How dangerous is it to ride a motorcycle?

Don't open this and specially this

Originally Posted by acidicboy

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Don't open this and specially this

HOLY ******* ****! Don't open the second link unless you have a really strong stomach.

Doesn't really bother me. I find it fascinating. Sort of like how some people find exploded views of mechanical objects fascinating.

That being said, I'm sure those photos are enough to make some people lose their ****.

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

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HOLY ******* ****! Don't open the second link unless you have a really strong stomach.

Ugh. Wearing safety equipment won't do **** when your body is torn limb from limb. That **** looks like leftovers from Iraq. I was wondering what a squid was. Thought that was sailors. This is from wikipedia. Often young, squids are identified by their reckless abandon (speeding, wheelies, stoppies etc.) and by their inappropriate attire (shorts, backwards ball caps, flip flops, wifebeater T-shirt, etc). Such a rider eschews all or most of the protective gear worn by many riders (helmet, gloves, leather jacket, riding pants, and boots) and the social and legal norms of riding behaviour, and as such is looked upon with derision by experienced motorcyclists, who also refer to them as "organ donors", "Zip-Splats", "a Stillie", "Skin Crayons", "Sausage Creatures"[1] and "soon-to-be-ex-motorcyclists". They could also be called "squids" because of paramedics' slang for motorcyclists. In a bad accident without leathers or other good protection, it's possible for the torso to become detached from the legs. At that point, the intestines can drag along behind the torso - thus giving a grisly "tentacled body" appearance.

I ride and I will say that it is extremely dangerous. It gets even more dangerous when cars either don't see you or want to hurt you (yes, I've seen this many times.) Worse part is that the idiots that get publicized for high speed chases and major accidents were speeding excessively and don't even have a motorcycle license. This gives a horrible image of sportbike riders.

Wearing full gear is a smart idea, but if you want to be as safe as possible on a bike, find a track near you. I've had many close calls on the street and I decided that I won't put my life in the hands of moronic drivers who can't or won't see me. The track is where a bike is truly at home.

Originally Posted by acidicboy

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Don't open this and specially this

You are such a killjoy.

You could get killed walkin' your doggy!

Originally Posted by Soph

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You are such a killjoy.

It's far better to be smokin' a stogie in a Suburban than to be a red grease mark on the Kennedy.

a good friend of mine who has a lot of experience with riding a bike got into a crash over the weekend. he ended up doing a flip on the bike, but somehow walked away with minor bruises. Bike was a 1950s Norton too. painful.

Link

Report Conclusions: Findings from the FARS (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) data illustrate possible reasons for motorcyclist fatalities in single vehicle motorcycle crashes:

* Helmet use among fatally injured motorcyclists below 50 percent
* More motorcyclist fatalities are occurring on rural roads
* High blood alcohol levels are a major problem among motorcycle operators
* Half of the fatalities are related to negotiating a curve prior to the crash
* Over 80 percent of the fatalities occur off roadway
* Undivided roadways account for a majority of the fatalities
* Almost two thirds of the fatalities were associated with speeding as an operator contributing factor in the crash
* Almost 60 percent of motorcyclist fatalities occur at night
* Collision with a fixed object is a significant factor in over half of the fatalities
* Braking and steering maneuvers possibly contribute for almost 25 percent of the fatalities
* More riders age 40 and over are getting killed
* Almost one third of the fatally injured operators did not have a proper license

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I'd say it's a lot more dangerous to ride a bike if you don't have the proper protection AND you can't operate the bike. Those two things are overwhelmingly (or seem to be) the major causes of crashes on bikes.

Originally Posted by acidicboy

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Don't open this and specially this

second one, all the while gross, is depressing as ****. reality check huzzah!

Originally Posted by fortune

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second one, all the while gross, is depressing as ****. reality check huzzah!
See, that stuff CAN happen, and it's important to remember that, but it doesn't happen very often if you ride safely. If you're not on an overpowered sportbike juiced on testosterone and riding way over your head, or conversely, on an antiquated cruiser with no gear and riding from bar to bar at night, you're much safer than the average of the statistics, because those groups skew the stats so much. Just Sturgis itself probably skews the statistics pretty far.

Oh, and stay away from group rides larger than 3-4 people you know reasonably well. Those are a recipe for disaster.

P.s. those kinds of horrific accidents happen in cars or independent of transportation as well. I remember a lady here took a sheet of 7/8" plywood in the face through her Jeep's windhshield a while back... the extra two wheels didn't help her much. (Though a helmet might have.)

Originally Posted by HomerJ

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I was wondering what a squid was. Thought that was sailors. This is from wikipedia.
I always thought they were called squids because they were quick in a straight line, but had to basically stop to negotiate corners, much like the eponymous jet-stream-powered sea creature.

Originally Posted by bigbjorn

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I always thought they were called squids because they were quick in a straight line, but had to basically stop to negotiate corners, much like the eponymous jet-stream-powered sea creature.

Haha, yeah point and squirt, point and squirt.

Tck13, I saw those same stats a few days ago. Rather comforting since I don't ride like a squid. So if you ride smart/defensively and wear protective gear, you could get killed walking your doggy so just enjoy riding I guess.

Originally Posted by bigbjorn

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I always thought they were called squids because they were quick in a straight line, but had to basically stop to negotiate corners, much like the eponymous jet-stream-powered sea creature.

Yeah I actually thought "SQUID" stood for:

Stupid, QUick and Inevitably Dead