Do most serious accidents involve sport bikes???

[oldnslo]

My opinion was based almost entirely on what I've read in the newspaper the last couple years. The fatalities almost always have been riders over 40, re-entry or recently retired, Harleys are often mentioned by name, sometimes just "cruiser-type" bikes. Deaths of sportbike riders, if in significant numbers, are evidently not enough so to warrant being mentioned very often. Maybe their bodies haven't been found yet.

[shane-o]

I see that nobody has mentioned the trend that I see a lot of which is that the cruiser "poser" usually won't wear a helmet. I ride a sportbike and ride with people that ride all types of bikes. I've only once ridden with another sportbike rider that wasn't wearing a helmet, while 90 percent of the cruisers I ride with will not wear a helmet, especially a full face one.

My son was involved in a crash cause by an old lady turning in front of him. He hit the windshield of the car with his head and busted the windshield. He flew over the car and landed on his head in the grass. I am quite sure that if he had not been wearing a helmet, he would have suffered a great deal of head injuries.

Kevin's opinion.

Here is a link to a thread with some photos of the wreck.

http://www.hayabusa.org/cgi-bin/busa/ik ... 6;st=0;r=1

I just cant imagine throwing a leg over my bike with out a helmut on........it would just not feel right............not to mention how many bugs, stones, bits of branch e.t.c that has hit my helmut at speeds..... that if it were just my head I would have been off and praying

how you americans ride sport bikes without helmuts has always been a fascination for me.....its so illegal here to ride without a helmut, if caught i think its a death penalty.

[scan]

Around where we live most sportsbike riders seem to wear helmets, and most cruiser riders do not. It is legal to go without a helmet, but I never would go without. I will also say most of the guys I have met who ride sports-bike, sport-tourers, standards and the like are all people with a passion for riding. They like to go faster, lean a little more in the curves, and may have bouts of recklessness (hooliganism). Mostly though they are safe riders. On the other hand I have met more cruiser riders who seem to barely ride their bikes, and when they do it is how they get to the bar to drink and then ride their bike. We have several bars that have bike nights and I've felt it wise to stay clear. In the Dayton Ohio area I can assure you that we have about 75% or more cruisers and mostly Harleys. Sportsbikes are a minority, but they are more prone to be seen and also more likely be going fast. Careless riding is more likely to be seen by sportsbikes, since they move faster and swerve betters. Do I think riding them off the wheels is a good idea? Nah. Do I do it myself from time to time? Yeah. I've sped up on the highway a stretch at high speed passing a few cars on the left and right. I was never concerned for my safety, but I'm sure some soccer mom was having a heart attack as I went by. Wheelies and stunts on the street are unacceptable, but as long as they sell bikes that can do that, you'll always have a few guys push it where they shouldn't.

[Itzamna]

I think half the reason that it seems only sportbikes are the ones in deadly accidents, is because they're the only ones who really film themselves when riding. Seriously, how often do you see a video of a bunch of cruisers going down the road.

Now the ones videotapint themselves (definitely not all of them) are usually the ones doing stupid things, and that is why they are filming. Now you have your working recipe for a video of a nasty wreck.

I think there are idiots on all types of bikes, but more of the younger ones are on sportbikes, and they tend to do even more dumb things. I don't ride with anyone of my age (21) except for my best friends. Everytime I ride with anyone else my age, I can tell they have no clue what they're doing and they want to keep showing off. That's why you just don't ride with people like that.

[sv-wolf]

Are cruisers as popular as sport-bikes over t.here?

Well, if you asked me a couple of years ago, John, the answer would be, no, this is a sportsbike culture. Sportsbikes have completely dominated the market for years. Cruisers are definitely a minority interest. But there appears to be some sort of change going on.

I guess there are probably still a lot more sportsbikes around that any other class of bike, but in the last couple of years the number of cruisers has been increasing. I've seen that on the road myself and local dealers confirm their growning popularity. Harleys are doing particularly well at present. A local Harley dealer tells me business has never been so good.

Hard to tell whether this is just a blip or a more long-term trend. Some people see this as a sign that many riders are getting fed up with the increasing limitations placed on sportsbikes by the ever-growing number of speed cameras on the best biking roads. On the other hand, most of the riders I know wouldn't be seen dead on a cruiser.

Who knows? Time will tell, I guess.

[Seetrout]

My own local observations are this.
There was a rash of deadly MC crashes here in Sep/Oct.
Right after gas prices went up from the hurricanes.
Scooters were selling so fast the dealers were selling their personal rides for price of a new one!
The bigger/more HARLEY like the less likely the rider to be wearing a helmet. Not absolute though.
Seems like for some reason sportbike riders are more likely to live through a bad crash than the cruisers. Maybe attitude? Sport bikers are like "I'm watching out for you cause you're stupid and I don't want to get creamed" Cruisers are like "Screw you. I'm a motor vehicle just like you and I'm going to exercise my right of way"
Maybe that's the difference...Sports are more likely to be single vehicle?
I hear about "crotch rockets" weaving traffic at 100+
I hear about the "Harley Guy that rode his bike into the front of a delivery truck when he couldn't keep it in his lane around a bend at 100+
I read about the cagers getting ticketed on the local freeway (Now locally known as the "Pennsylvania Dutch Autobahn") at 100+ (They publish their names in the paper now)
Bottom line is there's lot's of ways to commit suicide![/b]