What is safety?

[faffi]

The outburst against riding with feet on the passenger foot pegs got me thinking - what do you think is important regarding safety when riding a motorcycle? What do you consider to be risks that should be avoided, and what risks are acceptable to you? What safety issues do you consider mandatory?
 
Key words to consider are speed, riding gear, bike condition, training/instructions, self practice, lane splitting, observation skills and much more - you be the judge.

[Beemer]

No thank you!  Not with a ten foot pole. 

[Guest 2wheeler]

I'll throw my $0.02 worth in on this one.
 
BTW, great new avatar Beemer!
 
OK, so instead of all the normal crap people are going to put in this thread, I'll just say that getting some serious dirt bike riding experience may be the single best thing you can do to enhance your safety on the street.
 
It doesn't have to be getting a full blown motocross bike ($$$) and getting stupid. Honestly getting a used Honda CRF100 or a Yamaha TTR125 for $1000, and beating the crap out of it on the local trails will do wonders. On a street bike, one is usually never out of control while on a dirt bike, it happens on a pretty regular basis. That doesn't mean that you wreck on a regular basis, it just means you learn how to get yourself out of your immediate predicament usually without wrecking. BTW, if you don't get badly hurt, there are many lessons to be learned by wrecking a dirt bike - number 1 is how to fall. Of course I am not advocating going out and getting into a wreck, but if it happens, you hopefully will learn from it. Wrecks on street bikes are usually at much higher speeds and involve asphalt or automobiles or both. Dirt is a lot easier on the body.
 
Dirt bike riding translates to the street in that you get a much better command on how to handle a motorcycle in general as well as how to react quickly/instantaneously when something goes bad on the street. I recently had a situation where I spaced out for a minute and nearly rear ended a car in traffic. As a result, the rear wheel locked up and slid sideways. My first thought was "cool so that is what the FZ feels like sideways". It was seriously no big deal, if not sorta fun, but if you have never experienced that, you could easily freak out and do something to get you in serious trouble. Another one that I occasionally do is pop wheelies over unplanned potholes which if you hit them with your front wheel can be bad news. As one stands up on a VERY regular basis on a dirt bike, you learn how to handle a bike that way - who ever stands up when they ride a street bike? It is a maneuver that can get you of of serious trouble on rough and unplanned road surfaces. The list can go on forever....
 
OK, so that's my $0.02
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

[Beemer]

Thanks, maybe I'll keep it for awhile.

[Beemer]

I'll throw my $0.02 worth in on this one.  
BTW, great new avatar Beemer!
 
OK, so instead of all the normal crap people are going to put in this thread, I'll just say that getting some serious dirt bike riding experience may be the single best thing you can do to enhance your safety on the street.
 
It doesn't have to be getting a full blown motocross bike ($$$) and getting stupid. Honestly getting a used Honda CRF100 or a Yamaha TTR125 for $1000, and beating the crap out of it on the local trails will do wonders. On a street bike, one is usually never out of control while on a dirt bike, it happens on a pretty regular basis. That doesn't mean that you wreck on a regular basis, it just means you learn how to get yourself out of your immediate predicament usually without wrecking. BTW, if you don't get badly hurt, there are many lessons to be learned by wrecking a dirt bike - number 1 is how to fall. Of course I am not advocating going out and getting into a wreck, but if it happens, you hopefully will learn from it. Wrecks on street bikes are usually at much higher speeds and involve asphalt or automobiles or both. Dirt is a lot easier on the body.
 
Dirt bike riding translates to the street in that you get a much better command on how to handle a motorcycle in general as well as how to react when something goes bad on the street. I recently had a situation where I spaced out for a minute and nearly rear ended a car in traffic. As a result, the rear wheel locked up and slid sideways. My first thought was "cool so that is what the FZ feels like sideways". It was seriously no big deal, if not sorta fun, but if you have never experienced that, you could easily freak out and do something to get you in serious trouble. Another one that I occasionally do is pop wheelies over unplanned potholes which if you hit them with your front wheel can be bad news. As one stands up on a VERY regular basis on a dirt bike, you learn how to handle a bike that way - who ever stands up when they ride a street bike? It is a maneuver that can get you of of serious trouble on rough and unplanned road surfaces. The list can go on forever....
 
OK, so that's my $0.02
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I'll go so far as to say my mom says this is 100% true because she believes me when I say it. I am not liable for what mom says.  

[blackout]

I wish I had dirt bike experience. I grew up with three wheelers and stand-up jetskiis. May have to buy one.

[Beemer]

I wish I had dirt bike experience. I grew up with three wheelers and stand-up jetskiis. May have to buy one.

You should buy a cheap, used, dedicated dirt bike just for the fun value alone. I've never had as much fun getting dirty! 
Well, wait, there was this one girl .... and she liked to ride, too! (see what I did there? P-) )
 

[Mr.Puss]

I wish I had dirt bike experience. I grew up with three wheelers and stand-up jetskiis. May have to buy one.

You should buy a cheap, used, dedicated dirt bike just for the fun value alone. I've never had as much fun getting dirty! 
Well, wait, there was this one girl .... and she liked to ride, too! (see what I did there? P-) )

Oohh nose yu did-ant! 
When I was wee (6-10) a pal of mine had a couple dirt bikes and we had some amazing forest firetrails to ride through. A bit young and feeble to handle these machines but damn if it wasnt some of the best times. 

[Cruizin]

You should buy a cheap, used, dedicated dirt bike just for the fun value alone. I've never had as much fun getting dirty! 
Well, wait, there was this one girl .... and she liked to ride, too! (see what I did there? P-) )

Oohh nose yu did-ant! 
When I was wee (6-10) a pal of mine had a couple dirt bikes and we had some amazing forest firetrails to ride through. A bit young and feeble to handle these machines but damn if it wasnt some of the best times. 

 
I have more fun dirtbiking then street riding. Part of the reason is that we have alot of mountains her with a ton of ATV and Dirtbike trails. The other reason is there are no cops, speed limits, or cars out there. To me street riding is a different kind of joy, but it gets kind of boring after a while. It's easy riding. Dirtbiking is fun on atv trails and you get to see some beautiful things and scenery that you would never see from the road.
 
I do alot of fun stuff on my KTM and the only way to match the feeling I get dirt biking, on a street bike is to ride like a madman, which is dangerous and gets me too many tickets.
 
 

 

[yamahazaki]

As far as safety goes, I have two thoughts.
 
A) Don't run from cops on your slow cruiser. Because chances are the cop will gently nudge you twice and you'll wreck and die. Especially if you're not wearing a helmet.
2) Don't pass on the oncoming lane on a blind curve and hit a yellow porsche.
 
But seriously.  If the only person who you will harm is yourself, then you are a big-boy, you can do whatever you want, safety-wise.
 
 

[Mr.Puss]

Oohh nose yu did-ant! 
When I was wee (6-10) a pal of mine had a couple dirt bikes and we had some amazing forest firetrails to ride through. A bit young and feeble to handle these machines but damn if it wasnt some of the best times. 

I have more fun dirtbiking then street riding. Part of the reason is that we have alot of mountains her with a ton of ATV and Dirtbike trails. The other reason is there are no cops, speed limits, or cars out there. To me street riding is a different kind of joy, but it gets kind of boring after a while. It's easy riding. Dirtbiking is fun on atv trails and you get to see some beautiful things and scenery that you would never see from the road.  
I do alot of fun stuff on my KTM and the only way to match the feeling I get dirt biking, on a street bike is to ride like a madman, which is dangerous and gets me too many tickets.
 
 

Yeah man! Look at that! You're very fortunate to have this as a back yard. Its unsurpassed in beauty and freedom and undoubtedly fun. I'd take these trails and stunning vistas over street riding any day.  ALL I need is another parking stall, and a truck, and a trailer...and dirt bikes.  Anyone wanna lend me 50 G's?   

[Beemer]

Have you heard the joke about the guy that got a ticket for riding too fast and doing wild & crazy stuff in the woods?
 
 
 

[faffi]

Interesting - and very cool - to see the direction this discussion had taken so far