Is motorcycling suicidal ?

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Deleted member 61728

Deleted member 61728

First of all im not antibike just wondering if im the only person who feels this way when riding i mean sure you ride as defensivly as possible but that does not stop some prat pulling out in front at a junction taking you down usally permanently.

Is riding a motorcycle on the roads these days in the Uk with all the traffic moving so fast without any care for anyone else always in a rush verging on suicidal i mean in countrys with not much traffic their great but what about the Uk?
 
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Not if you're sensible, take care of yourself and the bike, learn the bike, roads and drivers. The main danger i think are the car drivers, but you tend to learn and predict what other's are doing/going to do.
It all generally gets better with experience but there are definitely situations you can't prepare yourself for and you will inevitably have an accident. That said, NEVER GO CHEAP ON BIKE GEAR!
 
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Go ride in France, now thats my idea of suicidal.

As for the UK, i started riding bikes back in 1980, & i still haven't bothered learning to drive a car, over the years ive been nailed twice, if it happens it happens, fretting about it will only distract you making you more vulnerable to passing numpties in the process.
 
I have had 3 accidents, 1 due to other road driver not seeing me, and 2 because I was pushing my bike beyond it's limits. 2 of those were bad, I was lucky to walk away from both.

My dad lost use to his right arm after being wedged between a 16 wheeler and a barrier on the M1, then being run over by 4 wheels of the 16 wheeler...

A good friend of mine, smashed his leg due to a van pulling out on him and has a metal knee brace inside his leg.

Same friend came off after we had a 'sprited' ride with just 3 of us, he broke his back, very badly.

I have totalled 1 bike beyond recognition, seen friends after they have come off and broken many bones.

I ask my self after each time I see or experiance something like the above.

"Will you go back out?"

Like clock work, every time, without fail, out loud with others around.

Yes, I will go back out, it's my passion, you hear race drivers have an accident then say "nope, that was too close for me"... You hear sky divers stopping after having to pull a reserve shoot? Nope.

The same rule applies for me, I have seen and been through some rough spills, but the bottom line is, I enjoy it, it's my own risk and I place my trust in other road users to keep me safe. But most of all, common sense, that is the part that removes the chance of being suicidal.

Mind you, I am a nut job...
 
I mostly agree with Agnes, I don't think it's suicidal as long as you use common sense but on the other hand it is a risky hobby.

Before I'd even taken my test I was on a 125 when a car pulled from my left on a mini-roundabout into the side of the bike, breaking my femur into two bits and some ligament/soft-tissue damage to the knees. It wasn't the most pleasant experience but I didn't for a second think of giving up riding a bike, infact I had my last physio session in January and at the start of February I was doing my full bike test :)

Since then I took up racing bikes, during which I've had 7 crashes with 1 broken bone, and still not considered giving up what I enjoy.
 
No, it's not. It's more dangerous than driving a car for sure, but as long as you have common sense and learn to predict what cagers are going to do before they do it and read your surroundings well, it is fine.
 
I look at my friend in his wheelchair, my smashed up leg and face, and think...
'naaaah'
Its usually idiot car drivers that are the problem, but saying that, there are planty of idiots on bikes.
I'm glad I started riding in 1981, things were safer then.Today the roads are just mental.
 
By very definition it's not suicidal - you don't tend to get on a bike with the intention of taking your own life. You are certainly exposed to more danger than a car driver, but it is up to the rider to mitigate those dangers by riding defensively.

Biking is the antithesis of car driving in an era were more and more drivers seem to be off-loading their personal responsibilities onto the car designers, road designers and government etc. These myopic retards on 4 wheels are a danger to all road users; IMO the focus should be on removing (or re-training) the source of this danger, not removing those they put at risk.
 
its scary at first like most things,but after few years of riding you develop a sixth sense for hazards ect,car doors opening,pulling out on you,taxi drivers ect,but you always get the unexpected once in a while,id sooner be on a nimble slim motorbike than in a big bulky car
 
Jay794 said:
Motorbiking is like Skydiving, it's not doing it that will kill you, it's hitting the floor
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Hitting the floor from a bike won't kill you. You'll probably slide and come out with a few cuts and bruises if you're wearing decent gear. Getting smashed into by a car would probably kill you.

Also no it isn't suicidal.
 
Macky said:
Hitting the floor from a bike won't kill you. You'll probably slide and come out with a few cuts and bruises if you're wearing decent gear. Getting smashed into by a car would probably kill you.

Also no it isn't suicidal.
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Hitting your neck a curb at 60 can kill you.
 
heh ok by definition it might not be intentionally suicidal, but none of you are exactly making it look anything less than suicidal to do it from the number of near misses and life changing/potentially fatal injuries posted about :P whether its car drivers or something else thats the problem is beside the point.
 
Rossi~ said:
Hitting your neck a curb at 60 can kill you.
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Plenty are dead or paralysed from hitting curbs as low as 30 :(

And no its not suicidal, but as you said there is always going to be the risk that you could end up seriously harmed through no fault of your own on a motorbike, personally I find being in old small cars with virtually no safety features in them scary as hell I cant think of anything worse than being crushed/trapped in a car :p
 
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Rroff said:
heh ok by definition it might not be intentionally suicidal, but none of you are exactly making it look anything less than suicidal to do it from the number of near misses and life changing/potentially fatal injuries posted about :P whether its car drivers or something else thats the problem is beside the point.
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So what about extreme sports - are they suicidal?

How often do you see video clips of a completely uneventful ride, or people posting how they didn't have any issues on the way to work etc? Bikers only tend to comment or put up a video if it's showing something interesting or entertaining. If every ride was like the carnage you see on YouTube then there wouldn't be many of us left at all.
 
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Barry Smalley said:
Sorry, but that's complete rubbish. Allright the lad was making a comparison by meaning it's what hits you that kills you, but to say you can't be killed by just hitting the deck?
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Okay I didn't think of that haha. Not a laughing matter but you know what I mean. I was thinking, dropping the bike at 10 miles per hour on a flat road and hitting the ground.
 
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