Posted on 09/13/2007 12:29:27 PM PDT by BraveMan
ARLINGTON, VA — Supersports have the highest death rates and worst overall insurance losses among all types of motorcycles, new analyses by the Institute and Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) reveal. Motorcyclists who ride supersports have driver death rates per 10,000 registered motorcycles nearly 4 times higher than rates for motorcyclists who ride all other types of bikes.
Supersports are built on racing platforms but modified for the highway and sold to consumers. They’re especially popular with riders younger than 30. With their light weight and powerful engines, supersports are all about speed. They typically have more horsepower per pound than other bikes. A 2006 model Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, for example, produces 111 horsepower and weighs 404 pounds. In contrast, the 2006 model Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic Electra Glide, a touring motorcycle, produces 65 horsepower and weighs 788 pounds.
“Supersport motorcycles are indeed nimble and quick, but they also can be deadly,” says Anne McCartt, Institute senior vice president for research. “These bikes made up less than 10 percent of registered motorcycles in 2005 but accounted for over 25 percent of rider deaths. Their insurance losses were elevated, too.”
Motorcyclist fatalities have more than doubled in 10 years and reached 4,810 in 2006, accounting for 11 percent of total highway fatalities, preliminary counts from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicate.
In an Institute analysis of deaths per 10,000 registered motorcycles, supersport drivers had a death rate of 22.6 in 2000 and 22.5 in 2005. Sport and unclad sport bikes, which are similar to supersports, had the next highest death rates at 10.8 for 2000 and 10.7 for 2005. Death rates for other types of motorcycles were much lower. Cruisers and standard motorcycles had a combined death rate of 5.6 in 2000 and 5.7 in 2005. The death rate for touring motorcycles was 5.3 in 2000, rising to 6.5 in 2005. Overall motorcycle driver deaths rose 59 percent between 2000 and 2005, and the overall death rate climbed to 7.5 driver deaths per 10,000 registered motorcycles from 7.1.
Meanwhile, helmet use fell. Only 51 percent of riders wear helmets certified by the US Department of Transportation. This compares with 71 percent in 2000, according to the federal government’s National Occupant Protection Use Survey.
Registrations jump: Motorcycle ridership is on the increase, with total registrations climbing 51 percent between 2000 and 2005 and contributing to the rise in motorcyclist deaths. Interest in high-performance bikes is growing, as well. Supersports are zooming in popularity, with registrations up 83 percent in 2005 compared with 2000, though cruisers and standard motorcycles made up the bulk of registrations. Combined registrations of cruisers and standards climbed 59 percent from 2000 to 2005. In 2005 supersports accounted for 9 percent of registrations, cruisers made up 47 percent, and standards 4 percent.
In fatal crashes, the average engine size in all classes of motorcycles has risen sharply. Among motorcycle drivers killed in 2005, 33 percent drove motorcycles with engine sizes larger than 1,200 cubic centimeters (cc), compared with 26 percent in 2000 and 17 percent in 1997.
Crash characteristics: Speeding and driver error were bigger factors in fatal crashes of supersport and sport and unclad sport bikes compared with other classes of motorcycles. Speed was cited in 57 percent of supersport riders’ fatal crashes in 2005 and 46 percent of the fatal crashes of sport and unclad sport riders. Speed was a factor in 27 percent of fatal crashes among riders on cruisers and standards and 22 percent on touring motorcycles.
Alcohol also is a problem in fatal crashes of motorcyclists, although less so than among passenger vehicle drivers. In 2005 it was a factor in the fatal crashes of 19 percent of supersport riders and 23 percent of sport and unclad sport riders. Alcohol impairment was an even bigger factor in the fatal crashes of cruisers and standard bikes and touring motorcycles, particularly among riders 30-49 years old. Thirty-three percent of cruiser and standard riders and 26 percent of touring motorcycle riders had blood alcohol concentrations above the legal threshold for impairment. By comparison, 33 percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers had blood alcohol concentrations at or above 0.08 percent in 2005.
“Supersport motorcycles have such elevated crash death rates and insurance losses because many people ride them as if they were on a racetrack,” McCartt says. “Data show that speed is a big factor in their crashes. A combination of factors, including the motorcycle itself, may push up death rates. Motorcyclists presumably buy supersports and sport bikes because they want to go fast, and manufacturers are happy to oblige. Short of banning supersport and sport motorcycles from public roadways, capping the speed of these street-legal racing machines at the factory might be one way to reduce their risk.”
Insurance collision and theft losses: Not only does motorcycle class influence driver death rates but it also has a major bearing on insurance losses. Supersport motorcycles had the highest overall collision coverage losses among 2002-06 model bikes, almost 4 times higher than losses for touring motorcycles and more than 6 times higher than cruisers, a HLDI analysis reveals. Nine of the 10 motorcycles with the highest losses were supersports. The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, a 1,000 cc supersport, topped the worst list, with collision losses more than 9 times the average. Five of the 10 motorcycles with the highest overall losses had engine displacements of 1,000 cc or larger.
Claim frequency is driving the high overall losses among supersport motorcycles, meaning that supersports are involved in more collisions in relation to their numbers on the road than other motorcycles. Supersports had a claim frequency of 9 claims per 100 insured vehicle years, compared with a frequency of 2.3 for all 2002-06 models.
Supersport motorcycles are popular targets for thieves, too. Their average theft loss payments per insured vehicle year (a vehicle year is 1 vehicle insured for 1 year, 2 insured for 6 months, etc.) were more than 7 times higher than the average for all 2002-06 motorcycles.
“These bikes own the field when it comes to elevated death rates and collision losses. They also hold the distinction of being the most frequently stolen motorcycle,” says Kim Hazelbaker, HLDI senior vice president. “We found a strong correlation between motorcycle class and insurance losses, with supersports showing up time and again as having far higher losses than other types of motorcycles.”
Well, ya see, it’s like this...
Hubby wanted the LE, but he hated the bumblebee look. So he made a deal with our dealer who is also a good friend. He brought the LE home and completely dismantled the tupperware. He did the same to the 04 R1 and switched them out. So we have ‘04 dark red with LE insides, and someone out there has LE outsides on an ‘04 engine. It was fully disclosed in the sale, but some squid out there looks hotter than he is. LOL!
We also have a Duc ST4s for riding 2-up.
Didn't that get debunked, and Yamaha had to admit that their tachometers were more than a bit "optimistic?"
Oops. I just checked here and found you're pretty much right. Yamaha had advertised a redline of 17,500, while it was approximately (according to this story) 16,000, which is still quite stunning. BTW, Yamaha offered to buy back any R6 for people who were unhappy with a redline of only 16,000 RPM!
Mark
Wow! Zig-zagging through heavy traffic on the freeway doing wheelies at 80 mph is dangerous? Who knew.
Ok - I’ll take your word for that - I’ll ammend it to say that every sportbike I’ve ever been on has outhandled every cruiser I’ve ever been on. :-)
You didn’t mention how fast you were going between lanes.
I ride my Magna daily,I don’t have a car,and I split lanes.
I anticipate that every vehicle ahead of me is going to change lanes,suddenly.I’ve had to lock em up a few times but I haven’t hit anyone, unless you count the dent my knee put in a woman’s right rear panel.
If I’m going 10 mph the sport bikes pass me at 30.
If I’m going 30 they pass me at 60.
Sometimes I see them again, up ahead.
I wish. To bad that’s not true. I’d like to have Ducati’s GP bike for the street......not the $70,000.00 “copy” of one.
Actually, it depends on the manufacturer... For instance, this is EXACTLY what Ducati did. Take a look at the Monster 900 some time. That frame is right off the the 888 Superbike. And the 916 frame is no different from the homologated Superbike racer as well. Every manufacturer utilizes technology found on their racers on their "repli-racers" within a few years, sometime the exact parts. Of course, Moto-GP racers are exempted, as it's against the rules to use and "production" parts on them. But when you look at AMA Superbike, Supersport, and Formula X-treme, or World Superbike or Supersport, then you're looking at an awful lot of shared parts.
But regarding putting a "real" racer on the street, trust me, that's something that you don NOT want to do. I've heard nightmare stories about people who have built up one of my "dream bikes," a HD XR750 dirt tracker for the street. Race bikes are designed to go the distance of the race, and you shouldn't be too surprised if it self destructs on the cooldown lap! Now Ducati IS going to release a replica Desmosedici RR for the street, and I have no doubt that it will be more than an E-Ticket ride. So what if it's not exactly the same as the 800cc 200MPH bike that Casey Stoner's riding. I guess for the street bike, they're going to keep it at 1000cc, like last years Moto-GP bike. It should put out about 200HP with the race kit. Besides, $70,000 isn't anywhere near enough to buy a "real" Moto-GP bike, although it will get you close to an AMA Superbike. Almost...
Mark
I wasn't splitting when the accident happened. I was in heavy but fast moving traffic, fast lane, left-hand tire groove, doing about 80-85, as was everyone else. Large SUV in front of me panic stopped. (To this day I don't know for what) I hit my brakes hard and could hear and sense the vehicle behind me skidding towards me in a full brake lockup. I didn't want to get run over from behind, or worse yet to be pancaked between two vehicles, so I drifted from lane 1 to lane 2 and eased my braking to come up along side of the person who was in front of me. My main concern at that point was to avoid being run over from behind because of the awful out of control skidding sounds coming from behind me. As soon as I got even with the rear quarterpanel of the SUV who had been in front of me they swerved into lane 2 and smacked me.
I don't think they'd have gotten me even then except that so much of my attention had been diverted to trying to figure out if I was about to be hit from behind. :(
Initially I wanted to go left, but the lefthand emergency "lane" was only about 1/4 of a lane and it was gravel. It just didn't seem like the thing to do.
Had I just stayed in my lane and out-braked the SUV that was in front of me (not hard to do on a GSXR) I can't say whether or not the guy who was skidding behind me would have hit me or not. But at the time I wasn't interested in finding out.
After it was all over, I ran off the freeway and everyone else just kept on going. The whole thing put a dent in my trust in human nature. As far as splitting goes, I based my speed on the speed of the vehicles I was passing, how wide the lanes were, how much room everyone was giving me, what sort of protusions were on any of the vehicles ahead, how well maintained the upcoming cars appeared to be, if they had license plates, were washed and waxed, etc. There's a thousand parts to the equation. I was not particularly agressive. I can tell you that over a 20 year period I had split cars on many occasions either behind of or in front of a CHP motor officer and never was cited. And I didn't change my technique because of their presence.
Nothing wrong with organ donors riding their donor cycles.
I ran off the freeway and everyone else just kept on going.”
I’ve had that experience.
I learned about gravel and stopping a motorcycle the hard way when I was 12.
I shityou not I saw a chopper parked that had a small block chevy wedged inside it. Had some sort of name I don’t remember but that would be a pretty good power to weight ratio even if it weighed 900lbs.
I got a 888 sittin’ in my office now...just picked it up last fall and I still have to go through it.
re: making a race bike. Been there, done that....to my 1991 Ducati 900SS BCM heads, Pankle titanium rods, Falicon crank, Gi-co-moto B cams, one downdraft and one side draft carbs, Spaghetti exhaust....$6000.00 in parts....killed mid range horsepower but went like shit through a goose on top end.
360 lbs
ahhhhhhh “the older I get the faster I wuz”
I’m sorry...
I’m one of those who firmly believe that before you take a Supersport on the street, you need to learn how the Supersport handles in the dirt.
(that’s a joke, by the way)
You hit the nail on the head.. more motorcycles, more deaths. That’s just common sense.
I also like the helmet sentence in the middle of the article which relates to nothing else in the article. It’s just a statement.
The majority if motorcycle accidents are the result of another vehicle being the contributing factor.
I took the Bagger dirtbiking last year, at a nearby recreational area with some single-track trails.
Were it not for the limited suspension travel and limited ground clearance; it’d make a passable dirt ride. Can’t say the same for my buddy’s Softail Springer! I had to tow him out . . .
I vote newbies....... there are tons of them on the road.
They love our mountains and on a weekend there are all over. They are curteous and numerous.
The fact that the average cc has gone up can be explained by the fact that the size of engines has steadily gone up. This year’s top bikes have an engine with the same displacement as a Mazda Miata.
The agenda in the article appears to be using facts that back up the agenda but ignoring obvious reasons for the facts. THings like, most younger, less experienced riders buy the sport bikes. Sport bikes offer the best horsepower/price ratio. Cruisers have more shielding to protect the riders. Sport bikes, like fighter planes, are more unstable than cruisers and tour bikes, to enhance performance.
(that’s a joke, by the way)
I found out at Pocono International Raceway. Coming off the high bank turn, shortly there-after was a flat, 90 degree left turn. I managed to miss 2 downshifts, and went into that turn WAY TOO FAST! I wound up cutting through the infield, and missed the entire "road" portion of the course, then back out onto the part of the tri-oval and back to the high bank. Even though I was black-flagged, I did manage to beat the track record by over 1 minute! :-0 .
Mark
It looks like the UK has it figured out:
How do they haul their behemoth wife on those things? Between the wife, the luggage and the beer-gut it's gotta be pushing 1300lbs!!
No wonder they putt along half on the shoulder here in New Mexico....
My 1983 Honda XL500S had more hp than that.
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