A few questions and concerns of a new guy.

[Silverstein]

I had one close call on my motorcycle that I would have never been able to avoid if I was in a car.

That's good, if you don't mind, what kind of situation was it?

[Silverstein]

"Laying the bike down" in a corner, means the rider gave up and quit riding the bike. Usually the result of little or no training - particularly in cornering technique. One common cause is improper entry speed, followed by incorrect correction - braking or chopping the throttle. Another cause is target fixation - watching the "dangerous" object (instead of the needed path of travel) and steering right into it. Learning proper cornering technique will help keep you from hitting the trees.

Someone actually died on a corner off the highway near my place, I'm guessing that is what happened to him.

From what I heard, he and his friend were on sportbikes , the leader looked behind and didn't see his friend after he rounded a corner into a straight-away, so he turned around to find his friend, he found his friend, but not in the way he would have liked to.

The guy had went straight into the corner instead of turning the corner, was launched off the curve and hit something hard, like some concrete and such, truely dis-heartening to hear about this happening near me.

[Brackstone]

I had one close call on my motorcycle that I would have never been able to avoid if I was in a car.

That's good, if you don't mind, what kind of situation was it?

Here's a link to the thread about it:

viewtopic.php?t=27949

[Wrider]

A guy I know in class actually was rear-ended on his Buell Firebolt XB9R at an intersection recently. Guy was doing 40 MPH and didn't even his his brakes coming up to the red light. His bike took off across the intersection and traveled about 40 yards on it's own after the guy nailed him.
He's fine.
He was wearing his full jacket, fullface helmet, and a backpack on his way to work. The backpack helped cushion the blow, and the helmet left a nice dent in the guy's hood to remind him to use his brakes next time.
He had some whiplash and was sore of course, but that's about it.
Wrider

[Ivan M]

What are your reasons for wanting to have a bike if you're so risk adverse? Riding will always be more dangerous than driving, no matter how you slice it.

[Silverstein]

No I know I'm risk adverse, but I'm trying to break out of that cycle, and I feel that my way to do that is start motorcycling. I don't want to be afraid to get a bike, and I'm working through it. So far so good.

[Brackstone]

No I know I'm risk adverse, but I'm trying to break out of that cycle, and I feel that my way to do that is start motorcycling. I don't want to be afraid to get a bike, and I'm working through it. So far so good.

Well fear is healthy as long as you don't let it paralyze you. While riding on your motorcycle you need to remain calm and collected otherwise when an emergency situation arises you could get hurt.

[CM400T]

Wow,, talk about great advise,,, all of the above for a variety of reasons.

Being a new rider myself I think one of the most important things is to not force yourself to go a speed you are not comfortable with. My first ride I couldn't take the bike over 50 km/h. If a car came up I pulled over and waved them past. I just didn't feel safe. Found out after I got home that the front tire was almost flat (just had a new tire installed and they pinched the tube). Once it was fixed I was able to go faster,, but still haven't gone over 80 km/h. Kinda wondering what 5th gear feels like
Just take it easy,,,, as my mentor said to me,,, "the only one I have to impress is me"

[Silverstein]

Thank you all for the advice and encouragement, I am still willing to pursue my dream of being a motorcyclist.

[Silverstein]

Is the Proficient Motorcycling book by David Houghe a good read? I'm waiting on it in the mail.