I’m in the process of taking the MSF course. I’ve been reminded by pretty much everyone I know that I’m being stupid buying a motorcycle. I go to Instagram and see bikers getting into crashes and get discouraged. Then I see literal 60 year old boomers riding Harley’s on the way to buy groceries and remember it IS possible to live to old age riding motorcycles. How do I make sure I get the best experience without dying on my first bike?
>>33816872Bikers that are under 30 years old are so cute
>>33816872Wear appropriate gear, don't speed, follow traffic laws. There is some stuff you can't avoid like getting sideswiped, but most of crashes are people being reckless dumbasses
It may be good to review statistical data for specific circumstances like: state, demographics, law enforcement data, etc.Or, simply get a quote from reputable insurance companies and review the terms(which is not purchasing the insurance) and interpret these quotes as readily available statistical data which is fine-tune for your specific Year, Make, and Model and general health and well-being. Bad potential coverage should be some signal worth taking serious note.
I'm 32 been riding every day since I was 18 and I've never gotten into a crash or accident. Genuinely not even many close calls. Make sure to stay out of blind spots and just have situational awareness. Don't ride right next to a car, either fall behind or accelerate ahead. Constantly check your mirrors. Don't go 100mph+ when you're not ready for it. Cities are a lot more dangerous than highways. The few close calls I have had have always been in a city with all the 4 way intersections and retarded foreigners who don't care about your life when driving and run red lights and tailgate your. Wear a helmet. The majority of motorcycle crashes are the rider's fault, I think majority are single vehicle. I bet like 70% of the motorcycle fatality statistics are idiot kids doing retarded stunts and speeding through traffic. You can take backroads if you're scared of other drivers but those are more dangerous in other ways as they often have twists and deer at night, roadkill, even small raccoons can probably slide your tire, less predictable than a straight line interstate but emptier so you don't have to deal with people at least
>>33816872Statistically if you have a license, don't speed, wear gear, ride sober and avoid riding at night and die in a crash you are in the 10% of fatalities that didn't break one of these rules if I recall correctly. It doesn't mean you can't ride to the store 4 minutes away at 20mph without full gear or that you should just have a tent and sleeping bag in case of night catching you(but don't drink and ride), but you should be 100 times more careful than you normally are when doing that.Motorcycles are more dangerous than cars and you can't forget it. If you hit a deer in a car you will have your car wrecked but it's unlikely that you will be hurt unless the fucker bounced up and went through the windscreen of something. If you hit a deer on a motorcycle you are very likely to suffer severe injuries or die. A lot of the tiny accidents that happen without you doing anything wrong can send you flying straight to the hospital or mortuary while on a car it would get you some insurance money and a broken car. Still you should generally be fine as long as you can stick to the basics I've started the post with.
>>33816872Been working as a emergency nurse for a while now, and i can say that 50% of the broken bones or the people that arrive on death's door are riding motorcycles. It's so common that when a patient arrives, and somenes asks the question of what is it, they just answer "bike" and you understand the situation instantly. I'll say that the biggest factor on small injuries like broken bones is that, compared to everything on the street, you're small, your bike is small and you as a person are even smaller, so if a car gives you a little touch on the side, it's already a potential accident by losing balance or just breaking your leg by the little touch or that the bike fell on your leg. On the bigger scale accidents i'll say that it continues to be the fact that you're small compared to everything, but im sure that the biggest factor is velocity, and im not talking about going 120kmph, if you're going "slow", and you crash agaisnt a car, your bike stops, but you don't, and your body will continue whatever speed you were going, imagine being able to run as fast as a bike and run against a wall, is no different from that.
>>33816872Sit on down youngunA motorcyclist is basically a cat in a bumper cars arena. When I got my bike I rode for 3-4 years before switching to a car. The number one danger is others. Yes if your brain is capable you will become alert as a fox and even be able to spot dangerous drivers from a distance away. In my case I prevented multiple accidents that way. You just know somethings off with that driver so you prepare and yes, it happpens, they swerve into your lane last minute without seeing you.If your not able to learn great alertness and prediction you might actually die not kidding. On the flip side if you can do it it comes easily after some time.On a final note the most fucked up thing as a motorcyclist are oil patches, slippery parts of the road etc. Try driving full speed on a highway bend and having your rear tire slip. Scariest experience i had
Ego kills.Lack of skill kills.False comprehension of the physics kills.There is no true right way to ride a motorcycle but there are absolutely wrong ways to ride a motorcycle. So long as you do not do those objectively wrong things for example: stabbing the front brake mid corner. Then you'll be fine.Also state of mind is important, you should always ride in a state of Paranoia but with Purpose. Always keep your eyes looking at the exit path nothing else.Bikes are deeply fulfilling and fun, but you have to be disciplined in truly grasping concepts about them.
>>33816872Lots of other good advice here, but I would just add: be *visible*. Wear something that is both fluorescent and reflective so that car drivers don't ever simply not see you.
>>33816872I wish I could have posted before all these retards flooded with walls of text, anyway, the answer is a simple asGET A BIKE BIG ENOUGH TO OWN THE LANE!!!
