If your gonna ride, your gonna fall down!

[stopintime]

I would vote "no, because it already happened" if that was a choice. My mindset is - NO WAY!
As for yours, and my, quarter inch strips - save it for the track!

18 year old in a VW Golf decided I should stop when he was in a hurry getting back on the road from a gas station. His front was 1.5 feet shorter, my bike in the opposite ditch and I landed 60 feet down the road. Broken sunglasses, that was it. The doctors couldn't believe my leg was only badly beaten. My gear helped, probably.

After that I expect cagers to treat me if I wasn't there. I know it's possible that it will happen again, but I have made it a challenge to stay alive.
I can, literarily, live with minor damage. When the roads and traffic allow it I ride hard, but I stay within (?) my limits.

Here in Norway the risk of injury/death for 35 year old riders is 10% of the numbers for 18 year old squids. I'm 47 and have very good skills reading the "body language" of traffic. I'm also super alert - always. I really want to survive, that's all.

[DoubleEagle]

I have been riding on and off since I was 16 and that was in 1965. I rode moto cross, and broke my collar bone , I rode in the Forest on the trails , fell down alot but never anything broken . Then I Ice raced in the late 70s and fell down ther too but I had won my class and never any injury. Took up Harleys in the 80s and never crashed one . Always had crash bars mounted on the big Hogs that I rode so I imagine had I crashed it wouldn't have been to bad . I rode as a Cruiser, mainly on Highways and not at much other than the speed limit. In 2005 I got a BMw '05 RT , in '06 a BMW K1200GT, and '07 a  BMW K1200S and never crashed any of those bikes. In the Spring of '07 I also fell in love w/ a Ducati S4Rs , a bike the likes of I'd never ridden. I promply crashed it the second day I had it tryinfg to keep up w/ a group of 5 seasoned road racers. I didnt get hurt other than when I was at a gas station w/ the 5 guys and forgot to put my stand down and got off the bike.

My next crash came on a day when I really just didn't feel like riding but went anyway. I was riding slower than usual, generally it's "balls to the wall ", and on an unfamiliar road just kinda taking in the sights and smells and a hairpin curve caught me off guard and I stopped right at the edge of a ditch bit I went over the bars into the ditch. Didn't get hurt and neither did the bike except for some scuffs on the barend .

The worst crash most of you who have been on this Forum for awhile know about and that involved me playing road racer as usual on the back roads in the  "Hills " where I love to go like the wind. This particular road I hadn't been on in the direction I was going since last Fall and it is nothing but blind up and down curves. I came out of a small valley and cracked the throttle , noticed two people and a bike off the side off the road as I crested the hill and there it was ,a sharp almost 90 degree lefthander going away from me.

I was into the center of the curve at 50-70 mph and the next thing I remember I was in this little ditch filled w/ water and mud. The mud stopped the bike almost instantly and I went smashing into a hillside and ended up w/ 4 broken ribs, a punctured lung , a contusion to my right shoulder and alot of soft tissue damage( was fully geared up) .

That happened in early April and I just rode for the 1st time 3 days ago. Did I think I was going to crash when I was riding at times well over 100 mph in the hills ? I knew it was a very real possibility , but I thought since I had done it so many times and didn't crash, each time just lessened that thought in the back of my head. Also I always prayed to God to keep me safe and retun me home in the same shape as I started out and I always believe in God and his words.The day of my big crash I don't believe I said the prayer. It was my 3rd time out this season and 1st time on the throttle hard.

Do I think I wii crash again. Well let's just say that I am hell bent on changing my riding philosophy and so far on my last 2 rides I have ridden slower and saner. Now if the rest of the world wil just leave me alone !

[CairnsDuc]

I voted No, I haven't had a bingle on my road bikes, Thankfully (Knocking on any piece of wood nearby) I had a few tumbles while I had my KLR250, Which taught one great fact, Pain hurts!! It taught me to slow down and wise up, and Public roads are not the place to push you or your bike to the limit.

I don't go silly when riding, I have chicken strips (My Chicken strips could feed thousands ), and I will not get rid of them on public roads, You can never account for the Dickhead factor (The Drivers up here in Cairns are some of the worst in Australia), plus the Roads up here in Northern Australia are disgusting (rough, not wide enough, potholed)
I'd love to get on a race track and have a real go, but the nearest track to me is a 2 day ride/drive,so won't be doing that anytime soon.

I've learnt to be paranoid and suspect everyone on the road, I try to be careful and try to avoid places, intersections that are known trouble spots, I don't ride with other people who will try to push you to go faster.
When I get on the nearby Gillies range and Palmerston Highway, I have fun and get into, but allowing a decent size margin of error, But it's still a blast!

Take it easy out there people, Watch out for yourself, Cause no one else gives a shit!  

[DoubleEagle]

I would vote "no, because it already happened" if that was a choice. My mindset is - NO WAY!
As for yours, and my, quarter inch strips - save it for the track!

18 year old in a VW Golf decided I should stop when he was in a hurry getting back on the road from a gas station. His front was 1.5 feet shorter, my bike in the opposite ditch and I landed 60 feet down the road. Broken sunglasses, that was it. The doctors couldn't believe my leg was only badly beaten. My gear helped, probably.

After that I expect cagers to treat me if I wasn't there. I know it's possible that it will happen again, but I have made it a challenge to stay alive.
I can, literarily, live with minor damage. When the roads and traffic allow it I ride hard, but I stay within (?) my limits.

Here in Norway the risk of injury/death for 35 year old riders is 10% of the numbers for 18 year old squids. I'm 47 and have very good skills reading the "body language" of traffic. I'm also super alert - always. I really want to survive, that's all.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Isn't Ghostrider from your part of the world ?

[toaster]

i voted yea, cause its already happened.  i grew up racing mx from the time i was 8 until i was about 20.  through those years i had 4 broken bones, and 3 (for sure) concussions, maybe more.  within 3 months on the ducati, i hit the ground.  i was going into a turn and was going too fast.  i tried to slow down and make the turn but it was late at night and the dew had started to settle so the road was slick.  i didnt ever think that the dew would be able to do that to me, but oh well.  fixed the bike and still ride it to this day.   also, i didnt fix the dent on the tank to keep it as a reminder that "sh*t happens." 

i was also raised with the saying that "there are two types of riders:  those that HAVE wrecked, and those that WILL."  and "its not IF, but when and how bad."

[johnster]

You can get injured/killed crossing the street, In your car, flying a plane, skydiving, mountain climbing, skateboarding, snowboarding, motocross riding, having sex  , and of course street riding. All are activities I have been really into at one time or another. A couple I have been injured participating in... 

The point is, there are SO many fun things in life that provide excitement, fun, and exhiliration but are also dangerous. We do the best we can to avoid potential injury by studying up on safety precautions + doing our best to avoid the worst.

-It's the intangibles + unexpected that usually ends up getting you, and these exist almost everywhere you turn, so Yeah... I'll still ride knowing that both wheels could leave the ground at any given time.. It's already happened, on my dirbike and onthe street, so that's what I chose..

-Life's too short to not get out there + have fun while you still can!!! 

[Cucciolo]

Ride cautiously... never think that you are going to fall... even if you are falling.. don't give it away and try until the last minute to save it ...  That is how I think about it..even though I don't know how the hell I am going to save it.. LOL...  I'm getting on that though. I am reading many riding books..  [moto] I've learned a lot!@

[stopintime]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Isn't Ghostrider from your part of the world ?

Reading his profile it doesn't seem so    Maybe he relocated? I've only met one fellow Norwegian here, brnout, but I'm sure there are others - even though Monsters are sold in very small numbers here - 30, 40, 50 during a good year. That would bring the total Monster population to, let's guess, 4-500. Compared to the Norwegian population of 4.5 million I guess the Monster/Ducati penetration is comparable to that of the U.S.? Any thoughts?

[m0t0g0th]

Do the people who say No think they are invincible or Experts for all riding situations and conditions 

i voted "no", and like i wrote i tell myself i'm invicible - but like i said i also prepare for the real world.   
if you think you're vulnerable, you're carrying a gremlin in your head who can second guess you and bork your reactions - i think, YMMV.  but riding with a good bit of self-knowledge and confidence is required on the mean streets of driveways, blind corners and school zones.

[marsrr]

yep it happens I have been in two hit and runs not hurt real bad but tore up my bikes better then ten years ago. one funny one was about 91-92 some time I would practice break stoppies and was going down the street from my house when I thought I would get one and up and over the bars I went right in front of this hole family and they had no idea what happen! this guy just crashed in the middle of the street for no reason dam I felt stupid also on my way to a moto gp race I put my bike in the bushes on a left hand sweeper again for no reason not fast just enough to drop my s4r. what happend was some thing that I know about so well  with racing but still fell victim to....target fixation....I even know it was happening but brain turned off I guess   so I think if you ride you will make at lest some small mistake at some time and at very lest drop your ride  

[factorPlayer]

Ain't gone down.

Ain't gonna go down. 

[fastwin]

43 years of riding, went down once.... bad, very bad. Read my post on Capt.baz thread about him almost hitting the turkey on the general forum. Damn critters.

[PJFZ1]

Physics says that our machines don't stand up on their own, and when we push the limits of ourselves and our machines, we increase the likelyhood of physics winning.

 I've always said that there are 3 kinds of riders:

- Those that have been down
- Those that are going down.
- Those that are going down again.

  I consider myself number 3... not that I plan on crashing, but I plan on continuing to ride, hard at times, and it will probably happen again at some point, regardless of how safe I try to be.

[sbrguy]

i honestly think this is the dumbest question there is on the board.  sorry i'm going to vent here bc i think this question is sort of lame.

if you have to ask if moto riding is dangerous enough to fall, you shouldn't be on a motorcycle at all.

does anyone think when they get their drivers license, "hey there are a lot of drunk drivers out there its only a matter of time before one hits me and kills my kids and wife in the car, bc you know there are only those drivers that have had fatal accidents like that and people who will do have that happen in time"  

WTF?

do you go out and say to your children at a young age "you know son, you are only 8 years old but you have to learn that if i dont' die a horrible death from cancer your mother will and if not her your grand parents will or someone you really love will die a painful and horrible death, so you realize that there are only two types of poeple those the lose a close loved one to a horrible disease and those that will"

WTF?

yes motocycling is dangerous.

[BastrdHK]

As others have stated, its about self/situational awareness.  We understand all the inherent risk to varying degrees and ride accordingly that given day. 

Personally, I have had "positive" learning experiences on my monster(first bike).  The day I bought it I rode it 200 miles back home after a five minute "instructional" period by the previous owner.  I could barely start rolling without stalling, yet  within thirty minutes I knew its top speed and found out what a rev limiter was.  Valuable knowledge obtained riding helmetless and wearing street clothes trying to shred themselves at the seams. 

A pretty girl walking downtown taught me that revving the engine and a simultaneous, neck wrenching head snap was not impressive.

I learned that a relatively light 427lbs wet in the bike world is a heavy son of a pregnant dog on its side, and returning to its upright position is easier to accomplish when my pride to adrenaline ratio is inversely related!

Kickstands are simple devices, like light switches. On or off, no in between.

Doing your own mods and maintenance is one of the most rewarding aspects of riding, but can detrimental if proper care is not taken.  A chain jumping its sprocket is a sobering experience, but my Duc took care of me.
In return I vowed to take better care of it.

These experiences represent my evolution as a motorcyclist.  All of which created a thirst for knowledge that has  been quenched by the fine people of this board, and the more experienced guys I ride with. 

I have concluded that I can only prepare myself and my equipment as best as I possibly can.  Negative thoughts will only add to the ever present distractions on the street, and my concentration should be directed towards the the skills and hardware I CAN control!