Advice required

[davepugh1981]

Firstly hello to you all. I was sent a link to the site from a mate of mine who is a long time lurker, who has an sv650s and have lurked myself for some time.

Having taken my cbt last saturday and throughly enjoed my first ride, I'm having doubts about going for my DAS. I have always been interested in owning and riding bikes but being a naturally risk averse person, reading threads, newspaper arictles etc about bikers sadly passing away causes me concern.

I've had many a near miss in my car and play high intenisty sports where people do die on occaisons. but i think nothing more of driving in my car or playing sport till I'm seriously F*cked!

Any sensible thoughts on this subject would be more than welcomed.

Thanks
Dave

[fizzwheel]

Yes but you can get knocked over crossing the road... accidents happen...

Personally getting my license was the best thing I've ever done and I've never looked back, I've known 2 people who passed away in biking accidents, but TBH it still doesnt put me off. If I go on a bike I'm doing something I love.

to balance it out my friend got knocked over walking back from the pub by a drink driver who mounted the pavement and ran him down. He'd been riding bikes since he was a kid, but he got knocked down leaving the pub. My dad has just turned 65 been riding all his life, never to my knowledge has seriously hurt himself.

When its your time its your time.

Theres plenty of stuff you can do to reduce the risk, Advanced training, wearing decent protective gear etc, you'll never remove all risk from anything you do, What you gonna do wrap yourself up in cotton wool and let life pass you by ?

I personally think the media massively over hype the risks, you always hear about accidents, but you never hear about the thousands off bikers who complete their journeys with no incident every day.

It never hurts to be aware of the risks involved but to shy away from doing something because you might get hurt, well thats something that I wouldnt do.

If you've done your CBT and enjoyed that you'll love riding a bigger bike. Go for it.

[Ed]

Can't put it better than Fizz just did :thumbsup:

[embee]

I've been riding since 16, and I'm now 50, and (gulp, tempting fate) never had an accident (on the road that is!).

You can enjoy riding bikes while minimising the risk of serious accidents mainly by following the tips in Fizz's post, but most of all use your imagination. Just think what might be ahead, round the corner, what if that car does pull out ('cos they will sooner or later).

I ride 90% of the time in cautious defensive mode, just so that I'm pretty sure I'll survive to enjoy the other 10%. Don't ride every mile like it's a competition, and always follow rule#1, if in doubt........don't. You can always go back and do it again once you're sure it's safe.

Get training.

[stuartyboy]

Great advice guys!

[Kate]

If you aren't 100% sure, why not just get a littler bike for now and do your DAS later if you feel like it? You can still have lots of fun on a smaller bike (been looking at Honda 125 NSRs and 125 CBRs) and that way you don't end up spending lots of money on a DAS course and changing your mind later.

I've had a number of accidents, but its something I accept with being ona bike. You are more vulnerable on a bike than in a car, thats all there is to it. I love being on a bike and even though I had a head-on collision with a car back in February, I still ride and it would take something pretty damn huge to make me want to stop riding.

Look at it this way, the ones you hear about are the bad examples. How many people go out on a bike and post up or is reported in the news that they had a safe trip? Its not interesting news, only accidents etc are posted and are far far fewer than the people who are out on their bikes all the time and don't have any accidents.

HTH

[Warthog]

My Dad has been a biker from his 17th until now (55), and he has never had any serious accident, just one slip on cobbles. I personally have never had an accident aside from dropping the cursed thing 3 times cos of disc locks! I much prefer riding a larger bike, I feel safer, more in control, able to accelerate and decelerate faster, more of a part of the traffic rather than traffic driving around me. The only bad point about larger bikes is if you yourself lack the discipline to ride them sensibly. So get a big one, ride sensibly, and you will have a great time! As others have said, if in doubt, just take a deep breath and sit back. I have NEVER regretted NOT overtaking someone!!

[Jimmy2Feet]

now that's some of the best advice i have ever seen on this subject,
i don't think every1 should have a bike there are some people you know would be dead in a week, but if some1 is sensible enough to put a post on here asking about this then i think you will be fine on a bike, just make sure you keep the bike well maintained so nothing can go wrong with that side of things, and then just keep your whits about you, think twice before doing a manure, and all will be fine!!

Good luck with what ever you choose tho mate.

[hovis]

i would say get a bit of expereance on a smaller bike first, if you are not to sure :thumbsup:

[grecian9]

I did my CBT with the sole intention of doing the DAS after picking up an SV650s off a mate for pennies. After the CBT I was thinking, "this is a lot harder than I thought it would be". I stalled about 6 times on the CBT and was generally pretty crap. I was also physically knackered and unsure if biking was for me. The fact that I'd already bought the bike forced me to carry on and about 1 hr into my first DAS lesson it all came together and I have been loving it ever since. It's a steep learning curve but well worth it. With the congestion on the roads today and the prospect of congestion charging in most big cities I'm very glad to have the motorbike option available.

[Flamin_Squirrel]

think twice before doing a manure

I wish horses on roads would think twice before doing a manure too.

[Ceri JC]

With regard the risks of it, I'll say this: Something the shock-tactic "bikes are 16 times more dangerous than cars" stats don't reflect is how much "riding like a ****" effects your chances of an accident (particularly in the case of fatalities). That's not to say it's not dangerous and that if you do everything right you'll never have an accident, but I'd just ask you be be aware that it's usually weekend warriors in race rep leathers on sports bikes who lunch themselves on A roads because they can't turn a bike properly or ride far faster than their abilities. Even in cases where another road user was to blame, a lot of the time (although not all) a better rider could have avoided it.

Low speed offs round town (the main sort where other people are to blame) are often (provided you're wearing sensible kit) no worse than coming off a push bike (which I doubt you'd think twice about doing).

I'm not trying to make biking seem safe. It's not and if you can't accept a degree of risk, it's probably not for you. For me, the benefits (speed of commuting, sheer thrill of riding, etc.) outweigh the risks.

[thor]

Low speed offs round town (the main sort where other people are to blame) are often (provided you're wearing sensible kit) no worse than coming off a push bike (which I doubt you'd think twice about doing).

I suppose you can break your collar bone coming off a push bike too. :roll: I dunno, it's your choice.

[davepugh1981]

thanks for the balanced opinions guys and girls, much appreicated. I'd always look to wear the correct kit at all times, as it winds me up something rotten seeing 16 year old chavs on their scooter with t shirts on!

I had already thought about the smaller bike option for a few months during spring, then If i consider that I would like to conitnue riding continue with the DAS in the spring time, where I'd look at either a naked SV or (wait for it.....) a 600 bandit.

I have considered the restricted route for 2 years also. Does anyone know which bikes fall into the sub 33bhp group that are cheap to run/insure, preferably keeping in with my taste of streetfighter machines?

Thanks
Dave

[gcop]

A lot of sound advice in this thread.
When I did my DirectAccess about 10 years ago I had very similar feelings.

All I would say on the matter is based on my experience, its more daunting and dangerous getting the road experience than once you are already an experienced biker.
Once you are experienced, you will feel more comfortable and be more able to deal with certain road situations.

You know how to drive a car so you have basic road awareness already.

[Baph]

I have considered the restricted route for 2 years also. Does anyone know which bikes fall into the sub 33bhp group that are cheap to run/insure, preferably keeping in with my taste of streetfighter machines?

I can't say much that hasn't already been said, so I'll just say that a restricted SV falls under 33bhp. For a pointy, you'll be looking at around £200 for a certified restriction done by a dealership.

Hopefully, welcome to the world of biking, no matter what you decide to ride, you'll be welcome here! :)

[Jools'SV Now]

Risk averse eh?

best stay away from swimming pools - lots of people die in those.
and cars,
planes,
walking outside in fresh air - nasty.

Best not smoke or drink either, they'll kill you too.

Don't go in the kitchen, jeesh you'll just be asking for trouble, do you know how many people die in the kitchen?!!!!!!! oh, yeah, best avoid the bathroom too - lots of accidents waiting to happen there.

Avoid electricity - that's really dangerous; food, that can poison you; mobile phone, jeesh the radiation.


Motorbikes? safe as you make them. :wink: