Nutcase driving a motorbike

[Mini D]

Sorry to hear that MT.

That is the biggest worry I'd have on the streets today... and the reason I sold my bike 3 years ago.  The size of the vehicles is going up and the average attention span of the drivers is going down.

Since then, I've had two friends get rear-ended at stop lights and one get run off the road.  Fortunately, they fared better than your aquantance.  Once again... sorry to hear that.

MiniD

[LePaul]

Been hit twice on a bike...once by a kid with the bee-bop music cranked up loud, he veered into my lane without looking.  Dragged me 75 yards.  Lotta road rash  Luckily my FZR 600 had a plastic gas tank or my knee wouldve been hurt a lot worse...my leg went right thru it in the impact.  Helmet cracked in 5 places.  Shoei bought it from me  $3k in damage to the bike

Second time, old fart/couple pulled off the side of the road, tires spinning...spun gravel and rocks all over the curve.  Bad enough I was trying to not hit them, but once the front tire hit all that gravel, the handle bars slapped side to side, so I opted to bail.  Kind of an odd feeling, laying on your backside, sliding into a tree at 30 mph.  Bruised up...only bad stuff was the roadrash on my fore arms...was a hot day, I'd *just* decided to roll up my jacket sleeves up some.  Again, another FZR 600 eats pavement.   Everything engine-foreward mashed.  

Can't vouch for the ones that drive like idiots...but the biggest enemy of the bikes are the unattentive drivers who "dont see you" despite super bright lights and louder after market exhaust sustems  

Current bike is for sale    3 Strikes and your out

[Syzygyone]

Why can't I have a motorcyucle dad, I pull out the photos from when I used to drive an ambulance.  The one that usually gets them is the picture of the guy whose right leg had three 90 degree bends between the hip and the ankle!! And he was one of the one that got off easy!

[LePaul]

Well, the same can be said for driving a car, flying a plane, etc...the chances of being hit/crushed/mained etc are all there.  I've really enjoyed my time on the bike.  More Pro than Con...you just dont have any kind of protection when stuff goes terribly wrong.  Leather and helmets only do so much.  The human body reacts much like a gooey water balloon in many situations  

I put mine up for sale because I seldom use it, and with surgery at the end of the week, I wont have a chance to ride it until August, if Im lucky.  Its just a bike....if I really want one again, they make them every year...

Now If I could find one like they had in BattleStar Galactica 1980, where they lift off and fly away...well that would be a different story.  But with my luck, I'd tag a powerline on take off  

[Apache]

We just went thru our annual 2 weeks of bike rally's. First week is harley's, 8 killed.

Last week was the crotch rockets. 7 killed.

In a span of 15 days, 15 killed.

Note: All 7 this past week were speed related, all estimated at 100+ on impact.

[Puke]

LePaul, good luck on the surgery.

I've not ridden since I was 21, when I crashed and slid 141 feet down the street.  No helmet and I was just plain lucky!  It was my own stupidity though, couldn't make the turn.  But like you touch upon, accidents happen but on a bike you aren't protected quite like you are in a car.  I sometimes still wish I had a bike and could just go out on the road and gun it, but then I realize it would be in short order before I killed myself.  I'm now nearing 37 and am still actually licensed for motorcycles though.

[BEVO]

That's why I got rid of my bike........ too many close calls. sorry to hear that MT....
Last year a friend of mine got a bike....... sent out an e-mail on Wed with a picture of his "new toy", the next Monday is wife sent out an e-mail saying he had died that Sunday on the bike.
it's a sad, sad thing.

[Skuzzy]

Wow.  I was one lucky biker.  On the day I rolled up my 1 millionth accident free mile, I put a "For Sale" sign on my bike and have not ridden one since.

Miss it like nobodies business though.

[AKS\/\/ulfe]

Couple weeks ago on my way to class, I'm in the middle lane of a three lane road that passes through a shopping center area with many more individual stores on either side of the highway and residential areas at either ends... so the road is typically crowded.

I'm in the front with someone to my right and a guy with a crotch rocket to my left. He pulls up to the light, gasses it a couple times... I take that as hes gonna haul bellybutton once that light turns green... light turns green and he's 2 blocks away in about a second, he had to have been up around 150MPH and worked his way over to the far right lane. At the moment he gets over there, lane is clear, then a dude in a white pick up- doesn't check behind him to see whats coming up, pulls over. Biker pulls on the brakes, but hes going WAY too fast with WAY too little braking area, so he over does it. Rear wheel locks up, smoke coming up everywhere and by now his bike is completely sideways. The truck must of been going atleast 30MPH, I'd say 40 since thats the speed limit- and the biker still catches up to him after a good 40 yard side ways skid. He hits the bumper sideways and luckily for him the bike jolted back forward launching him off the bike instead of being caught under it or flying into the back of the truck. The bike slides on its side about another 20 yards and the rider goes bouncing across the ground about 10 yards beyond the bike.

He walked away with a scratched up helmet and knuckles, and the bike lost the right handle bar/throttle but not much else- all plastic body cosmetic work.

Lucky as hell that the bike slid sideways- REAL lucky, otherwise he would of been kissing the pickups fold down gate.
-SW

[GtoRA2]

I have never done it myself, growing up my neighbor was an Emergancy room RN, lol everytime I ever mentioned it my mom would go get her and she would tell me all the horror stories.

I have seen people do stupid stuff in cars, but the stupidist thing I ever saw anyone doing in a vehicle was a motorcycle guy.
 
In the bay area 880 south crosses 237, and if you get on the 237 onramp, it has 4 lanes going down to 2 as a the surface street trafic merges with the 237 traffic.

I was in the 2000 Jeep Wrangler, carpooling with a buddy, traffic is going about 25 miles an hour. I hear a motor cycle, and look and it screams past  me acerrating like a fing rocket. right into the area where 4 lanes become two, and he pops a wheely right past my front bumber, and must have acelerated past 80 on one wheel through merging cars, my friend and I where dumbfounded.

[Apache]

2 of the 7 deaths this week is really heart wrenching. Not that they all aren't but this one more so.

In a group of 15 to 20 are 2 brothers who are leading the pack. They approach a traffic light. They all stop except for one of the brothers, he guns thru. He see's that the group is stopped at the light, so he pulls over to the side of the road to wait.

The light turns green and the brother who is stopped at the light rockets down the road. The waiting brother sees the light turn green, but doesn't look back as he pulls into the road. His brother T-bones him at an estimated 130 mph and kills both.

[Greese]

About three years ago, my cousin decided he wants the biggest baddest crotch rocket out there.  Sent out the pictures of his new bike and everything.

Short while later (measured in weeks), I get a phone call...

Kid lost one leg (and a good portion of the other), one arm and again, most of the other, several internal organs, etc.  Spent nearly a year on the hospital.

Seems common sense had escaped him (like so many others).  He was going nearly 130 when he slid into a guard rail (after leaving a 200 ft skid mark left from a probably insignificant braking attempt).

Why do people think they are indestructible?  I think a motorcycle is a lot safer if the guy who's driving it is twice as careful as someone driving a car.

[Skuzzy]

As long as you ride a motorcycle with one thought, "Everyone on this road is out to kill me."

Then you might get by unscathed.  I never rode faster than the surrounding traffic and always went out of the way to keep out of blind spots.

[GrimCO]

I will never give up riding motorcycles...

Both of my accidents, the person just didn't see me and pulled right out in front of me.

There are two kinds of motorcycle riders...  Those who have been in an accident, and those who will...

[SunKing]

"Both of my accidents, the person just didn't see me and pulled right out in front of me"

well thats a shocker.. isn't that 90% of all cycle accidents? Huge gamble these days with the all the "fast and fuirous" kids on the road.