So I started riding motorcycles when I was 12 years old. It was actually a 50cc moped in my case. I have 36 years of experience (I'm 48 for the math challenged). Today, I was lectured, once more, on how dangerous motorcycles are.

I went with my mother in law and my wife, to pick up a mobility scooter for my mother in law. She had her right foot amputated a few years back, wears a prosthesis but does not like to use her cane, wheelchair or her walker so she decided to give a scooter a try.

The sales person was in his early 30's I guess, wearing a leg brace and had some muscular damage to his left arm. I did not ask but for some reason I assumed Afghanistan or Iraq Vet. Once the transaction inside the store was completed, we went outside to load the scooter in my truck where the sales person saw my 'motorcycles are everywhere' bumper sticker and commented he liked it. I thanked him and proceeded to disassemble the scooter to load it in my truck and he cautioned me to be safe and stop riding if I could.

I said that riding is in my veins and I don't think I'll ever stop. He said his injuries were from a bike accident. He proceeded to tell us, that he used to be the Road Captain of a large group of sportbikes and he used to ride all the time, doing stunts in the street, 8 mile wheelies etc. My wife and mother in law assume that's what I do every time I ride my bike.

The sales person, who would not shut up, kept going that his 'crew' used to be 50 riders and 30 of them have passed from bike accidents. It's not us - he said - it's the cagers that don't see us - I thought to myself, -in your case, I'm not sure about that- but did not voice it.

He also said that when he had his accident, his girlfriend was on the back of his bike, and he was doing 80 mph. on a 6 lane road in the middle of the city when an evil, inattentive, bad bad cager cut him off. He said he even gunned it prior to impact but he clipped the front end of the car, flew and landed on the street, his girlfriend flying and landing on the side of the road. Later learned she's ok, not with him. Happily married with kids.

Again, I hate hearing stories like that. I'm aware of how dangerous is the sport I choose to do. I'm cautious and wear the right gear 99% of the time. I must confess I sometimes ride my 250cc scooter without a helmet, jacket or gloves.

My wife used to tell me she loved me right before I left for a Sunday ride. That simple "I love you" used to bounce in my head all ride long and bother me because she thought I'd have an accident and that was the last thing she said. But instead of considering myself lucky I guess, because someone loves me, I used to think - I'm gonna have an accident today - over and over. I asked her to stop and nowadays I tell her - See you later, around 3 or 4 I guess -
My mother in law goes to an amputee support group monthly meeting and people talk about the difficulties they share and ways to overcome them. My wife attends the meeting instead of waiting in the car. Every time, they love to point out if there is a new person, and if it's a younger person, it was due to a motorcycle accident. Ok, Ok, I get it's its dangerous. I take every precaution possible but I'm also aware and ok with the fact that one day I may not come back from a ride. And that's ok with me.

I've been riding with mostly the same guys since 1998. That was my Bandit 1200 years, later SV 650, later SD and now SDR. Over the years, we've had some guys loose their lives, but NONE, ZERO to motorcycle accidents.

Again, the mobility scooter guy and his crew used to ride like assholes. Complete and utterly assholes. It's a shame that some of them lost their lives, but that is not how I ride and how I like motorcycles and motorcyclists to be represented. I also do not condone the Harley lifestyle of going bar-hopping while wearing a bandana an a tank top. But that's their life and I'm not going to preach to them. Their life, their decisions.

Yeah man, risk & reward…. I'm going through that conundrum myself.
Building the SD back to life I remember all the good times traveling, lacuna seca, top speed run at Bonneville, touring Death Valley, commuting on the daily etc.
it's the best possible way to explore your environment and your self, right?!

Then some guy ran me down and took my leg off at the knee… almost.
I escaped amputation cause I didn't break any bones(???)

But now I'm saddle shy. It's not the Duke it's just the risk.
I love that machine but as safely as I ride, neophytes driving the Bay Area, self entitled behind the wheel of a loaded weapon, will kill you.

fooking paradox man...

This is why I don't ride for daily transportation anymore. Well, that and a bit of lack of self control that seems to be Superduke induced I now only ride a few times a year with a close longtime riding friend on some gorgeous backroads,( that claim a motorcyclist or two from year to year), away from traffic or solo adventure style even farther from traffic. If there was a track within a reasonable distance to me I'd probably just do that.
I'm 48 with 32 years riding experience.

Last July my wife and I had twins. We were avid riders, conquering race tracks and starting to work on continents, and finally obtained our dream bikes, a pair of SMTs. There isn't much we haven't done on two wheels. But now she's been stuck with the babies at home and hasn't ridden since shortly before their birth. I continued to commute into the fall until the daylight became shorter and the risk of deer increased.

I haven't ridden since October save for a trackday a couple weeks ago. The thought of leaving my kids behind, losing my job due to permanent disability, or just a simple injury requiring my wife to take care of all of us completely saps any desire I have to ride. Plus there is zero time to do anything fun for myself, let alone basic maintenance on our grounded fleet.

As a paramedic I am all too aware of the deranged people lurking everywhere. All it takes is one of them to get behind the wheel and I could become their unintended target. I am good at stacking the deck in my favor however, and avoid areas where dangerous drivers are the norm. But what if I'm not as good as I thought? What if I'm selfishly trying to just enjoy myself and ride my favorite mountain road as fast as I can? I mean, we just moved to the mountains. Our old house was two hours away from them, now they are literally in my backyard. But I can't...

In some ways I feel lucky to have done the things I've done for so long and survived. I feel like it is naive to think that this is something I've always done, I love it, and I'm almost too good to fail so therefor I should keep doing it. This is my internal battle, I don't really talk to my wife about it, she sometimes brings up wanting to ride, but those instances have become fewer and farther between. I survive by staying busy working, working at home, and playing with babies. Even if I did want to ride, there simply isn't time. Riding is something we used to do.

People thought told me not to ride first when i became a single parent ( Wrong )
Then after my mc accident left me with 2 plates n 11 screws in my right knee (Wrong Again )
Opinions are like azzholes everyone has one !!!!!
Its my life and I will enjoy every pleasure that I please.
People can stick their opinions where the sun dont shine !!!!

Well, people die everyday with many kinds of reasons. Motorcycle accident can be one offcourse.

I've been a daily driver and now just a sunny weekends rider.

Daily driving the the cagers is indeed the problem ( I'm a weekly cager note! ) because all of the distrations. They make us drive slower and slower, radar and ticket police everywhere so you do not focus.

You always have to expect the unexpected and guess before whe the move will be, like a chess game.

Off course the 80mph, 50 bikes group and 8mile wheelie crowd can't complain about bad luck

I will always ride. 50 years old, started when I was 15. Many crashes, broken bones, close calls. Three kids. Call me selfish, I don't care. Riding is my life.

At 16 I had a 50cc (TY50), and at 17 an MTX 125, then I moved onto cars.

At around 22 I started hanging with my old bike friends again which lead to me passing my test and buying a ZX4 import (400 version of a ZX10). TBH I was pretty clueless and was never very confident on a sport bike. After about a year I decided it wasn't worth the risk of injury so sold my bike and bought a fast car instead.
Many years later I bought a trail bike (KLX300 then DRZ400E) and was happy doing that for 10 years or so.

I think recently I had been getting an itch to have a road bike again then a house move a couple of years ago gave me a garage and so the opportunity to have a road bike, so I did.
The difference is I'm now in my mid 40's and can recognise high risk situations, and how to avoid them. I'm now a better rider and can control the bike much better than I did in my early 20's.
I don't ride often, I don't commute, if I'm tired I won't ride (where avoidable).
Just this weekend I backed out of an organised ride I was looking forward too as I had a bad night's sleep which left me feeling pretty rough.

I love riding but it's not everything.
Try to make every ride great so you're maximising your enjoyment with minimal exposure risk.

Things that increase your risk,
Riding often &/or Commuting, you need to ride often enough to keep sharp but at a certain point the increased exposure out ways the experience gained.
Riding tired or bored (kind of applies to commuting)
Riding at night or in bad weather
Riding under the influence
Riding in cities or just in areas with heavy traffic

If you're a pleasure rider you can mostly avoid all the risks above, that's how I justify it to myself.

I've always been the one in the group that took less chances in the 50cc bike time,

then we grow up to take the licence and got proper bikes and I bought a XJ600N and my friends wento to cbr900 and r1

Yep, better quit riding them dam motor bikes and pull up a bar stool.


See how your ladies like that.

Comrades: I've been riding for a long time (50 years) and had surprisingly few accidents. I put this down to four factors:
(a) A pathological desire to stay alive. Sometimes even when I'm on track I think to myself things like "What would happen if the engine seized Etc.". As a consequence I'm not a very good rider/racer. On the road I'm up for fun but not for glory.
(b) Road-craft. I think that if one is lucky enough to survive the first few years one starts to recognise the patterns of accidents slightly before they happen. If one watches those horrendous Russian dash-cam videos of bike accidents one can see all of the common accidents. It's amazing because one can see stuff unfolding even as it happens - that's experience and it helps a lot.
(c) Good luck. No matter how much experience one has there is always the very real possibility that one will just be out of luck. This kills even the most experienced of riders because it was the unexpected.
(d) Preparation. Having a bike that is in good condition (brakes and tyres Etc) is fundamental. One must however always assume that "something could happen" and the right clothing and helmet is a must. It may save your life when something happens. It might not but it's worth a try.

Interestingly my worst accident occurred a couple of years ago on my bicycle. It was a bit like Nicky Haden's insofar as it was an unexpected head-on. When I now look at the bruises and abrasions on my forehead left by my styrofoam helmet I think "thank god I had it on". I also think that it illustrates the point about right gear and helmet.

Ultimately one has to do what one enjoys but really recognising the risks and the mitigating factors goes a long way

Ride on dear friends (comrades).

Hooligans these days are much worse than the hooligans of years back. Too many foolishly lose their lives for dumb reasons. Yes, the risk for vehicle to motorcycle collisions is still there. And those collisions are always much worse for the motorcyclists that the other vehicle operator. But, non-sense that places others at risk is the one that I will, and have, vocalized to the guilty parties. I'll call them out in front of their buddies. (I was the cause of a private facebook group being created. They even made stickers. LOL. They know I love them, but I call it as I see it. Even offered me a sticker...pass. lol).

So Steve, for that young man that shared his story with your favorite ladies, sorry that he paid a price that was higher than he wanted to spend. Fortunately, he's still here to tell that story. If you see him again, encourage him to tell the "new kids on the block" to tone it down. Find a parking lot and stunt your heart out. Or a track, and run it wide open. But lets share the road wisely with those 3+ ton behemoths that will crush and mangle you until you're not recognizable to family and friends.

PS, I always say I Love You before walking out the door, or hanging up the phone. Tomorrow is not promised. If I don't get to speak to my loved ones again this side of eternity, I want to be sure they know I love them, and they me. Especially if we in arguing at the time.

T I R E
T I R E
T I R E

I'd just like to share 2 examples of crashes, they are the ones I most fear and try to look out for.

1st one the biker is not to blame but I think the winter conditions contributed - low sun in van drivers eyes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDBtkqZvx2k

Jump to 2:14 for the footage.

and this one, sadly fatal but I think we've all been there, riding too fast and then surprised that other motorists pull out on us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukA57DwcOJw

I think he was doing 97mph, the car driver would have expected that any oncoming vehicle would be travelling at 50-60mph, that is unless the driver was also a biker.
I generally expect all bikes to be speeding when I'm driving.

Never watch the old biker crash vids , theres no point , also been riding for many decades.
Just to ask a question to the OP.
Did you say the sales person that suggested you quit riding ASAP worked in the spacca scooter shop ????

Interesting discussion. And why is it that there’s always some jack ass that approaches a group of riders and tells us about how their brother lost his leg and his wife killed on one of them things. “Well you guys have a good ride.” Thanks dick.
My most awful wreck occurred the summer of 2011. I couldn’t make a decreasing radius left hander and struck a metal guard rail. Broke 3 ribs L2 vertebrae coccyx tailbone. Tore a hole in my left knee as I leaned all the way over. But the worst was the huge gash torn into the area riiight next to my asshole! Another inch over and I’d have a colostomy bag.
So I was hospitalized 8 days. Had to wear a back brace for 12 weeks but I took it off after 8 weeks coz I wanted to go to the Speed Triple rally in the Rockies which was in October of that year.
All of my wrecks have been my own fault. If I’d been at the mercy of another motorist I might reconsider riding. But as it is it’s in my blood.

Interesting topic. Recently I joined the happy parenting club so it concerns me a little as well. Both of us are riders, my wife and I. This is how we met. Some weekends we used to ride out together, sometimes I went with my friends, sometimes my wife went with her friends for "girls ride out". Nevertheless - our bikes are kept in garage since our son birthday. For obvious reasons for my wife, but when due date was approaching I was having some thoughts regarding riding a bike and expose myself to "extra risk" involved. I just had some flashback - all near misses in the past few years - lucky me I was never involved in bad accident. I just had one many years ago riding SP-1, no third party involved, when I low side bike through the corner as front tyre lost a grip. Few track day crashes, but I do not consider those. I was thinking what would happen if I badly injure myself? I'm running my own company, we are doing well, but if something happen to me - we are f****d. It is dilemma, as we both love riding bikes, but I don't want to ride it and all the time think what could potentially happen. Our kiddo is with us over five months now and I started to recover from all those disturbing thoughts. Next year (we are now only sunny weather riders

WOW, Good stuff everybody. Personally growing up a drunk I would usually run my car into something solid within a week of ownership, I had a buddy that owned a tow truck and would take my wreck and a $100 for another pos I could get started in his yard, i'm going back to the 70's here, I enjoyed riding bikes more than drinking and for that reason alone always was safer on 2 wheels, still having totalled 5 cars and 2 motorcycles my only sugerys and serious injurys came from work 37 years of framing houses! this last june a couple kids popped out of a row of hedges in front of me leaned full into a turn hot and body slammed me into the ground and broke the frame of my SDR, I got up and limped away although my knee is still messed up that didn't hurt nearly as bad as when I stepped on a patch of frost sheeting a roof and went off the 2nd story doing a 360 and landed on my a$$.My wife made me double my life ins when I traded the cruiser for the SDR and she won't accept my logic of why i'm safer on this bike(she knows me)still cell phones are the biggest danger around here.

Friend is looking at these choices as he lays in bed with 7 broken vertebrae, 2 broken ribs, and a broken clavicle.
Deer gave him no chance of avoidance as witnessed by another friend following in truck. You rolls the dice and takes your chances. I know someone that will be getting a deer permit this fall if he’s up and about.
I avoid the deer hours as much as possible but shit happens.