Hello everyone!

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kieMoxie · #1 Unread post by **kieMoxie** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:28 pm

My name is Kyle and I am brand new to these forums(and Motorcycles for that matter) and would like to ask a few questions. I am a 20 year old college student and trained EMT. Since I was a boy taking family road trips, I found myself perplexed by these men and women who would fly down the highway on these dangerous but beautiful machines.

Now fast forward 12 years and I still have a burning desire to feel the same freedom that I have seen 10000 riders drive by me with. That being said I really do not have the standard "what bike is for me" , "gear" etc questions I believe all of those have been beat to death around here! Rather my question is being a trained EMT and seeing some accidents(Mistakes , lapses in good judgment is what I prefer to call them) how many motorcycle accidents do you think are the result of careless riding(stunts, racing off tracks etc) as compared to careless drivers? And http://www.wyndfeather.com/learn/motorcycle.htm talks about having enough power to get out of bad situations(excellent guide thank you!). Has anyone here had a close enough counter that they owe there lives to having enough power to get out of a bad situation?

THANK YOU everyone for reading my very long introduction! Hopefully no English majors were terrified during the reading of my questions!

-KD

#2 Unread post by **Wrider** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 9:09 pm

Well welcome to the forums!
First off, we have this section dedicated to all new riders, young, old, and everywhere in between!
As for Colorado, which part are you from? You've got a couple of Colorado people on here, SlimColo is up in Denver, I'm from the Springs (now living down in Phoenix) and Pinger05 is living in the Springs now.

As for your question about motorcycle accidents... Whew, that's a whole can of worms! To be honest most accidents are cars not seeing motorcycles, riders doing things that are out of their capability or the capability of their motorcycle. (Taking corners too fast, wheelies, stoppies, what have you)
As for having power to get out of the way, I do have a person experience with that.
I was riding on a three lane road with traffic in all three lanes. I was in the left lane, but the center lane cleared out so i got into it for better positioning and defense positioning. About 10 seconds after I got into it a red, Chevy Silverado 1500 extended cab, with 6 inch lift and 42 inch tires (gotta love the memory kicking in when your adrenaline does) decides to get over into my lane. I look over and see a red door approximately two feet from my handlebar and coming over fast. I drop my bike over (2001 Suzuki Volusia) to where I'm almost scraping pegs, downshift, and pin it. I was doing 50 when all of this happened, and by the time I got in front of that guy and out in front of traffic I'm doing 90 (bike tops out at 100). If I hadn't have had power I would have gone directly into the car to my left or been squished by the truck. My bike was 550 lbs dry weigh, had 50 HP and 50 ft/lbs of torque, and I'm 300 lbs at the time fully geared up.
Wrider

Bubba · #3 Unread post by **Bubba** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 6:55 am

"how many motorcycle accidents do you think are the result of careless riding?"
About 90%. I won't say who because you know who you are.

kieMoxie · #4 Unread post by **kieMoxie** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 6:58 am

I happen to live in northern Colorado! I live in Loveland which is just south of Fort Collins and CSU. I see riders out about 9 months out of the year, a bunch of great weather here year round. On a side note I am in the process of saving 5000 for ninja 250+ great gear. If money were no issue for gear what would the vets around here buy? And on the flip side what are some economical brands that still provide solid protection?

Bubba · #5 Unread post by **Bubba** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 7:19 am

kieMoxie wrote:I happen to live in northern Colorado! I live in Loveland which is just south of Fort Collins and CSU. I see riders out about 9 months out of the year, a bunch of great weather here year round. On a side note I am in the process of saving 5000 for ninja 250+ great gear. If money were no issue for gear what would the vets around here buy? And on the flip side what are some economical brands that still provide solid protection?

Try posting this as a new thread.

#6 Unread post by **Wrider** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:07 am

Sweet, I went to CSU for a while and have family up in Longmont, Boulder, and just outside of Wellington.
Anyway, gear, whatever fits you best and the best you can afford.
I'd suggest going to your local dealers (there's a store on the south side of Boulder just barely east of the interstate that has a lot of stuff there)
Armored jacket, Gloves, Full-Face helmet, Riding boots or at least something like I use (steel toed/shaft, full ankle, leather boots) and protective pants too. Denim wears through in bicycle accidents, can you imagine motorcycle accidents?
As for the ninja 250, awesome! There aren't many used ones up there because of the military squids all buying supersports as first bikes, but there are some, and there's always the sexy-looking 08s.
Wrider