Why don't more of you ride bikes?

Its not myself I'd be worried about, its all the other morons that are more likely to injure me. Also, seems like a right faff having to don all the gear whenever I need to go somewhere.
 
eidolon said:
I'm quite surprised by how many people think you instantly die the moment you swing a leg over a bike. As said above, the bike is under your control and if you have no self restraint then you're probably best off not riding something with the best part of 1000BHP per tonne but if you're not an idiot then bikes are great fun.
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It's not my own (lack of) talent that I'd be most fearful of (although that would certainly be a factor). It would be how badly I came off if I was involved in an accident through no fault of my own, which I fear is more likely to happen on a bike.
 
For me, too dangerous, it's that simple.

I've been on the back of my mates cbr600 a fee times, and to be fair he's probably trying to scare me, but it was viciously fast, and knowing how oblivious most road users are, it's just not good odds.
 
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For the last 36 years I've been attending Bike Rallys at least 4 times a year and every time I turn up at one (in a car) at least one Bikers life & death will be celebrated and others will have new limps. I know I'd kill myself.
 
Gotta say bit put off by the accidents - 1 person from school was left with life changing injuries and another killed in accidents (both were admittedly doing silly things at the time), someone from my IT course at college was killed in an accident and my brother had a bit of and off that would have been pretty nasty if he hadn't invested in some decent equipment. (For anyone who does ride and on the fence on that do it - if he hadn't had some decent back armor he would most likely not be walking today or worse).
 
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I don't ride bikes because you cannot odds that other drivers on the road will see you. Just needs one mistake by somebody in a car.....
 
It's different for everyone of course but I've been in the situation where a close relative suffered severe, life changing injuries as a result of someone else's dangerous driving. And his passenger wasn't that lucky :'(

He got back on bikes after many many months and made a name for himself winning a couple of drag racing championships, plus a rather spectacular off at the wrong end of the 1/4 strip over at Jurby :rolleyes:

Case of risk vs benefit/enjoyment for each and every person to make their own mind up - my mother let me make my own mind up after the accident I mentioned above and it was the same for the guy involved. Some people will funnel their determination into coming back from something like that, others may not want to put themselves in a position for it to happen in the first place but it's a free country and there's no blanket right or wrong answer.

imho :)
 
I just don't find them interesting to be honest, they don't appeal to me in anything like the same way a car does.

No idea why really.
 
Muffin` said:
That's a common misconception and I used to have that view but you ultimately control the throttle and the brakes; you can mitigate being hit by working on your riding position, style and what you wear. It's true you're more likely to be killed or seriously injured because of the exposed nature of the bike but the majority of these deaths are the large demographic of riders who use inappropriate speeds in inappropriate places or just run out of talent at 140mph on the Cat & Fiddle. At the speeds some of us lot drive our 90's cars at if we ever did stack it it'll probably be a similar fate as if you were on a motorcycle.

Driving my car flat out is incredibly immersive, at slower speeds it's pretty dull, I never find riding the bike dull at any speed. The bike commands huge respect and to ride it hard is much more challenging than a car and I love it for it.
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If I was doing 140MPH in my car on a motorway, I'd not be very likely to stack it. If there was a sudden gust of wind or a bump in the road surface, I'd probably be able to control it. On a bike, I'd probably come off which would = instant death at those speeds.

I've tried to convince myself I'd be sensible on a bike, but I know I wouldn't. Everybody I know has said exactly the same thing as well, so for now I'm sticking to four wheels. :p
 
It's not for everyone.

It's an expensive, relatively dangerous pastime that requires a lot of ability, self control and road craft to do safely, and so therefore I can understand why a lot of people choose not to do it.
 
geekman said:
If I was doing 140MPH in my car on a motorway, I'd not be very likely to stack it. If there was a sudden gust of wind or a bump in the road surface, I'd probably be able to control it. On a bike, I'd probably come off which would = instant death at those speeds.

I've tried to convince myself I'd be sensible on a bike, but I know I wouldn't. Everybody I know has said exactly the same thing as well, so for now I'm sticking to four wheels. :p
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A gust of wind won't blow you off if you are doing 140mph because physics.
 
My dad had a pretty bad accident when he was younger that affected him his whole life (not his fault either) so I was always discouraged from taking in interest in bikes. Nowadays I see it as a level of risk that I'm simply not prepared to consider. I've had an accident in a car that was not my fault where if I'd have been on a bike it would have resulted in serious injuries (car pulled into my path from the central reservation on a DC).

Also it's rare that I feel it's safe to exploit the full performance of a fairly mild car on the road, the extra performance of a bike would be wasted on me. Plus straight line performance (which is where bikes really excel) has never really been something that excites me.
 
Muffin` said:
The bike commands huge respect and to ride it hard is much more challenging than a car and I love it for it.
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This.

I've had Focus RS's, a 280bhp Fiesta ST and various other hot hatches and just nothing can provide the buzz for me.

Only thing that has come close is a Radical, and I can't afford one of those. :D

I now own a £15k 190bhp superbike which is Vauxhall Astra money.... It's mentally fast and shouldn't be legal. It's like a drug.
 
I was going to say - because they're too slow and far too much work. Then realized you meant motorbikes :o

But more seriously you are very vulnerable on a bike if things go wrong which is kind of why I've never bothered with them. I do have a Honda 500cc I occasionally use locally on the road but it has 4 wheels with tyres pumped up to a 'soft' 3.5psi and does about 90kph flat out :eek: Also has a sheep dog pillion passenger on the back. Now don't start on about quads on the road cos it wasn't me :p
 
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