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quote:Boost of confidence given by gear caused the rider to ride unsafely (Safety gear != invulnerability, or feeling invulnerable) This is me off the bike. Come at me bro 
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Jul 30, 2013 19:48
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Halo_4am posted:Boost of confidence given by gear caused the rider to ride unsafely (Safety gear != invulnerability, or feeling invulnerable) This is me. I do this. I never ate poo poo really hard until I started wearing all the pads and a chest protector on the trails; then the mindset is something like "weeee I got this!" met quickly with a jarring impact on something like a blackberry bramble-covered rock, a tree, or an endo down a hill. Once I get a neck brace, I'll probably die.
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Jul 30, 2013 20:19
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clutchpuck posted:Once I get a neck brace, I'll probably die. If I see you at walker valley on a 70's scrambler wearing a $500 neck brace, I will have a chuckle.
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Jul 30, 2013 21:54
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You'd be amazed at how well I can fling myself off of it when I am being brave.
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Jul 31, 2013 00:18
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clutchpuck posted:This is me. I do this. I never ate poo poo really hard until I started wearing all the pads and a chest protector on the trails; then the mindset is something like "weeee I got this!" met quickly with a jarring impact on something like a blackberry bramble-covered rock, a tree, or an endo down a hill. Once I get a neck brace, I'll probably die. Again there's a particularly weird kernel of truth at the heart of this. Death rates in car accidents tend to decline considerably more slowly in time as you'd expect as car safety increases - people just get in shitloads more accidents. I can't remember the exact details but there was one particularly striking case in (I think) the back woods of Canada. They have loads of unguarded, ungated level crossings between very quiet roads and very quiet rail lines. In an attempt to decrease the surprisingly high death rates at such crossings they cut the forests back to allow car drivers to see further down the rail line, from further away - and death rates doubled because car drivers were actually taking *less* care at the crossings than before. (This incidentally is also the thinking behind the, at first glance lunatic, shared space concept - by removing the feeling of security that people get from separated pedestrian, cycle path, and road, everyone slows down and watches what they're doing much more. Bizarrely it seems to work in some areas but probably wouldn't work if everyone did it because of course the difference from the norm is what causes the change in behaviour)
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Jul 31, 2013 01:39
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I read something similar, but I'm not sure if it's a myth or not. Supposedly, the Layer Dan Freedom Riders in South Dakota lobbied hard to get the helmet laws repealed, and somehow succeeded. In the years afterwards, there was a fivefold increase in the number of motorcycle-related deaths in the state. Can anyone confirm if that's true?
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Jul 31, 2013 02:04
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nsaP posted:I don't get tired of people looking at me like I'm the idiot either. I'm somewhat used to that feeling, but riding through southeastern Ohio, northeastern West Virginia today reached a new level. As I was walking out of the gas station convenience store in full mesh gear, 3 guys on fairly new BMW F800GSs rolled in with tshirts, shorts, sneakers and no helmets. And I was the crazy one based on how they were staring at me.
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Jul 31, 2013 04:52
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goddamnedtwisto posted:Again there's a particularly weird kernel of truth at the heart of this. Death rates in car accidents tend to decline considerably more slowly in time as you'd expect as car safety increases - people just get in shitloads more accidents. We have a few of these in my town and they work as far as safety is concerned, but they also make the road basically worthless if you want to get anywhere in under half an hour. Good idea for urban centers though.
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Jul 31, 2013 07:44
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red19fire posted:I read something similar, but I'm not sure if it's a myth or not. Supposedly, the Layer Dan Freedom Riders in South Dakota lobbied hard to get the helmet laws repealed, and somehow succeeded. In the years afterwards, there was a fivefold increase in the number of motorcycle-related deaths in the state. Can anyone confirm if that's true? They reduced their helmet laws in the 70's. The most recent is Michigan (last year) which saw an immediately large increase in deaths and injury in 2012, but it also had a longer riding season, and distracted driver use is up (2012 had an increase in deaths and injury country wide). So it's hard to point at a single season and say yes, this is a direct correlation. What is a pretty direct correlation is this : Michigan has seen a 22 percent rise in medical insurance claim costs associated with cycle crashes. Meaning no helmet = more traumatic recovery at a bare minimum. Though, that's not perfect either because injury claims and health insurance increase tremendously every year as well. We'll need a few years of data to let the lack of helmets be the only significant factor in the overall stats. Though this won't help convince anybody who needs stats to prove their skull is less effective than a helmet anyway.
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Jul 31, 2013 17:04
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So a co-worker of mine is an approx 50 year old lady. Single, a bit of a cougar (in a good way), but quite pretty and keeps herself in shape. Anyhow, she loves bikes and knows I ride. She wants to get into it and signed up for a safety course as per my recommendation. She however discovered that she has some medical condition which comes and goes which effects her balance, so she had to withdraw. HOWEVER, her best friend (similar age and mindset albeit married) still went through with the course and got her license, which is good. She then promptly went out and bought a Harley as her first bike. Not the baby sportster either. Not sure what it is exactly, but it wasn't small. So, my co-worker came up to me yesterday to let me know she had the bike for 3 days and got in a wreck. She is going to be fine but has 2 broken legs.
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Jul 31, 2013 17:11
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Halo_4am posted:They reduced their helmet laws in the 70's. I think the interesting comparison would year-on-year single-bike crashes versus year-on-year total crashes, that may get closer to revealing what (if any) effect risk compensation is having. I'm still willing to bet a fairly massive amount of money that even if it showed a positive correlation that the amount of injuries and deaths will still be way up, though.
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Jul 31, 2013 17:17
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slidebite posted:So a co-worker of mine is an approx 50 year old lady. Single, a bit of a cougar (in a good way), but quite pretty and keeps herself in shape. Anyhow, she loves bikes and knows I ride. She wants to get into it and signed up for a safety course as per my recommendation. She however discovered that she has some medical condition which comes and goes which effects her balance, so she had to withdraw. Jesus Christ 2 broken legs? How do you even do that? Any gear involved?
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Jul 31, 2013 17:37
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Errant Gin Monks posted:Jesus Christ 2 broken legs? How do you even do that? Any gear involved? You hit a car/guard rail. Not much that gear will do for that.
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Jul 31, 2013 17:39
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Errant Gin Monks posted:Jesus Christ 2 broken legs? How do you even do that? Any gear involved? No idea about what she had on for gear and the rash situation though. Hopefully (?) since she went through the course that would have been drilled into her.
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Jul 31, 2013 17:44
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I work right across from a Harley dealership so I see the "new rider on a bike that is way too big for them" thing all the time. I watch them wobble their way around corners while dressed in the Harley uniform they just bought after needlessly revving the engine at a stoplight nearly every day. Watching them take turns make ME nervous. I don't know why someone would want a 700lb bike as their first one, I thought my KZ 750 was really heavy when I started, I can't imagine dealing with that right away.
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Jul 31, 2013 17:52
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slidebite posted:I have no idea really and neither did her friend. I'll probably hear more next week if I remember to ask. So are you going to console (i.e., have sex with) the single-cougar lady? Unless this story ends with some kind of banging, the "Penthouse Forum" opening to tell us that a friend of a friend wrecked her HD falls kind of flat.
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Jul 31, 2013 17:56
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My wife would probably not appreciate that so probably not. I gave the opening background though to give the type of person. 50ish, female, no bike experience, midlife crisis type of thing.
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Jul 31, 2013 17:58
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slidebite posted:My wife would probably not appreciate that so probably not. You should certainly clear things with the wife, and she might say no. Until you ask, however, don't rule anything out . . . 
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Jul 31, 2013 18:06
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It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
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Jul 31, 2013 23:18
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Retarded Pimp posted:It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. and it's better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven't done.
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Jul 31, 2013 23:27
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Overheard stupid life advice poo poo thread.
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Jul 31, 2013 23:28
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SimplyCosmic posted:I'm somewhat used to that feeling, but riding through southeastern Ohio, northeastern West Virginia today reached a new level. As I was walking out of the gas station convenience store in full mesh gear, 3 guys on fairly new BMW F800GSs rolled in with tshirts, shorts, sneakers and no helmets. And I was the crazy one based on how they were staring at me.
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Aug 1, 2013 03:20
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I came across more BMW/Triumph adventure bikes yesterday and today in northeast West Virginia than I've seen in the last two years in Ohio, and only one of them had even a jacket on in addition to their helmet. It's a gear Twilight Zone.
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Aug 1, 2013 14:49
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Those BMW's seem to be common rental bikes, no way they owned them - I've only seen BMW owners in full gear - usually with yellow reflectors all over. Now that I think about it, the only people I usually see in gear are BMW owners...
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Aug 1, 2013 19:23
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A vest from my club is all the protection I need. My brothers have my back.
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Aug 1, 2013 19:44
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Voltage posted:Those BMW's seem to be common rental bikes, no way they owned them - I've only seen BMW owners in full gear - usually with yellow reflectors all over. Now that I think about it, the only people I usually see in gear are BMW owners... BMW really like selling you their gear and tend to give really good discounts when you're buying a bike. They spent more than two hours with me fitting and trying out different gear, a level of service I've not seen anywhere else. Taking the discount into account I paid about $100 less for the BMW System 6 Helmet than I would have paid for the Shoei Neotec I was keen on. I guess BMW just really cares about  Edit: I also like the fact that even though you are covered in BMW gear from head to toe you don't look like you've been sponsored by BMW. Just about every other brand of riding gear love their own drat logo way too much. The Arai logo is ugly 
Batcat! Batcat! fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Aug 1, 2013 |
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Aug 1, 2013 20:28
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Two of my favorite BMW gear stories was seeing a pack of BMW bikes on the street that must have been some mass test drive for a HOG club. All of the riders had skid-lids, fringe, and chaps. I did a double take.  Also, at my local liquor store I see a BMW GS with the aluminum hard panniers looking all adventure-y. The rider, much to my surprise, was in full leathers, with a leather vest that had a 3 part MC patch. Here in Connecticut I actually see a fair number of people, especially if I see them commuting, wearing gear. Maybe 40%?
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Aug 1, 2013 21:01
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It's been a while since I've seen someone on my commute on a motor cycle without at least a jacket and a helmet (Pretoria to Johannesburg in South Africa). Weekends are a different story though. 1200 GS is the most common motorcycle on our roads so that might go some ways to explaining it.
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Aug 1, 2013 21:23
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I was coming back from work on my DRZ and stopped to dick around at a construction site on the way home. Had a blast, saw a couple dual sport guys in full leathers on the way back. Literally as I turn onto my street I see a piece of poo poo on a gold, stretched gixxer with absolutely no gear on. Whenever I see people on Harleys without any gear I just write it off as being normal. When I see people on sportbikes without gear I just can't believe how loving stupid they look.
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Aug 2, 2013 00:35
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http://www.jafrum.com/Shop-By-Brand/Skid-Lid-Helmets?range=&sort1desc=F&sort1=Item_ONLINECUSTOMERPRICE&gclid=COm1m6fu3rgCFY6k4AodTEsADAidiots posted:Skid Lid Helmets - Original Skid Lids These things got a whole page in the front of a catalog that Motorcycle Superstore sent me with an order. Fits the thread perfectly except the "overheard" part... Also: the derogatory term "skid lid" is now trademarked. Your cease-and-desist letters are in the mail 
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Aug 2, 2013 14:35
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I prefer the term "brain bucket" anyway. Also those helmets look like something I wouldn't even wear for bicycling.
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Aug 2, 2013 15:22
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apatite posted:http://www.jafrum.com/Shop-By-Brand/Skid-Lid-Helmets?range=&sort1desc=F&sort1=Item_ONLINECUSTOMERPRICE&gclid=COm1m6fu3rgCFY6k4AodTEsADA Those things are just adorable, because they're pretty much what they give to little girls on their first pony ride. (Also "skid lid" has prior art going back to at least the 1950s in the UK - Tony Hancock used it dismissively when describing an (unseen, cos it was the radio) biker played by Kenneth Williams )
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Aug 2, 2013 20:49
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Layer Dan strikes again. http://www.whiotv.com/news/news/crime-law/2-year-old-causes-dayton-motorcycle-crash/nY5Jr/ quote:John J. Golden was riding a maroon 1979 Harley Davidson going west on Fourth when the child ran out into the road from between two parked cars, according to the report.
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Aug 3, 2013 15:19
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And he will be celebrated by all as a hero for crashing his bike instead of stopping.
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Aug 3, 2013 17:53
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When people lay down a bike to avoid hitting something, where do they think the bike is going to go?
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Aug 3, 2013 18:29
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thylacine posted:And he will be celebrated by all as a hero for crashing his bike instead of stopping. Every time I hear a layer dan story I think about emergency braking situations where instead of layin' 'er down and becoming a hero, I came to a safe stop and continued on to my destination.
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Aug 3, 2013 18:42
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Snowdens Secret posted:When people lay down a bike to avoid hitting something, where do they think the bike is going to go? Definitely doesn't turn into a 500 pound unmanned/unguided projectile heading in the same general direction as before.
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Aug 3, 2013 18:42
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Richard Bong posted:Definitely doesn't turn into a 500 pound unmanned/unguided projectile heading in the same general direction as before. Haha I was thinking if he had just kept going he probably would have missed the kid, but I guess "rider spooked by child loses control of motorcycle" doesn't have much of a ring to it.
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Aug 3, 2013 19:45
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This kind of thing happens to competent riders every day but it's not a news story because they brake appropriately and carry on their way. Every time I hear a crash story like that I can't help but wonder if it was easily avoidable.
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Aug 3, 2013 19:50
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goddamnedtwisto posted:(Also "skid lid" has prior art going back to at least the 1950s in the UK - Tony Hancock used it dismissively when describing an (unseen, cos it was the radio) biker played by Kenneth Williams And there was me thinking I was the campest biker in Britain.
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Aug 3, 2013 19:53
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