Back in the day , bad luck on Commando

o0norton0o said:

So True. At age 25 I crashed a honda 750F drag racing a pontiac GTO from a stoplight. I was broken up pretty badly. A witness to my stupidity saved my life by peeling my jacket off me and bandaging a large gash in my back which I recieved from landing on the stub of a cut off sign post. That gash took about 100 stitches to close. I broke my hip socket and collar bone as well. I got up from my crash and went to drag the bike off the road with my one good arm, and my femur dislocated from my hip socket and down I went again. I was young and stupid. I rode like a maniac. All my friends told me I rode like a maniac long before I proved them right on the day of my "accident".

After paying that price as a young man, I don't feel the urge to push any bike to it's limit. I can enjoy laying my commando into a sweeping corner without having to do it at a speeds that send thrills down my spine. It's enough to enjoy the nimble handling of my commando without pushing the limit so much that another accident is only a matter of time.

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I’ve been fortunate in 52 years of riding motorcycles not having any crashes. Some near ones, though. At 67 I have slowed down considerably and do the same enjoying the Commando’s handling without having to get the adrenaline rush.

I get that rush when it starts easily, runs smoothly, gets me back home, and I don't find a growing pool of oil under it next morning.

Some get off lucky in bike crash , the pilot of the Commando in photos I posted has lived with his bad judgement for all these years , he worked for a time for local carpenter , then I guess after so many knee problems he worked in re-hab of local hospital , to this day hurts to see him walk ....

High price for one poor decision.... Have old drinking buddy that walked away from many auto crashes(from drinking)... Last time, 30 years ago, luck ran out and crushed both feet. He' in painful misery daily and has a wife willing to remind him why when he complains...... 2 hells to pay as I see it. Never play poker with a joker in the deck.

Triton Thrasher said:

Most bike accidents may involve other vehicles and many of those are the car violating the bike’s right of way.

However, most of those are minor accidents.

Most fatal bike accidents are down to stupid cornering and stupid overtaking, by bike riders

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I do not doubt there are riders who corner and overtake stupidly but could you give a source for your assertion about fatal bike accidents..

oldmikew said:

I do not doubt there are riders who corner and overtake stupidly but could you give a source for your assertion about fatal bike accidents..

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Doing that would bore me, so no.

I’m not trying to persuade you of anything. My mind was on the U.K. though. Places in America with no corners and all the car drivers drunk, may be different.

We do manage a plethora of DUI's in my area and always have. It's kind of a tradition you know..

As it is here , cruising & boozing is a long standing tradition here, especially Sunday afternoon ... much easier to get the stuff now since most rules were relaxed several yrs ago , can even go shopping on a Sunday now a days .... liquor stores Gov run only closed at 5pm for most of my life , these hour kept the bootleggers in business ....

oldmikew said:

I do not doubt there are riders who corner and overtake stupidly but could you give a source for your assertion about fatal bike accidents..

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I was talking specifically about the UK and i thought that was clear.. the technical report is based on us experiance which may well be different... here in the UK our fourwheeled friends are still killing us at an alarming rate.. Most fatal accidents take place at junctions . True there are not always other vehicles involved in fatals and some are doubtless doewn to youth speedand so on but it is only around 10 or 15percent.. What i disliked backin the day and now ,was the moral panic which seemed to doggedly insist thta somehow the victims were toblame for their misfortunes.. key triggers being youth speed and power certainly misleading and a useful smoke screen for our 4wheeled friends who go killing us regardless.
However i will work my way through the US report kindly posted by Concours

Are you making that up?

If only

A lot of people both car and motorcycle get hurt going possum or deer in the headlights when what can be minor incident by their own doing escalates into an accident (which is not really an accident)
Even in this case T boning a bread truck, one witness thought there was no braking or avoidance taken which might have been as above, target fixation.
#
People crash for various reasons but a good deal of single bike accidents (that word again) can be avoided in hindsight.
Ride through intersections controlled or not like you own them will catch you out one day.

Ride a little fast (which can be not fast at all after the fact) run a little wide or something tightens up mid corner wise, start looking where you want to crash and you most likely will.
I would imagine some corner crashes are from going possum then counter steer becoming run wide neutral steering or worse, brake lock up becoming the focus over control and steering.

A pie chart won't do you much good unless you want to be a surmised statistic more than likely produced from experts who's motorcycle knowledge or qualification is minimal or near non existence.
That I believe comes back to a comment the other day regarding using media to see if it is sunny outside over looking out the closest window.