If your chaps had asses they would be pants.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Road a Honda Hurricane last two years of HS, all four years of college and into grad school. It was a lot of fun but you had to have your wits about you. Did the usual stupid things young guys do with these bikes to include drag racing on public streets, hitting speeds of 140mph etc.

I had a friend I would ride with in college ( he was ex Marine Recon Sniper from Desert Storm) and he would cover his license plate and run from cops. It was not a fair fight and he was never caught. I was never that brazen.

It never seemed any more dangerous than driving a car if you paid attention. A quick throttle can remove you from a lot of situations very quickly.

Sold the bike to pay for an engagement ring but still have Motorcycle designation on my license years later. May get another one when the kids are off the payroll.

I have been riding for about 30 years. My main motivation is the low cost. Between reduced gas, insurance and parking, I can justify a second vehicle, can't afford a second car.

That said, the main reason I stick with it is because it is awesome. It is like skiing, or mountain biking or road cycling at top speed - all those things have more risk than sitting on the couch, but they are super fun. So I hope for my family's sake I don't get wiped out, but I could live in a bubble and still die, so I guess I just hope for the best.

If your chaps had asses they would be pants
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Yeah, but saying 'BLeP is wearing chaps' is much less fun and picturesque than saying 'BLeP is wearing ass-less chaps'. It's all about presentation and imagery.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Ass, Gas or Grass nobody rides free.

And we'd have chapped asses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmNXCJt7K3Q

Yep. I ride bubble wrapped from head to toe. Yellow bike with yellow helmet and high viz jacket. A friend of mine jokingly commented that he could see me coming down the highway from a mile away. Then I explained to him that's the whole point.

Any word on the girl?

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

As of January, which is the last update I saw, she is alive and still in hospital back home in Alberta. She is
breeathing on her own, her eyes track people/objects etc. She can't voluntarily move her limbs or communicate. Recovery is incredibly slow and they really aren't sure what she will regain, if anything.

It is absolutely heartbreaking.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

That story of the young woman makes me determined to improve one weakness in my riding: attentiveness when stopped at intersections. MSF course teaches that at an intersection you are holding clutch, in first gear, front wheel aiming to escape point, and checking mirror. I don't do this every time -- sometimes I use intersections as a moment to relax.

Search "motorcycle crash compilation" on youtube and watch some videos. Rear ended at intersection happens pretty often (statistics bear this out too).

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

Why "big bike"?

I can understand big bikes are more visible. My 78 Honda GL1000 is much more visible than my Suzuki DR650 (and twice as heavy). I have lights I need to install on the DR to make it more visible (it is not ridden on road much).

I'm sure Harley's and Goldwings are statistically safer than lighter sport bikes, but that will be because of the way they are ridden. Other than visibility, any reason big bikes are inherently safer?

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

I was rear ended in my car at a light once, and ever since then, it is my reflex to check my rear mirror when I come to a stop to make sure the vehicle behind me is stopping too, I also give a bit of extra room in front in case I need it to scoot forward/out of the way.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

The one accident I had on my motorcycle was getting rear ended at a stop sign. My GF was on the back, I had stopped and was just taking off again, it had rained and I heard the sound of skidding tires... I saw the car coming in the mirror and was able to take off and get ahead of the impact; the car hit me, pushed in the rear wheel, but we didn't fall and weren't hurt. The woman driving was freaked out.

This was 30 years ago, before texting and phones and social media in-car distractions. I no longer ride motorcycles...

Riding a bicycle on the road opened my eyes to the plight of the motorcyclist. However, one thing I still don't get is how either camp (bicyclists or motorcyclists) can claim such vulnerability then still act so childish on the road. Everything from road position, behavior, helmets, racing and over the lines, etc......

I do say, riding a bicycle opened my eyes to SEE motorcycles more on the road and try to manage my space around them better.

My experience has been that the people who are acting really immaturely on bikes or motorcycles typically are not the ones who claim or recognize their vulnerability in any serious way. Riders who understand their vulnerability and who vocally talk about driver behavior vs bikes and motorcycles are typically riders who behave pretty responsibly.

Just my experience, in general.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

I can only speak for me but I adhere to the rules of the road while cycling. The only time I break them is at wide open intersections with a stop sign. If no cars are coming I will run it.

Guilty as charged.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Just found this update:

Guy who hit her was just sentenced: 2.5 years.

He was drunk and high on cocaine, hit this poor girl, hit another car (which, by bizarre coincidence, was driven by someone else I know), hit a telephone pole then took off on foot. Got to his friends house and called 911 to turn himself in.

2.5 freaking years, and the girl got what is essentially a death sentence. She is essentially a vegetable.

Here's an article. It's a sad read.
https://www.vicnews.com/...c-student-in-a-coma/

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Um yeah. You live on an island with 36 other people. Not really much of a coincidence.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Hey. We are just shy of a million on the island. Half of those are people who fled ontario in the last 10 years...

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Ugh, that’s such an awful story. I’m in Vic right now so it’s been a big topic of discussion tonight. 2.5 years is complete bullshit.

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_____________________________________________________
"Oh man, it's going to take days to kill all these people!" - Jens Voigt

Yup, this

I was taking my daughter to the store 2 nights ago.

There was a bike under a car.

The car was making a left crossing oncoming single lane traffic and must have hit the bike from the side, rather than the bike hitting the side kf the car and bike went under it.

I love bikes, I am not a fast rider, and I'm pretty risk averse, the obvious sort of accidents; rear ended, running out of road in corners / bends, traction related can, if not completely, be mitigated.

I'm ATGATT boots, gloves and helmets being no expense spared.

Even as a cautious biker, you still have to ride confidently, assume positions maintaining hi our visibility and others of you.

It's not risk free, but having hit 129km/h on skis, and 80-90 on road bikes, it doesn't seem significantly more risky, and it's much easier to go 89 km/h on a 800gs 😂