my father says that. what do you think?
Sergio III
without a shadow of a doubt, if only for the reason that the difference in closing speeds in an accident on a motorcycle versus a push bike is huge. A push bike doing 15-25 mph hit head on by a car doing 30-40 mph has a closing speed of 45-65 mph which is more than enough to F**k you up, a motorcycle doing 40-60 hit by a car doing 40-60 is the equivalent of choosing to ride straight in to a brick wall at between 80 and 120 mph.
On a motorbike you are far more vulnerable and drivers DO NOT SEE you, theres evidence to support the drivers assertions that they do not see motorbikes approaching them as they pull out on to main roads and the reason is that their brain is looking for cars not bikes so they pull out and the bikes go from 60 to zero in about 2 feet (not good for the biker)
I love motor bikes, have had 3, will buy another but one of the reasons for liking them is the speed, being outdoors and closer to whats going on but I have absolutely no illusions about how vulnerable I am on a bike and thats with months and hundreds of hours of advanced police motorcycling training at speed.
One other point is that certainly in the UK the highest death rates on the road are first time bikers between the ages of 16 and 21 I think, they lack any motoring experience, have no sense of risk and no vehicle control and without the experience of having driven or been on the road they have poor perception of risk.
If I’d been on a bike between 16 and 25 I’d probably be dead.
Your father is partially correct. Riding a motorcycle is dangerous, more dangeroous than a bike because of the greater speeds, but being young and riding a motorcycle is even more dangerous. Listen to your father.
It is more dangerous because of the high speed. If you do decide to ride, get all the protective gear you can and attend a safety course.
Sergio,
Hope all is well. I do not have a motorcycle and will not get one b/c I know I would see how fast 280kph feels like. Go to Utube. there are plenty of idiots on there crashing their motos. Then reconsider. You have a few years yet before you can legally drive one though so keep riding your bike. If you are bored riding in Mazatlan you may come t Tucsona nd ride with me for a bit.
Well, I’ll be the first to go the other way. I think motorcycles are less dangerous than bicycles - although both are dangerous. I’ve been saying it for years and now have the scars to prove it! Motorcycles ridden responsibly ride with the flow of traffic. As such, you are not constantly passed from behind, where you are at the complete mercy of whatever idiot driver happens to be approaching. Also, although motorcyclist suffer from not being seen (particularly dangerous are left-hand turning drivers crossing your lane), I’ve found that it’s worse on the bicycle. People don’t realize that bicycles can go 20+ mph and they don’t account for that type of closing speed. At least a motorcycle is bigger, has a light, and people are somewhat used to them travelling at speed, so you have a fighting chance of being seen.
And the scar, courtesy of a plate and 7 screws from a bicycle accident! Meanwhile, years of motorcycling like this and (thankfully) not a scratch…
in many ways, this is 6 of one and half dozen of the other.
If you crash a bike by yourself, odds are very good you will live and even walk away. On a bike moving 60mph that is not the case.
On the flip side, on a motorcycle you are not being passed by things you cannot see every minute.
Neither would top a list of safest activities.
it does not looks good. looks like i will ride a motorcycle when i can buy it with my own money.
brian, i want to race in arizona maybe this year and for sure next year in the valley of sun race. i like racing and winning in arizona. thank you for your help.
thank you to all.
Sergio III
I’ve had lots of superbikes and overall I reckon it is more dangerous than cycling, mainly due to the temptation of going wickedly fast and the severe consequences if you fall off at those speeds. Also, drivers just don’t see you as you’re going that much faster than a cycle. The adrenaline rush from accelerating a fast motorbike and cornering low is unbelievable and makes any car apart from a McClaren seem totally pussy. Now I’m a bit older and wiser I’d say don’t get a fast motorbike 'till your at least 25. Below that age my brain was utterly clueless about assessing risk and liable to be goaded into ridiculous behaviour e.g. ski jumping off the practice olympic ski jump in France, drinking bottle of tabasco, riding my motorbike at 155mph. Mind you I’m not always that sensible nowadays - goaded into eating a spoonful of Death Sauce Chili just 2 days ago.
If you do get a bike, take a really good defensive riding course and save the speeding for the track! Also, a motocross bike is good for a first one and for learning good handling skills.
Cheers.
it does not looks good. looks like i will ride a motorcycle when i can buy it with my own money.
brian, i want to race in arizona maybe this year and for sure next year in the valley of sun race. i like racing and winning in arizona. thank you for your help.
thank you to all.
Sergio III
Two things:
- The attitude above is all wrong. You are implying that you would ride one if it weren’t for your dad not coughing up the money. It’s not your dad who makes it risky, so don’t blame him. How about recognizing the risks, and that you are far too young to be able to handle it. The DAY I turned 18, I bought a bike with my own money. I rode for awhile, assessed the odds, and sold it. Now I’m over 40, ride a superbike, and still catch myself taking too much risk and have to dial it down. I never would’ve done that when a kid.
- I’m not sure, but I would expect the risks to be even greater in Mexico. I’ve observed vehicular negligence (e.g., blowing through stop signs) well in excess of what I’ve seen in the States.
Great question…
In my younger years I spent a ton of time on a sport bike (a.k.a. crotch rocket) both on the road and on the track. I had my fair share of accidents ranging from minor spills to getting ran over on I-5 by a van. Overtime I guess I grew out of the trill of the street bike & moved on to other things.
Last year I broke my femur in a bicycle accident. In the ER I joked that gave up my motorcycle because it was too dangerous… The ER staff said they see almost three bicycle related injuries to one motorcycle. Overall there may be more motorcycle deaths than bicycles but that may have to do with the speeds.
Here’s why I think motorcycles may be a LITTLE safer. First off acceleration, I avoided a ton of accidents with other cars by just getting the hell out of the way. Breaking, modern motorcycles have disk breaks the size of dinner plates! I could come to a complete stop safely in a very short distance.
The final thing motorcycles have in their favor are gyroscopes. Learning how to corner a motorcycle on the track you first learn the physics of how gyroscopes work. Motorcycles have two large powerful gyroscopes called wheels, when the bike is just about “over” or out of control you rely on the gyroscopes to upright the bike. Adding power to a gyroscope makes it want to stand up…therefore the bike uprights.
Come to think of it…I don’t have and friends that were killed on motorcycles. (Missing arms & legs but no deaths) Deaths due to cycling is another story, unfortanently I have some acquaintances that have been killed in bicycle accidents involving cars.
They are both fun as hell AND they are both dangerous as hell! In my experience the bicycle is just a little more dangerous 
Travis
www.dumbfocus.com
Yes I would say motorcycling is more dangerous! I just got back from a 50 mile ride with some friends and we all saw a motorcycle accident. The man skid out, hit his buddy’s bike and went flying on the pavement and rolled 3-4 times. He did not have a helmet on and we saw his head hit the pavement hard a few times. I’m pretty sure he won’t make it or if he does he will prob. will have a major TBI. It was scary! So yes I say motorcycling is more dangerous. Last summer I saw 2 other motorcyclist get in crashes. Not cool. Lesson: always wear your helmet!
Depends on whether the road has a bike lane or not: the collision rate between vehicles is proportional to the speed differential between them, so a bicycle that moves much slower alongside the traffic is a lot more dangerous than a motorbike that moves with the traffic – unless of course the bicycle has its own lane. So bike lanes make a huge difference.
I also feel that motorcycles are intrinsically safer than bicycles: I find road bikes to be too twitchy, too unstable – not to mention that your riding position makes it uncomfortable to be looking at the road ahead at all times.
BTW, if you live in the States, why would you want to buy a motorbike? Bicycles don’t provide enough entertainment for you?
John
Lets be clear that bikes and motorbikes are completely different beasts.
There are more accidents involving cyclists than motorcyclists in the UK but fewer as a proportion are serious compared to motorbikes.
The type of accidents are also very different. The 5 most common motorcycle accidents are:
Failure to negotiate a left hand bend on a single lane roadFailure to negotiate a right hand bend on a single lane roadCollisions at junctionsCollisions whilst overtakingLoss of controlThe first two are usually a function of running out of road due to excessive speed or a lack of bike control, you know braking and turning at the same time.
Junctions present a different hazard to bikes, yes people underestimate the closing speed of a bicycle but frequently they don’t even see it and if they don’t see you and you have no exit strategy going from 30. 40, 50 or 60 mph to zero in 2 feet can be traumatic.
The evidence is that drivers simply don’t see bikes and whilst you do have a fighting chance you are far more likely to survive at 20 mph having not been seen than 50 mph and being seen to late.
I’d guess that the only type of bike accidents that are similar to those above are the junctions and loss of control, others I’d expect are being hit by a vehicle making a left / right hand turn when the cyclist is on the inside. Other than that most bicycle accidents would be different to those suffered by motorcyclists.
I love riding bikes, especially rally, hare and hound, enduros and MX but there’s no question in my mind that they are demonstrably more dangerous than bicycles and whilst there may be more bike accidents the fewer motorcycle accidents are far more serious.
When I ride my motorcycle I wear the following: full-Kevlar body suit with body armor, full-face helmet, leather gloves and boots–I’m protected much more than when riding my bicycle. I also have ABS on motorcycle; wish I had that on my Trek.
But as this thread suggests, it depends on how “smart” you ride. I obey the 2 second rule (stay two seconds behind the vehicle in front of you) and 12 second rule (always look twelve seconds ahead) when motorcycling–issues I don’t take into consideration when on my bicycle.
Statistics will show motorcycles have the highest death rates in transportation. Of course you can manipulate the stats for some varriation, but by the numbers, motorcycles willl always top pedal cycles.
3 things to remember if you’re going to ride a motorbike:
- ALWAYS assume you are invisible to other drivers.
- Never, ever ride in another vehicle’s blind spot.
- Loud pipes save lives.
That said, within a month after the birth of my first child I was riding my motorcycle home from work and realized “THIS is stupid…I’m WAAY too exposed and I’ve got a little guy at home depending on me making it there.” So I sold it.
In other words, I agree with your father
Besides, my parents would never have bought me a motorcycle in the first place. For my first motorbike I had to figure out how to buy it myself AND pay for the insurance. My mother still wasn’t very happy about it…
This settles it. Never saw Lance Armstrong save a bike like this.
jerez was unbelievable, first edwards, then Hayden does exactly the same thing with his elbow down and then Lorenzo comes out of a turn on his rear wheel with a nasty speed wobble and saves it, it was fantastic…there was also another great save in the 125’s…
With the number of high profile vehicles on the road today I would say that my bicycle scares me more. I have ridden street bikes for several years. And yes the risk of killing yourself is great. If you ride on the street assuming you are invisible you have a chance. My fear is being swept up by a vehicle from behind. One that is tailgating the SUV in front of it. They never see you and are driving to the far right. I think you are much safer traveling at the same speed as the traffic. You only have to concern yourself with whats in front of you. On a bicycle, especially a triathlon bike your vision sucks. You can’t see in front while in a tuck and looking over your shoulder is a danger in it self. The best brakes on a bicycle don’t compare with the stopping power of a motorcycle. I sold my motorcycle when I moved to Phoenix. After riding a bicycle on the street for more than a year the thought of riding a motorcycle doesn’t seem that unsafe. As for the post about riding dirt bikes. I have seen several patients in our emergency room from dirt bike accidents. Several fractured lower legs. I have not seen any road bicycle accidents. Then again it is not a level 1 trauma center.