Silly Statistics And Useless Information

[Bard]

Did you know that riding a horse is 21 times more dangerous than riding a motorbike? According to statistics there is one serious injury per 350 hours of horse riding but one per 7500 hours of motorbike riding. Now we hear little of this, and we see no effort of governments trying to hinder horse riding, no license nor age limitations.

Did you know it is more lethal to be a pedestrian than a motorbike rider in 2006 in UK roughly 21% of all killed in traffic were pedestrians versus 18% motorbike riders

Did you know that the most accident prone motorbikes are cruiser bikes, in particular Harley Davidson? The most fatal accidents is not surprisingly on supersport bikes though.

Did you know that over 70% of all accidents involving motorbikes it is a car drivers fault, and the answer from the car driver in most cases is that he/she did not see the motorbike - we all know this...

In an American survey of male motorbike riders over 80% stated they would leave there spouse before they gave up there bike

As for more useless information, the most popular road songs for cruising with US bikers are:

1. “Born to be Wild,” Steppenwolf

2. “Radar Love,” Golden Earring

3. “Take it Easy,” the Eagles

4. “Born to Run,” Bruce Springsteen

5. “Freebird,” Lynyrd Skynyrd

Well there you have it, I'm bored out of my skull waiting for the chopper to pick me up in the morning and figuring out total useless info. Should anyone else have useless or silly statistics feel free to add on.

Have fun, cheers Bard

[CroBiker]

Interesting statistics about cruisers, had no idea.....

Read somewhere that of all sport bikes Hayabusa took more human lifes then any other model in recent history.

Also, Doobie Brothers "Rockin' Down The Highway" is considered one of favorite biker songs. Can't figure why "Radar Love" is in top 5?

[submaniac]

Another useless statistic, more U.S. marines are killed on motorcycles than are killed in the Iraq war. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/30/marine.motorcycles/

The cruiser/Harley accident rate does not really surprise me. Cruisers are actually the most popular style bike sold in the USA and 60% of all new motorcycles sold in the USA are cruisers. On top of that, for the older guys who haven't ridden a motorcycle before but are having a midlife crisis and want to get a bike...the Harley seems to be the first choice. And I'm not knocking Harley because I have one!

[PeaceBlondie]

OK, Harley stories. I was riding back from the incredibly large HD rally in Sturgis, So0uth Dakota on a Yamaha 550 sport bike, and its alternator gave up the ghost on a Sunday morning in some really small county seat town in Central Texas. Ten minutes later, ena Harley Sportster rolls up beside me with the same problem, also returning from the Harley rally. Rider is wearing chaps, leather vest, chains, boots, the whole heavy duty biker dude bit. One week later, he arrives at my house in Austin with my bike on a trailer. He is wearing Madras checked shorts. a polo shirt by Ralph Lauren, and his girlfriend is named either Buffy or Muffy.

Useless statistic: during the Korean war, Colonel Stapp started doing seat belt research because more American military men were losing their lives in vehicle accidents than in the war.

Another: probably the majority of parts on a new Harley are not made in the USA.

[Bard]

I'm not slagging Harley, but according to statistics they are very accident prone. I think lot of the reason is mentioned above. Older dudes who is proper and want to reinvent themselves due to some movies start out driving them. It's not a beginner bike, so that would be one reason.

Next reason I think is that lot's of people think that chopper means to put stupid long forks and remove the suspension in the back, the real choppers was military Harley's, which the servicemen cut off excessive steel to lighten the bikes to go faster not to make show bikes which would never ever pass the driving skill test in any country. So we got some people buying the showroom bikes and riding them, hence in a situation they are unable to control the bikes. There you go that is my 2 cent, I driven Harley I even owned one once but it is not my type of bike so I prefer other bikes. I think that responsible Harley owners have a bike they enjoy which is good for them, unfortunately you got well off dudes who want to show off as rough guys with false beards in the weekends who runs the bike down.

Cheers Bard

[Meridian007]

Ya, I've got to agree. The frame geometry on my bike makes it much more difficult to control than any other bike I've had, and this is my first cruiser. Even foot position makes a big difference, I thought I'd like that the cruiser foot pegs allow you to stretch your legs a bit, but it reduces the ability for quick manoeuverability.

I'm glad I bought the bike, I think many of us need to get a cruiser out of our system, but would I buy a cruiser again? I'm starting to think that I wouldn't...

Anyone wanna trade a Steed600 for a Triumph Bonneville (or one of the many knockoffs)?

[Bard]

Meridian007 I might got a couple of guys who want to buy your bike, how much do you want for it?

Cheers Bard