Are you scared to ride? (sport bike)

Damn..

 

I used to ride my 919 all the time all year long in so cal on the highway in the city and on the weekends. There is a lot of bike accidents around here and they always make the paper so im aware of it.. Until about a year and a half ago i was driving home and traffic was stopped four about two hours and it turned out to be a friend of mine who supposedly was torn in two as a minivan turned in front of him on a highway that was a 65mph limit.. i saw his gas tank and his helmet. He went throught the passenger window and over the top of it. No doubt he was speeding but even so you cant control the way other people drive. Since them my bike has been in storage. Long story short is im scared...

R.I.P.---Mike Hughes---

 

Damn that sucks man.
for what it's worth I feel for ya

 

MX is much safer!!! Haha JK!!!

 

it's weird that it is!

flying 80 feet far at 20 feet high between tree's and other bike's is somehow safer than riding 60km/h on a straight road.

I'm seeing a lot of people are quitting riding because of friends and family getting hurt, make's me wonder, is it just too damn dangerous?

I'm sure where I live is much less populated than where most of you live, fairly large city with about 150,000 people...

edit: I'm in canada, we have forests and not deserts, thats why I said flying between tree's

 

I know right!

 

Good point!! Damn!!

 

I don't know, we lost a hand full of kids around the old home town to "hazardous sports" bikes, snow mobiles and skiing.

I don't know why people think "it can't happen to me" till someone in their family does it.

Its not too logical. Every once in a while I think about how it would be for my wife to explain to the kids that because I like doing dangerous things I'm not around anymore. But, eh.. people die in the bathtub. Just try to do everything sensibly.

 

That works for me

 

get your daughter off that bike.

 

I know what you mean, but you also have to think, you only live once.
I would hate more than anything to look back at age 50 and think, damn I wish I did that stuff when I was young!

 

But when you're young you're stupid and have no money to do those things. And frequently, if you're trying to be upwardly mobile, not the time.

Then you get old and it's a "waste of money and time" or "i'm too old to do that". I hate being the "old guy in the group".

FYI, people over 40 are way over represented in MC crash statistics. Theory is, it's the harley hordes. Idiots that finally can afford to get a harley. Teach themselves to ride, do it with no gear, and crash.

Other thing I worry about is. I'm not as strong nor do I heal as fast as I used to. If I hit the road, I'll shatter. No muscle holding the bones together.

I try to work on it. But... who has the time and drive to do it. Got myself a sledge hammer and big ol tire though. then I cut my hand. But I'll be back to it.

 

not all young people are poor

 

No.. true. Some are lucky, some are mommy's little boy. The others are busy working hard to be rich young.

 

yes, which is damn hard! any advice?

 

this thread is stupid... just don't be stupid... and be careful... shit happens but MORE shit happens when you're stupid

I'm sure 75% of the risk can be mitigated if you slow the f*ck down and don't do stupid crap... like treat the highway as your own personal race or stunt track

everyone is always like "I'm scared to ride because my buddy got his head smashed and it wasn't his fault but oh yeah he was probably speeding, lane splitting, and doing wheelies, but it was some other persons fault because they didn't see him going 120 mph in rush hour traffic between cars"

Give me a damn break... yes other people cause accidents too, BUT so do motorcyclist... slow down, wear your gear, keep the track shit AT THE TRACK, and don't do stupid shit on the freeway

 

x2 and respect the bike

 

my thread isn't stupid

 

The other day on my way home I ended up at a light with an R6 and ZX-6r (driven by this little Asian cutie) both had jackets, boots, helmet, and the other minimal gear... but both of them blasted off the line like they were freakin rocket ships right through a major intersection. they also were weaving back and forth in the lane (like there were cones in it) and cutting through traffic. I rode the speed limit and watched them as the cut off no less than 5 cars. I caught up to them at the stoplight and the girl was bouncing around on the bike like she was on drugs. When the light turned green they blasted off again (without looking) and nearly clipped a truck turning right from the side street... she had to swerve into the left lane and he (was riding right next to her) swerved into oncoming traffic. He almost became a traffic statistic. I rode up to them at the next light and just shuck my head.... they blasted off from the next light and I went on my way.

These two were idiots... and probably are typical of a whole lot of riders across this country. Just because you have a suped up sportbike does not make the street your race track! Slow the hell down

 

sorry your thread isn't stupid but some of the responses for why they are afraid is. I'm sorry if someone's friend/family member was killed on the bike but I'm willing to bet that 2/3rds of all motorcycle accidents are caused by the rider and the other 1/3 being caused by other drivers.

Whether its rider error or just plain stupidity I'm sure people could be a lot safer not blasting off at stoplights, lane splitting at >10mph, wheelies, cutting in and out of traffic, or any of the other BS I've seen as both as a automobile driver and a motorcycle rider