If you get one, for the love of God please dont cheap out on your gear. Blows my mind when I see someone riding a $10k+ Ninja while rocking a walmart bought helmet and jacket.
An old roommate of mine dropped his bike on the interstate while going 120mph and slid about 400 feet down the pavement(head first). One of the first responders that arrived told him the only reason he survived was because of his $700 Shoei helmet

another friend of mine got cutoff by someone texting and driving and went down at 30mph while wearing a $70 helmet from walmart. Said his head "barely knicked" the pavement and his helmet cracked in half.

My uncle got into a major accident on his bike on a freeway over ten years ago and had to be airlifted to a hospital. Even after that, he still says he would ride again if he didn't have kids to take care of.

Got in a pretty bad accident (in my opinion) about 10 years ago. I was just being dumb and crashed going too fast in town. Two skull fractures, right fibula fracture, some road rash, a week in ICU. I said I wouldn't ride again after that since I could see how painful it was for my family and such. I'm just now sort of thinking it might be time for another bike. I can't tell if it's that I forgot the pain of the accident or if I have fallen victim to believing that I'm older and wiser now.

Repped for grit. That is some gnarly chit right there.

some good stories in here

I had my first crash a month ago. Totaled and complete loss. The bike picured in my profile pic. 2011 Kawasaki Z1000. Now I have an 03 Honda VFR800 Interceptor. Get one its fun srs

My good friend's dad died from a motorcycle crash. RIP Jim.

For you?

10!

















Thousand

Definitely a lot of good advice in this thread. The whole "It's not if you go down but when" thing is probably a little over-simplistic, but most likely does apply for the majority of riders if they ride long enough. You can be a great rider that is always aware of your surroundings and driving defensively, but it only takes a split second and some freak occurrence for you to go down real fast.

If you're going to ride anyway here are some tips.

-Buy quality gear before you do anything.

-IMO best way to get into riding is to start on a dirt bike and trail ride. It's not a 100% cross-over to a street bike, but you'll build skills that will definitely help you out, especially with learning throttle control and how a bike reacts to large inputs, braking, etc.

-If you're going to skip the above, start out on a smaller used 250-300cc bike. They can be had for cheap and still look good while being lighter weight and not having quite the power of something bigger. More forgiving for your inevitable rookie screw ups, and you're not gonna lose hardly any money on it selling it a year later when you want to upgrade.

-Take the above bike out to abandoned streets or parking lots and practice various maneuvers. Riding as slow as you can in a straight line and weaving, practice braking from various speeds as quickly as possible without locking up the wheels, obstacle avoidance by quickly counter-steering, etc.

-Don't ride like a tard on the road. Not only will you not have the skills, but you have to worry about all the other drivers and the crap that litters the public roadways. All sorts of oil, gravel, rocks, tires, boards, etc litter roadways that are not easily seen going fast on a bike that will ruin your day. If you want to ride aggressive down the line, go to a track or at the very least a very low populated area and scout out the road slow first looking for hazards before you get on it.

-Take it for granted that every single time you go ride that you will need to dodge someone from running you over. You absolutely must have incredible situational awareness nonstop. Give yourself greater distances following people than you would in a car. The average car is going to be able to brake faster than a supersport bike. You will end up in someone's trunk or on the pavement if you follow close a lot.

Arai helmet ftw

Go big or go home OP.. 200mph club

The guy in that gif did everything wrong.

Stopped too close to car in front.
Stopped in a way that he's blocked himself in.
No exit route.
Not checking his rear mirror while stopped.
Not keeping it in first gear ready to go.

Basically, you can't be like that and survive.

My friend almost died in a crash last year while I was in the process of getting my license to ride with him.

Needless to say I never went to do the test and probably not gonna ride for many many years. He broke some ribs, fingers, collarbone and left knee. Fukker is so lucky to be walking today. Hit by a soccermom distracted by a cellphone or some chad walking down the street.

Ontario is deadly for bikers, so many retard drivers.

What in the actual fukc????

I'm thinking about getting one. My ex-gf was killed last summer while riding a fukkin scooter. She got rear-ended by a truck, launched into oncoming traffic, and run over by a van. Fukkin scares the chit out of me that somebody texting on their phone can end your life just like that.

You're riding crossed up in that pic bro

I don't ride street anymore. Dirt bikes & mtb only.

Street is not worth it. Pain in the ass really. Go somewhere full gear walking around like a dork and hot.

I always wore full boots. That one pic of the peg threw the guys ankle in tennis shoes scared me.

Friend killed a Moto guy on hwy 1 in ca. Guy crossed the yellow and his head went threw the window. Buddy sent me pics of brain matter on his dash.