Are Sportbikes dangerous?
 

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/11/auto...ion=2007091111

What are your thoughts?

it's another biased article obviously. for the most part, sportbikes tend to attract the younger less experienced riders. of course you will see a higher percentage of injury and/or death in that demographic.

IMO, a lot of the "danger" is rider-controlled.
Sure, I could die any time I straddle my 'Hawk. But, I could die driving my car or walking across the street too. More dangerous than cars? Absolutely, it comes with the territory. In America, I don't think enough people are used to seeing, reacting, and driving with motorcycles. The combination of increased HP, lighter bikes, and ignorant drivers (both car and cycle) are sure to cause more deaths than other types of motorcycles.

Also, this article is aimed at "super sport" bikes, which makes me think more of 'Busa's and the ZX14 (pictured in the article). I don't consider my SH a "Super sport"; sure it's a liter bike, but it doesn't have the gearing or power to hang with the "big dogs".

my $.02

Statistics show the average single vehicle motorcycle fatality these days involves a new or returning rider in his late 40s or early 50s on a cruiser.

Oh, Bikes don't kill people, people kill people.

Not as dangerous as poor spelling, sorry I couldn't resist.;)

It definitely isn't reported well - not even an attempt to control for some other factors. but its believable that they are more likely to be involved in lethal injuries 1. they attract young riders, unfortunately often with little experience. I am thankful that when I was 17 the only 750 bikes available had about 75 hp - even that was enough as a first big bike to get in over our head often 2. there currently isn't any restrictions on what you can buy even as a brand new rider, 3. they encourage all of us, experienced or not, to go faster and not the speed is dangerous, but the consequences are worse as speeds increase. Of the 5 or so fatalities in our area in the past year most were young, supersport type riders in single bike accidents (no car present).

Just more evidence of biased reporting....

Dexter Ford from Motorcyclist magazine did an article about this a short while ago and clearly showed that sportbike deaths/accidents are not rising (if anything they are on their way down) but that there is a significant rise in accidents due to the Baby Boomer-induced cruiser rage. Strangely, that little tidbit goes largely unreported.....

no but the idiots who ride them are! :evillaugh:

The thing is though, the article didn't make this argument at all. What you said here and what they said can be, and probably are, both true. Superbike deaths/accidents can still be higher than any other despite a declining rate of them happening.

Granted, this article was definetly not the most objective of reports, and puts superbikes in a bad light, disregarding a lot of variables, but welcome to the world of statistics, where a ZX-14 can be just a "Kawasaki Ninja, a superbike"

the worst example I saw of "missing the point reporting" wsa when the Bills quarterback had his accident awhile back. I'm a helmet wearer and supporter of their use, and wished he'd had one on, but not a single report I saw or read about focused on the driver error that was responsible for the crash or tried to use the high profile example as an awareness campaign for motorcyclists. Maybe the AMA pursued it but I thought they missed an opportunity to use some celebrity PR to raise awareness of bikes.

I was just about to say that stupidity is WAY MORE dangerous than sport bikes. Though that can be quite the deadly concoction together...

Ahhh you wouldn't understand. I grew up down da bayou cher, with dem alligators and crawfish now! Nah I just hated spelling in school. Wait, Nope, I still hate spelling.

The AMA isn't too happy about this report.
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Articl...ID=5284&Page=1

Bills QB?
 

What Bills QB had an accident awhile back?:nibble:

He's thinking of the Steelers QB. The accident happened at about 30 mph so has nothing to do with the capabilities of sport bikes and was the fault of the car driver.

Helmets;

I always ride with a helmet, even in jurisdictions where thay aren't required.

If someone doesn't want to wear a helmet my attitude is heh, it is their head.

But isn't it unfair that we taxpayers have to foot the bill when they split their head open?

Maybe so, but until we no longer have to foot the medical bill for the fat slob on welfare who has a heart attack 'cause she's 120 lbs. overweight and lives on a diet of cheese doodles and malt liquor, I don't want to hear about it.

I definitely feel safer on my SH than I do on a 800lb Harley with crappy brakes and tires. IMO overweight cruisers with new riders are the most dangerous although probably less risk taking. But any motorcyclist can find themself in a hairy situation anytime. I'll take mine on a sportbike.

I am also a firm believer that everyone should start off in the dirt too and learn how to control a motorcycle.

I think CNN should stick to things they know about, like the missile uh...um... I mean airplane that hit the pentagon...

Mmm! Cheese doodles and malt liquor.

I had to laugh when I read that.

Yeah, I knew he was talking about Big Ben. I was just throwing a line out to see if I could get a bite. LOL Being a little facetious.

http://www.gulflive.com/search/index...i?pnews&coll=5

How many of those involved in some sort of mishap have had MSF or an equal rider training day?
I shunned these.....until i took one and have a total 3 under my belt. A trackday opens your eyes to your limits too.

As was said in the report:

Speeding and driver error caused more of the fatal crashes with supersport bikes, compared to other classes, with 57 percent of supersport riders' fatal crashes involving high speeds in 2005. This compares to 46 percent of the crashes of sport bikes, 27 percent of cruiser cases, and 22 percent of touring.

It has nothing to do with the bike, and everything to do with the rider and the people around him.

+1 on both

I recently rode a Harley Road King and a Softtail and let me tell you that those things are waaaaayyyyyy more dangerous than a sport bike. I was suprised to find that they are less comfortable as well. Cruisers are poop!

Most accident reports are wrong. Example; Rider crashes all by his/herself. Call made to Police for insurance purposes. Dumb ass crashes and wants to get bike fixed. Cops show up and ask rider "how fast were you riding?" Rider lies about the speed he/her was traveling. First lie. Cop asks "what caused you to loose control?" Car pulled out, dog ran out, oil on road......everything but the truth. The truth is in most cases, the rider is not skilled enough to handle the situation, but you'll never hear them say that, so they lie.
Those lies make it onto the report which gets used against the rest of us riders in the form of higher insurance premiums and statistics. Motorcycling has risks and accidents happen. Accidents are not always the rider's fault.