escapefjrtist
Searching for Dry Roads
Why does the FJR do that to us 'ol-pharts?!? Couple weeks ago I got a stern "knock-it-off" from a Sheriff Dept. motor-officer...the price we pay to play!
~G
Last edited by a moderator:
Radar Detectors for Long Distance Travel
- Thread starter John_Dumke
- Start date
Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:
~G
Still do. They are either diamond patterns or lines on the shoulder. Western IA, NE, KS, eastern CO, etc etc...
I haven’t used any electronic means to figure out if there’s a speed enforcement action. In small towns, I’m at or under the posted limit and hyper-attentive to signs. My trip through the fabulous and majestic Albequerque, I kept it to the limit so I wouldn’t have an unscheduled visit with HRZ...
On the slab, I’ll fly along but never more than 10 over and with limits being at 75 or 80 I don’t see the point. Way too many drivers looking at their phones and drifting into my lane so I’m not at a speed where I’ll draw much attention.
Hppants is correct...those yellow signs just have a suggestion...
Police enforcement of speed limits varies greatly by regions / states. Im sure a lot has to do with how reasonable or unreasonable the posted limits are. In the blue states of the northeast (where the people who are involved with setting speed limits think they know whats best for you) the posted limits are generally about 10 mph below what the AVERAGE driver goes. Instead of setting the limit at that average speed and enforcing it, they continue setting the limits artificially low and only arbitrarily enforcing it at 10 or 15, or whatever the LEO feels like that day, over the limit.
Their argument is that if they were to raise the limit by 10 mph the average driver will then drive 10 over the new limit. Only problem with that argument is that it has been proven to be false. For example, on I-93 in New Hampshire the speed limit is 65 mph from the southern border as far north as Concord. North of Concord it mysteriously goes up to 70 mph. The average driver seems to go along at about the same speed in both sections, which is about 70 to 75 mph.
Concurrently, the nearly identical interstate running northwest from Concord up to White River Junction VT is still posted at 65 and people drive that at 70 to 75 mph also. Very few vehicles, including loaded semis, drive at the 65 mph limit. Ocassionally I will set the cruise control on my pickup truck at 65 mph and just stay in the right lane. All of the traffic will come up on my tail and pass around me as if I were going 10 mph below the speed limit.
The worst part of all of these capricious speed limit shenanigans is that it has trained the average driver to be an intentional law breaker. It has instilled a pervasive negative attitude in the public perception of police, particularly the speed enforcers. They all know that they are breaking the law and trying to get away with it, as is evidenced by the flurry of brake lights whenever they see a patrol car in the median, or on the side of the road. So, if speeding is OK, what other laws become fair game for disregarding since they shouldnt really apply to you?
And to bring this back around to the topic, all of this is why I feel a need to use a radar detector on my bikes. I generally ride at near the average speed of traffic, around 75 mph on the interstate for example. But that speed is 10 mph over posted in most cases. If a LEO arbitrarily wants to stop that shiny red motorcycle for 10 over he can. I am convinced that the some (many) of the police in this area will pull a motorcycle over any time they can. But, if I know hes out there before he gets a speed from me, I get to continue along my way unmolested.
Their argument is that if they were to raise the limit by 10 mph the average driver will then drive 10 over the new limit. Only problem with that argument is that it has been proven to be false. For example, on I-93 in New Hampshire the speed limit is 65 mph from the southern border as far north as Concord. North of Concord it mysteriously goes up to 70 mph. The average driver seems to go along at about the same speed in both sections, which is about 70 to 75 mph.
Concurrently, the nearly identical interstate running northwest from Concord up to White River Junction VT is still posted at 65 and people drive that at 70 to 75 mph also. Very few vehicles, including loaded semis, drive at the 65 mph limit. Ocassionally I will set the cruise control on my pickup truck at 65 mph and just stay in the right lane. All of the traffic will come up on my tail and pass around me as if I were going 10 mph below the speed limit.
The worst part of all of these capricious speed limit shenanigans is that it has trained the average driver to be an intentional law breaker. It has instilled a pervasive negative attitude in the public perception of police, particularly the speed enforcers. They all know that they are breaking the law and trying to get away with it, as is evidenced by the flurry of brake lights whenever they see a patrol car in the median, or on the side of the road. So, if speeding is OK, what other laws become fair game for disregarding since they shouldnt really apply to you?
And to bring this back around to the topic, all of this is why I feel a need to use a radar detector on my bikes. I generally ride at near the average speed of traffic, around 75 mph on the interstate for example. But that speed is 10 mph over posted in most cases. If a LEO arbitrarily wants to stop that shiny red motorcycle for 10 over he can. I am convinced that the some (many) of the police in this area will pull a motorcycle over any time they can. But, if I know hes out there before he gets a speed from me, I get to continue along my way unmolested.
Last edited by a moderator:
The US DOT has an 85 percentile rule so that speeds can be set based on what a study shows is where 85% of prevailing traffic travels at or below.
While conditions may affect that recommended posted limit (intersections, residential, etc.) this 85% on interstates is an established standard for all states. Local "powers" then under-post so they have easy pickings.
https://www.jamartech.com/85thpercentile.html
While conditions may affect that recommended posted limit (intersections, residential, etc.) this 85% on interstates is an established standard for all states. Local "powers" then under-post so they have easy pickings.
https://www.jamartech.com/85thpercentile.html
lnewlf
Well-known member
forgot to move my "magic box" from the car to the truck the other day...I felt like I had forgotten to put on my pants...I was as nervous as a nun in a whorehouse..especially in town where speed limits are 30 and it is easy to roll at 45...
Powerman
Well-known member
I decided I don't need a detector. I rode with FYB on Sunday and we never exceeded the posted speed limit.
Uncle Hud
Just another blob of protoplasm using up your oxyg
Yes, sir, that would be a correct answer if this was 1995. These days, the 85% percentile speed is considered a good starting point when setting the speed limit. For a number of reasons, today's drivers go much faster than they did ten years ago: better suspensions, anti-lock brakes, quieter cabins, taller/stronger frames, crumple zones, air bags, seat belts, yadda, yadda, yadda.
You want to see blatant disregard for speed limits? Come ride Atlanta freeways.
Last edited by a moderator:
Those graphs look suspiciously suspect. Being a cynical type, the spread of speeds is too wide for one section of road, which makes me think that these statistical graphics may have been manipulated for effect. Imagine that?
Without devolving into some hopeless political diatribe, what is the intended purpose of speed limits and other traffic enforcement? Is it to set safe limits that have been determined by a bunch of do-good politicians and public servants? Or is it to try and rein in the outlier speeders and patently unsafe drivers to coincide with what the general population decides is safe, based on how they press the accelerator pedal on average.
Is the general population not to be trusted on what they deem to be safe speed for themselves on average? Do we really need some eggheaded politician telling us what the proper speed of vehicle operation is for maximum cost benefit?
Are we at risk of running out of people in the world because of excess motor vehicle accident related death and dismemberment? Is this a situation where we need to step in and regulate these Darwinian drivers for the good of human kind? Or maybe we should let nature take its course, weed out the weak minded risk takers with less than average motor skills, and save those resources for the survivors?
But wait. Of course, we need to think of the innocent children. Its always about the children.
Without devolving into some hopeless political diatribe, what is the intended purpose of speed limits and other traffic enforcement? Is it to set safe limits that have been determined by a bunch of do-good politicians and public servants? Or is it to try and rein in the outlier speeders and patently unsafe drivers to coincide with what the general population decides is safe, based on how they press the accelerator pedal on average.
Is the general population not to be trusted on what they deem to be safe speed for themselves on average? Do we really need some eggheaded politician telling us what the proper speed of vehicle operation is for maximum cost benefit?
Are we at risk of running out of people in the world because of excess motor vehicle accident related death and dismemberment? Is this a situation where we need to step in and regulate these Darwinian drivers for the good of human kind? Or maybe we should let nature take its course, weed out the weak minded risk takers with less than average motor skills, and save those resources for the survivors?
But wait. Of course, we need to think of the innocent children. Its always about the children.
Last edited by a moderator:
dravnx
Well-known member
Well my Adaptiv TPX scored another save today. On a trip from N. Cal to Montana, the bird dog started pointing a Ka. Oregon Highway Patrol parked on the side of the road. We were running somewhere between 10-15 over.
I've ridden the Hotlanta National Speedway more than once. Some places do 95mph. Some places do bumper-to-bumper. Hotlanta does 95Mph+bumper-to-bumper.
I was in the wall lane doing 97 and the guy I was "following" (local) was in the lane 1 to the right and a half car length ahead of me. The car behind him was an honest 6" off his rear tire.
This section of 285 was posted 55.
The summer before, my carpooler had a co-worker come back from Atlanta reporting that he was in the wall lane going 65 when someone came up behind him in his rental car and started pushing him. He hadn't been told about the different lanes and their unwritten speed limits.
Far right: Entry/exit 55-65
1 left: 65-75
1 left: 75-85/90
wall lane (far left): 95+
It was an example from a text; not actual data.
Last edited by a moderator:
Similar threads
