opinions on the new speed limits on OPH

[MrStompy]

Hi there

what do people think of the new 60k limit for most of the OPH? (Sydney to Mt White for the non NSW folk)

I havent been up there much lately but have the crowds dropped as a result?

I cant help but think that all it does is stops the semi sensible people who actually care about their license and life from going up there. the others who didnt care before still arent going to care now and will continue to blast through it just like they always did.

I was going to go check out bells line and/or putty this week but i just found out from another post that its double demerits this week. will have to wait till next week.

[greeny]

I might live in Adelaide now but i grew up in Sydney and have spent many a day , mainly in cars i admit, on this stretch of road.

The thing is people are going to ride/ drive as fast as they can, and sometimes beyond, no matter what the speed limit is.
Be honest most of us do it. We all have that strech of raod that we just love and will ride it as hard as we can. Speed limit. What the f--k is that. Be honest and i've reckon for alot of us the nail just got hit.

Sure the average joe out on there sunday drive will most likely do the posted speed limit as all good law abiding folk do. So when some of our fellow riders come around that blind corner as fast as they can there will be a nice slowly moving car there to greet them. SOme might stop in time, some might go onto the wrong side of the road to avoid a crash and some will just nail it and run up the white line and overtake them.

Another negative about lowering the speed limit is there are people out there who get the shits when they get stuck behind one of these cars whos driver is driving at the posted speed. The result is they can make some bad choices and do some risky/ stupid over taking moves. Sure they will get away with it most of the time but there is always that one who hesitates and ends up being a grill badge, or runs off the raod.

We are lucky here in Adleaide that most of the nice winding roads are 80 to 100 so unless you are nailing it on the straights you are most of the time under the limit.

End of the day.
If you are going to ride hard you will, no matter what the signed speed limit is.
The government is just trying to look like they are doing something about the amount of accidents/ fatalites that are taking place. Will lowering the speed limit do this? I doubt it case the ones that can will.

Sure crowds might drop off but then you will just get the smart ones doing a run through to check the rd is clear. Not that i ever do that.


Gets off soap box and deposits 2.2 cents in jar.

[Neka79]

yea..greeny has a point...i dunno wot it is..but im sure theres one in there...

[kellz]

ok well i did it yesturday
and it sucks 60 is stupid 70 woudl eb great u jsut cant hold it at 60 through those bends the bike just wnats to take off.

though with teh number of fatalities up there and accidents i dont blame them
also to increase in teh plod is crazy they use unmarked cars and everything now, i saw 6 cars in 1 hour on the road......


make it 70 and we are all happy, then thats 10 less k's taht u will get dome for when your caught speeding

[Glen]

60 or 70 doesn't matter. If you get done on it you'll likely be doing 100plus so you'll go for 30+ anyway.

Get off it by 8.00am and go somewhere else and you're unlikely to have a problem with pc plod or knobs coming the other way doing stupid shit. Just keep an eye out for skippy and his mates.

Judging by the bloody crowd that was there on Sunday at 7.00am the volume aint dropping off, although Shannons were doing free brekky so that might've been a drawcard.

[Bartofsky]

60km/h is BORING. Even when I had the old GS I used to wobble around at more than that. As to going any faster than that, the over zealous patrolling by our mates in blue have taken alot of the fun out of it. I was up there a couple of weeks ago and even though it was a wednesday, the police were there. The only reason I would go back is when I get a craving for an apple pie from PITS. Mmmmm.. pies. I do have some sympathy for the residents up there, they must get the shits with bikes with overly loud cans going past all day every day and some people do ride like tossers.

Putty road is much more rider friendly!

[MadKaw]

I havn't been there for years prior to Sunday, apart from midweek rainy trek a few months ago..
There was still a lot bikes up there but mostly sitting around in the PITS or Mt White cafe. We went past a cop with a radar and an unmarked car who had a bike pulled over.
With the amount of policing and the 60 kph speed limit, its not worth going there. You can't have any fun at 60 or 70 around there and your always looking for cops.
At least the Putty is 80 kph in the twisties and 100 kph in the boring bits, you can still have a bit of fun at those speeds.
We were talking about this on Sunday and not many there were old enough to remember but the oph use to be the main route North out of Sydney 25 + years ago. The speed limit then was between 80 and 100kph and ppl were driving HQ's and the like on it.
I remember when I was about 7 or 8 in my parents P76 coming down the oph to Mooney Mooney getting overtaking by couple of motorbikes, the second hit a car coming the other way and the rider and pillion pretty messy.
So whats changed.???

[ohno102go]

Mr Plod has just pushed the problem elsewhere, not publicly declaring where cause i still ride there free from harrasment.
How about closing the road for an hour on a Saturday, get a few Police Bikes up there as staged supervisors and a discretionary limit of 100km/h.
Gives the cops an opportunity to eyeball and talk to riders who want to partcipate, and the riders a sense of responsibility to the organisers.
I mean the OPH is generally closed for a few hours scraping up riders at least once a month anyway...
i believe the key is managing the situation and implementing a degree or control were it currently is non existent and the level of civil disobedience it escalating.

[balanse]

Like it or not riding at race track speeds on a public road is gunna sh1t people, and some people do ride at this stoopid level on roads like the OPH. When people get the sh1ts they look for ways to stop it. The gumint is happy to oblige and the coppers love it....life.

I haven't ridden on the OPH since about 1985. Back then it was out of control and I can only imagine what is going on up there now, more riders and higher performance kit an all.

I can understand the restriction on speed. Unfortunate but inevitable and more coming - noticed nasho was all 60 when up there over Christmas and roads here in Vic are getting lower limit signs popping up where they didn't used to.

Try to imagine the intimidation and your reaction to guys racing trucks along a public road. How do you feel about ricers racing past you when your tooling along in the cage with the family?

Wanna get a knee down - find a track. But lots dont.

[aardvark]

in my parents P76

Bwahahahahahahaha

How about closing the road for an hour on a Saturday, get a few Police Bikes up there as staged supervisors and a discretionary limit of 100km/h.

Not going to happen, because when someone gets killed or hurt, the Police/government will be held responsible.

[Johnnie5]

ok well i did it yesturday
and it sucks 60 is stupid 70 woudl eb great u jsut cant hold it at 60 through those bends the bike just wnats to take off.

though with teh number of fatalities up there and accidents i dont blame them
also to increase in teh plod is crazy they use unmarked cars and everything now, i saw 6 cars in 1 hour on the road......


make it 70 and we are all happy, then thats 10 less k's taht u will get dome for when your caught speeding

i didnt see any of the cop cars at all except for them hiding in the dual carriageway near the cafe , must have had my eyes shut

[MadKaw]

in my parents P76

Bwahahahahahahaha

Yes... I thought I'd throw that in there for a bit of comic relief..

[Cath]

If I had to travel to get to the OPH, I'd go elsewhere. (which I think was their intentions, anyway)

Considering it's basically in our backyard though, I'll continue having fun on it. You can limit your risk of getting pinged considerably. Choose your times. Don't speed on the straights. Get to know where the cops tend to hang out, etc

You can still have a lot of fun on that road, particularly in the twisties north of Calga, where there is very small likelihood of getting pinged as there aren't too many spots for the coppers to sit.

But as I said -> they've ruined it as a destination for non-locals.

[mike-s]

I've only been to Mt White 4 times in the last 18 months, just not worth the effort to get to, given theres the Natio 20 mins south from my doorstep.

[krusty]

The 80km limit still stands between Berowra and Brooklyn so going to PITS hasn't been spoiled (or have they changed that since I was up there in Dec). I take the freeway to goto Mt White now.

I have lost interest in the OPH as I've seen too many people have too much of themselves and their bike over the centre line or think they can over take through corners as if they are on the race track. I do remember when it used to be 80/100 (but I was only a kid) and if it was still like that there would probably be a huge number of head on's.

I feel much more comfortable on the Putty Rd, just don't like the 130km to get to the good bit. If you want to have fun at 60kph try up in Galston Gorge, there are some nice tight corners there, afterwards you can stop for some farm fresh friut at Galston.