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ada1981

This is an awesome site.

It’s also reminding me of one of my best friends who builds custom choppers.

He was just in a gnarly motor bike accident and is lucky to be alive.

Fused spine, deformed body, lost a finger.

Still walking somehow but can’t work and is worried he may never be able to again.

Just to say, motorcycles are a lot like skydiving. If you are around them enough either you or someone close to you gets in a serious accident.

Make sure to take time to get proper training, life / health insurance, plan your estate / will, etc. to make sure if something happens you have security in place.

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This is accurate. I rode a bike for 8 years but after a while the risk got to me, and I stopped. A close friend's brother was killed as he "T-boned" a woman pulling out of a supermarket plaza without looking for oncoming traffic (her fault, he had 2 kids, he died on impact). A second friend was recently severely injured, as a van hit him while violating the rules at an intersection. He had to have his leg amputated. I love bikes a lot (it's a family tradition), but at the end of the day, it's not worth it for me. Of course, this is a personal decisions, and everyone should do as they wish. Just be careful and do your best to keep the rubber side down.

The idea of riding a motorbike terrifies me. I cycle regularly for fun and exercise, I do about 45 km at an average speed of about 30 km/h, and I have a couple of near misses every time I go out.

Whether it's someone opening their door on me, someone pulling out in front of me (either because they haven't seen me or they don't realise how fast you can go on a bike), or someone passing me so close I'd be able to rap on their window, or a myriad of other reasons.

I'm fully lit up day and night, I have high vis socks, reflective shoes, reflective strips on my bibs and jersey, I have a rear radar, my front light at full beam is as bright as a car headlight on main beam, and I cycle about a metre out from the kerb. Not sure what else I can do.

Having all those same issues, plus travelling at a much greater speed? No thanks.

Not judging people who enjoy motorcycles, I've bombed down a country lane which I know well (has no turn offs, good surface) at 80 km/h on my bike so I can well understand the thrill being on a motorbike must give you. I would just never get on one myself.

It’s not about the thrill for everyone. As a motorcyclist myself, I scorn many of the bicyclists I see out on back country roads full of blind corners and hills without a shoulder. In my opinion, it is not safe to have large speed differentials in traffic because it erodes trust in the road and other traffic. If you enjoy two wheels as much as I do, you’ll perfectly enjoy motorcycling without the rush – you’re only as fast as you want to go but at least you’ll always be managing the speed limit. I appreciate in other regions there are minimum speed limits, and I’ve heard personal stories about getting ticketed for riding a bicycle slowly on a fast road.

Just to be clear, it's not all about the thrill for me either, it's just when I was bombing that hill with nothing but two wheels between me and being smeared across the road I realised what it might feel like to have the power of a motorcycle under you.

I ride safely, I'm not swerving between cars at traffic lights or squeezing through gaps.

In the UK, where I live, there are very few roads cyclists aren't allowed on, basically motorways (70 mph speed limit). Regardless I use a route-planning app called Komoot that uses cycle-specific data and heat maps to give you the safest route.

We have national laws that say drivers must treat bicycles as if they were a car and leave them space as such etc., not that it actually happens in practice.

"a rear radar" On a road bicycle? What is this device?

https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/698001

Basically you connect it to your bike computer and it puts a little line along the side, cars appear as dots on the line and move along it as they get closer to you and your computer emits audible beeps when it detects a car. Has a different, more urgent beep when it detects a large vehicle like a lorry or a bus, or if a vehicle is travelling at a high speed relative to you.

Highly recommend it, haven't had any false negatives (obviously I still look over my shoulder, it's just nice to know a car's coming from a distance away and if they're going very fast).

Check out this video for a pretty honest and accurate evaluation of how dangerous motorcycles are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DZk0lzR3Wc

To each their own. Everyone gets their own rodeo here on earth and can live it exactly how they want to.

This is exactly true.

And part of how I choose to live my own rodeo is sharing information that may keep people around longer and help them better articulate their values.

Plan for adventure.

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