How dangerous are motorbikes?

seanybiker

Fair play to ya joker for looking on the brightside, tis the best thing to do. Throw up a few pics of the trike. Would love a go of one of em to see what they are like.

Trad.
Me brother done the bike training for the guards a few years back and he said every single one of them doing the course at the time fell off the bikes in the obstacle course or whatever it is lol. Me brother never drove a bike in his life before that. Now anytime he calls up home, he flies off on my gsxr 1000 not a bother on him.
Also lol @ a pig to drive. Im so immature .

xinchao

Hi lads,
I've read all the posts here, there's quite a few!!
I've not been driving motorbikes that long compared to a few of you guys. I've been driving for about 8 years. I've driven mainly in Asia, Thailand and Vietnam. Some guy was going on there about doing point in Vietnam. haha..
Did two tours there on my minsk. Also about the same amount of time in Thailand. Vietnam is extremely dangerous compared to the civilised driving here in Ireland. Death there is an everyday occurrence. I've seen some truly horrific scenes, but when you see it on an almost daily basis it tends to de-sensitise you. Horrible as it sounds.
You cannot drive a motorbike without crashing at some stage. I've had several in Vietnam alone, but then again the chances of having one are so great everyone there has at least one crash. Driving in Ireland is very very safe as long as you have your wits about you.
But there is always a chance of crashing, it's just a chance at the end of the day. You know what you are doing the minute you are getting on a bike. The only thing to minimise your likely-hood of becoming severely injured is wearing the correct gear, not only a leather jacket but correct boots, helmet, back support, hips, knees, elbows and even still that won't save you. It just lessens the damage to a degree.
My sister is a nurse in the Royal London Hospital, A&E dept. She says leather saves limbs...So that is from the front line really.
I spent over a grand on proper leather gear and padding etc...It's better to have all that gear and be safer but driving motorbikes is about chance and that is the underlying excitement/pleasure of driving motorbikes.
My advice to the original post is buy one but with the understanding that you signing a form like when you go Bungee jumping.
I see people driving huge motorbikes, these racing bikes, they are meant for a track not Irish roads. They absolutely fly around 80mph+ what do you expect if you drive at those speeds on a bike that is meant for a track???
If you are going to buy a bike, buy a cruiser, 125cc or 250cc, one where you are positioned low and straight on the bike, better for learning and they don't have massive speeds, they are not designed for flying around a track. they are designed for comfort. Great for novices!
buying a racing version 125cc or 250cc is a mistake because they are too light and are really susceptible to cross winds on a motorway.
Getting proper lessons is a must also! If you get them for a car, get them for a motorbike.
That's my advice anyway for what it is worth....

seanybiker

woah you drove in Vietnam. Jaysus you must be some nutter. The drive about 50 abreast over there lol.
Even jeremy clarkson crashed there ha ha.

xinchao

Vietnam,
A summary, no helmets, no licence, no tax, NO insurance, no lights on bikes, drink driving as acceptable as being sober on a bike, no rules, no use indicators, the bigger the vehicle the more right on the road you have, driving the opposite way on a one way street is NORMAL. Crash as a foreigner and you are to blame. Kill someone and you have to pay the family of the victim regardless if you were at fault or not. Pay the police for any reason to be pulled over (although i never did) Just spoke to them in German and English and Irish..hahaha...They just waved me on.
Roundabouts are the most fun because everybody just rushes in from every road. NO right of way! just push your way through. We used to play a game there as to how many people can fit on a motorbike, six was the record, but that was including kids and babies...
The bigger the bike the higher risk of crashing because there is a lot of stopping and extreme breaking.
Because of the lanes they have, their roads are French design, wide avenues in the cities, usually three lanes, they will be on the right outside lane and veer across all the lanes to take a left turn WITHOUT indication OR LOOKING.
Sheer and absolute madness, but after a while there is some sort of very twisted logic to it.
Put it this way, if you have a hangover that morning, just take a drive, you'll sweat it out of you through sheer death-defying stunts.
Who needs lessons? hahahaha...
Coming back and driving on Irish roads is like being on auto-pilot in comparison but only comparison. The problem with Ireland is that sometimes you ten to lose concentration and that is the major problem...

seanybiker

Was thinking that meself. You must zone out on Irish roads because of boredom after been used to the lunatics in Vietnam.

mr chips

Hey, another triker! :cool: What part of the country are you in Joker? I'm away up near the north coast.

Biker.ie

A lot of bitter & depressing stuff here, crashing is not inevitable, don't listen to all the doom & gloom merchants, make yourself visible and more assertive on the road, if somebody pulls out just beep the horn and shake your fist- they will more than likely give it a second glance / won't pull out again next time and you could be saving somebody elses life.

If you're comfortable enough to jog or even rid a bicycle around town (some arent!) then a motorcycle is no different in terms of what 'could' happen if some ludar decides to rear end you/ drive over your head/ detonate a nuclear device right next to you.

People talk about gear bla bla like it's inevitable you're going to take a spill, ~ I believe buying the best and most modern motorbike you can afford is more important, expensive helmets do not necessarily mean better protection, people who say this are either brainwashed by dealers or are actual dealers themselves with 'you've only got one head' ' how much is it worth, my one is €700' kinda rubbish, a Caberg helmet (LIDL used to sell them) costs about 1/4 price of an RX-7 and has 5-stars as apposed to the Aria's 3-star safety rating, have a look on http://sharp.direct.gov.uk for an indication of safety before you part with your cash/ buy a helmet / listen to eejits talking crap down the pub about their rossi replicas, likewise, not much point in being kitted out with the latest titanium equipped Dainese leathers and pushing some dangerous piece of dung on bald tyres to it's limits every day, it's asking for trouble!

If you find you're going cracked riding balls-out everywhere and grinning like an idiot every time you put a series of corners together on some backroads, then softer tyres will give you quite a bit more confidence and margin for safety than regular hoops, they wear out quicker but tend to be more progressive with grip levels when breaking traction on the limit so maybe not surprise or spit you off like harder compounds would.

Training is a serious money racket (with a large % being wannabe-garda-type-knobs) but helps if you're not fully aware of the dangers other road users present, or have absolutely no idea about anything starting out. They won't tell you how to pull wheelies or get the knee down for instance.

Put your full headlights on, wear a high-vis vest, have good tyres and expect people (especially women fantasising about hot dudes like me) to do stupid things and you'll be ok, I wouldn't necessarily attest to this 125/250cc starting out/ restriction crap either- sometimes you can accelerate your way out of trouble easier than hanging around waiting for the inevitable, but then obviously a GSX-R 1000 wouldn't be ideal in the hands of a 17yr old starting out who'd be high on E's all the time.

Motorbikes are great craic, the advantages - such as filtering thru traffic & zooming past cars like they're stuck in cement far outweigh the disadvantages of a relatively small number of crashes some people have each year, if you're going to mope around like an auld sissy or indeed feel a bit off / sick / tired etc. then get a bus or car and listen to joe Duffy or something, but there's nothing like a good spin to set the blood flowing and stimulate those primeval adrenaline glands, right up there with catching a f'waggle ! :eek: :cool:

seanybiker

My helmet only cost 120. Fook that, thats plenty for me. Needed to keep some money for beer. Never wear a Hi Viz jacket meself. Always have me jacket on and helmet. Didnt wear me boots in a few weeks actually. Stood in dog crap and dont wanna be smelling of dog crap going around on the bike. Must get me mother to wash em lol.
Only got lessons so I could get loan of 250 for the test. Dont act the goat on a bike and you will be mostly grand, its the other people on the road we have to watch out for.
Have fun and stay in school kids.

Try1ng

OP - I started on the bike in April 2008, same thoughts as yourself before that, I had spent years travelling in and out from town, reakoned i could save about 8 hours a week by using the motorbike. And the friends/family said the same things.

I've been driving cars about 11 years now so I knew the ins and outs or driving on our roads, but I decided to get some training and boy was I glad i did. It was the best money I ever spend, I had only been on a bike twice before, both times as a pillion so I knew nothing about riding motorbikes.
I'm happy I made the change and i am saving about 8 hours a week by using the bike, never mind the saving in petrol (15 euro on the bike compared to 80 in the car).

If your going to do it best of luck, but as has been said here earlier, get a good bike, good gear and good training. And Enjoy!

af_thefragile

Cheers guys.

Yup, i have decided to get a bike over the summer now.
Plan is to first go and get lessons and then get a bike.


What do you guys think is a good place for lessons in Dublin?
What do you guys reckon would be a good starter bike?
I was looking at the CBR125r as they're quite cheap around but they're pretty light and only 125cc so i dunno if they're good for starting out...
I'm a bit stripped for cash too so it'ld be cool if i could get the bike and insurance for around 3 grand.

Idleater

af_thefragile wrote: »

I'm a bit stripped for cash too so it'ld be cool if i could get the bike and insurance for around 3 grand.

Good luck with that unless you are the better side of 30:pac: and even then you might only scrape that budget to get a "decent" cbr125 (never mind any r version).

It's not impossible mind, but if you are getting jacket/trousers/helmet/gloves/lock etc you will only have 2-2.5k for the bike + insurance which tbh ain't gonna happen.

More realistic options in that budget would involve models with less "r"'s in the name, and less plastic too.

af_thefragile

nereid wrote: »

Good luck with that unless you are the better side of 30:pac: and even then you might only scrape that budget to get a "decent" cbr125 (never mind any r version).

It's not impossible mind, but if you are getting jacket/trousers/helmet/gloves/lock etc you will only have 2-2.5k for the bike + insurance which tbh ain't gonna happen.

More realistic options in that budget would involve models with less "r"'s in the name, and less plastic too.

Nah, i'm looking for the bike + insurance for around 3k.
I could pay extra for jacket, helmet and all... Another 500-1k maybe.

There are a good few cbr125r for sale at around 2k. So i dunno how much insurance would be for it...
But then i don't know if that bike is a good starter bike...

Idleater

af_thefragile wrote: »

But then i don't know if that bike is a good starter bike...

I'd ring around for ball park insurance quotes anyhow. R spec or even R titled bikes generally are higher grouping regardless of power which means more loading. Add to that your Dublin location and it could be pretty steep.

A friend of mine started out on a NSR80 and the CBR125 is certainly do-able as a learner. It's a case of if you want to pay for the privilege of driving one as you gain experience then by all means do just remember, that if you are buying S/H then the previous owner will most likely have been learning on it too which may be (or should be) reflected in the price.

In any case, ring for insurance, also have a look at some restricted 600/650's as they will be more "stable" than the lightweight cbr.

seanybiker

Liamo on biker.ie is your man for the lessons. Never got lessons from him but I know him very well and he is excellent. Pm him or if ya want Ill give ya his number. Dead sound chap.

af_thefragile

nereid wrote: »

I'd ring around for ball park insurance quotes anyhow. R spec or even R titled bikes generally are higher grouping regardless of power which means more loading. Add to that your Dublin location and it could be pretty steep.

A friend of mine started out on a NSR80 and the CBR125 is certainly do-able as a learner. It's a case of if you want to pay for the privilege of driving one as you gain experience then by all means do just remember, that if you are buying S/H then the previous owner will most likely have been learning on it too which may be (or should be) reflected in the price.

In any case, ring for insurance, also have a look at some restricted 600/650's as they will be more "stable" than the lightweight cbr.

I did check on AON's online quote and it gave me a figure of around 1500eur for the cbr125r i think... But i herd i can get a cheaper quote if i call them.

It was the "stability" thing i was worried about the cbr... But i think i still have a little time before i get a bike as i first need to find a decent place to get lessons first...


And i don't have a bike so i'ld have to be getting lessons on the driving school's bike...

seanybiker, Ya reckon biker.ie can provide for a bike to learn on too?
And what ya think of the driving schools like msa.ie and bikesafe.ie.
msa.ie is pretty pricey but they say they even do the axa assessment test towards the end of the training.

P.C.

seanybiker wrote: »

Liamo on biker.ie is your man for the lessons. Never got lessons from him but I know him very well and he is excellent. Pm him or if ya want Ill give ya his number. Dead sound chap.

There are your lessons sorted.

af_thefragile wrote: »

Nah, i'm looking for the bike + insurance for around 3k.
I could pay extra for jacket, helmet and all... Another 500-1k maybe.

There are a good few cbr125r for sale at around 2k. So i dunno how much insurance would be for it...
But then i don't know if that bike is a good starter bike...

Shop around for your gear - there are some goos bargains to be had.

Cotters will sort you out with a fair bit of kit for a decent price, or you could buy online.

As for the bike:

1.) How old are you?
2.) have you ever sat on a CBR 125?

Before you buy one, go to a bike shop that has one, and have a sit on it. See if it is comfy for you, and if you are happy with the driving position.

Then go onto the Quinne Direct web site, and get a quote - this will give you an indication of what your insurance will be for the first year.

Then you will know how much you will have left for the bike.

seanybiker

I dont know if Liamo gives ya a bike to learn on to be honest. Would have to ring up and ask. I think he is with aaronridertraining.com or .ie not sure.


Try quinn online. They seem to be giving dirt cheap quotes to young chaps these days.

seanybiker

k I just rang Liamo. They do provide bikes to learn on. Yer sorted. Cant meet a nicer fella than him. Very patient which is good.

af_thefragile

seanybiker wrote: »

k I just rang Liamo. They do provide bikes to learn on. Yer sorted. Cant meet a nicer fella than him. Very patient which is good.

Aww thanks seanybiker.
Now first after i'm done with my exams, which is next week, i'm gonna do the theory test and get my license. Then next thing would be to take the lessons.
Right now i've got the money saved up for a bunch of lessons...
Still gotta fix up with a job for the bike though... But hopefully i should have that by the end of next month.

Esel

P.C. wrote: »

Have you ever sat on a CBR 125?

Before you buy one, go to a bike shop that has one, and have a sit on it. See if it is comfy for you, and if you are happy with the driving position.

Realise too that sitting on a bike in the shop will not give you much of a feel for the real world, unless you sit on it for 30-60 minutes..... A racing-style bike can be uncomfortable on the wrists, and more so on the lower back when ridden for longer periods.

P.C.

esel wrote: »

Realise too that sitting on a bike in the shop will not give you much of a feel for the real world, unless you sit on it for 30-60 minutes..... A racing-style bike can be uncomfortable on the wrists, and more so on the lower back when ridden for longer periods.

So right.

You won't know just by sitting on the bike, but it will give you an idea. As you say, a hour in the saddle would be much better.

But, if you sit on the sports bike, and then go and sit on a cruiser, you will notice the difference. This will help you decide if a sports bike is for you.

HashSlinging

Any opinions on an Africa twin (96) as a starter bike, I'm 6'4 so not many options out there. Getting lessons soon but would like some opinions on bikes 2k is max I can spend.

Also would be using it to commute into city centre from Wicklow town, I could leave it at family in Bray and go from there (driving to bray and on the bike from there).

KamiKazi

Africa twins are decent, will probably need to be restricted though. On the plus side, if you do end up throwing it down the road, they are pretty tough and not a whole of damage should be done tbh

HashSlinging

Thats my thinking, I mean they are built for the paris dakker, what harm can I do !!

Idleater

HashSlinging wrote: »

Thats my thinking, I mean they are built for the paris dakker, what harm can I do !!

a lot to yourself... they are heavy bikes.

+1 on the thread salvaging though.

HashSlinging

1700 on carol nash for the twin, suppose what do I expect.! probably a bit much for a fair weather user.

KamiKazi

HashSlinging wrote: »

1700 on carol nash for the twin, suppose what do I expect.! probably a bit much for a fair weather user.

Man up and make it all weather use :pac:

nc19

@op- how you been getting on???

gsxr1

oh dear. you wont not let it lie

Paparazzo

Ah FFS. Read 10 pages of this thread before I copped the date.
Anyway, Antiskepics first post is ridiclious. Biking is nowhere near that dangerous as long as you don't drive around like a lunatic.