Safety feelings
- Thread starter Bianca
- Start date
Stormrider51
Active Member
Is riding a motorcycle dangerous? Sure it is, but I've ridden one for more than 40 years and never been down at anything above a walking speed. (Long story.) I ride my bike to work almost every day and then for fun on the weekends. But my long track record doesn't mean that I won't have a bad accident tomorrow. The bottom line is that I do my best to minimize the risks and then accept them.
Among the basics I still ride by are "Training, Mind Set, and Protection". I was lucky enough to complete a law enforcement motor officers course many years ago. I still go out and practice those skills. You can attend any number of courses ranging from the MSF Basic to something like the one taught by Jerry Paladino. Training like that is fun and might well keep you alive. Nothing beats having control of your bike.
Mind set means getting your head into the ride and keeping it there. My wife says she loves sitting behind me to watch the world go by and daydream while we are on a ride. I can't afford to do that. Alert = Alive. This is especially true when it comes to drinking or other recreational substances. I don't open a throttle after I open a beer.
I'll admit to being a little bit of a backslider when it comes to preparation. I know I should wear more protective gear and I do when the weather is cool enough. Riding as I do in 100+ degree temps on a congested freeway is an invitation to heat stroke. I do wear a helmet, gloves, long jeans, and good boots. The jacket will have to wait until at least October around here.
We have had a number of motorcycle fatalities in this city of almost a million people in the last few months. Most of them have surprised me as to how they happened. "Motorcyclist struck a curb and was thrown from bike. They were not wearing a helmet." Struck a curb? You gotta be kidding me. I have some contacts in law enforcement and the rest of the story is; 1. Going too fast and/or lost control. 2. Intoxicated. 3. Not wearing a helmet. Most had no previous training and were new riders.
John
Among the basics I still ride by are "Training, Mind Set, and Protection". I was lucky enough to complete a law enforcement motor officers course many years ago. I still go out and practice those skills. You can attend any number of courses ranging from the MSF Basic to something like the one taught by Jerry Paladino. Training like that is fun and might well keep you alive. Nothing beats having control of your bike.
Mind set means getting your head into the ride and keeping it there. My wife says she loves sitting behind me to watch the world go by and daydream while we are on a ride. I can't afford to do that. Alert = Alive. This is especially true when it comes to drinking or other recreational substances. I don't open a throttle after I open a beer.
I'll admit to being a little bit of a backslider when it comes to preparation. I know I should wear more protective gear and I do when the weather is cool enough. Riding as I do in 100+ degree temps on a congested freeway is an invitation to heat stroke. I do wear a helmet, gloves, long jeans, and good boots. The jacket will have to wait until at least October around here.
We have had a number of motorcycle fatalities in this city of almost a million people in the last few months. Most of them have surprised me as to how they happened. "Motorcyclist struck a curb and was thrown from bike. They were not wearing a helmet." Struck a curb? You gotta be kidding me. I have some contacts in law enforcement and the rest of the story is; 1. Going too fast and/or lost control. 2. Intoxicated. 3. Not wearing a helmet. Most had no previous training and were new riders.
John
threesteps
Junior Member
IMO you have gotten some great responses. I also agree that your question is "open ended" and not really specific as to what you really want to know.
Having said that, I view riding motorcycles as a great hobby. It's also a hobby with some increased risk. But there are tons of risky things we can do. The key for me is to manage that risk by riding smart.....within my limits and the bike's limits. I want to recognize as many "traps" so I can avoid a bad outcome. These traps can be poorly maintained bike, weather, other vehicles, the roads, etc.
If your talking HD's being safe or unsafe from a design standpoint, I would say yes Harley's are safe. Can things fail.........of course. I don't have the data but I would bet serious accidents from a failure of some bike component, where the bike has been reasonably maintained, are statistically way down on the list of primary accident causes.
My question is do you think you would be safe operating a bike? If you approach riding with the attitude that your going to learn about your bike, use good riding techniques (MSF course can teach you some of those), and stay within your limits (ride to ensure there is a tomorrow), you will at least have the safety gods backing you up.
Having said that, I view riding motorcycles as a great hobby. It's also a hobby with some increased risk. But there are tons of risky things we can do. The key for me is to manage that risk by riding smart.....within my limits and the bike's limits. I want to recognize as many "traps" so I can avoid a bad outcome. These traps can be poorly maintained bike, weather, other vehicles, the roads, etc.
If your talking HD's being safe or unsafe from a design standpoint, I would say yes Harley's are safe. Can things fail.........of course. I don't have the data but I would bet serious accidents from a failure of some bike component, where the bike has been reasonably maintained, are statistically way down on the list of primary accident causes.
My question is do you think you would be safe operating a bike? If you approach riding with the attitude that your going to learn about your bike, use good riding techniques (MSF course can teach you some of those), and stay within your limits (ride to ensure there is a tomorrow), you will at least have the safety gods backing you up.
I guess you have to define "safe" for your research. I use to work as a repo guy and I thought it was pretty safe and others thought I was crazy. I now work as a computer specialist and the pressure from the employer is causing me to have high blood pressure, heart problems, no sleep and the like. I ride my bike to ease the stress etc.. So I guess all is relative to what "safe" is.
Ugly John
Ugly John
Flashback
Active Member
it has more to do with you than modern bikes. The bikes are all about the same as they are required to be. If you are the kind of person who always plays it safe and doen't take risks (and I'm not saying that is a bad thing) then motorcycles are not for you. Motorcycles are more dangerous than other forms of transportation but to me and the others here the benefits of the pleasure enjoyed is worth the risk involved. So it's mostly about your comfort lvl not the bike whatever brand.
Bianca, rest assured that your Harley, in particular the Sportster is very reliable...has one of the better horsepower to weight performance edge over many of the HD models as designed since 1957 or so...certainly plenty of time for HD MOCO to refine.
http://www.hdtimeline.com/general_tips/13448-sportster_time_line.html
It is one of the easiest handling, but at the same time blessed with more cornering clearance and weights 590 lbs w/ approx. 55 horsepower and pulls in almost any gear, easily with little drama...! The mild state of tune means plenty of long life and safe riding.
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scrinch
Active Member
If you go to Bikez (2009 motorcycle catalog from Bikez.com) they rate most bikes for quality, accident risk, touring capabilities etc.
I think this should be taken with a grain of salt and I am not sure how they arrive at their data, but it is somewhat interesting to check out to see how a bike stacks up against all others.
I think this should be taken with a grain of salt and I am not sure how they arrive at their data, but it is somewhat interesting to check out to see how a bike stacks up against all others.