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Motorcycle Riding - less safe today?

I don't know how much more dangerous it is now. Certainly cell phones are a big problem. They are a distraction and people daydream when they are talking on them and splitting their attention. Also, there are more cars on the road than ever, and with all that traffic comes people in a hurry to get out of it. But there have always been idiots that do stupid things and should not be driving. They never really think about the physics involved with driving a large mass and what it takes to stop or turn it. I think time tends to sweeten things in people's minds, and age makes us more critical of stupidity and more aware of self-preservation. People tend to think more positively about past experiences and forget the bad ones. Also the cars today are much more responsive and safe than the cars of years ago with all the electronic driving aides like ABS and such.

You can minimize the risk by doing all the things that people are talking about in this thread and more. I ride a lot and will continue to.
 
dokblues said:
When I used to teach safety classes for the AMA, (Over 76% of all motorcycle accidents are caused by inatentivness of the Rider). Yes it was a fact that was proven. Scary as that is it`s TRUE!
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I can believe that. And I think the fastest growing demographic of serious accidents on motorcycles is my age group - the 50-somethings that get back into biking after being away from it for years and get over their heads with modern bikes and make mistakes.

I was not planning on this thread being a rant against ass-hole drivers. Just a caution for bikers to be more alert since cell phones are a new distraction for drivers. I don't see any new laws effectively stopping the use of cell phones in cars. It's just a reality we have to factor in when we ride a bike today and get in traffic.

Cheers, Snade
 
I see and not hear a lot of motorcycles these days. Back in my riding days we allways had loud rude open headers on our bikes. Roads are more congested these days.
 
I want to get my license since I already have a bike but not so sure how safe it is. I have some close calls in my car. Although driving a beat upish Subaru does let me boss other people around when they get try to merge into me and such (Hummer tried to push me off the road the other day, looked right at him and kepped going, he stopped because he didn't want to dent his nice hummer.) Although I learned from my mom to never trust other people on the road so i drive like everyone is going to pull out in front of me.

Sandy G said:
I dunno guys...Something about the mountains here & the attendant curvy roads seems to bring out the Evel Kneivel in scoot riders...If a safe speed going around a hairpin is 25, 30 MPH, seems like motorcycle riders think its their Constitutional right-and duty, apparently- to make a liar outta the sign, & go around said curve at no less than 50 or so...
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I can double every one of those withing 15 mile of my house. :smoke:
 
Yes...no question. It's odd (to me) how easy the new cars are to drive, yet people can't drive worth a darn these days.
Be careful.
 
I've debated about this myself, and concluded I'm not going back to two wheels on the road. I still have a '79 Bonneville in my shed,& it wouldn't take much to make it run again.(I had it running a couple years back) I always had loud mufflers on it, that is an important safety consideration. I'll likely do a minor restoration on it & sell it. :tears:
 
I've NEVER gone after a car, no matter how BIG an A-hole he's been!?
Law of physics.................................
3000 pound car.....VS......450 pound motorcycle..........................

Kind of a no-brainer to me?

Steve
 
My last 3 close calls have come from behind.The worst I never saw until it was over .I pulled out onto a road and there was a long slow curve to the right .I was in the left lane and there was a car in the right lane and this guy came up on me so fast probably going 90 mph the speed limit was 35 .He swerved and missed me by 2 feet maybe and then missed the car in the right lane by less and then he was gone.I thought he had probably robbed something.Cell phones are making it worse and I can't believe it's still legal to drive and talk.Why does there have to be a tragedy before society does anything about it ?
 
'Cause society doesn't give a rat's ass about bikers!
Too many Marlon Brando/Lee Marvin movies have made us out to be a bunch of hooligans.


Steve
 
Well, bad car drivers aside, the nut-cases on the crotch-rockets WHO THINK THEY OWN THE DAMNED ROAD are back out on the road 'cause it's Spring doing their front and back wheelies on the highway in traffic and they get indignant when you get in their way to pass and give them room.

THESE CLOWNS are not "safe riding", they are a menace, and should be run off the road, plain and simple. There's never a cop around when you need them, and I have called 911 from the road when I'm within a pack of these jerks on the road.

At least when I encounter a pack of Hell's Angels (two or three times during the Spring/Summer) they are incredibly polite, turn, look, signal, and then clear the road for cars to pass-by. THEY are safe riding and it's a pleasure to admire the bikes as one passes them by.

Problem is (like with car drivers) there are good-eggs and bad-eggs, and the bad-eggs make life unpleasant for all.
 
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Amen, Walker, amen. A LOT of these twisty roads around here are blind curves & corners, & while it might be great jolly fun to drive at 11/10 on 'em, what if you run up on a stalled car right around the next bend, or a kid chasing a ball, or a dog or other animal that doesn't know they're not sposed to be out on the road in the 1st place ? As often as not, many of these daredevils have some Sweet Young Thang holding on tightly, that just eggs the Evel Knievel wannabe on that much further, & 2 young people get to maybe meet Jesus before their time instead of just one...
 
wajobu said:
Well, bad car drivers aside, the nut-cases on the crotch-rockets WHO THINK THEY OWN THE DAMNED ROAD are back out on the road 'cause it's Spring doing their front and back wheelies on the highway in traffic and they get indignant when you get in their way to pass and give them room.

THESE CLOWNS are not "safe riding", they are a menace, and should be run off the road, plain and simple. There's never a cop around when you need them, and I have called 911 from the road when I'm within a pack of these jerks on the road.

At least when I encounter a pack of Hell's Angels (two or three times during the Spring/Summer) they are incredibly polite, turn, look, signal, and then clear the road for cars to pass-by. THEY are safe riding and it's a pleasure to admire the bikes as one passes them by.

Problem is (like with car drivers) there are good-eggs and bad-eggs, and the bad-eggs make life unpleasant for all.
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As a guy that rides a sport bike on weekends, I have to agree with Walker above.

Here in Chicago, there is a small group of sport bike riders that will weave in and out of traffic on the tollways, sometimes at speeds in excess of 120mph and they put a video camera fixed to their gas tank looking forward and record this so you see the speedometer and the cars in front as they race by. They put these videos on YouTube (anonymously of course) and send the link to their buddies to impress them. They bend their license plate in back inward so it cannot be viewed by surveillance cameras on the tollways. I saw one of these clowns ride past me on 355 (tollway) when I was in a car - incredibly stupid and dangerous.

Cheers, Snade
 
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Many years back my son pulled into the local strip mall on his Honda Nighthawk. Now he always kept his headlight on day and night. This woman looks straight at him and drives straight for him. He just laid the bike down and let her total it, her insurance company was not happy.

Coming home on the back road there is a spot where the road makes a left turn and that turn has the right-of-way. Florence was heading home and this stupid other driver blows straight through the stop sign. Good thing that some of us old people do have good reflexes.
 
Elfasto said:
x2 brother!

I've been thinking about getting a bike for daily commutes during the warm months (about 5 :D) but frankly the other people on the main thruways here scare the living **** right out of me. It's bad enough that they can't see my 325i, let alone a motorcycle that's about 1/5 the size.

As much as I hate loud straight pipes on motorcycles, I can see their point on having them. It does allow car drivers a slim chance to at least hear you coming.

And cell phone scramblers? Illegal, but oh so tempting to install one on the car, and have a no cell zone for about 20 metres around me. The thought is attractive.
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Good idea at first blush, but when their phone gets blocked they will likely be just as dangerous trying fix it while they are driving!

Russellc
 
I have to disagree on some of what was said...regardless of how idiotic and reckless the driving is, nobody on a cycle deserves to be run off the road.

Are they a menace? Sure, to some degree, but likely one of the least of your worries out on the road. As someone else said, a 450lb cycle vs a 3,000lb (or more) vehicle...well, guess who walks away and who doesn't 99.9% of the time.
 
grumpy said:
I have longed for another bike. But then a freaking expedition nearly runs my astro van off the road. If they cannot see a 5500 lb van how the hell can i expect these assholes to see me on two wheels....

They seriously need to tighten up who the hell they give drivers licenses too !!!
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A very real concern. My only incident was a guy making a right on red. He looked right at me and went. Next thing I knew, I was sitting in the middle of the road with him approaching me saying "you can make a right on a red" etc.
Only being 19 at the time and basically full on crazy, he was lucky I didnt cut his guts out leaving him cleanly dressed out right on the spot. All I was able to do was say "Not into oncoming traffic, dumbass" Point is, they just dont see you!

When doing traffic cases involved in accidents, I constantly hear "I looked both ways and no one was coming" except obviously there was. They just dont see you on a motorcycle. I would no longer consider a motorcycle as a means of transportation day to day. Especially in the city. Only out on the open road, preferably in a group.

Russellc
 
Snade said:
I'm no risk taker.

As a 50-something guy that owns a sportbike, this is what I do.

- I only ride early morning on Saturday or Sunday when traffic is light (usually a breakfast run with one of my buddies).

- I head straight west to try to get out of the Chicago burbs onto country roads and then I open the bike up a little.

- Suburban roads are actually dangerous because so many vans and SUV's are pulling out in front of you, pulling out from shopping centers, so I always assume the drivers of these cars cannot see me and slow down until I make eye contact or change lanes to give them room.

- Any long trip (for me that is a 2 to 6 hour trip), I ride with at least two other bikers. A group of 3 bikes, properly spaced and knowing how to ride as a group is very safe, IMO, because it creates a presence on the road that cars see and respect.

- My Yamaha will go 140mph, but I never use all its horsepower. This bike has carbs and not FI, so it is easy to ride slowly and with control. I've never attempted a wheelie, that's crazy to me on a motorcycle.

- I wear a good Aria helmet, leather gloves and jacket (even on hot days), and boots that protect your ankles if you roll the bike over (the most common accident and these ankle injuries are usually very damaging). Never ride in shorts (again, that is crazy)

- I've retaken the motorcycle riding safety courses.

Cheers, Snade
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Excellent riding protocol!:thmbsp:

Russellc
 
Three would make it roughly 0.1%, if I figured it properly. So, yeah, maybe 0.1% is a little tight but probably not too far off.
 
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