[starvingstudent]

You're right. Crashing does suck. Big time. Luckily, I've only done it at relavitely slow speeds, and I have the greatest sympthy for those who have had more serious crashes and had to deal with inefficient hospitals, etc...

Now I don't have anything against hospitals, they put you back together and there's a lot to be said for that. I just really wish they could work faster. Here's to better funding for them! (yes I am a liberal. Flame away)

 

[starvingstudent]

Oh yeah: forgot to add that leather is awesome. The more of it, the better. I love my gloves, jacket, and boots. And anyone who doesn't wear a full-face helmet EVERY TIME they ride is stupid. That's all there is to it.

 

[badsac]

I agree with Brett''s suggestion that riding on the dirt is one of the best ways to improve your skills on your roadbike. Back when I was doing enduros, my bike control on my roadbike was miles better than it currently is. I used to find that it would only take a weekend back on the dirt every once in a while to get my skills back up to par again. Hmm, maybe I might have to russle up a dirt bike from somewhere soon.



As for crashing on the road, I''ve got to say that the only times I''ve ever crashed in 12 years of road riding have come from unforseen circumstances like hitting an oil slick at 4am or having a kangaroo jump off a bank on top of me at midnight (It must not have liked the look of me. Tough bastard got up hoped off. My bike was writen off though). I''ve never had any problems while riding in towns because I always ride agressively. Not recklessly, just a bit faster and agressively than the rest of the traffic. I''d find that my concentration would be that much better, so that when the inevitable car would come through a stop sign at me, I''d be ready to either stop or accelerate past them. Many of my non-riding friends would accuse me of riding dangerously, but they never had an answer for why I''ve been thankfully accident free while they seem to be having accidents in their coffins constantly.

 

[devil_clown]

First and for most, I want to congratulate the staff of motorcycle.com for telling it like it is. Even when it''s not cool or politically correct you always tell it like it REALLY is. As for crashing and safety gear? Those who went bizerk about the helmet law infringing on their rights etc etc. either just haven''t taken that nastey spill yet or haven''t known any one who has. My best friend found out the hard way in 93 on his Katana 600f after T-boning a kid who stole mammas car and didn''t have a license. Accidents happen. That''s why they are called accidents. And yes, they happen to you too. As far as safety gear is concerned, ask the coroner had he had a good helmet on and not looking so cool without one would he have lived. I didn''t ask, but was put through the horror of being told that he would have without doubt lived had he been wearing a good quality helmet. Your friends, family and loved ones don''t think you look so cool in a casket. It''s a dangerous addiction this motorcycling is. But it''s a choice we make freely. Be smart, choose to live. Poney up some cash and get some quality equiptment. Besides, the police can never get you in a line up for shootin em the bird while flyin by if you have a helmet on. Be smart. Live.



Devil_clown

 

[IceWorm]

Thanks, MO for reminding us of the importance of full protective gear. I live in Louisiana which repealed our helmet law at the beginning of this year. Guess what? Motorcycle deaths have doubled in the first ten months of this year over last year, and now Florida has no helmet law. Last year Daytona bike week set a record for motorcycle deaths and riders were wearing helmets. I can''t even begin to imagine what it will be like this year. Just think of all those drunk skill-less Hardley riders going up and down A1-A with no helmet.

 

[IceWorm]

Well, I just realized that was a dumb thing to say about the skill-less Hardley riders. They weren't wearing helmets last year either. They had something on their head but it has yet to be determined it was.

 

[IceWorm]

I understand your point and certainly that is exactly the point that the ABATE people make. I will always wear protective riding gear and I really don't give a hoot if there is a law requiring me to do so, and maybe they are holding the legislative forces at bay on other motorcycle issues. Answer this for me though. Is there an unacceptable level of motorcycle accident death increase that would make you change your mind about helmet law repeal?

 

[053]

*sigh* Helmet laws again

Is there an unacceptable level of motorcycle accident death increase that would make you change your mind about helmet law repeal?

Nope, not for me.

If some bonehead wants to go out and risk cracking his skull open on the pavement... then hey, more power to him. He isn''t hurting me, or anyone else by it.

Besides, if there ever was some ungodly amount of motorcycle wreck deaths then it would seem that there is some other problem that needs correcting, besides just convincing people to wear helments.

Thanks,

- MC

 

[SeanAlexander]

Body Armor

In the first practice session of my first Super TT (Super Motard) race, I lost the front and went down on my left elbow. I was wearing a full set of Dainese leathers, with internal armor. When I hit the ground, I was amazed at how hard it actually was and at the force of the impact from a simple lowside. My left elbow was seriously bruised for about three weeks after the fall and I can only imagine what would have happened to my elbow had I not been wearing good leathers with a big plastic elbow cup sewn into them. The thought of 6 months with a shattered elbow does not appeal to me. Right then and there, I decided to wear my leathers EACH and EVERY time I rode on pavement.

 

[Vinnie]

We all enjoy an inherently dangerous hobby/lifestyle and it is made primarily so by churlish fools with driver's licenses.



No, I do NOT feel your pain...thank God! But I do feel very bad that youre hurt. Everytime I read in the daily newspaper about a m'cyclist getting hit or killed, I cringe.



I wonder if riders get hit and killed in Europe as much as we do here. Some Euro countries require a looong process before one can get a driver's license. Here you get a three hour defensive driver course IF you get a ticket and go to school to wipe out the points. It should be mandatory for EVERYBODY.



I'm sorry, I don't want to know about your bike or your clothes...I wanna know if the truck driver got a ticket and if you're gonna sue his butt for loss of wages, companionship (your riding buds) and the future physical therapy.

Sic 'em Dan-o!

 

[wingdave]

Watch out for me....

I live in Utah, currently undergoing the largest freeway/surface road reconstruction project in the history of the world. The proliferation of useless idiots driving lumbering SUV's or MAV's (mormon assault vehicles as they're known here) is only made worse by the cell phones and the construction cones. Not to mention open lanes, closed lanes, off ramps and the like that change every day. All that being said, you would think the construction crews/public safety yahoos would notice more than the average cage driving monkey brain. But I should've been so lucky.

Me and my 81 full dresser 'wing commute 10 miles a day to work.. as I was closing in on the final 2 blocks of my morning commute last week, a utility truck wearing state seals started bearing left at the intersection, to turn left on a busy street, as I moved to pass him on the right, he abruptly changed his mind and swerved directly into my path.

Locking up my brakes, standing on the pegs and waiting for the impact I was lucky enough to skillfully avoid sliding underneath him, avoiding considerable pain, my wing toppled over on the engine guard, (which amazingly supported the weight of my bike not allowing it to fall all the way over.)

I was unhurt, and after examining my bike, lifting it back to an upright position and starting it up, I realized as all the traffic roared by me on the left, and no one (including the state worker) stopped to help.. WE SCOOTER RIDERS ARE ON OUR OWN.

yeah, alone and well.. better off for it.

PROTECT YOUR HEADS AMIGOS. Watch out for your fellow motorcyclists, and please, I implore you, if you are a lunatic wheelie riding sportbiker, choose your showboating carefully.. not only have I lost friends that way, but you make the public look at us all the same way. Can't help that cage drivers are ignorant, but can help each other out.

Peace and exhaust fumes!

 

[Bluto]

My old lady is not misguided enough to hand me an ultimatum like that-- I can live without anyone, but I will not live without the bike. Guess that''s why I''ve pitched it in the road a few times.



You sound suspiciously like a car driver to me.

 

[Larry]

I used to catch a bit of crap for wearing a helmet when there was no helmet law. The following is why I always have and will wear one:



I was age 11, riding my new Hodaka 100 through the yard of an abandoned house at the end of the road I lived on. There was one hedge missing along the driveway and I shot through the opening and across the drive. It just so happened that the realtor was leaving in her car from showing the property. The car clipped my back wheel and kicked the bike sideways, just as the front wheel hit a rut. The bike went end over end 2 or 3 times, while my foot was stuck between the brake and footpeg. When I sat up I could see that my foot was nearly torn off at the ankle, and as I slipped off my helmet I noticed my helmet WAS IN PIECES! My head had smacked the ground so hard that it destroyed the helmet. My ankle healed in time (although I can still predict rain at age 40), but had I not been wearing that helmet, my brains would have been all over the ground. I spent the better part of that year on crutches and before I got back on a bike I had a new Bell helmet from Mom and Dad. Broken bones, bruises, and scrapes will heal but head injuries are forever.

 

[Abe_Froman]

I'm not going to flame away on you, but think about what you just said. Better funding for hospitals. Can I assume that you are referring to government funding? Just where do you think that government gets its money? If you really want hospitals (which are a business, by the way---why don't we just give money to all businesses? Let's all pitch in and send a few bucks to GM.) to have more money, why don't you just bypass the government and send them a check? That way, they'll get all of it, beaurocrats won't get to take their cut. The only money that government can provide to hospitals (or anyone else) is the money that they forcibly take from YOU and ME.

 

[Abe_Froman]

An alliterative haiku by BMW man.

 

[nebo]

Your speedo reads way high- you're going 60

 

[Abe_Froman]

You know, I see most of the comments here revolving around no safety equipment or stupid automobile drivers--- but in the three years I have been riding, all three crashes I have witnessed have been soley the rider's fault, one involving alcohol (God was watching over us that day, my friends) and only one involved a car, and only marginally at that. All involved a going too fast through a turn, and two were at 75MPH plus. Fortunately, God must have had further plans for these people (2 were good friends of mine) as they all walked away-- the worst was a broken collarbone. I laid my own bike down due to my own stupidity as well. I found out the hard way that when you hit bumps when you are hard on the brakes, you will be on the ground before you know what happened. Fortunately, I was already down to about 25MPH when it happened. I have grown used to seeing crashed late-model GSXR's.



I have seen stupid drivers, don't get me wrong, but I have seen stupider motorcyclists.

 

[john]

Well, since I believe that harley/cruiser riders are MOST likely to not wear a helmet if they are not required to, then maybe the sportbikers riders will get a break. Especially because of daytona, if the number of wrecks are greater in the cruiser arena, perhaps the stupid people would realize that sportbikes truly are safer, and the majority of sportbike riders are indeed safe.

 

[IceWorm]

OK, so you don't ride a Hardley but do you rike like you are on a Hardley? You must because if you ever got a bug in the face at 100+mph then you would swear by full face helmets. You say 100 mph is to fast for the street grasshopper? Then have you ever got a but in the face at 80mph? Still not fun. You keep ridin with that open face helmet and some day you'r gonna some rinoplasty by Dr. Asphalt.

 

[backroadbandit]

It was a dog bowl. I think they wear those on their heads so they can feed the little dogs they tie on the rear fender. It's about looking good, don't you know?