The New Motorcycles: Bigger, Faster, Deadlier

Trend Toward Outsize Power And Lighter Weight Coincides With Increase in Fatalities
By JONATHAN WELSH
September 18, 2007

Bigger, faster, more-powerful machines are helping to make 2007 the deadliest year yet for motorcycle riders, say safety officials and a new insurance-industry study. In the past few years a horsepower battle in the cycle industry has produced bikes that have the power of a car but often weigh less than ever. Sophisticated suspension and braking systems and other electronics make them easy for inexperienced riders to handle -- up to a point. But the bikes' potential speed and violent acceleration can quickly overwhelm all but the most skilled riders. These high-performance machines, often called "superbikes" or "supersports," accounted for less than 10% of motorcycle registrations in 2005 but accounted for more than 25% of rider fatalities, according to data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analyzed in a study released
last week by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The total number of rider deaths has more than doubled since 1997. At the current rate, some safety experts say, fatalities in 2007 could surpass the previous peak of 4,955 set in 1980. Superbike riders suffer much higher death rates than riders of other kinds of bikes. And while superbikes still aren't as popular as the larger, more laid-back cruiser-style bikes made by Harley-Davidson Motor Co., such bikes have been one of the fastest-growing segments of the industry. They represented 9% of the market in 2005, compared with 47% for cruisers. But superbike registrations jumped 83% between 2000 and 2005.

In addition to more-powerful machines, an influx of inexperienced riders is also helping to drive accident rates higher. And as more middle-age consumers return to motorcycling -- often after not having ridden for 20 years or more -- more older riders are being killed in crashes. Another contributing factor: a trend toward more-liberal helmet laws. "These guys start riding again in their 50s and don't realize that they aren't the same physical specimens they were in their 20s," says David Livingston, director of the New Jersey Trauma Center at University Hospital in Newark, N.J., who has recently seen an increase in motorcycle-related injuries. "During June, July and August, about one in four patients hurt in traffic accidents have been motorcycle riders," he says. Motorcycles, much like cars, have gradually become more powerful and nimble over time. But the more-rapid run-up in engine size and performance has occurred in only the past few years, as overall sales of motorcycles have boomed. New construction techniques and the widening availability of lightweight materials like carbon fiber and titanium "have made it easier to reduce weight and increase power cost-effectively," says Ted Miller, director of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, a research group.

"The stoked sport bike," he says, is a fairly new development. Bike makers across the industry are conspicuously boosting power. Italian
manufacturer Ducati Motor Holding earlier this year began selling the 1098, a superbike with 160 horsepower -- a big jump from the 112 horsepower the company's racy 996 model put out 10 years ago. The bike has about as much power as a Honda Accord EX sedan. BMW AG's motorcycle unit had a reputation for building sedate bikes with less than 100 horsepower until it rolled out the 167-horsepower K1200S about three years ago. Even Harley-Davidson, long known for its slow cruising and touring models, recently released the Night Rod Special, a fast, low-slung bike with a 125-horsepower engine developed with sports-car maker Porsche AG.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s -- the last time motorcycle fatalities were this high -- the hottest bikes included machines like Kawasaki Motors Corp.'s Z1000. A fearsome bi

 

Cliff notes version: bikes are dangerous.



Tell me something I dont know.

 

Really.

 

You can bend statistics into any shape you want.

 

News Flash!? .....bikes are much more powerful.... hell, so are cars!... obvious difference is on a bikeyour unprotected so you better respect that SOB

 

There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics.

 

"riders 40 or older accounted for 47% of motorcycle fatalities,"

But unless they also tell us what percentage of the riding population are over 40, that stat is useless. If 50% of riders are over 40, then they're doing great. If 30% are, that's an alarming death rate.

Where is that article from?

 

Isn't it funny how "the death rate for motorcyclists rose to 7.5 deaths per 10,000 registered motorcycles from 7.1." soundsSO much more dramatic than "the death rate for motorcyclists rose by 0.004%"[sm=bangbang.gif]

 

Insurance industry (where else?).......... loss statistics...........

 

The article apparently came from the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/public/article...438830162.html)

It took a lot of hunting to find out the percentages and I was unable to find anything later than 2003 (I am sure I could have but I just spent an hour hunting for it) anyway, according to the a report by National Highway Transportation Safety Administration at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810606.PDF

In 2003 27.9% of motorcyle riders were 40-49 years old (up from 16.3% in 1990 and 24.6% in 1998). 25.1% of riders were over 50 (up from 10.1% in 1990 and 19.1% in 1998).

The report in the link above is 72 pages and it gives everything there is to know about crash stats.