Topic: Inexperienced Newbie riders, entertaining but SCARY!

[Duanob]

Sunday was a nice day so another member and I decided to shake the dust out of our 550s and went for a short cruise around the beach. We decided to stop for coffee and a little shop in a row of restaurants that attracts bikers of all kinds but mostly Crotch-rocketeers. There were about 15 bikes in front of the cafe. We sat outside watching the street and the beach for about a half hour drinking our caffiene. In that short span of time I saw three incidents that made me shake my head at why some people even have a motorcycle.

First thing a group comes back to the bikes to leave. There were a few young women riders in that group. They all got their jackets, helmets, and gloves on and started up thier rides. The first one to pull out was a young woman, right in front of a car! It's like she didn't even see the car. The guy had to slam on his brakes to avoid bashing into her. She and her group just rode off like it was nothing.

Secondly about 5 minutes later an all women riding club rode up turned left across the centerline and nosed in to the curb. the last girl pulled up and forgot to put her kickstand down and proceeded to fall over into the next girl. Good thing the she was paying attention or it would've been like dominos! The first girl seemd like she pinched her hand somewhere she was smarting a bit. Pretty embarassing to say the least.

Then about 5 minutes after that a guy came in turing left right in front of a car and the car again had to slam on the brakes to avoid crushing this guy. He just parked and hopped off his bike acting like it was an everyday thing.

I was wondering what the hell was going on. It wasn't any of the car drivers fault at all it was just bad driving by the riders that I saw. I wouldn't want to be any where near these riders on my bike. It would be interesting to know how many motorcycle accidents are the rider's fault. I would probably feel better knowing that most car/cycle accidents are avoidable.

Anyway just a nice day to be on two wheels for most of us.

Oh and BTW, our old classic bikes got way more attention from walker-bys than any of the crotch rockets!

[CycleRanger]

Next week bring a video camera! 

[Gordon]

It would be interesting to know how many motorcycle accidents are the rider's fault. I would probably feel better knowing that most car/cycle accidents are avoidable.

Most wrecks that happen could have been avoided if just one of the drivers/riders involved was paying better attention, regardless of who was at fault. 

[Duke McDukiedook]

Squids.
Future non-owners of bikes will soon be posting their mashed up squid bikes on CL soon. Look for them.

[nomad]

It would be interesting to know how many motorcycle accidents are the rider's fault. I would probably feel better knowing that most car/cycle accidents are avoidable.

Most wrecks that happen could have been avoided if just one of the drivers/riders involved was paying better attention, regardless of who was at fault. 

110% true.  A flight instructor once told me that regardless of what's going on in the cockpit, the thing you concentrate on first and foremost is flying the plane.  It doesn't matter if everything around you is going to #$%*... you fly the plane.  The same applies to every other mode of transportation.  I wish more people had that kind of perception and common sense.
 
< That's what inspired my... "Hang up and Drive"

[dave500]

ive seen a few things like that,one instance while sitting at a coffe shop, an obviously new female rider across the street makes a left turn real slow with both feet off the pegs in anticipation of something,then does a u turn to come back the other way,stalls it at the T intersection and ever so slowly falls over!she was licensed but should not have been passed,it was a yammy serow,she couldnt pick it up and a few guys dashed over to help her,not ready for the road in my opinion and a complete danger.

[72 yellow]

Tons of these in the Detroit area.  A 150hp crotch rocket has a very steep learning curve.  Refer to those people as good organ donors.

[CycleRanger]

ive seen a few things like that,one instance while sitting at a coffe shop, an obviously new female rider across the street makes a left turn real slow with both feet off the pegs in anticipation of something,then does a u turn to come back the other way,stalls it at the T intersection and ever so slowly falls over!she was licensed but should not have been passed,it was a yammy serow,she couldnt pick it up and a few guys dashed over to help her,not ready for the road in my opinion and a complete danger.

If you can't pick it up you shouldn't be allowed to ride it.
(Yes, that goes for 1500lb dressers too!)

[petercb750]

Saw a female rider the other day pull out from the kerb on a bike that was clearly too big and heavy for her, completely unbalanced, headed for wrong side of road right at a blind t-intersection and turned right without slowing. There is a stop sign there, but I guess because she was on the wrong side of the road the sign didn't count and didn't matter.
I put it down to her being too embarrassed to stop or get the bike back onto the correct side of the road and just wanted to be out of there (couple of coffee shops with a few bikers watching), but.....you have to wonder how long she will survive.

I am a riding instructor and sometimes I think I've seen it all, but then......I just shakes me head.

Bikers are sometimes too quick to blame car drivers....yes, there are some pretty ordinary drivers out there who pay no attention to what's around them, but on the other hand, I see lots of bikers who should just stay home and watch tellie and enjoy a long life.

[jstfkndi]

Nothing makes me more upset than seeing people on bikes that are endangering everyone else and then give the "WTF glare and arm up in the air" gesture when they are clearly riding like douchebags. Gives motorcyclists a bad name. Making a mistake is one thing. I have made plenty and had some embarrassing situations as a rider, but not realizing that you almost had an incindent can make things more dangerous as time goes by if you continue your bad habits.

[Goofaroo]

I worked at a Honda shop back in the early nineties. Every Honda we sold came with a certificate for free rider training but very few took advantage of it.  I saw many riders drop their new bike before they could get out of our parking lot. I even had a couple of customers die within a few days of buying their new bikes. The sport bikes in particular attracted a buyer that really had no idea what he was getting into. In fact, the sport bikes were usually sold to people with very little riding experience at all.

 

 

 

[Duanob]

When I took my motorcycle road test there was a young russian kid on a Hurricane that failed the first 2 runs and therefore failed the whole test. He had no business being on that bike. But then he just hopped on and rode out of the parking lot. I hope he made it home.

[Really?]

I have been in about 8-9 accidents on a bike, all when I was a teen.  All of them were my fault but one (mostly).

[heffay]

I worked at a Honda shop back in the early nineties. Every Honda we sold came with a certificate for free rider training but very few took advantage of it.  I saw many riders drop their new bike before they could get out of our parking lot. I even had a couple of customers die within a few days of buying their new bikes. The sport bikes in particular attracted a buyer that really had no idea what he was getting into. In fact, the sport bikes were usually sold to people with very little riding experience at all.

Were you the salesman? 
This is why I will never be a salesman for a bike dealer.  You are expected to sell sell sell, but never ask for the MSF certification, or do your own rider test before the deal is done, etc.
I don't blame you, really, I blame the system... but I just couldn't bring myself to sell a bike to a noob.

[Killer Canary]

I don't know how it is in the rest of the world, but if you see a for sale ad for a 600 around here, it'll usually be described as a "beginner" bike. A 150 + mph beginner bike. The north american mindset continually baffles me.

[72 yellow]

I worked at a Honda shop back in the early nineties. Every Honda we sold came with a certificate for free rider training but very few took advantage of it.  I saw many riders drop their new bike before they could get out of our parking lot. I even had a couple of customers die within a few days of buying their new bikes. The sport bikes in particular attracted a buyer that really had no idea what he was getting into. In fact, the sport bikes were usually sold to people with very little riding experience at all.

 

 

 

An acquaintance of mine bought a new Kawasaki ZL1 back in the day.  Never rode or owned a bike before.  He was a big dude so he figured he needed a bigger bike.  He had the dealership deliver it to his house.  He got the 30 second instruction, clutch here, gas here, etc.  He started the bike, put it in gear, dumped the clutch and immediately lost control.  He crashed into the front corner of his house.  Total ride about 20 feet.  He died on the way to the hospital of massive head injuries.

[seanbarney41]

I worked at a Honda shop back in the early nineties. Every Honda we sold came with a certificate for free rider training but very few took advantage of it.  I saw many riders drop their new bike before they could get out of our parking lot. I even had a couple of customers die within a few days of buying their new bikes. The sport bikes in particular attracted a buyer that really had no idea what he was getting into. In fact, the sport bikes were usually sold to people with very little riding experience at all.

 

 

 

An acquaintance of mine bought a new Kawasaki ZL1 back in the day.  Never rode or owned a bike before.  He was a big dude so he figured he needed a bigger bike.  He had the dealership deliver it to his house.  He got the 30 second instruction, clutch here, gas here, etc.  He started the bike, put it in gear, dumped the clutch and immediately lost control.  He crashed into the front corner of his house.  Total ride about 20 feet.  He died on the way to the hospital of massive head injuries.

this makes me sick in so many ways....could have so easily happened to any one of us...I started on a cb350 twin and nearly did the same thing with a telephone pole...major difference?, I could never afford a new ZL1...and it takes many more seconds for a cb350 twin to be capable of death...

[72 yellow]

I gather that most of us older riders started out with smaller bikes and worked our way up.  I learned on a 64 305 Superhawk.  Rode a lot of small bikes also.  The only bike I felt uncomfortable on was my cousins H-D Ultra-Glide (And no, not cause it's a H-D, I also owned a XLH Sportster and a FXE Superglide), just too bulky.  The crazy stuff shown on TV, showing wheelies, stoppies etc, I think also has a effect.  Wife and I went a couple of years ago to the dragstrip.  They had these crotch rocket stunt riders there.  Doing all kinds of crazy stuff.  When it was over they just dumped the bikes on their sides and walked away, like you would drop trash on the ground.  The younger people went nuts,  the older people looked at them like they were nuts.
My daughters ex-neighbor rode a crotch rocket like a fool.  Used to see him going down a major highway doing wheelies at 45mph in traffic.  He managed to crash in Detroit at the I-75 and I-94 interchange doing the same stunt only at 70mph.  He managed to survive only with a broken arm.  I have no sympathy for guys like that.

[Really?]

I started on a 400f at 14 - 15 1/2 and then graduated to an XS1100 at 15 1/2.  Took my cone/balance test on my dad's '79 XS Eleven Special with a full Vetter package at 16.  I think my Dad was nuts letting me have all this but I was sure diggin' it.

[Goofaroo]

Were you the salesman?
This is why I will never be a salesman for a bike dealer.  You are expected to sell sell sell, but never ask for the MSF certification, or do your own rider test before the deal is done, etc.
I don't blame you, really, I blame the system... but I just couldn't bring myself to sell a bike to a noob.

Yep. I was the salesperson.  I would try to encourage them to take the training course, buy the proper safety gear, buy a different bike to learn on, etc.  In the end, the system we have here in Oklahoma only required that they be 16 yrs of age and have a valid driver's license. They have since required a motorcycle license but very few people seem to have one.  In fact, we don't even have a helmet law in Oklahoma. Helmets are not required after 18 yrs. of age. I completely disagree with that. A lot of riders don't have health insurance and if they crash without a helmet their medical bills will effect my health insurance rates and be paid in part by my tax dollars.

I would like to see a federal system that requires stringent skill tests to obtain a motorcycle license in any state and possibly a graduated licensing system that requires riders to start on small displacement bikes and work their way up. Of course this won't ever happen and it would kill Harley sales. A new Harley buyer would never be seen on a Nighthawk 250.

My personal advice to someone wanting to get into motorcycling would be to start on a 250 dualsport bike. Get the hang of it in the dirt where you can crash without as much threat of injury. Trail riding will teach you bike handling skills that will easily translate over to the street. Not to mention that trail riding is about the most fun you can have on a motorcycle. If you haven't done it, you are really missing out. I can tell you without a doubt that the most talented riders on this forum cut their teeth in the dirt.

[sangyo soichiro]

At 17 years of age, I started on a Rebel 450 - not a fast bike, but still plenty dangerous.  One time I was at a local burger joint trying to impress a girl I had the sweets for and accidentally pulled out right in front of a car.  Lucky for me the car hit the brakes, and I rode like hell trying to distance myself from my embarrassment.  At the stop light up ahead the car pulled next to me and I gave a "Thank you so much for not killing me when I was clearly at fault and trying to impress a girl, thankyouthankyouthankyou!" wave.  It was a good lesson for me, as I've never repeated it since. 

Nowadays I ride a CB750 (stock and cafe - I have 2), a scooter, a CB125, and I have a rocket (CBR600RR).  I agree that the rocket is not the best bike to learn on.  But those are the bikes all the young kids want.  And we all know that teenagers know everything and are not likely to listen to reason.  If I ever have a child, I think I will insist that if he/she is going to ride, then their first bike will be an old barn-find bike that they have to fix up.  That way, since they've put their heart and soul into it, they'd be more likely to not act like an ass on it, and instead of impressing girls with poor rider skills (like I did), they can impress them with their build and restoration skills. 

[Stev-o]

I started riding on a full size 50cc moped as a teen. Good bike to learn the basics. Then graduated to a Suzi 250, and thought it was crazy fast! Actually was for a teen, would do nearly 100.