Motorcycles and Me

[TX3RN0BILL]

Considering how unsafe motorcycles are compared to cars (hope you didn't get too banged up at that accident, Infernus), I'd rather take it slow and ride easy on a chopper instead of going from 0 to the graveyard in 6 seconds... Plus choppers are better seen and more respected than the speed-freak-bikes that are only good to push yourself beyond the limit before you even know it - or know how to handle it. Or... to really mark the difference, maybe I'll get a stylish trike instead with hog-like engine...

[Infernus]

I didn't get too banged up at all, the bike caught the worst of it.

But my case isn't the best one to use in an arguement about motorcycle safety - it could've happened just as much if you were in a car.

[Mag-Mower]

Originally Posted by TX3RN0BILL

Considering how unsafe motorcycles are compared to cars (hope you didn't get too banged up at that accident, Infernus), I'd rather take it slow and ride easy on a chopper instead of going from 0 to the graveyard in 6 seconds... Plus choppers are better seen and more respected than the speed-freak-bikes that are only good to push yourself beyond the limit before you even know it - or know how to handle it. Or... to really mark the difference, maybe I'll get a stylish trike instead with hog-like engine...

To be honest, I have no respect for people who ride choppers. I think they are dirty, greasy, scary people. Just my opinion though.

[Rbstr]

I like cars. I mean cycles have some cool points, but it's just not all that usefull for me.

For $3000, I could get an old BMW E30 or VW GTi project car, I'd much rather have that.

[Infernus]

Originally Posted by Mag-Mower

To be honest, I have no respect for people who ride choppers. I think they are dirty, greasy, scary people. Just my opinion though.

Nope I don't see it...

[TX3RN0BILL]

Originally Posted by Mag-Mower

To be honest, I have no respect for people who ride choppers. I think they are dirty, greasy, scary people. Just my opinion though.

By respect I mean respecting them on the road - I don't care about them OFF their bikes. If you were driving as much as I am in a country which yearly competes with one or two others for being the country with the most casualties attributed to traffic accidents (Way to go Portugal!!!) of the whole european continent, then you would also respect more the hog-drivers than the speedfreaks... Believe me...

[Mag-Mower]

Originally Posted by TX3RN0BILL

By respect I mean respecting them on the road - I don't care about them OFF their bikes. If you were driving as much as I am in a country which yearly competes with one or two others for being the country with the most casualties attributed to traffic accidents (Way to go Portugal!!!) of the whole european continent, then you would also respect more the hog-drivers than the speedfreaks... Believe me...

Oh, I understand what your saying.

[Jaged]

Originally Posted by TX3RN0BILL

Considering how unsafe motorcycles are compared to cars (hope you didn't get too banged up at that accident, Infernus), I'd rather take it slow and ride easy on a chopper instead of going from 0 to the graveyard in 6 seconds... Plus choppers are better seen and more respected than the speed-freak-bikes that are only good to push yourself beyond the limit before you even know it - or know how to handle it. Or... to really mark the difference, maybe I'll get a stylish trike instead with hog-like engine...

Neither style of bike is more safe. What matters is the size of the engine. Any real non beginner hog has an engine far larger then 250cc. This means it is less safe for a beginner and faster and more dangerous then my sleek sexy ninja. Just because it is a sports bike does not mean its dangerous. It is what is inside that counts. A beginner with a hog with a huge engine is in just as much danger as a beginner on a hog with a huge engine.

Originally Posted by Giovanni

Depends really on the travelling you do. If you intend to go on a rat bike and do long trips... prepare to have back aches... it's just not that comfortable. A big chopper where you sit like if you were in a couch tends to be less of a pain on long trips.

I intend to get a chopper eventually... but first I'm getting a shitty car and then a rat bike probably the same as Squeeky. I don't wanna wreck a bike and go "OMG!!!! 45000$$!!!!"

I have read many a forum posts on motorcycle forms from people who usualy ride hogs and then sit down on a ninja and say it is one of the most comfortable bikes they have ever ridden.

[LimpBIT]

Guys lemme just put this out there. Jaged cant go on a chopper, it just aint happenin. If hes gettin a motorcycle, its gonna be a crotch rocket

[Jaged]

Originally Posted by LimpBIT

Guys lemme just put this out there. Jaged cant go on a chopper, it just aint happenin. If hes gettin a motorcycle, its gonna be a crotch rocket

Amen

[Lonehunter]

If it's about safety, a motorcycle is a motorcycle.
Most people see the croch rocket style as more dangerous, but in reality the HD Softail Fatboy with a 1400cc Twin Cam can be just as lethal.
The difference is the style, most of the crowd on Hogs is honestly 40+. You don't see too many teens on Hogs or old guys on Croch rockets, and in all honesty, younger people are... "Less cautious"

Harley Davidson is trying to catch some of the younger crowd with the VRSCs
Linkage

[TX3RN0BILL]

Originally Posted by Jaged

Neither style of bike is more safe. What matters is the size of the engine. Any real non beginner hog has an engine far larger then 250cc. This means it is less safe for a beginner and faster and more dangerous then my sleek sexy ninja. Just because it is a sports bike does not mean its dangerous. It is what is inside that counts. A beginner with a hog with a huge engine is in just as much danger as a beginner on a hog with a huge engine.

The safety issue between speedster bikes and choppers isn't in the size of the engines, but in the way they drive. You can be on a Fat Boy and still feel good about yourself if you're rumbling down at 20mph... But I bet tolerating that kind of speed whilst sitting on a speed bike must feel just like: Damn, I MUST GO FASTER!!! Whilst choppers, hey, they just take it easy, enjoy the scenery, and take a pleasant, slow, drive... Therein lies the safety. Of course any hog-driver that drives too fast is just as dangerous as a speed bike, if not more. It's just not the style of hog-drivers to go fast - they like to pace the roads rumbling and feel like the kings of the road - and that makes them safer and more respected by everybody else they share the pavement with than the speedfreak who considers driving anything below 60 mph like being in slow motion...

[Jaged]

Well that dosent nesecarily mean that I am that kind of a speed freak. My mail concern on this bike will be safety. I do not plan on pushing myself faster then I can handle safely. I think the difference in safety on bikes boils down directly to the riders. Older people get hogs, younger get sports bikes. Older people are safer with more experience. But I am younger so I am getting a sports bike. I would be just as safe/unsafe if I purchased a hog.

[Infernus]

Originally Posted by LimpBIT

Guys lemme just put this out there. Jaged cant go on a chopper, it just aint happenin. If hes gettin a motorcycle, its gonna be a crotch rocket

Its the only kind you'd ever catch me on. Choppers to me are something that 40 year olds buy when they try to regain their rebellious youth.

[Hamma]

Some of them perhaps, but not all. Stereotyping for the lose