Although using a motorbike can be a fun and exhilarating way to travel, especially for young men, there is no escaping the fact that it is the single most dangerous way to travel that there is. Motorbike accidents kill more people every year in the UK, and indeed in numerous other places in the world, than any other type of transport.

Largely this danger is due to the fact that a lot of the time cars cannot see bikes as they approach, especially if the car in question is pulling out of a junction and there are other cars parked on the sides of the road. The risk is increased at night, when the very large majority of bike accidents happen. This is because visibility is reduced even further.

Accidents also very frequently occur because bikes are much smaller than other vehicles, and can become invisible in some cases. An example of this is when a bike is amongst cars, or possibly if the driver is approaching behind a very large and obstructive vehicle such as a lorry. The drivers of motorbikes should be aware of this danger, and seek to make sure they are visible at all times.

The statistics for this kind of accident are quite scary, when they are broken down. Out of all traffic accident claims involving motorbikes, on average 75% of these were because the bike has collided with another vehicle on the road. Of this 75%, a huge 65% were because the oncoming driver that was also involved in the collision could not see the bike approaching because of poor visibility.

The best way to avoid such accidents is to take some simple safety precautions, which when used correctly could ultimately save lives. One tip is to wear reflective clothing when riding a motorbike at night, because this will make it much easier for other car drivers to be able to see when a bike is approaching them.

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Bridget Knapp is a freelance writer concerned mainly with road safety and taking good care of her motorbike.

Well, it got disturbed a bit about 5-6 months ago, after seeing one of these movies when I thought: shit, I have to do this.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZeBE9ttUzY

But was growing the idea peacefully as “need to do at some point” until this Thursday when, while being at my mom celebrating the Romanian National Day I’ve met this pilot (a relative). After listening a story about what it means to be a pilot, I remembered: Hey I want to try this. The pilot got back to me and said “oh, yeas you can try Microsoft Flight Simulator, it’s like the true experience”. No, no, I want the real thing I said, while watching my mom going all pale .

What do you think I was doing the next morning? At 9:30 I called my biker buddy and asked: “hey what’s up with that airplane thing we talked about?”. We decided to meet today to talk about types of licenses, airplanes and stuff. After about one hour, I think he got convinced I’m into the real thing and said: “What would you say we go right now and take a 10 minutes flight just to see how it works for you?”. Well, you know me, I can’t say no to any adrenaline generating stuff! Here is a bit of my first flight (sorry for the bad pictures, I wasn’t expecting and I didn’t planned to have the right gear for this):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kp0STNPnwI

The first corner was the most weird: I didn’t know there is something keeping me on the chair, and it felt like I’m going to fall out of the window That’s probably like riding passenger on a motorcycle -- I now know why riding as a motorcycle passenger always impresses the ladies )

Few pictures:

Taking off (a different plane):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoBu_TcmPpc

Landing (a different plane):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZPsoJsoTCM

Now, let’s see where I can get a pilot license, and fast!

It was one of these bad luck moments; I blocked the front wheel in my attempt to avoid a pothole – a pothole like the hundreds of thousands I already avoided in Romania. I instantly knew there is something wrong with my foot – I still have slow motion flashbacks from the 2-3 seconds I hit the ground with the bike on top of my leg.

My biker buddy turned back his bike and started checking on me. For the first 10 minutes I almost had no pain and we managed to put the bike upright. After 15 mins I almost fainted because of the pain. It took me almost 1 hour to recover. I decided to get back on the bike and try to get home, almost 450km away, going trough Bulgaria. I think it felts like the longest ride of my life. I couldn’t use the right leg at all, to brake or when stopping. My biker buddy was checking on my from time to time and helped navigate the right w ay to home as the pain was taking all my brain energy.

After many many hours I was in front of my house and heading to the Hospital. The next day I took surgery at my knee – they drilled some holes and fixed the knee with some wire. I couldn’t sleep that night – there is a saying: the first night after the wedding and after surgery you can’t sleep. I also got the leg immobilized.

Here is how things looked like after a couple of days:

Well, take care! I’m now recovering and waiting to get back on the bike even for a few days this year.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs4cTx0Crrk

Read more: http://newsok.com/biker-buddies-open-old-route-66-motorcycle-museum/article/3523342#ixzz18XnARGvm ]]> http://www.honda-cb750.org/blog/2010/12/19/biker-buddies-open-old-route-66-motorcycle-museum/feed/ 0 http://www.honda-cb750.org/blog/2010/12/14/should-i-insure-my-bike-or-can-i-skip/ http://www.honda-cb750.org/blog/2010/12/14/should-i-insure-my-bike-or-can-i-skip/#comments Tue, 14 Dec 2010 06:07:37 +0000 admin http://www.honda-cb750.org/blog/?p=790 As the new year approaches I’m making the budget for the next year. Together with the taxes, servicing, the insurance is one big cost it ads each year to the budget.

The strange thing in Romania is that insurance companies don’t really want to insure bikes. Because the risk is higher than for the cars. Which, if you ask my opinion is … annoying. Basically they don’t want to insure something that is risky – which makes you wonder, what they insure? I mean if it’s safe, why should I pay them? Of course I’m willing to pay an insurance for something that is risky, not for something it is not.

So anyway, looking at the insurance bill for the last 4 years I’ve came to the conclusion that I’ve paid about 18% from the bike value on insurance. To make things even worse, it looks like all the online insurance quotes sites here in Romania are not updated so I can’t make a quick decision on if there is a better option for me. Look how easy is to do this in USA, go to a site like www.freeinsurancequotes.org, put the zip code in and know what to expect. Not to mention the Car insurance advice sites from CNN Money and so on.

Question is ( I never crashed in the last 4 years) does it still makes sense to insure a 4 years bike that wasn’t that expensive in the first place? Or should I tour for that money?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf7g2n8LVDU

I need to ride some more… But anyway, here is the 40k mark on my CBF. If I’m lucky I’ll try to turn it into 50k this year.

I’ve got my first bike ( a Russian IJ with sidecar) back in 2004. I think I’ve actually become a bike owner and less of a biker in the first years. 2007 was a really important year in becoming a biker, the year I bought my third Honda, started going to biker meetings and more importantly taking the open road and not a destination.

Last Sunday I had my fence painting episode and while I was contemplating the reasons why I enjoyed painting in the backyard as much as riding my bike I realized that now, even when I’m driving my car, I’m still a biker. I’ve never told you but I always have been obsessed with cars too. Just that now, when I’m riding I feel like a biker, when I’m driving I still fill like a biker that temporarily uses a car.

So what this has to do with biker being happier? Simple. While I was enjoying the results of my fence painting, I wasn’t just a man painting in the backyard. I was a biker painting in the backyard. If you ride, you know what I’m saying. Everything that you do, you do feeling you are a biker.

And you get to enjoy the simple things in life. Being a car freak as well, I traveled a lot. But food tastes better on the side of the road when you’re riding. You feel the road better on a bike, and you don’t have a destination unless you feel like stopping. Mountain rides on a Saturday morning. It smells different. Sun and rain are different. Bikers fellowship. The admiration of your colleagues when you come back from the long rides. Go out for a ride just because you feel like riding. Even meeting God.

You see, all very simple and basic things that make you happy. Bikers are happier.

Until I found a genuine review of the VFR1200 done by Arthur Coldwells. It talks about the engine. It also talks about the automatic transmission in a way I could almost feel it. It seems interesting to try. And even more interesting for touring. I almost want one now… But is there a Honda bike I don’t want to at least try?

What’s up with the fence painting? Well. It seems this is a strange year. Because of the very long winter I actually got to drive my car for a few months. And while in the last 2 years you could hardly get me off the bike (rain actually made me wanting to ride even more to  get me faster through the traffic) this year is different. Today was a perfectly good day for riding. I got up as usual by looking at he window and checking if it’s a good riding day. It was. Then, I thought, it’s also a perfect day for painting my backyard fence, something I never had time in the last 2-3 years (I actually found the paint I bought 2 ears ago). And I painted.

Now, I’m in my backyard and looking at the freshly painted fence it looks rewarding. Am I getting old?