Posted on 03/30/2014 4:59:13 PM PDT by kingattax
While some of the danger involved in riding motorcycles can be attributed to poor driving skills or intoxication, there are facts that do not lend themselves to interpretation.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) noted that during its last review of data in 2012, motorcycle fatalities increased over 7 percent, while states without helmet laws showed ten times more fatalities than those that mandated helmet use when riding a bike.
About 15 percent of all highway deaths were from motorcyle riders, making motorcycle riders around 30 times more at risk than car and truck drivers — and about 50 percent of bike crashes involved no other vehicles.
Clearly, motorcycle riders’ biggest enemies are themselves. To the end of reducing the number of motorcycle injuries and fatalities, there are bikes that make safety features a priority. Here are seven models that aim to keep riders safe with innovative equipment.
(Excerpt) Read more at wallstcheatsheet.com ...
January 2012, I got hit by not one but two cars on the highway and sent flying down the road. The second hit was to the back of my head (well, helmet) at 60mph.
Obviously I’m still here; this isn’t my first too-close encounter either. I walked out of the hospital 7 hours later as they didn’t find any damage serious enough to keep me overnight. They were absolutely astonished that nothing was broken and actually sent me through scans multiple times because they could not believe it. Modern safety gear such as personal armor, helmet, gloves and the rest of the lot saved me; I would not consider even a short trip without the full suite. The difference between modern gear’s comfort and protection is literally light-years beyond what it was when I started riding; in itself, that early gear was well beyond the ‘leather cap and jacket’ some people stuck in the 50s-70s seem to think is still state of the art.
Meanwhile, a friend of mine was in a car that was sideswiped on a surface street and sent into a concrete barrier. He still has headaches and neckaches from the accident. He may never get rid of them.
Some of you ‘donorcycle, donorcycle’ yappers want to comment on this?
The problem with the airbag concept is this.
As it deploys, it’ll send you clear of your bike.....into the traffic behind you.
I got that.
:)
I could not count the number of times somebody was blithely easing into me off of a ramp or from another lane, only to be awoken from their stupor by a healthy crack of the throttle.
I *know* they were all zoned out and unaware of me because they jumped like they’d been shot, every time.
You realize, of course, that those who harp on the “donorcycle” meme, in truth, are quite content to see dead bikers, don’t you?
Otherwise, they’d not be so morbidly gleeful about it.
It doesn’t, it’s already been field tested.
There’s a flip-up backrest available for the Vintage, plus sound system with cool retro looking chrome speaker pods, not sure of sound quality but it looks good.
North Texas had some beautiful weather this weekend. Wasn't able to get out until today, but it was a great ride.
That new Gold Wing is nice.
Thinking along these lines. What was once mine will be again!
Perspective changes on a highway. To me, riding a bike on a highway was not the way I thought it would look from observing a motorcycle from a cage. It was more like riding it on a huge parking lot with lots of extra room. It’s usually easy to keep far enough from trucks to avoid a problem as long as the truck behaves itself.
It isn’t as powerful as the one on a car.
Ah, angels were following you :-).
I had a weird collision happen to me 14 years ago, a van barreling into the rear of my stopped bike while I sat waiting for oncoming traffic to clear so I could make the left turn. I never made the left turn though. BAM and the van impaled my rear wheel into its radiator. Amazing thing was that it did not knock the bike out from under me (and hit me in the back or tumble me through its windshield). I hung on tight to the handlebars... to this day still don’t know WHY... and did not lose my seat on the bike until the two now-united vehicles came to a stop on the other side of the intersection. Then I was pitched forward and flew off the bike, bruising my thigh on the air cleaner. Nothing actually broken. Bruised bad and my left elbow joint got torn up a little.
I ride a HD 883, which is a tad light for highway riding. I tend to do the speeed limit on a bike so I do get passed alot. Regardless, I just don’t like riding the highway, period, so I limit it to relatively short stretches only. Very conscious that one mistake could put me under the wheels of a car or truck at high speed. Riding the less crowded back roads is more my style.
70 is nothing. It's more likely you'll be passed at 120 in a 50 speed zone.
Hard to get more Retro than drum brakes!
Thanks for the posts guys.
You’ll probably appreciate this:
Oops, forgot to ID. From left:
‘71 T100C Trophy 500, unrestored, purchased from original owner, 6,000 miles on her; ‘72 T120V Bonneville, restored by me; ‘73 T150V Trident, restored in Canada. All usually start on first kick.
The Trident is why I don’t need a sportbike. Fastest bike on planet in ‘69. Bonnie was in ‘59.
Any freepers here have experience with airbag vests?
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