Hi everyone,

I apologize if this is a common question. I suspect it is.

I've always wanted to buy a Harley. But my wife and kids are extremely worried that I'll get hurt on a motorcycle. Also, there are many of my friends that have horror stories about friends of theirs that have died or been severely injured on them. So what's the deal from your perspective. As riders of motorcycles, how worried are you that no matter how careful you are on the bike, that some drowsy or wreckless car driver will ruin your day?

I ride road bikes (like the kind Lance Armstrong rides) and have to deal with obnoxious motorists all the time. But I'm only going on average about 20 mph. I imagine things change a lot at 70 mph.

Thanks,
Mike

 

Well, you gotta worry, pay attention like you never have paid attention before. Expect that that cager is going to hit you, let them go first, take a couple of seconds longer before going into an intersection.....don't be an idiot. Drunk drivers....you gotta worry about them no matter what your are on/ in while on the road. Make yourself as visable as you can, maybe do what you can to stay off the road during peak drunk driver times...

I was involved in a bike wreck on my first scoot when I was ninteen, downtown INDY on a Sat night at around 11 pm. Some fool leaving a party ran a light and I connected with him drivers side front quarter panel. I did not have a hemet on, and had a passenger. I could have done better by waiting a few more seconds before entering the intersection, though it was his fault...I could have been less in a hurry. I usually count to three before running into the intersection, even if it was a rolling stop on a old red light and roll into it slow making sure there is no one there.

Welcome to the board

 

be very careful,take a riders edge course.that,s what i did.hadn,t rode in thirty years.watch the cagers.lots of people feel intimidated at us.some just don,t like bikers.make sure you have a pistol with you for personal protection.watch out.
good luck

 

I waited till our kids moved out and started their own families,we were always too busy with family "stuff" to ba able to have time for my self,and if anything should happen to me now it would not have as much impact now as when everybody
was dependent on us,
Jim

 

Take the msf course, Buy your dream ride, it will take a couple thousand mile to get comfortable with it but after that the bike is like an extension of your body. Always stay alert for the stupids out there, just like you do when driving your own cage. Conquer your fears, you will be a stronger man afterwards...

 

Take the Riders Edge class ... then ride to live ... there's nothing like it ....

 

Be properly educated and your chances of road accidents are no real difference than in your car. There may be higher chance of injury once in an accident, but the trick is to recognize the signs to avoid accidents.

 

There's risk in everything you do. If you really have the bug, go for it. Use your head, take the rider's course and just assume everyone will do something stupid. Yes, it can be dangerous. Yes, it is far more enjoyable than a cage will ever be. You will feel alive on a bike. I love the looks I get from cagers when I am riding in the '30's. They just don't get it, I just don't care. I have a wife and four kids, I take the precautions I can.

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Hey Mike...

Same situation here.

I have two young children (2 and a 4 yr old son) and heard the same stories. Patients tell me all the time "I can't believe you're a doctor and ride one of those things, don't you know how dangerous they are" I respond "Don't you know how dangerous you are behind that wheel" I personally knew a couple of guys that were killed on bikes, seen another guy die on a bike 3 yrs ago. Do I worry about it - yup. Am I going to let it deter me from riding - Nope! We only get one go around in life and I'm not going to start enjoying it at 60 yrs old. (that wasn't a dig at any of the older riders)

I just turned 36 and want to do it right the first time around because there may not be a tomorrow.

I ended up not listening to the rest of my family and did what I wanted.

I went out and bought a 2007 CVO Road King. It sat in the garage for 2 weeks until I took my MSF course (Yea, I sat on it and rev'd the engine - played make believe ) but I wanted to at least take the course and start out on the right foot.

After taking the course I was alot more confident getting on the bike.

I only have about 1,000 miles under my belt so far but every ride gets more and more comfortable. Practice, practice, practice.

Most important thing is BEING ALERT. At every intersection I anticipate that the cager is going to pull out and if he does what am I going to do.

Do what your heart tells you. I got soo damn hooked on riding I went out and bought my wife a new bike and then I ended up buying a 2nd bike for myself. No one can explain to you the feeling of riding a bike until you do it yourself - it's a natural high.

Best of luck. And like others have said - Live to Ride - Ride to Live

 

Mike- I have a similiar background in being a cyclist including ultramarathon stuff.

I feel much safer on my motorcycle than on my road bicycle.Motorcycles belong on the road and as lousy as this sounds:In my opinion bicycles don't belong even though they have every right to be there because a big percentage of auto drivers are idiots and respect cyclists even less than motorcycles and remember,bicycles inhabit the side of the road.....kind of a partially out of sight partially out of mind situation.

I did most of my training away from urban areas by taking my bicycle up north to Wisconsin etc.... I even perfer to take my motorcycle up there too.But the difference is I don't sweat riding in urban areas with the motorcycle if that's where my ride take me.

All that said,motorcycles are dangerous,life is dangerous.... Play well on defense every day.I worked last Saturday and got very little sleep that night,I really wanted to ride Sunday,but cut my ride short only did 20 miles because I felt tired and not alert.Riding didn't feel fun or safe,so I went home.

If you really want your ride to be a Harley:Try to get the MSF class 1st - get some riding under your belt whatever it takes so you make your first Harley purchase with eyes wide open.You may be able to road test an HD or rent one,just keep in mind that guys buying HD Sportsters frequently decide they want a bigger HD relatively soon.

Absolutely nothing at all wrong with Sportsters,that's just the way things frequently work out.HD has a lot of options among the bigger bikes,it's easy to miss selecting the optimal one if you don't do your homework.

Hang around this forum,visit many areas,there is really a lot great info here that'll help you find your way.

Good Luck !