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Let's Check In on 635 Express Lanes in Dallas

Vic Mackey

By Vic Mackey
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Covri

Covri 6244

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I used to take the 635 express from 75 across and down to loop 12. I’d be doing 90 in my truck in the middle lane getting passed constantly by cars going well over 100. It’s a smooth road, but costs so damn much it’s never really busy. You still have to watch out for the backups at the exits that back up onto the road due to delays up top. I wouldn’t go much faster though, all it takes is one moron getting on going 65 and you’re not stopping in time.

Edited by Covri
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CoTex

CoTex 1160

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Question for motorcylists on this board.  What is the smallest thing that could go wrong for bike guy that would be fatal?  Hit a large bug like a cicada?  Rock flies up from porsche?  Random sparrow swoops down and causes you to flinch?

Obviously a front tire flat or something that causes rear wheel to lock up probably does you in but think small.  What is the smallest thing?

Also, winding down from 189, you don't use the brakes right?  Just ease off the gas and engine brake on down until what?  100?

 

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Homercles

Homercles 10205

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4 hours ago, CoTex said:

Question for motorcylists on this board.  What is the smallest thing that could go wrong for bike guy that would be fatal?  Hit a large bug like a cicada?  Rock flies up from porsche?  Random sparrow swoops down and causes you to flinch?

Obviously a front tire flat or something that causes rear wheel to lock up probably does you in but think small.  What is the smallest thing?

Also, winding down from 189, you don't use the brakes right?  Just ease off the gas and engine brake on down until what?  100?

 

Anything that upsets the front tire would instantly lead into a massive ‘tank slapper’ where a self-sustaining wobble of the front end rips your hands off the clip-ons, leading to loss of control and possibly dumping you off the bike.  It could be a slick spot on the road, rock under the tire, or slightest of wheelies.  Doesn’t take much at that speed. 
 

image.gif.514ee26621f777a66c59533d324a66af.gif
 

And no if I were ever stupid enough to go that fast (gave it up years ago when second kid came along), I would indeed have engine-braked down to a reasonable speed, being careful not to downshift too early and risk chatter even if it has a slipper clutch: 
 

1) Lock up the rear tire = you gotta ride it into the ground in a low side, or ride it out to a stop as releasing it can snap the bike up tossing you off in a high side.  
 

2) Probably wouldn’t lock the front tire at that speed, and a SS bike would have dual ventilated front rotors…but I’d still worry about overheating then or over stressing that tire.  
 

Bug strikes hurt but won’t knock you off, I got hit by a bat once on 45 Toll doing about 80.  
 

Ultimately any number of tiny things will kill you or someone else.  There is absolutely no place but the race track for speeds like that in a car or bike.  

Edited by Homercles
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CoTex

CoTex 1160

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Wind buffeting and jet wash coming off the back off a Porsche going 195 seems like it could be an issue.

i guess the good news is at 189 you won’t be in a hospital bed complaining about broken bones and road rash.  Just put the wet pieces in a body bag and the rest in a dumpster. 

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Homercles

Homercles 10205

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You gotta be careful passing or getting passed by an 18 wheeler.  They have a bow wave at the front that pushes you away and a wake behind that sucks you in.  Sitting at a red light while cars whiz by you at 60mph can be exciting too, which is why I was always cognizant of which side of a lane was safest at any given moment…even when stopped. 
 

Who knows what a Porsche at 190 would do

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Homercles

Homercles 10205

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1 hour ago, CoTex said:

Wind buffeting and jet wash coming off the back off a Porsche going 195 seems like it could be an issue.

i guess the good news is at 189 you won’t be in a hospital bed complaining about broken bones and road rash.  Just put the wet pieces in a body bag and the rest in a dumpster. 

NSFL

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tulsa-motorcycle-crash/

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Vito Andolini

Vito Andolini 9124

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I’m assuming the speedometer display maxed out at 189. If you’re dumb enough to go that fast, wouldn’t you go for 190 and above? He also stayed at 189 for a long time with no variance, so i suspect he may have been at the top range of the display. Respectfully submitted by someone who never advanced beyond his 1970’s Sears mini bike with the lawnmower engine.

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Clackles

Clackles 276

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26 minutes ago, Vito Andolini said:

I’m assuming the speedometer display maxed out at 189. If you’re dumb enough to go that fast, wouldn’t you go for 190 and above? He also stayed at 189 for a long time with no variance, so i suspect he may have been at the top range of the display. Respectfully submitted by someone who never advanced beyond his 1970’s Sears mini bike with the lawnmower engine.

I’d venture that the laws of physics were the limiting factor rather than the lcd display.

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956 Worldwide

956 Worldwide 34695

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On 6/24/2022 at 5:11 AM, Vic Mackey said:

 

Shit makes me ragey. There’s almost nothing that makes me angrier than douchbros on crotch rockets getting stupid on freeways, same for the guy in the Porsche.  Hitting triple digit speeds inside of city limits should be an instant trip to the crusher for your ride and a lifetime license ban. 
 

Sign up for a track day asshole. 

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markstanco

markstanco 12570

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Shit makes me ragey. There’s almost nothing that makes me angrier than douchbros on crotch rockets getting stupid on freeways, same for the guy in the Porsche.  Hitting triple digit speeds inside of city limits should be an instant trip to the crusher for your ride and a lifetime license ban. 
 
Sign up for a track day asshole. 

Pretty much the same. I don’t want them to die, I want them to lose their license to drive.
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Gravy Train

Gravy Train 974

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Having blasted through that section of 635 a few times myself (~90 cruise), I have to believe that shot was taken during early hours on a Sunday morning or something.  That run illustrates the entire section from around DNT/Midway up to I35 with no vehicles being passed over that clip.  That section of road is three lanes wide with a barrier wall and structural works between east bound and west bound lanes.

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UT_OB1

UT_OB1 2213

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On 6/25/2022 at 11:01 PM, markstanco said:


Pretty much the same. I don’t want them to die, I want them to lose their license to drive.

I absolutely want them to die hitting a tree off the road before they kill someone else. Dumbass on i10 this weekend just had to weave in and out of traffic to get 2 cars ahead. He pulled in to the right lane to pass someone, and when he couldn’t he pulled in to the shoulder and passed the person in the right lane. Someone had just pulled off with car problems. Instead of hitting his breaks he sped up to try to finish the pass.  Fortunately the car in the right lane braked hard. Guy almost took out an innocent family with car problems. I can’t wait for self driving cars. Until then, it should be punishable by death or at least castration 

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Vegas64

Vegas64 673

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On 6/25/2022 at 11:44 PM, Gravy Train said:

Having blasted through that section of 635 a few times myself (~90 cruise), I have to believe that shot was taken during early hours on a Sunday morning or something.  That run illustrates the entire section from around DNT/Midway up to I35 with no vehicles being passed over that clip.  That section of road is three lanes wide with a barrier wall and structural works between east bound and west bound lanes.

Yep. I love taking that stretch of road because it's always so empty, it's so new and smooth and fresh, and you do 80-90 mph effortlessly.

CSB/ I once got in security line at DFW and realized I'm the world's biggest idiot and left my wallet with DL in it, at home. I didn't have a ton of time, but I jumped on that stretch of tollway to the house and back, and did 100-110mp the entire way to where the Honda Pilot I was driving was rattling. I was pushing the limits of that baby, may she rest in peace, but because hardly anyone takes that stretch I got there just in time and made my flight. Also 110 mph on that road feels like 75 or 80 on a normal highway.

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Ok, what's the fastest y'all ever driven?

I think I'm around 90 mph. Gone faster as a passenger, but the thrill of speed is wayyyyyy outweighed by the fear of death/injury.

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Vic Mackey

Vic Mackey 47006

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5 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Ok, what's the fastest y'all ever driven?

I think I'm around 90 mph. Gone faster as a passenger, but the thrill of speed is wayyyyyy outweighed by the fear of death/injury.

110 to 120 on interstate 75. Over a decade ago. 

These days i top out at 80. I'm a right 2 lanes at about 70 most the time. 

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Ignatius

Ignatius 4017

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9 hours ago, Vegas64 said:

Yep. I love taking that stretch of road because it's always so empty, it's so new and smooth and fresh, and you do 80-90 mph effortlessly.

CSB/ I once got in security line at DFW and realized I'm the world's biggest idiot and left my wallet with DL in it, at home. I didn't have a ton of time, but I jumped on that stretch of tollway to the house and back, and did 100-110mp the entire way to where the Honda Pilot I was driving was rattling. I was pushing the limits of that baby, may she rest in peace, but because hardly anyone takes that stretch I got there just in time and made my flight. Also 110 mph on that road feels like 75 or 80 on a normal highway.

You can totally board a plane with no DL; most of the time if you make it known early enough in the process they’ll walk you straight to the front of security once you get verified, which doesn’t take much time…

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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21469

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10 minutes ago, Ignatius said:

You can totally board a plane with no DL; most of the time if you make it known early enough in the process they’ll walk you straight to the front of security once you get verified, which doesn’t take much time…

That was not my experience the one time I left the wallet on the counter in a rush to get out the door.  Circa 2018.  Was told to pound sand. Had to pay same day rates to get where I was going the next morning.  At the time I didn’t travel much and didn’t have the status a lot of you frequent flyers do.  

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hpslugga

hpslugga 4058

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On 6/23/2022 at 10:21 PM, Hawndoh said:

Given how bumpy every freeway in Dallas is and the general state of road maintenance around here, you have to be monumentally stupid to go that fast.

Not on that, no. Smooth as a baby’s ass…but then again that’s only because it’s been open for like 5 years.

 

On 6/26/2022 at 12:10 AM, futureman said:

comments on twizzler saying those lanes are always empty because they’re so expensive.  what’s the toll?

They’re not a set rate. They change every so often (15-30 minutes iirc). Highest I’ve seen it go is $5.80 between DNT and 75 and that’s going East (usually the less expensive of the two directions).

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GringoSalado

GringoSalado 1651

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On 6/25/2022 at 7:51 AM, Hawndoh said:

I just assumed the bike has a speed limiter.

 

On 6/25/2022 at 8:21 AM, conVINCEd said:

Capping it at 189 is gonna save a lot of lives.

 

On 6/25/2022 at 10:15 AM, Hawndoh said:

I assume the limiter is to keep the bike from exploding, not to save any lives.

I used to race sportbikes (slowly), and for a long time mfg.s limited the top speed to <190mph. I don't know if there was a formal or informal agreement, but also for a long time they wouldn't sell bikes with more than 200 hp until they did. And I think some newer bikes will go over 200 (but I didn't look it up).

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TKthunder2

TKthunder2 4985

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On 6/28/2022 at 7:26 PM, conVINCEd said:

I’m not proud of it, but I did MLK TO downtown Dallas in 1:40 very early in the morning one time as a young man.   Maybe I’m a little proud of it.

Damn, I did it in 2 hours once starting at 2am and thought I was speed demon.  It’s nearly 200 miles so I was pushing 90-100 the whole way, which means you were pushing 120.

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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21469

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8 minutes ago, TKthunder2 said:

Damn, I did it in 2 hours once starting at 2am and thought I was speed demon.  It’s nearly 200 miles so I was pushing 90-100 the whole way, which means you were pushing 120.

Dad was suddenly and unexpectedly in bad shape.  

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Prepuce of Doom

Prepuce of Doom 21052

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On 6/28/2022 at 10:56 PM, GringoSalado said:

 

 

I used to race sportbikes (slowly), and for a long time mfg.s limited the top speed to <190mph. I don't know if there was a formal or informal agreement, but also for a long time they wouldn't sell bikes with more than 200 hp until they did. And I think some newer bikes will go over 200 (but I didn't look it up).

Generally speaking, the various gentleman's agreements capping advertised horsepower, advertised top speed, and limited top speeds were due to tire and safety technology lagging behind the demands necessary for high speeds. 

Japanese cars had a "maximum" stated horsepower of 276hp for a long time. 

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15131963/japan-dumps-276-hp-pact-car-news/#:~:text=Since 1989%2C Japanese automakers have,speed limit is 62 mph.

https://garagedreams.net/car-facts/why-are-japanese-cars-limited-to-276hp

The German "Big Three" also agreed to limit top speeds to 155mph for quite a while for a variety of reasons (including environmental concerns). 

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2006/12/by-thy-speed-limits-thy-shall-be-known/

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Tom

Tom 2959

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On 6/28/2022 at 11:48 AM, FirstTimeCaller said:

Ok, what's the fastest y'all ever driven?

I think I'm around 90 mph. Gone faster as a passenger, but the thrill of speed is wayyyyyy outweighed by the fear of death/injury.

 

Somewhere around 125.

I used to live in West Texas and would have to drive all over the place from town to town for work.  The land was flat with little vegetation and the roads were straight.  You could see unobstructed all the way to the horizon so no worrying about other traffic or cops.  It was fun to see how fast you could get your car.

 

I've never owned anything that could approach the speeds of these two vehicles.  Not sure if I would have pushed it if I had.

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43 minutes ago, Tom said:

I've never owned anything that could approach the speeds of these two vehicles.  Not sure if I would have pushed it if I had.

Your avatar just called you a wuss.

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