycles. It leads to more exciting drugs like motorcycles!

And the more young people who take up motorcycling, the bigger will be our influence.

I remember riding along and making motorcycles noises as I pedalled … didn’t you? Or did you stick a playing card in the spokes?

I had a Dragster bicycle with a three-speed T-bar shifter on the frame between my legs. I used to dream I was Captain America from Easy Rider or practise my wheelies just like the kids at the start of On Any Sunday.

And as soon as I was old enough, I started riding bikes with motors in them and haven’t stopped since.

School days

In my day, the majority of children rode bicycles to school where the bike racks were packed with hundreds of sparkling chrome and painted machines?

Now have a look at the streets around schools and try to find one bicycle. Some schools don’t even have bike racks anymore!

Cycling
Full bike racks

Parents now drive their kids to school, creating massive traffic jams in school peak hours.

If more children rode to school, just think how much better commuting would be, especially the morning commute which clashes with school times.

Consider how much easier traffic flows during school holidays.

Leisure pursuit

Cycling today is largely a leisure pursuit performed by mature-aged-men-in-lycra or MAMIL.

Tony Abbott cycling
Former PM Tony Abbott pedals

They are an easy target for mirth in that garb, but that would be underestimating their power. They are highly organised, cashed-up and well represented by professional state and national lobby groups.

Politicians respect, fear and use them. Most pollies think cyclists appeal to some sort of “green“ vote even though, in my experience, a good proportion of cyclists don’t ride to work but drive in their oil-burning diesel SUVs and only use the road as their own personal velodrome.

Still, they are a political force to be reckoned with. Just look at how they have quashed the hopes of Victorian motorcycle and scooter groups to access bike lanes when they introduced lane filtering laws!

So, instead of being cranky with cyclists or laughing at them, we should share the road with them, respect them and learn from them.

Meanwhile, we should all do our best to encourage our kids to ride bikes to school.

We need to stop being Super Nannies with our kids.

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Mark Hinchliffe
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9 Comments

  1. As i understand the law in victoria in any accident between a cyclist and other vehicle the
    other vehicle is deemed at fault for insurance purposes.
    I have seen figures of 30% of admissions to emergency departments for road trauma
    being cyclists, No rego no insurance and no real way of checking their safety and behaviour
    Just on personal observation scooters and small motorcycles way outnumber commuters on bicycles.
    Why should we subsidise someone elses hobby ?
    We are always being told we are over represented in death and injuries, while this may be true
    it in no way is a reflection of rider competence or behaviour merely that we are more vulnerable to injury
    than other road users
    As for respecting these latte drinking wankers, i don’t think so

    2. +1 here also. I find the majority of cyclist who use our roads to be arrogant, selfish, ill-mannered and disrespectful of ALL other road users.

    3. Well straight up we’ve got 3 anti-cyclists with the usual noises.
      Funny how you can’t see that this is exactly how motorists{cars] feel about motorcycles.
      No point bringing up the counter arguments you blokes already know exactly how it should be.
      I commute by pushbike,scooter,motorcycle or car depending on any given day and I’ve been left lying for all intents and purposes dead on the side of the by people just like you.
      You really think motorcycles aren’t someones hobby?

      1. Motorcycles are some peoples hobby which they pay for. I’m sick of the
        argument ‘I own a car so i shouldn’t have to pay for the bicycle”
        I own 3 motorcycles and pay rego on all three So what!
        The main reason the cycling lobby does not want rego is that they
        will lose a lot of clout when the politicians see the actual numbers
        Sales figures mean nothing as a lot end up in the shed gathering dust
        next to last fitness fad.
        Their main support comes from the environmentalists who will not
        be happy until every internal combustion engine is banned forever.
        As for ‘left lying for all intents and purposes dead on the side of the road’
        everyone must of realised you were just faking it.
        I for one would not have missed a photo opportunity

        1. Bicycles are not as environmentally friendly as their riders like to pretend they are. A bicycle in traffic can cause dozens, and maybe even hundreds, of other vehicles to slow down and have to accelerate again. This increases fuel usage and pollution, probably by more than is saved by the rider not using a car. Why don’t they just get out of the way and stop interfering with traffic flow? When I rode a bicycle (about 20 years ago) I did whatever I could to avoid slowing other vehicles, even it meant getting right off the road when there were vehicles coming from in front and behind me.

        2. And this is exactly the attitude that made it possible for the Hit and Run driver to continue on their merry way.
          Not much of a cyclist, safety boots and work clothes is my cycling attire and yes I’ve been irritated by the guys in Lycra clogging the road.
          It’s not much of a shift to change the word to Motorcycle and as a small group within the road using public you will hear about how all motorcyclists ride dangerously,lane split at ridiculous speeds and should wait in line with other traffic.
          I’m too old to think riders are better than that.
          Gets proven otherwise far too regularly.

  2. I agree. I used to do a lot of cycling as a youngin and it is a lot better for them than spending hours in front of an X-box.

    Do however tell your kids that despite they legally can, don’t ride 2 abreast on the road. Its rude and very inconsiderate to fellow road users who may get stuck behind for lengthy periods of time before then can safely overtake and give the the necessary 1m clearance.

  3. Sorry Glenn, but i fail to see how you equate criticism with not stopping to help someone who is injured or condoning hit-and-run drivers. Nor do you understand what sarcasm is.

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