Im thinking about learning to ride and so many people tell me Im nuts - that it incredibly dangerous. You know the axiom “There are those who have laid their bikes down and those who will.” Anyone know of statistics for injuries/fatalities from motorcycle vs. auto riding as a percentage of those using these vehicles? I have to admit I only really pay attention driving when im going fast enough to make it interesting. Poster boy for ADD. Is this a recipe for disaster?
I don’t have anny stats but do have some advice from personal experience. Do not start riding a motorcycle on the street until you have four or five years experience driving a car. It’s really important to anticipate dangerous situations like when someone is likely to cut you off etc. and there is no substitute for experience. As far as off-road riding … go for it. If you have an accident off road you might get hurt but probably won’t get killed.
I have slightly different advice. Ride a bicycle a while to learn how drivers don’t see you. They’ll pop the door open as you approach, turn right as if you don’t exist, pull into the lane you are legally using, etc. When you’ve developed the sixth sense that old-blue-hair in the Caddie is going to scrape your flesh off and drive away unaware, then you may get a motorcycle.
These look like red flags to me. Daydreaming on a bike seriously detracts from your ability to react to the a$$hole you cuts in front of you because you are invisible. If this is a serious enough issue to cause you to jolt awake in a car, you may want to keep four wheels under you. I love motorcycling, and I encourage those who look into it. But be capable.
It’s bad enough other people in cars aren’t paying attention to the road and others around them, but if you are the “poster boy for ADD”, I’d say it wasn’t a good idea.
I’ve always paid good attention to the road in a car, and as was suggested above, get to know just how much people don’t see you on a bike.
I rode for four years during my university years and it was only this paranoid riding that saved me from many a inattentive car driver.
I no longer ride. I had a yen to ride again a few years ago, but it quickly went away after a childhood friend died due to falling off of a raised highway after getting cut off by a driver that didn’t see him.
I’m not gonna provide a cite but I know you can find it on line. Last year while reading the results of a government study I found online about the benefits for States to make helmet wearing a law. I’m going by memory here: On a motorcycle, you are 4 times more likely to get seriously injured in an accident than in an automobile, 14 times more likely to be killed.
You’re the one asking the question. You can also answer it. If there was ever a time to be honest with yourself, this is the time.
Having said all that, I’ve been riding for 14 years (so old). If you allow, let me tell you 4 things:
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If you get a bike, spend the first 30 or so hours learning how to get the bike to go from 40mph to zero as fast as you can. There is no substitute for knowing how to quickly stop a bike. You need to get to the point where you know when the front wheel is about to lock. The only way to do this is to find an empty street or parking lot and practice. To figure it out, you will actually have to lock the front wheel a few times. A dangerous situation but better to crash alone in a parking lot than slam into a van. I do practice, and do lock the front occassionally, but have never crashed in the process. The bike will tell you when the wheel is about to lock and you will learn to listen with practice.
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A good following distance is your friend. If you have one, it gives you the opportunity to either drive around an obstacle or to slow down in a manner that prevents the idiot behind you from hitting you.
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The other guy ALWAYS has the right-of-way. It doesn’t matter who was technically in the right if you end up in a wheel chair.
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RUFUS was right on about learning how to drive a car first and get a feel for others first.
You HAVE to ride a motorcycle assuming that everyone else is going to do the worst possible thing at ever second. I probably average one evasive maneuver per hour of riding(by that, I mean that if I go out for two hours, twice I will have to do serious braking/swerving to avoid a wreck).
Go get a full face, DOT and SNELL approved helmet.
Go get full leathers with armor.
This is exactly in line with my experience.
Well, darlin’, it certainly sounds like a ‘recipe for disaster’ to me. Read what everyone else had to say: motorcycling can be a great hobby – my husband has had a bike for 26 years and I’ve riden with him for 16 and we have a great time – but you really need to be vigilant at all times. I don’t have a bike of my own or any intention of ever getting a bike of my own because, like you, I’m kind of drifty. I’m not going to give you any statistics – I don’t even want to read any myself as my husband is at the Myrtle Beach bike rally this weekend and I don’t need any more stress – but I will say that taking a good motorcycle safety course is warranted if you are serious about learning to ride. A good course will teach you to ride defensively – it may even convince you that you shouldn’t be riding at all. According to my husband, every class he’s ever taken has a certain percentage of students who finally decide not to get a bike.
Jess
IANAMR but I do have friends and family who are enthusiasts. I also live next to a biker bar so me, my car, and my truck have to deal with heavy bike traffic on a regular basis.
I think motorcycles are wonderful, I’ve ridden on a few and had a great time. But like everything else, some bikers are thoughtful, careful people and others are complete idiots.
So, as a reminder to those considering the motorcycle…
PLEASE remember that cars and trucks have blind spots. DO NOT hang out in a blind spot, because then I can’t see you even if I am looking for you. Here’s a good rule of thumb for use with vehicles with side mirrors - if you can see me in the mirror I can see you. If you can’t see me, assume I can’t see you.
Keep extra distance between you and the vehicle in front of you whenever possible - you may need it because the idiot in the car behind you may not leave enough room between you and him/her and you’ll need the space ahead of you to escape. Granted, this is not always possible.
If you’re being tailgated get off the road and let the jerk go by. You can’t win against a car or truck.
I mention the above two sceanarios in memory of several locals who were run over from behind. Thoughtful, careful, alert and sober people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Obey the traffic laws - just because you are phsycially able to squeeze between two lines of cars doesn’t mean you should. Just because you are physically able to ride on the highway shoulder doesn’t mean you should.
Be cautious even at slow speeds on residential roads - Bad Things can happen anywhere.
If you have “spacey” and “drifting” tendences please pick a different hobby - motorcycles are fun, but they are serious fun with steep consequences if you screw up.
Yes they’re more dangerous, and everyone above has given very good advice about how to minimize the dangers.
But you just have to get a bike, they are so much more fun, it’s actually enjoyable to go to work in the morning 
There is nothing that matches the feeling and I would encourage everyone to give it a go.
They’re practical too, my journey into work is an hour and a half in a car and 40 minutes on the bike.
And they make you a better car driver, by far. You’re very removed from the road in a car, power steering, big comfy seats, anti lock brakes & traction control etc. On a bike it feels like your brain is wired directly to the road, you can feel what the suspension, brakes and tyres are doing and learn to get a feeling for how much grip you have, how wide you can open the throttle etc. That experience is very useful when driving a car again (plus you look out for bikers more if you are one yourself).
Having said all that, my bike (Laverda 750) is off the road at the moment after I high sided it Which goes back to what everyone has said - you must pay attention at all times. Of all the crashes I’ve had on a bike (up to four now) one has been the result of another vehicle (car driving into the back of me whilst stopped at traffic lights), one has been a result of pushing my luck (trying to go round that corner just a bit faster), and two have been as a result of not thinking (generally pulling away too fast whilst going round a corner, slipping the back, lifting the front and then high siding).
I learned to ride the bike first, then the car 2 years later (18 years ago). The bike made me a much better driver because I had to learn to PAY ATTENTION.
If you can’t tell what other drivers are doing or about to do or might do…
If you don’t like accomodating other road users…
If you’re not at least a little intimidated by pavement, trees and bridge abutments going by at 90 feet per second, or other vehicles approaching your face at 180 feet per second…
If you drive aggressively when you get angry…
Stay off the bikes. Nothing I hate to see more than dead bikers.
If you can be attentive, courteous (a survival technique, I assure you), and foresighted…
Welcome aboard.
There are some really good books out there which you should check out. I’ll recommend Proficient Motorcycling, by David L. Hough. Read it. You’ll find statistics in there, but even better: analysis of them to help you be a safer rider.
See you when you ride through Maine.
Worth noting: The state of Connecticut puts in a page in the front of the motorcycling guidebook on organ donation, and it does not for the regular drivers guide. Our drivers’ ed teacher said that’s all we needed to know about how safe motorcycles are compared to cars.
Read the “Twist of the Wrist” books…actually, read the second one first.
Take an MSF course.
Take advanced courses.
Go to track days at local tracks, with frame sliders on your bike, and push yourself to learn it’s limits.
Hear ya go: http://www.cdc.gov/safeusa/move/motorcyc.htm
Riding a bike is simply too risky, like hang gliding and skydiving. Reakkt fun, but statistically very deadly.
You can never relax while riding a bike. You even have to watch out for wet leaves in the fall.
Along these lines some of my Fire and emt instructors liked to say:
What do paramedics call motorcycles? Job security.
What do ER staff call motorcycles? Donormobiles
Collins Law #4 If you ride a motorcycle, you will break a femur.
(EMT instructor, he had lots of these little laws)
Actually worth quoting again. Recent thread hijackers aside, this IS the Straight Dope. Every one of those cars is trying to kill you. Watch out for those morons making left turns in front of you. Learn to stand and skid on your REAR brake. It’s fun. Read up on high-siding and why it happens (it’s fascinating, and throws you right in FRONT of your skidding bike). You will eventually need to dump your bike in a wreck. Prepare yourself mentally to let it go out in FRONT of you and slide along behind it. EVERY CAR WANTS TO KILL YOU. If you are at a stoplight and there is a vehicle on either side of you, do NOT go into the intersection before that vehicle. Use it like a buffer, THEN blow his ass away. This has saved me from a couple of red-light-runnin’ assholes.
PS: DON’T be the moron out riding in his flip-flops and tank top. Always wear gloves, eye protection, boots and AT LEAST blue jeans. Oh, and clean undies. They cut your pants off if you ride. Also get the sticker that says DO NOT REMOVE THIS HELMET IN CASE OF INJURY. It could save your spinal cord, it could mean the difference between walking and wheelchairing.
I believe that the AMA quotes from a source known as the Hurt Report. I don’t recall the accuracy or details of that report. What a worthless tidbit. http://www.magpie.com/nycmoto/hurt.html
Take the MSF course: http://www.msf-usa.org/. It’s a ton of fun and it’s worth an insurance discount with some companies.
Laying a bike down is never a good option. Braking at the limit of tire adhesion will slow you (and lessen any impact) much more effectively than your bike (or your ass) SLIDING on the pavement. If skidding was an effective method of stopping, we wouldn’t be saddled with ABS in modern cars. So, practice that braking as billy counseled.
Part of the mental strain of motorcycling is being absolutely stuck in a line of motorcars traveling below the speed limit. If your mind tends to wander in a similar situation while driving a car, forget about motorcycling.
The best aspect about motorcycling is that it’s all about me. My control of my machine is crucial to my continued living. If I ever forget that, I could die. I can’t afford to think about work, love, parenthood or finances. All me.
I ride because I have no wings.
Never lay it down on purpose…but having said that, if the back wheel locks up…DO NOT UNLOCK IT…let the bike go, and if it lowsides, let it lowside and fall off the “back”.
If your rear wheel loses traction and starts to slide, and you release the brake, allowing the wheel to regain traction, it will catch, and you will highside.
If you lowside a bike with frame sliders on your bike, and with full gear and a helmet on you, damage should be minimal (unless one of you slides into something). Highside it and you will be trying to roll out of the way of you bike to save your life.
Did anyone else read anything in the OP besides the last line?
I think the axiom you’ve quoted above is FALSE. There is never, ever a good reason to lay your bike down if you know how to use your brakes. And since people seem to like quoting instructors, I’ll quote mine: Ask anyone who’s laid down a bike “because they had to” exactly how they did it. They won’t know what they did.
If you want statistics dedicated to motorcycle accidents, the only thing I’ve seen is The Hurt Report, which was done roughly 25 years ago! Summaries are available online-- do a Google search.
I have been able to see some analyses for specific crashes involving motorcycles and/or cars prepared by British Columbia’s auto insurance company ICBC. They indicate that in most fatal motorcycle crashes the motorcyclist was riding beyond their capabilities, and often “object fixated”. ie. driving far too fast for the conditions (like 100kph in a 50 zone) and aiming straight at the only hydro pole in hundreds of meters.
That being said, I find being on a bike a much more immediate experience than being in a car. IMHO most people sitting on 4 wheels are doing everything BUT driving.
On a bike, you’ve got nothing else to do except drive. There aren’t any distractions.