Tell me: why do motorbikers love motorcycles? How do you keep yourselves safe?

Question

I'm thinking of getting into motorcycles, and I want to know what it is that draws bikers to their bikes, with full knowledge of the risks and dangers involved. How do you guys keep yourselves safe on the road?

Answer 1

Why? All of the above & more. It's like asking my dogs why they stick thier heads out the window.
How to be safe can be summed up in one word, though.
PARANOIA -- if you believe that someone, somewhere WILL get you, then you will always be extremely careful. You cover yourself in whatever armor you trust in. You watch your back, your side, in front, even above you. You learn to avoid bad situations. You ALWAYS leave yourself an escape.

And they still might get you anyway. If you live, you make another choice: Do I do it again? My answer was YES.

Answer 2

Riding a motorcycle means different things to different people. I love the sensation of flying and the feeling of being one with the bike. And I love having sports car speed with hybrid car mileage! I spend about $40/month on fuel, even using premium unleaded.

There are always risks, of course. The important thing is to UNDERSTAND what those risks are and put serious consideration into how YOU are going to minimize them.

The number one reason that motorcyclists are injured or killed is lack of experience. Go ahead and argue about how that car made an illegal turn in front of you, but the fact remains that in ANY traffic incident the rider LOSES. Experience tells your brain to slow down and cover your brake & clutch lever BEFORE you get to that left turning idiot, and be ready to maneuver.

Same goes with wet/icy conditions, sand, rocks, animals, semis, bugs, wind, and a whole gamut of things that, on any given day, can take you down. Your BRAIN is the NUMBER ONE THING that keeps you safe on a motorcycle. So taking a motorcycle operator's class like MSF and practicing what you learn until it's instinct is your best bet.

But always remember that even the best riders in the world still crash. You will crash. It's inevitable. As careful as you can be 99.99% of the time, there will still come a day when the stars align just so and you go down. So you're flying through the air a few feet off the asphalt, or you're sliding at 40mph on merciless pavement.

What are you wearing?

If it's a denim jacket and loafers, you've got about 10 feet before that jacket disappears and tarmac treats your flesh like a meat grinder. How much farther will you slide, and do you think you can survive the fluid loss and shock long enough to have your wounds torn at by nurses with wire brushes before getting skin grafts? Or did your unprotected head contact the pavement first and open up like a ripe melon?

Wear a helmet, preferably full face (I have a friend that was glad his face was covered while sliding on it), a motorcycle jacket, long pants, boots that cover your ankle, and motorcycle gloves.

AT ALL TIMES!

Leather is by far your best bet, and though it's expensive it fits better and lasts much longer than anything else. There is some very good ballistic nylon gear available, and it WILL protect you in a crash. You want something with armor built in (trust me on this), which most gear comes with. Your helmet should be a little tight at first, but after a bit the liner will conform to your head and fit just right.

You need to be able to budget at least $500 above the motorcycle cost for decent riding gear, and if you have $1000 to spend you can be fully protected in leather.

If you want an inexpensive look into what motorcycling involves, purchase a book titled "Proficient Motorcycling" and read through it cover to cover five times. It has the information you want about how to keep safe, exactly how motorcycles work, what gear to wear, and how to avoid & deal with most types of road conditions.

Answer 3

Three things. Motorcyclists like them all, but different people often find one or the other more important.

You're out in the natural world, feeling it all very immediately. You can see everything. You can feel everything, like a change in the temperature when the road dips a little and the air gets a tiny bit colder.

The vehicle responds fast to every control input. It's like the world's best sports car.

It's a really cool thing to do. Bikes look good.

People who like the first thing more tend to buy bikes that go long distances well, like BMWs, and ride them on long trips, some overnight.

People who like the second thing more tend to buy bikes that go really fast, like sportbikes, and ride them for an hour in the afternoon.

People who like the third thing more tend to buy bikes like Harley Davidsons, and ride them to a social gathering place.

From the length of my descriptions you can see what is most important to me, although I like them all.

Keeping safe is vital, you want to be around to enjoy it. Two very important things:

Proper gear. Not just a good (more than $200) helmet. Good jacket and pants of thick leather or nylon (not fashion leather). Over the ankle boots. Gloves. Practice saying to others: I'd rather sweat than bleed." Practice saying to yourself: All the gear, all the time.

Training. Google motorcycle safety foundation or check with your local community college.

The bike you choose is important, though not as much as those two. Don't get a high strung sportbike that responds fast, you'll be giving the bike some wrong signals and you don't want it to overreact. A 500-750 cruiser is good.

Answer 4

It's the freedom of going down the road without anything to confine you. You see things along the road that you never noticed in your car. Like a little stream. You can smell the wild flowers(and the road kill). You can feel changes in temperature as you go over hills or into valleys. It's the way the guy mowing his lawn looks at you as you go by. It's the little kids that wave and try to keep up with you on their bicycles(I always ease off on the throttle a little bit for them before zooming off). It's the friends you make on the road. It's just plain fun. As for the risks, well, you could be struck by lightning on the golf course or fall out of your fishing boat and drown, too.

Answer 5

When most political commentators refer to liberals, they are talking about the politicians and their likely legislative actions.. They are not talking about liberal-minded citizens, because the demographics are too varied. There are different types of liberals, with certainly polarizing characteristics. For instance, you have the spoiled rich ones, who are often uneducated celebrities, or over-educated , Ivy League career students, with more degrees than they know what to do with. Then you have the welfare sucking non-contributors, who know that they must not put the father's name on their child's birth certificate if they want to get maximum state revenue. As you can see, liberal is not any one type of person, but they do have some things in common. First and foremost, they believe in larger central government. The reasons for this are different according to which liberal you ask, but all roads lead to Rome in this attitude. I don't listen to either of those men you've named, mostly because I do not like their mannerisms, presentation style, or voices. The things they say about liberals might not define all liberals, but they certainly define a large enough percentage of them. What specifically do you believe is in error? According to cons, liberals are most or all of the following: 1) pro choice 2)pro gay marriage 3)anti military (with the exception of the ex-military liberals, and there are way more of them than people think) 4) pro big-government. A belief that almost every problem can be solved with legislation. 5)Anti gun, (this is false, because the anti-gun mentality is almost entirely among philosophical metropolitan liberal demographic, and liberal politicians. Other liberals, like blue collar guys, union members, anarchists, and gang members, pretty much all love guns. That's why the gun control issue seldom wins) 6) subscription to a victim/villian belief in society. This belief festers two things: a)The "haves" got what they have by taking, which leads to the redistribution of wealth mentality, and b)reduction of personal responsibility/redistribution of blame. A belief that ther is always someone or something else to blame for someone's errors, whether it's killing someone, not finding a job, becoming a drug dealer, etc. 7) the way to solve # 6 is with more legislation 8) the way to achieve # 7 is with more government. What part of this is the section with which you disagree?

Answer 6

We just love everything about them and the people who ride , Its unlike driving around in a cage all the time ,you feel the wind, the sun ,you smell all the things around you ,there are plenty of Bike events, Some of us think of it as a steel horse we ride ,
There is danger to it yes, But we like the adrenaline rush flying down the high way ,Always be aware of your surrundings and never take something for granted ,
Its in your Blood !

Answer 7

Its the freedom. The wind in your face. The bugs in your teeth,hahaha. Being able to cruise down the hi-way without the mass of a vehicle surrounding you. Man, its just fun.

As for safety. Don't ride stupid. All the stories I have heard where the biker was at fault, is because he or she was riding stupid.

Answer 8

Good answer maxineboo...It's kinda like flying.Be sure to be aware of your surroundings,assume that no one can see you.People will look at you and still pull out in front of you..there is nothing like a good bike ride,You'll never understand until you experience it.Try it , you'll like it....Please be careful and good luck

Answer 9

Yeah it's the freedom. Mnay of them don't care about the safety. They want the freedom. If they die doing what they love, oh well. Some people aren't so afraid of death.

Answer 10

Previous answers have summed most of it up. Let me quote an old saying:

"I refuse to tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at death."

That pretty much says it all.