Saw a dude wipe out on his motorcycle this evening

I can attest that crashing a motorcycle sucks.  After the second one (neither were my fault just bad luck). I parked my bike and have never ridden again. That was 27 years ago. 

Paris Van Gorder said:

I've wanted to get a bike for forever but after 7 years of living in Daytona with Bike week and Biketoberfest, I have seen how drivers treat bikers but also how one out of touch biker can domino effect in a big accident. Maybe I'll get a bike in the distant future when I'm not living in Daytona anymore but who knows. 

I waited until I got married and had kids to get a motorcycle.  Crazy, I know.  The good thing is, I'm not drinking anymore and I've got plenty of reasons to stay alive.  I ride purely for pleasure, on back roads in the middle of nowhere, or as near to there as I can get easily.  I had a young fella lived next door that used to race a Yamaha YZF-R6.  He'd load it up in his work van and drive down to VIR and race.  He'd show me video of himself going flat-out through some chicane on track and I'd ask him what he was thinking about.  He said something like "you've just got to be looking forward to it (dumping the bike at speed) and look forward to the pain."  I told him he was crazy.  Some time later, he got rid of the bike and we talked about it.  He'd had too many close calls on public roads and decided to sell the bike.  The last time, he described as a "religious experience."  He was on the interstate, running 65-70 mph and for some reason, he looked to his left.  At that instant, the Christmas tree on the roof of the vehicle in front of him came loose and whizzed by his head, missing him by a fraction of an inch. 

I'd encourage you to get a bike--they're great fun.  But a motorcycle is not an alternative to a car--it's an amusement, with risks.   If you ride in traffic, you will experience some E36 M3. 

Beer Baron 🍺 said:

Appleseed said:

In reply to AClockworkGarage :

It's better to be shot out of a cannon, than squeezed out of a tube.

A cannon is a tube...

In reply to Appleseed :

Are we comparing tubes now?

In reply to Stampie :

Always measure from the bottom.

I try not to overthink it. Motorcycles are fun. One of many things that are fun and include inherent risks.

In reply to clutchsmoke : walking pace, unexpected left turn caused by a tree root under the bash plate, squished between 180lbs of Yamaha and very solid tree. Best bruise I've had in years ...

In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :

Unfortunately, I've never seen a biker lane splitting the way you describe.

Around here it's usually done at freeway speed with a delta-V of >25 mph.  Somebody looking to change lanes is not going to see the bike coming up that fast, even if they check their blind spot, and when they shut the door, there won't be any place for the bike to go.