Quantifying the additional risk of riding a motorcycle

Words to live by! 👍🏻
I grap a 'handfull" of front brake to start every ride. Trains my body and trains my reflexes. I got only 2000 miles on my bike last year. I need more. Every driveway.intersection and alley way is an opportunity for pain and agony. "Base safe riding" class MCAS Yuma AZ, 1977.
 
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"Just assume every car on a cross street WILL pull out in front of you and try to kill you."

Absofukinlutely. :cautious:
On a particular day within the last 10 years, this happened to me twice on a routine trip from Cleveland to Dahlonega, Georgia. The first one, a car pulled out from the right and stopped, forcing me to cross the center line. This was on a state highway, probably traveling at 60 mph. In retrospect, I was too close to the vehicle in front of me, making me more or less invisible to the driver waiting at the stop sign. Safe following distance isn't always enough. Once in Dahlonega, driving maybe 30-40 mph, a large pickup truck came out of a business on my left turning onto the road in my lane just as I arrived at the scene of the would be crash. He stopped leaving me just enough room to squeak by without hitting the curb. That was two very close calls within about 30 minutes of each other in a place with more motorcycles on the road than anywhere else in the USA that I have been. I've had close calls and crashes, but never anything in succession like that.
 
On a particular day within the last 10 years, this happened to me twice on a routine trip from Cleveland to Dahlonega, Georgia. The first one, a car pulled out from the right and stopped, forcing me to cross the center line. This was on a state highway, probably traveling at 60 mph. In retrospect, I was too close to the vehicle in front of me, making me more or less invisible to the driver waiting at the stop sign. Safe following distance isn't always enough. Once in Dahlonega, driving maybe 30-40 mph, a large pickup truck came out of a business on my left turning onto the road in my lane just as I arrived at the scene of the would be crash. He stopped leaving me just enough room to squeak by without hitting the curb. That was two very close calls within about 30 minutes of each other in a place with more motorcycles on the road than anywhere else in the USA that I have been. I've had close calls and crashes, but never anything in succession like that.
You should have bought a lottery ticket that day, you lucky son of a gun!
 
Summary: Wear a helmet. Wear safety gear. Pay attention. Don’t drink and drive. Don’t ride like a hooligan. Assume all cars ARE out to get you and ride accordingly. Practice practice practice.

That's worth saying again. So I just did.
 
I grap a 'handfull" of front brake to start every ride. Trains my body and trains my reflexes. I got only 2000 miles on my bike last year. I need more. Every driveway.intersection and alley way is an opportunity for pain and agony. "Base safe riding" class MCAS Yuma AZ, 1977.
The idea is good, I practice hard braking most times I'm out, but of course you didn't really mean grab a handful of front brake. I'm told that shooting a gun people are taught to squeeze the trigger? The front brake should be applied progressively, as weight transfers it's quite surprising just how much harder the front tyre grips. The benefit of practice is so you are comfortable to take your time and squeeze the brake on in an genuine emergency stop.
 
Speaking of anti lock brakes 🙄…………
My new bike doesn’t have them, unfortunately. In fact I only ever had one bike that did, My Suzuki 650 V-Strom. That bikes brakes were superb! Only once, did I ever really need them, when a car veered suddenly in front of me from another lane, I got on the brakes HARD and that bike slowed down right now! I could feel the brakes pulsing slightly as the tires were on the verge of sliding …but never did. They ought to be mandatory on all new bikes ( in my opinion ).
 
The idea is good, I practice hard braking most times I'm out, but of course you didn't really mean grab a handful of front brake. I'm told that shooting a gun people are taught to squeeze the trigger? The front brake should be applied progressively, as weight transfers it's quite surprising just how much harder the front tyre grips. The benefit of practice is so you are comfortable to take your time and squeeze the brake on in an genuine emergency stop.
You are correct, grab a handfull is maybe more a figure of speech. In riding, acceleration is pretty much a function of the motor while deceleration is a function of the skill of the rider. I practice braking only when no cars are around
 
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