Out of respect to the rider's who have been down, I decided to create a new thread to discuss our recent rash of downed riders. (Say that 5 times fast)

First off, my argument is that it is not a freak accident to be going 120mph through a tight turn during rush hour traffic, and end up dead. Same goes for stunting.

Now, to address this. The good majority or rider down threads I've seen lately were attributed to gross misjudgement on the part of the rider. That's why I chime in.

If you wreck and die doing something foolish, yes. I'd expect the same if I went down doing something retarded.

Negatory on target fixation. I can see it being target fixation had he veered into the phone pole on his own, but he was riding above and beyond his ability. Being unsure of your bike and/or abilities will definitely take your turns wide. He hit the pole because he was taking a turn too wide, went into oncoming traffic, and locked up his brakes. That's not target fixation, that's taking a turn too hard and then being overcome by panic.

Where are all of these cruiser crashes you've read about? They're pretty rare if you ask me. I've only seen two posted on here recently, and only one was at the fault of the rider.

 

I'd also like to point out that the one cruiser crash that was at the fault of the rider, was a female rider. I'm pretty sure it's been scientifically proven that girls can't operate motor vehicles worth a shit, so I don't blame the motorcycle.

 

i'd have to say i wholeheartedly agree.

most times in the rider down threads you've got somebody speeding, stunting, splitting traffic, and riding beyond their bike/abilities

i can tell you out of all my friends with cruisers any accidents have been rare and minor with no loss of life whereas you guys on the sportbikes seem to lose friends left and right.

from what frankie said there was a cruiser that went down and it was his fault, i believe it. some people just don't pay attention or still do stupid things. anytime i've seen an accident involving a cruiser it hasn't been their fault, but that of the other(s) involved in the incident.

this isn't intended to start some flame war; rather to point out the err in reasoning some people seem to have. if nothing else, think of all the retarded things we post about having done and we're fine, still here. you assume the risk when you sit at the controls. what you choose to do at those controls is entirely up to you. if you do something idiotic you can't expect sympathy or compassion.

when i wrecked frankie pulled up laughing, sucked but it was funny. when he went down, we made fun of him to the max. had somebody died, yeah we'd still have to ballbust for the sake of their own stupidity. that's just how the game is played.

 

Dude, you had grass hanging out of your helmet and total blackface from eating dirt. How could I not laugh? You made up for it by riding around a masking taped bike with a cast on your right arm.

Me? I was just drunk off my ass. There's no way for that not to be funny. "Party foul!"

 

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd...004/809908.pdf

*edit - updated with newer report

 

I'd have to say I take both sides here!
Alot of Riders (Sportbikes specifically), give other riders a bad name. I'd like to say I am a very conservative rider and very cautious, however...if it's my turn to go (Only God knows), then anything could happen. Friends give me shit because I haven't gone over 110mph, but to me, no road is long enough / no side streets, to go that fast! It's my life and I'll do what I feel comfortable doing and HAVE FUN! There is still that chance that I make a careless MISTAKE or another driver takes me out! Way too many accidents are from careless drivers (in cars, on cell phones, etc...not paying attention), and the person on the bike gets the $hit end of the deal.
For the guy that was pushing himself too hard and died (in the most recent thread)...It was his time. Maybe he was pushing himself (I disagree with doing that-go at your pace!) but what are the chances he goes off the road and hits 1 single pole? He could have easily landed in a ditch and survived.
The girl that went down @ 54&41...a car did a u turn in front of her...doesn't sound like speed was a factor. Racing on public roads is insane and one day you'll pay the consequences, fatal or not!

As far as the rider down threads being mainly sportbikes, I have to say, I hear alot of cruisers/harleys down too. Maybe we hear of the sportbikes...MORE because they are the majority of the people who post on these sites.

I love riding! I've considered giving it up because my life is important to me, but it's hard...it's something I enjoy.

Just my thoughts! EVERYONE be safe and have fun!!

 

I read a lot of Harley boards too, you don't see too many of those guys going down. That's all I'm sayin'. Most cruiser guys are laid back and putt around at the speed limit.

It's just what happens when you get on top of a machine that's so fast and responsive though. I know I had no self control on my Honda, so I sold it. It's just too easy to go fast for cheap, and a lot, not all, sport bike guys seem to migrate to smaller, economic cars. Going from a slow ass econobox to something lightning quick like a liter sport bike is total system shock. It's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

 

Your definition of target fixation couldn't be more wrong. I hate to say it...but even WIKIPEDIA tells it how it is! The definition is AS FOLLOWS:

Target fixation is a process by which the brain is focused so intently on an observed object that awareness of other obstacles or hazards can diminish. Also, in an avoidance scenario, the observer can become so fixated on the target that the observer will end up colliding with the object.

This is a common issue for motorcyclists. A motorcycle will tend to go where the rider is looking -- and if the rider is overly focused on an obstacle (puddle of oil, tree branch, patch of sand, small child, etc), the motorcycle can collide with that object simply because of the rider's focus on it, even though the rider is trying to avoid it.

Are you seriously asking that? I open the newspaper almost every single day and whenever there is a motorcyclist death article, it's more than HALF of the time a CRUISER. You know how I know? Because I ALWAYS look for those kinds of articles to make sure it wasn't someone I know. I immediately skip over it if the article states that it was a cruiser.

Now I know that isn't very nice but I don't know many people who ride cruisers and therefore I probably didn't know the rider who died.

One that I can specifically recall was a cruiser who was traveling down Gunn Hwy and the rider MYSTERIOUSLY drifted into the other lane of oncoming traffic. Gee I wonder what caused him to do that? The article even STATED that he had problems negotiating the curve!!!

 

Well believe it or not, she might have been speeding! On a motorcycle, you must be AWARE at ALL times.

I bet that if that person made a U-turn in front of me, that I could've avoided it. That might just be me sounding cocky but I'm pretty confident that a car would have to be almost invisible or hit me from the side if making a U-turn. If I was speeding hardcore,,,then yeah I'd probably rear-end him/her. But that's unlikely because when riding in traffic I am all ears, and eyes. I try to assume that every car waiting to pull onto the road is going to do it regardless of whether he sees me or not.

You just have to be defensive and assume that you are invisible to traffic. I've saved myself from a LOT of potential accidents with that mindset.

 

Target fixation does not equal riding too fast to negotiate a curve. I strongly doubt he was staring at the telephone pole. I know when I ride I don't normally stare at poles, and I doubt this guy was either. Probability says he was speeding and riding outside of his limits, couldn't negotiate a turn (not because he was staring at a pole, a tree, an original print of Pink Floyd's The Wall on vinyl, or some chick's tits), and ended up slamming into a pole during a panic. Sounds like you're just having fun with symantecs and definitions, and totally forgot about reality.

It's hard to negotiate turns when your bike is 5 feet wide and lowered 2 inches. He was probably going too fast, which means not really that fast at all, and ran his ass into the oncoming lane. Shit, I don't have 5 feet of crash guards and I was daring enough to go 60mph on Gunn the other day!

I never open a newspaper, but any online reports I read normally have to do with a sport bike.