Topic: What Motorcycle Have You Been Obsessing About Today?

[Jaeger]

  But - small progress has been made.  I recently traded watching all two hours of the Oprah interview with her, for her watching 3 motorcycle videos of my choice with me.  I shall choose carefully. 

My advice would be to stay far, far away from videos like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMsYT_7xNfg 

you definitely need to be aware/careful on a bike, but most of those accidents were relatively avoidable...a few of them were people going a bit too fast and not paying attention...the one guy getting blinded by the sun sucks, but put your hand up (to shield the glare) or pull over and put some sun glasses on...don't keep going if you can't see (driving blind is never a good idea)...the 2nd last one, the guy is riding on the right side of the lane for some reason (not sure why) and i assume he got target fixation or just wasn't paying attention because he ran right into the back of that car despite having plenty of time to slow down/stop or at least go to the side and not hit him...the last one was an accident waiting to happen...never ride like that, it's just asking for a crash.

One of the guys who teaches the course is also a friend, and my plan is to  ask him to ride behind me a few times and tell me every single damned thing I do wrong.  I absolutely do not see risk-taking or inattentiveness being a problem for me. Several years of road cycling have conditioned me to have a healthy awareness of the vulnerability of operating on two wheels in traffic.  Risks are constant and are never going away - whether you are on a road bike or motorcycle.  They aren't the same, but there is huge overlap - and no matter how safe you are, not everything is under your control.

[PJungnitsch]

Several years of road cycling have conditioned me to have a healthy awareness of the vulnerability of operating on two wheels in traffic.  Risks are constant and are never going away - whether you are on a road bike or motorcycle.  They aren't the same, but there is huge overlap - and no matter how safe you are, not everything is under your control.

That's a really good point.

Nothing particularly safe about road biking either, if you are comfortable with that, going faster with more protective gear is pretty much a wash

[blur911]

Several years of road cycling have conditioned me to have a healthy awareness of the vulnerability of operating on two wheels in traffic.  Risks are constant and are never going away - whether you are on a road bike or motorcycle.  They aren't the same, but there is huge overlap - and no matter how safe you are, not everything is under your control.

That's a really good point.

Nothing particularly safe about road biking either, if you are comfortable with that, going faster with more protective gear is pretty much a wash

I'd be more scared trying to bicycle in traffic than to ride a motorcycle.   Geez, I mean, look at  Nicky Hayden,  Fernando Alonso, Alex Zanardi.

[dirtyjeffer]

Several years of road cycling have conditioned me to have a healthy awareness of the vulnerability of operating on two wheels in traffic.  Risks are constant and are never going away - whether you are on a road bike or motorcycle.  They aren't the same, but there is huge overlap - and no matter how safe you are, not everything is under your control.

That's a really good point.

Nothing particularly safe about road biking either, if you are comfortable with that, going faster with more protective gear is pretty much a wash

yes, riding a bike in traffic is very good "practice"...a motorcycle just removes the physical exertion part and ups the speed...you can't eliminate all risk, but riding smart makes a huge difference.

[Triple Bob]

I actually watch crash videos now and them to remind me of the risk.

There are only really two types of crash:

1. Biker's fault - I.e. you're doing something silly / riding beyond your ability / not paying attention etc.

&

2. Driver's fault - They did something stupid that you couldn't avoid.


99% of the crashes I see online are avoidable, by just doing what Roger said, assuming that literally everyone else on the road is about to do something stupid. The graveyard is full of bikers that were right, and had right of way.  I cringe when I see people riding fast past waiting cars and the like, they literally give themselves no way out if the situation changes.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

You're better off buying one !secretly and keeping it at Adi's new fancy warehouse with his cars... then you drive over & take it for a rip whenever you want 

ikr? 

Just lay down the law with your wife.  Tell her you're the MAN of the house, and you ain't taking no for an answer.  Like this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7Y0I91rubg

[Bubba]

I recently traded watching all two hours of the Oprah interview with her,

We need to find a video of Oprah riding a motorcycle.

[dkaz]

I heard that statistically, other drivers were only found at fault in 20% of all accidents. I say with proper rider training and defensive riding, you can prevent 95% of your own accidents and 75% of accidents that aren't your fault. Even when I was rear ended on my scooter, I could've prevented that by glancing at the mirror every so often to make sure I wasn't going to get rear ended. It may have been that guy's fault but it's my life on the line.

I saw a horrific video on Youtube that's since been taken down that involved a semi turning left in front of a motorcycle. Sometimes it's just our time to go.

What I tell people that statistically, motorcycle riders are twice as likely to die of cancer than a motorcycle accident. That means drivers 26x more likely to die of cancer than a motor vehicle accident. In the grand scheme of things, you're not significantly increasing your chance of dying of unnatural causes by riding.

[dkaz]

Depends a lot on where you ride. I had no problem riding to work every day in towns like Lethbridge or Medicine Hat. Sure I wore a bright vest for visibility, made my rear light flashing on braking, got the airbag vest after I had my accident. But really, no major concerns

Edmonton though does not seem worth it. Lots of traffic, fast speeds, a bit of rando in the drivers. Bike accidents are regular in the summer months

It's weird but I feel safer riding in City of Edmonton than City of Kelowna. Most drivers in Edmonton are too scared to go more than 8 over the limit which is totally fine by me. If you go less than 20 over the speed limit in Kelowna, you're sure to get tailgated by an impatient driver behind while a transit bus passes you. Like it doesn't take more than 20 minutes to get anywhere in Kelowna at the speed limit, chill.

[Arthur Dent]

Lethbridge seems pretty reasonable to ride a bike in. I might feel different in a bigger city.

My only off was a freak of nature rather than a fault of anyone. (front wheel locked solid at highway speed for unknown reason ).

[PJungnitsch]

Depends a lot on where you ride. I had no problem riding to work every day in towns like Lethbridge or Medicine Hat. Sure I wore a bright vest for visibility, made my rear light flashing on braking, got the airbag vest after I had my accident. But really, no major concerns

Edmonton though does not seem worth it. Lots of traffic, fast speeds, a bit of rando in the drivers. Bike accidents are regular in the summer months

It's weird but I feel safer riding in City of Edmonton than City of Kelowna. Most drivers in Edmonton are too scared to go more than 8 over the limit which is totally fine by me. If you go less than 20 over the speed limit in Kelowna, you're sure to get tailgated by an impatient driver behind while a transit bus passes you. Like it doesn't take more than 20 minutes to get anywhere in Kelowna at the speed limit, chill.

That's Saskatoon.

Yellow light means gun it, red lights can mean gun it, turn signals are optional, stopping in the middle of street for random reasons is fine, opening up a spot in traffic is unheard of 'Shudda thought a that earlier, buddy'

Nicest people in the world, but everyone is either an old farmer who never signaled and drives 10km/hr under the limit or people that are enraged by this and drive like maniacs

[Jaeger]

I recently traded watching all two hours of the Oprah interview with her,

We need to find a video of Oprah riding a motorcycle.

That would help!

[dkaz]

My Youtube channel is full of boring non-event rides that don't generate viewership.

And it should be 2 hours of Oprah's interviews for 2 hours of motorcycle videos.

[Bubba]

I recently traded watching all two hours of the Oprah interview with her,

We need to find a video of Oprah riding a motorcycle.

That would help!

Closest I could find was Oprah sitting on an electric bike.  No idea if she ever rode it before selling.
http://www.jennifermairo.com/justsaying/i-had-a-mid-level-anxiety-attack-oprah-jokes-about-coming-to-terms-with-auctioning-off-her-most-prized-and-expensive-possessions/

[JohnnyMac]

I wonder what setting most motorcycling accidents happen, city, highway, back roads, etc.  If I ever decided to get into motorcycling I could see it being something like a weekend toy spent on the nice days on back roads.  I would think this type of riding is likely some of the safest.

[Fobroader]

I wonder what setting most motorcycling accidents happen, city, highway, back roads, etc.  If I ever decided to get into motorcycling I could see it being something like a weekend toy spent on the nice days on back roads.  I would think this type of riding is likely some of the safest.

I would think in traffic would be the most common, rush hour especially. Just going by the number of fender benders the slack jawed, steering wheel holder yokels around Edmonton have during rush hour.

[PJungnitsch]

I wonder what setting most motorcycling accidents happen, city, highway, back roads, etc.  If I ever decided to get into motorcycling I could see it being something like a weekend toy spent on the nice days on back roads.  I would think this type of riding is likely some of the safest.

Depends if a deer jumps out. That's what got me. Last minute and no time to do anything clever

That being said I had a Quebecer jump out on the Gaspe. Quiet highway, coming up to the stop sign from a cross road she carefully stopped her car, looked both ways, and then carried on across. Saw me then and stopped dead, right across the road. Remember watching her horrified eyes get big as I squealed to a stop just in time

As far as accidents go

1) flipped a scooter on a decreasing radius corner in England, first street machine and had not practiced counter steering. Bike fine, but nasty impact on the temple area of the helmet, good thing I had one on. One of those 'first time on street bike' type accidents

2) rear ended a car in a construction zone in Edmonton, everybody braked and I slide on the oil trail in the center of the road. Bent the forks but didn't get hurt

3) the deer thing, quiet rural highway. Totaled the bike

For 35 years and 100,000 km or so that's not bad I guess

[dkaz]

I wonder what setting most motorcycling accidents happen, city, highway, back roads, etc.  If I ever decided to get into motorcycling I could see it being something like a weekend toy spent on the nice days on back roads.  I would think this type of riding is likely some of the safest.

I would think in traffic would be the most common, rush hour especially. Just going by the number of fender benders the slack jawed, steering wheel holder yokels around Edmonton have during rush hour.

As I said, only 20% of all accidents are the fault of other drivers. Additionally, about 60% of motorcycle accidents do not involve another vehicle.

I personally worry more about the fair weather riders who only put 2,000 km on their bikes a year than those who are doing 10,000+ a year in all sorts of weather conditions. 

[JohnnyMac]

I wonder what setting most motorcycling accidents happen, city, highway, back roads, etc.  If I ever decided to get into motorcycling I could see it being something like a weekend toy spent on the nice days on back roads.  I would think this type of riding is likely some of the safest.

I would think in traffic would be the most common, rush hour especially. Just going by the number of fender benders the slack jawed, steering wheel holder yokels around Edmonton have during rush hour.

As I said, only 20% of all accidents are the fault of other drivers. Additionally, about 60% of motorcycle accidents do not involve another vehicle.

I personally worry more about the fair weather riders who only put 2,000 km on their bikes a year than those who are doing 10,000+ a year in all sorts of weather conditions.

That's definitely fair.  Kind of like being a newb on a race track, definitely pay attention around those drivers as opposed to the seasoned track guys.

[Fobroader]

I wonder what setting most motorcycling accidents happen, city, highway, back roads, etc.  If I ever decided to get into motorcycling I could see it being something like a weekend toy spent on the nice days on back roads.  I would think this type of riding is likely some of the safest.

I would think in traffic would be the most common, rush hour especially. Just going by the number of fender benders the slack jawed, steering wheel holder yokels around Edmonton have during rush hour.

As I said, only 20% of all accidents are the fault of other drivers. Additionally, about 60% of motorcycle accidents do not involve another vehicle.

I personally worry more about the fair weather riders who only put 2,000 km on their bikes a year than those who are doing 10,000+ a year in all sorts of weather conditions.

Yeah...those fair weather assholes...he...he...he