After 20 years and over 200,000 miles of riding in Los Angeles traffic, I hung up my GSXR1100 after being smacked around at 70 mph on the Ventura Fwy.
I had always told people who worried about me that "they couldn't hit me if they tried!"
Then one day some idiot lady wasn't trying....
I moved to the country and no longer need a motorcycle to commute sanely, but at the same time, dang, I miss it some days! I miss Sundays cruising to The Rock Store, or carving up Palos Verdes, or cruising the Angeles Crest Highway. But after the aaaacksident it was never as fun as it was for those 20 years. It really ruined it for me. I figure I got off lucky.
My advice for new riders...? Wear GOOD (read: thick winter style) leather gloves, a good helmet, and a good leather jacket. If you only wear bluejeans, expect to have scabbed up knees, and pray that the seat of your pants hold 'cause you don't want road rash there.
And consider this my best advice..... ALWAYS wear the same gloves, even on a hot day if you choose to not wear the jacket, wear the same gloves. This is for two reasons.... #1, your hands are critical to controlling your pitch/roll/yaw while you're skidding along at 70 mph, so think of the gloves as a kind of "oven mitt" for accident survival. And #2, your clutch, front brake and throttle control MUST BE perfect and perfectly consistent. Different gloves will throw off your ability to make those three controls work autonomically.
L.A. is no place to be in a car. It's pure insanity on a bike. Left there many years ago for more peaceful climes. Didn't start ridin' until about 10 years ago. When I can't handle 2 wheels, I'll go for 3.
In the wind, is where you'll find me. Whenever, and wherever, I can.