This is a sad story, true.
But as an engineer specialising in vehicle safety design with experience in motorcycles, to propel him 60ft along tarmac with enough force to injure, let alone kill him, this man was travelling dangerously fast, so please learn a lesson from your friend and always be extra careful while using your bike/other cars. Its experiences like this which speak much louder than the terrible adverts the goverment likes to waste money on. Hopefully your friends death will not be in vain, and has prevented someone else from injury/death by just sparing a thought for road safety.
Also, fuck tractors, they shouldn't be allowed on public roads fullstop, and should be transported via truck.
RIP Noel.
( Anal_Volley_Net, Fri 29 Jan 2010, 13:45, 1 reply)

I think the 60ft was a bit of an exageration on my part...
But the point about the change of bike is valid.
He only just clipped the back corner of the trailer. Had he been on the ninja then he would almost certainly have been able to a) scrub off a bit more mph and b) negotiate a sharper turn.
It wasn't the leather-clad slide that did for him after all, more the sudden deceleration!
Maybe if he'd been wearing fabric not leather he may have incurred a bit more friction along the way? I dunno!

Fundamentally I agree with you, SPEED KILLS!
and to all those folks who have argued the opposite on QOTW I have one thing to say to you...
You are wrong, get over it!
( blaireau69 , the Cumbrian Travis Bickle., Fri 29 Jan 2010, 13:58, closed)