Natural Selection

Created: Monday, 13 April 2015 05:16 | Written by Glen R Stansfield

You may have noticed by now that I am a motorcyclist. It is part of me, it helps define me. Not everyone understands that, but then if you did you too would be a motorcyclist.

This morning in Bahrain we are having a sandstorm. As sandstorms go it is a half-hearted affair.  It's possible to see and breathe. Now on the way in to work I was passed by a young lad on a motorcycle.  I can't call him a motorcyclist; I don't think he understands what that means. The first rule of being a motorcyclist is 'look after number one.'  

Let's start with the guy's clothing, T-shirt, jogging pants and trainers, and no gloves. What's wrong with that I hear some cry? Well each to their own. Not my choice I have to say, but in this case I would suggest he rethinks his wardrobe, perhaps a Kevlar ensemble with matching titanium accessories, because this wasn't the worst part of the picture.

The front of the lower fairing on the left side of the bike was flapping around in the not inconsiderable breeze. This can't help the handling in any way at all. I'm sure Mr Kawasaki tested his bike in the wind-tunnel with the fairing attached. Riding is all about balancing the forces acting on the bike. When those forces are made unpredictable by loose components, the job just got a whole lot harder. I have to wonder what else is loose, certainly the nut in the saddle.

Now call me old fashioned but I'm sure that when Messrs' Dunlop, Michelin, Bridgestone etc., made their tyres, it was with the intention there would be some rubber in contact with the road. Clearly this (insert your own word here) jockey was unaware of this quite important aspect of tyre performance, as there was an obvious canvas band around the rear tyre. Not to mention the rest of the central tread area looked as if it had just competed in the latest motoGP round.

To top it off, the lad clearly had no idea of how a bike should be ridden. His cornering, positioning and lane changing was without any regard for the laws of physics, himself, or other road users.

Now given all these factors, his choice of clothing comes as no surprise.  He thinks he's one of the invincible ones. It will never happen to him. Unfortunately, natural selection has no concept of invincibility. I just pity his family and the poor guys and gals that have to scrape him up off the tarmac.