82miles, 85mph, FREE, 18days & Faster w/ Videos [merged]

[bmcdonau]

85 seems like a good speed limit for wide open roads--sure there is a greater risk of an accident and more likelyhood of injury at those speeds, but like everything in life, its a trade off. We weigh the risks every time we hop on a motorcycle by choosing how much and what type of protective clothing to wear.

I understand the trepidation voiced by law enforcement offices and EMS techs because they deal with the aftermath.

[1TallTXn]

85 is easily safe. IF the driver has a clue, the vehicle is properly maintained, isn't jacked-up with 37in mud tires, not on the phone, etc.

Your average car will be fine at 85. Most pickups and SUVs will be fine assuming they're not setup for off-road use.
18-wheelers will handle 85 fine, but their stopping distance will suffer (as will all vehicles)

Is this enough reason to keep the speed limit at 70 or lower? Not in my opinion, but it's probably a good reason to not make it any higher.

[YoDoc]

Originally Posted by 1TallTXn

… it's probably a good reason to not make it any higher.

For now...

[Ben Eberle]

My bike drinks enough gas and wears out rear tires fast enough at 70, so I'm in no hurry to drive that highway just to go 85, especially since that road doesn't go anywhere I need to go.
My experience is that going 80 or 85 on the superslab is just as boring as 70, just less comfortable.
Why do you want to get a motorcycle ride over with as soon as possible anyway.

[P-Ratt]

Originally Posted by YoDoc

220 in a high performance car with a professional driver and 0 traffic, sure.

Yep. IDEAL conditions. Now with other traffic, speed differentials, etc, 220 probably isn't a good idea. My minivan is not capable of going anywhere close to that speed, so having a posted speed limit beyond the realm of everyday traveling vehicles does not make sense.

Of course, Autobahn-type scenarios can work, they just require a very different rule- and mind- set than what is seen in drivers here.

[Gravel Guy]

Originally Posted by David Lee

And zero wild hogs.

I wanna see video of a HOG on a HOG hitting a HOG.....

[vc_slim]

Originally Posted by Gravel Guy

I wanna see video of a HOG on a HOG hitting a HOG.....

The rare HOG trifecta video.

[cheez]

Originally Posted by P-Ratt

Of course, Autobahn-type scenarios can work, they just require a very different rule- and mind- set than what is seen in drivers here.

What it really requires is education of the drivers and enforcement of lane speed rules. Note a few things in the picture below: there are fences on both sides of the roadway that help keep the animals out; the vehicles are all in the lanes they should be in; there are long acceleration/deceleration lanes with gentle curves at the end of the ramps; and the lanes are rated for speeds- this is taught in drivers school in Germany and should be taught here, along with "Slower traffic keep right" as the RULE, not as a guideline.



Police in the USA (except WA State, they started cracking down recently) don't ticket for doing the speed limit in the left lane, even when the offender is creating a miles-long traffic backup by rolling roadblocking with other drivers. In Germany that would earn you a citation worth $500 or so. Even in light traffic in this country we have drivers who camp the middle lane, leaving the right lane empty, so that they don't have to deal with merging traffic- their desire to make less effort by changing lanes to the middle and then back when there are merges is more important in their mind than the orderly and unimpeded flow of traffic. More often than not, the right lane stands empty, and the center and left lanes are congested, leading to the fast movers speeding in the right lane and creating massively unsafe situations when they encounter slow-moving merging traffic.

I commute 30 miles each way every day in medium traffic in North Dallas. An easy ten minutes could be taken off of my commute time if it were autobahns instead of Texas highways- even with the speed limits they impose on the autobahn in the cities, 160kph trumps 75mph any day, and with clear left lanes, one could actually drive those speeds. Instead frequently I'm pinned in behind folks camping the left and center lanes at the speed limit, creating traffic where there is no need for there to be any, and generally ending up with me passing on the right in the empty right lane.

Now the real question is, are Texas highways good enough to allow folks to drive that fast? Probably not- frequently it's like riding a bucking bronco when I ride my VTX down our freeways.

[YoDoc]

I don't think Texas drivers could handle it.

[1TallTXn]

Originally Posted by YoDoc

I don't think American drivers could handle it.

Fixed.
Americans are too self-centered to be able to work their minds around proper lane position for the greater benefit of all. They're too focused on getting their butt to their destination or making sure the others don't get their ahead of them.
Why else would lane-sharing be most commonly met with "that's not fair" logic?

[YoDoc]

Originally Posted by 1TallTXn

Fixed.
Americans are too self-centered to be able to work their minds around proper lane position for the greater benefit of all. They're too focused on getting their butt to their destination or making sure the others don't get their ahead of them.
Why else would lane-sharing be most commonly met with "that's not fair" logic?

I've never seen anyplace else with drivers as aggressive and just plain selfish as Dallas and San Antonio. That includes chicago and new York.

[james9793]

Both of those cars sounded awesome!

I generally run 77 mph during my 65 on-way commute up 287 north of FW. That's fast enough to pass 98% of all other vehicles, puts me all by myself for the majority of the time, and gets me to work in 1 hour.
I've tried running the speed limit, primarily to improve gas mileage, but its just too dangerous while on a motorcycle. Doing puts me in close proximity to other vehicles for too long, especially all those **** speeding rock haulers. They have no regard for anyone else on the road.

[Ben Eberle]

In order for autobahn rules to work, the rule of all rules has to be enforced with zero tolerance. Absolutely no passing to the right, you can't even establish an overlap to a car to the left from behind. If a car in the left lane establishes an overlap with your car, you must allow it to finish passing.

This rule effectively gives the left lane the right of way and prevents a slow vehicle that just passed a slower vehicle from being trapped in the left lane by an endless string of right lane passers.

[YoDoc]

Originally Posted by Ben Eberle

In order for autobahn rules to work, the rule of all rules has to be enforced with zero tolerance. Absolutely no passing to the right, you can't even establish an overlap to a car to the left from behind. If a car in the left lane establishes an overlap with your car, you must allow it to finish passing.

This rule effectively gives the left lane the right of way and prevents a slow vehicle that just passed a slower vehicle from being trapped in the left lane by an endless string of right lane passers.

It also requires people to pay attention to drivers behind them, and stay to the right whenever possible.

[wanabeguru]

Originally Posted by YoDoc

It also requires people to pay attention to drivers behind them, and stay to the right whenever possible.

Did you just say what I think you said????

[YoDoc]

Originally Posted by wanabeguru

Did you just say what I think you said????

Yeah, blasphemous here in the metroplex, I know.

[neoxaero]

With all the californian/new york transplants here in Austin the traffic has progressively gotten worse over the last 10 years. When I first moved here you could actually go the speed limit any time of the day.

Now, you're lucky if you're doing 10 below at any given time of the day. Nothing irritates me more than doing 50mph in a 65 cause the moron in the left lane is to stupid to get out of the way.

[Ben Eberle]

Originally Posted by neoxaero

With all the californian/new york transplants here in Austin the traffic has progressively gotten worse over the last 10 years. When I first moved here you could actually go the speed limit any time of the day.

Now, you're lucky if you're doing 10 below at any given time of the day. Nothing irritates me more than doing 50mph in a 65 cause the moron in the left lane is to stupid to get out of the way.

I find that if I simply ignore, not even look at my speedometer, slow traffic doesn't bother me that much.

Let's put this into perspective.
50 mph = 72 second mile
65 mph = 55.4 second mile
One mile behind someone going only 50 instead of 65 adds 16.6 seconds to my travel time. I sure wish the red lights I have to wait for were that short. In fact, if his going only 50 results in you having to wait only 5 seconds at the red light a mile ahead instead of 21.6 seconds, he costed you no additional time.

Consider the possibility that instead of this driver being a "moron", he simply has the gift of being able to see red lights from nearly a half mile away.

[YoDoc]

Originally Posted by neoxaero

With all the californian/new york transplants here in Austin the traffic has progressively gotten worse over the last 10 years. When I first moved here you could actually go the speed limit any time of the day.

Now, you're lucky if you're doing 10 below at any given time of the day. Nothing irritates me more than doing 50mph in a 65 cause the moron in the left lane is to stupid to get out of the way.

The part that gets me is the 30mph drop when someone somewhere gets what might be a drop of rain on their windshield.

[Ben Eberle]

I'll take a road that has a 60 mph speed limit but no red lights or small towns to go through over a 70 mph highway with a town every 25 miles or so anyday.
High cruising speed is over-rated.
Intersections with long red lights and small towns with long 30 mph main streets with intersections are the real time killers.

The reason I got into the habit of leaving five minutes earlier for work is so I don't have to drive fast. My commute is about 35 miles and driving at go-to-jail speeds will not make up for leaving 5 minutes late.

Seriously, getting rid of Lakeway, Bee Caves, and Oak Hill would do more to shorten my commute time than increasing the speed limit of Highway 71, 290, and I-35 to 85 would.