Driving habits of rural folk

[defranks]

I'm 64 and have been riding on the street since I was 18, and on dirt bikes previous to that. My observation has been the brand of bike has little to do with how safe or unsafe a rider is. There was a time when HD riders were generally pretty good riders, they were at the top of the heap for performance in the 60's and 70's. But since they became mainstream I see a lot of really poor riders on Harleys. You'll see these folks on a brand new shiny bike with their leather fringe riding gear and they wobble through the curves, "paddle" as they leave a stop light, and never use the front brake. You also see guys with very little riding experience who hop on a brand new 600 or 750cc sport bike that's way beyond their riding ability. Way back when I started riding, most of us started on 350's or 400's and then worked our way up to higher performance bikes. At some point one begins to have a pretty good feel for defensive riding and can anticipate sketchy situations in time to avoid them.

I spent 23 years as a volunteer fire fighter, and I'm here to tell you that the most common air transport customers aren't bike riders, they're car-accident victims. There are FAR more people injured in car wrecks (due to far fewer people being on bikes) than on motorcycles. Yeah, when I'm in my F250 I sit high and have a lot of steel around me and seat belt on. But when I'm on my bike I have better braking, better acceleration, and better maneuverability, which increases my chance of avoiding a wreck entirely.

The wheelie guy in the video was stoopid, but he was dressed right and no one ran over him. The fall from a bike isn't the problem, you might lose some skin sliding down the road, but that's usually the worst of it. Being run over or stopping suddenly against a car or a tree is the problem. I've had several high-speed falls on race tracks, one at 140 or so when I hit oil, and have never lost any fluids or broken any hard parts of my body. I know it can happen, but my personal risk-benefit analysis comes down solidly on the side of riding.... a lot.

 

[Jim Nelson]

Once in my younger days I was running about 10 over and a hi way patrolman stopped me, As we were talking a sports car went by doing close to 80 or 90 in the 55 mph zone and I asked "What about him?". The cop, an older guy, looked toward the speeding car and asked me, "You ever go fishing?" I answered sure, he asked " You ever catch them all?" I got the message . He only gave me a written warning and I've never forgotten his answer.

 

[goeduck]

Maybe he was a plumber.....

Or a baggy pants kid that forgot the underwear so all he had to do is stand up. :rotfl:

 

[Fuddy1952]

Or a baggy pants kid that forgot the underwear so all he had to do is stand up. :rotfl:

There you go! Maybe that was it
I do believe the guy was telling the truth.

 

[strantor]

I'll respectfully disagree being that suidcide implies self inflicted.

Nothing in life is without risk, we all take risks every day. We should do it with some consideration of risk vs. reward, and be ready to accept the possible unfavorable outcomes that may result from the risks we take. Getting on a bike is a dang high risk. I'm sure that most motorcycle involved accidents are not the fault of the motorcyclists, but they are the ones who pay in blood most often. There is no suicide without a death, and they are the ones who usually die. They are the ones who get on the bikes and the ones who pay the price. I think suicide is an apt description.

Friday was the 1 year anniversary of my brother in law's motorcycle accident. An impatient motorist in a line of stopped cars abruptly entered his lane as he was passing, striking him and throwing him into a ditch after bouncing off the back end of a truck. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and is just now learning how to walk again. He has memory problems, mood problems, he's not the same.

I talked to him many times about the dangers of riding motorcycles. I had a motorcycle in the navy and was ran into a concrete wall at 55mph by a woman who had just made eye contact with me. "You are invisible" was said to me more than once when I started riding and I took it as an exaggeration. I learned otherwise. Thankfully I walked away from that with only a split lip and strip of jerky missing from my leg. I never got back on a bike after that*. I used my story as a plea to my brother in law to use the perfectly good car that he had instead of the bike. He didn't heed my warning or anyone else's and spent half a year pooping in a bag as a result. He made his bed and now he has to lay in it. His recovery will take years, and may plateau at any time. He may never be able to drive again, much less ride.

The risk vs reward balance for riding motorcycles on the same roads as cars is so far out of whack that it should be a hobby reserved for the young and the old. People who don't have anyone else depending on them.

*WHY ON EARTH is it that when someone has a motorcycle accident that they don't die from, the first thing out of every other rider's mouth is "you just gotta dust yourself off and get back on that bike" ??? I heard that SO many times after my accident. NO. THAT IS RETARDED. When you do something that is likely to kill you, and it almost kills you, that's your sign; it's a big flashing sign that says "the thing you're doing is going to kill you. You have been warned." You should read the sign. Listen to the sign. Don't listen to the numbskulls goading you to ignore it just so they can feel better about their own bad decisions. My brother in law had a friend come visit him in the hospital while he was still vegetative, staring at the wall and fed through a tube, and the guy started spouting that nonsense right there in front of me and my sister (his wife). I wanted to drop kick that stupid SOB out into the hallway.

 

[Frankenkubota]

And I'm one of those miserable old sobs that will start to slow down if a light has been green for awhile so I can easily stop when it turns yellow without jamming on the brakes.

I知 the guy passing on your right.

 

[LouNY]

Nothing in life is without risk, we all take risks every day. We should do it with some consideration of risk vs. reward, and be ready to accept the possible unfavorable outcomes that may result from the risks we take. Getting on a bike is a dang high risk. I'm sure that most motorcycle involved accidents are not the fault of the motorcyclists, but they are the ones who pay in blood most often. There is no suicide without a death, and they are the ones who usually die. They are the ones who get on the bikes and the ones who pay the price. I think suicide is an apt description.

Friday was the 1 year anniversary of my brother in law's motorcycle accident. An impatient motorist in a line of stopped cars abruptly entered his lane as he was passing, striking him and throwing him into a ditch after bouncing off the back end of a truck. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and is just now learning how to walk again. He has memory problems, mood problems, he's not the same.

I talked to him many times about the dangers of riding motorcycles. I had a motorcycle in the navy and was ran into a concrete wall at 55mph by a woman who had just made eye contact with me. "You are invisible" was said to me more than once when I started riding and I took it as an exaggeration. I learned otherwise. Thankfully I walked away from that with only a split lip and strip of jerky missing from my leg. I never got back on a bike after that*. I used my story as a plea to my brother in law to use the perfectly good car that he had instead of the bike. He didn't heed my warning or anyone else's and spent half a year pooping in a bag as a result. He made his bed and now he has to lay in it. His recovery will take years, and may plateau at any time. He may never be able to drive again, much less ride.

The risk vs reward balance for riding motorcycles on the same roads as cars is so far out of whack that it should be a hobby reserved for the young and the old. People who don't have anyone else depending on them.

*WHY ON EARTH is it that when someone has a motorcycle accident that they don't die from, the first thing out of every other rider's mouth is "you just gotta dust yourself off and get back on that bike" ??? I heard that SO many times after my accident. NO. THAT IS RETARDED. When you do something that is likely to kill you, and it almost kills you, that's your sign; it's a big flashing sign that says "the thing you're doing is going to kill you. You have been warned." You should read the sign. Listen to the sign. Don't listen to the numbskulls goading you to ignore it just so they can feel better about their own bad decisions. My brother in law had a friend come visit him in the hospital while he was still vegetative, staring at the wall and fed through a tube, and the guy started spouting that nonsense right there in front of me and my sister (his wife). I wanted to drop kick that stupid SOB out into the hallway.

And then we have this bull

 

[strantor]

And then we have this bull

Can you expound?

 

[Sigarms]

Nothing in life is without risk, we all take risks every day. We should do it with some consideration of risk vs. reward, and be ready to accept the possible unfavorable outcomes that may result from the risks we take. Getting on a bike is a dang high risk. I'm sure that most motorcycle involved accidents are not the fault of the motorcyclists, but they are the ones who pay in blood most often. There is no suicide without a death, and they are the ones who usually die. They are the ones who get on the bikes and the ones who pay the price. I think suicide is an apt description.

Friday was the 1 year anniversary of my brother in law's motorcycle accident. An impatient motorist in a line of stopped cars abruptly entered his lane as he was passing, striking him and throwing him into a ditch after bouncing off the back end of a truck. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and is just now learning how to walk again. He has memory problems, mood problems, he's not the same.

I talked to him many times about the dangers of riding motorcycles. I had a motorcycle in the navy and was ran into a concrete wall at 55mph by a woman who had just made eye contact with me. "You are invisible" was said to me more than once when I started riding and I took it as an exaggeration. I learned otherwise. Thankfully I walked away from that with only a split lip and strip of jerky missing from my leg. I never got back on a bike after that*. I used my story as a plea to my brother in law to use the perfectly good car that he had instead of the bike. He didn't heed my warning or anyone else's and spent half a year pooping in a bag as a result. He made his bed and now he has to lay in it. His recovery will take years, and may plateau at any time. He may never be able to drive again, much less ride.

The risk vs reward balance for riding motorcycles on the same roads as cars is so far out of whack that it should be a hobby reserved for the young and the old. People who don't have anyone else depending on them.

*WHY ON EARTH is it that when someone has a motorcycle accident that they don't die from, the first thing out of every other rider's mouth is "you just gotta dust yourself off and get back on that bike" ??? I heard that SO many times after my accident. NO. THAT IS RETARDED. When you do something that is likely to kill you, and it almost kills you, that's your sign; it's a big flashing sign that says "the thing you're doing is going to kill you. You have been warned." You should read the sign. Listen to the sign. Don't listen to the numbskulls goading you to ignore it just so they can feel better about their own bad decisions. My brother in law had a friend come visit him in the hospital while he was still vegetative, staring at the wall and fed through a tube, and the guy started spouting that nonsense right there in front of me and my sister (his wife). I wanted to drop kick that stupid SOB out into the hallway.

I don't disagree with anything you said and agree with you wholeheartedly. "You are invisible" was said to me more than once when I started riding and I took it as an exaggeration. I learned otherwise" I couldn't of said it better and that is exactly why I stopped riding bikes, and that was at a young age.

That said, for better or worse, that is only our opinion. I personally knew people killed riding, also knew people who did things much more dangerous who were killed doing what they loved doing. Thing is, for better our worse, that choice is left to the person to make themselves.

There are people in this world who sincerely believe guns are dangerous and you run a much higher risk of death if you own them. I'm not trying to make this political, only point out that although I may agree with you about riding bikes on the road, I would disagree with those who have those opinions that guns increase the chances of your own demise, and that they are all only opinions.

Heck, I can't believe how many kids ride ATV's without helmets or I see adults with kids on ATV's without helmets. Should I stop and tell them they're crazy for riding without riding helmets? (of course I don't say anything to anyone riding a ATV without a helmet). Thing is, it's their choice (although illegal if riding an ATV on public land without a helmet in NC).

 

[LouNY]

Can you expound?

Your entire tirade against motorcycling.