"7 myths about motorcycle safety"

[redrider90]

Pass or fail? What do you of this article. I give it D- at best. W
Lots of things left out or wrong.
Note at the bottom Huff Post has a link to "suggest a correction".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2016/05/02/seven-motorcycle-safety-myths_n_9518206.html

[oldbike54]

 Harv , what do you find wrong , seems fairly accurate to me .

 Dusty

[redrider90]

Harv , what do you find wrong , seems fairly accurate to me .

 Dusty

I'll try and be brief. Typing with this cast is hard.
1.Leathers: most MCist do not wear leathers and most who do, do not wear it for protection. They left out synthetic AGATT, reinforced at elbows, knees etc. which is far superior to leather.
2. Helmets. They limited discussion of full face helmets only to vision and protection from bugs and rain. The most important safety features of full face helmets was left out of the discussion. e.g. my full face helmet saved my left ear and chin on a low side. If I had been wearing a 3/4 helmet with a full visor I would have been severely injured.
3. Big bikes are great for beginners. I have never heard of that "myth" have you. Heck the average lightweight 600cc sport bike has twice the power easily of my "big bike" Mille. They should have talked about how you can get low end superbikes that are rockets and will kill you in a second if you do not understand that power, radial tires, ABS and great handling does not mean you are ready for prime time. They talked about "high end torque of a big engine" and obviously do not understand that HP and not torque is what the subject should be.
4."Loud pipes saves lives". Really?? That statement is not a myth.  Nobody has loud pipes to save their lives. They have loud pipes because they want to make noise cause they think it is cool. I have never heard someone tell me their Bubs or straight pipe HD is saving their life. Totally stupid made up myth.
5. What about this one "Motorcyclists also ride defensively by cautiously entering curves and turns to avoid �running wide� (going too close to the oncoming lane in a tight curve) and overbraking, which can lead to a slide-out."  WTF? is are they saying?  I do not even understand it. They say nothing about why and how to ride/control/pick your line in a curve.
7."If you are about to crash lay it down". I never heard that myth but better yet how about a few sentences about target fixation. They left out one of the leading causes of MC accidents: target fixation be it in a curve or the cage that pulls out in front of you and stops.
It was just a lousy article about MC safety.

[oldbike54]

 We must be reading different articled ???

 Dusty

[Delta425]

We must be reading different articled ???

 Dusty

Guess I'm as illiterate as you are Dusty.   I don't see anything inaccurate about the article, but I guess we could all add to it until it was a thousand pages or so.  For a short article though, it brought up good points, I thought.

[cruzziguzzi]

I guess it's the rather "straw man" tone which bugs me.

1. I don't know anyone who says leather is only worn for its looks. No myth!

2. Some full faced helmets did and some still do restrict some folk's peripheral vision - few but some. Then there's the diminished aural awareness. No myth!

3. Never, ever heard anyone say "Big Bikes Are Great For Beginners". No myth!

4. Loud pipes though irritating, often irresponsible and sometimes illegal have in fact likely saved someone's life. The single greatest attribute sought outside of the rider's own operation is being NOTICED! I'm not advocating gay-pirate pipes but... No myth!

5. Who mythologizes that "Drivers Will See You"? No myth!

6. I've never believed nor heard that "Roads And Streets Are Safer Than The Interstate". No myth!

7. This one I've heard but accept it not as myth but rather individually applied, anecdotally applied alternative actions. Semi myth!


All together goofy on its face and very much like the non-first person's attitude about politics, hunting, parenting... whatever.


Todd.

[fotoguzzi]

7."If you are about to crash lay it down".

from personal experience, there is no time to make that decision..

[guzzinka]

I've been riding 20+some years, I thought it was an accurate article, though, as noted, it needed more detail on each point.  I bet loud pipes probably helped somebody, just like hi-viz, loud horns, etc probably helped somebody.

[neverquit]

"If you are about to crash lay it down".

I used to hear that quite often back in the late 50's and early 60's.  I think it was a carry over from even earlier times.  Motorcycle brakes were not good back then and the tires were even worse.  So if you went into a curve on a mountainside too fast on your 1948 Indian maybe it was better to lay it down than to go riding off the road and down a cliff.  Myself, I never encountered a situation where it seemed like a good idea.

[twowings]

I guess it's the rather "straw man" tone which bugs me.

1. I don't know anyone who says leather is only worn for its looks. No myth!

2. Some full faced helmets did and some still do restrict some folk's peripheral vision - few but some. Then there's the diminished aural awareness. No myth!

3. Never, ever heard anyone say "Big Bikes Are Great For Beginners". No myth!

4. Loud pipes though irritating, often irresponsible and sometimes illegal have in fact likely saved someone's life. The single greatest attribute sought outside of the rider's own operation is being NOTICED! I'm not advocating gay-pirate pipes but... No myth!

5. Who mythologizes that "Drivers Will See You"? No myth!

6. I've never believed nor heard that "Roads And Streets Are Safer Than The Interstate". No myth!

7. This one I've heard but accept it not as myth but rather individually applied, anecdotally applied alternative actions. Semi myth!


All together goofy on its face and very much like the non-first person's attitude about politics, hunting, parenting... whatever.


Todd.

You seem tense...everything go ok today?

[Dave Swanson]

4."Loud pipes saves lives". Really?? That statement is not a myth.  Nobody has loud pipes to save their lives. They have loud pipes because they want to make noise cause they think it is cool. I have never heard someone tell me their Bubs or straight pipe HD is saving their life. Totally stupid made up myth. 

Not a made up myth.  Just last fall a friend at work came in from his morning car commute a bit shaken.  He told me he almost took a motorcyclist out by making a quick lane change and the only reason he hesitated is because he heard the loud pipes.   He said it would have been a very bad accident if the guy had a quiet bike.  He has mentioned a number of times since that he is thankful for loud pipes and will never complain about them again.

This is not the only time I have heard stories like this over the last 40 years.   

[RinkRat II]

 OK redrider, to answer the main question, I'll give it a C. Passes, but realistically C,mon it,s Huffington post. Not known for it's hard hitting journalism.
 One of the newsroom drones found out it was Motorcycle month and did a mostly fluff piece to appease the masses and fill some space. Good for them as any info we can get out to the general public making them a little more aware of us on two wheels the better.

     Paul B

[swordds]

No offense intended but I enjoyed it and agree with it. Could be more detailed of course but I have heard most of those myths and agree they are just that, myths.  I  would give it a BMW, only because it is so brief. Fill in more detail (synthetic clothing, full face helmet chin protection, etc) and I would give it a A.

[redrider90]

OK redrider, to answer the main question, I'll give it a C. Passes, but realistically C,mon it,s Huffington post. Not known for it's hard hitting journalism.
 One of the newsroom drones found out it was Motorcycle month and did a mostly fluff piece to appease the masses and fill some space. Good for them as any info we can get out to the general public making them a little more aware of us on two wheels the better.

     Paul B

Actually it was written by Allstate insurance which is even worse than if the Huff Po wrote.

[cruzziguzzi]

You seem tense...everything go ok today?

Yup - everything's fine... well, nothing a big ol' bowl of Raisin Bran wouldn't effectively address.

I'm just wildly intolerant of the shoddy tripe that passes for journalism. It's just this kind of nonsense that gets headline imprinted in lazy intellects and causes $8.00-a-cup coffee sippers to go about repeating the bullet statements as though they are facts. Since they, for the most part, are not even myths it is just that straw-man type of journalism one can find at the root of a great many societal rubs these days.

"Well, ya know Marge, motorcyclists all think... I read it on the Huff!"


Todd.

[oldbike54]

 Fellas , this was written for beginning riders as a very brief intro . You are judging it from an experiencef MC'list perspective , it isn't meant for us.Trust me , I've heard every one of these myths .

 Dusty

[rodekyll]

It sounds like you're saying it's OK to to publish sloppy journalism as long as it's to an unsophisticated audience.  When that becomes OK then 'journalism' has erased the line between infotainment and pandering.  In case you're wondering why the line is there, it's because that's where it moved when 'information' got overrun by 'infotainment'.

The guys are complaining about the crap writing.  I agree -- the writing is crap for the reasons they give.  It stands on it's own as crap.  There's more to journalism than meeting a deadline to deposit 5,000 random words on paper.

[redrider90]

Fellas , this was written for beginning riders as a very brief intro . You are judging it from an experiencef MC'list perspective , it isn't meant for us.Trust me , I've heard every one of these myths .

 Dusty

That is why this article is even worse than I started with my OP. We know what is missing, and what is wrong this article. The beginner doesn't know what is wrong with it.
Dusty how do you explain this sentence to a beginner "Motorcyclists also ride defensively by cautiously entering curves and turns to avoid �running wide� (going too close to the oncoming lane in a tight curve) and overbraking, which can lead to a slide-out".

Now pretend I am a beginner and explain to me what the above sentence means about how to control a motorcycle in a curve. And do not forget to include, counter steering,  picking a line, target fixation, engine braking, never use the rear brake in your explanation.  And I am sure I missed some things.

[Muzz]

At the risk of being flamed, to me the statement is quite true, especially to a beginner.

A lot of us have been riding a loooooooong time, 52 years in my case, and I do think we can overthink things at times. You cannot condense 50+ years in to two lines, and I think we can all agree on that.

To me the statement is, don't run before you can crawl. I bet even now, some of us will overcook a corner which suddenly doubles back on itself, and find we are in the process of suddenly trying to correct rider error. (or am I the only one?)

I don't know about the States but out here we have corners, lots of 'em and the roads at times are narrow enough that even with the wheels on the edge of your side of the road your head can be lined up with a headlight coming the other way.

[rodekyll]

I forget how perfect some of us are .

 Dusty

Really?
Sometimes I think someone has hijacked the Dusty account.
What has happened to you?  There was a time when what you're becoming was who you complained about.  Step back and take a look . . .

[oldbike54]

 My point is this . This was written in the style of an informational pamphlet , not as a doctoral thesis . Ss for me changing , don't tbink that is true , that may be just a perception thing .

 Dusty

[rodekyll]

And I think the opposing point is this:  An informational pamphlet, especially one directed at the uninformed, should contain actual information, written understandably.  Seasoned riders are shooting the article full of holes -- because they know better.  The beginner doesn't know if it's true or not, but accepts it as true because  . . . well, because someone who they think knows more about it than they do said so.  That puts MORE of a burden to be factual and clear on the writer, not LESS.  Writers who do sloppy work because the audience doesn't know the difference are doing journalism a disservice, and possibly doing harm to their readers.

[redrider90]

My point is this . This was written in the style of an informational pamphlet , not as a doctoral thesis . Ss for me changing , don't tbink that is true , that may be just a perception thing .

 Dusty

I don't know or care if you are changing D-Man. You and everybody has a right to change. I for one think you have the right to believe this article is great.
I think it is crap. A lot of health, science and tech articles written in newspapers (online and in print) are really really lousy. I am always ranting and raving about crap in my field.
As for the personal take downs/flaming, I do not get it. It really detracts from this forum. I do not care if we are having a knock down drag out argument about how to adjust  valve tension on an old ELDO. As long as it isn't personal then let's have fun and F*** the rest.

[cruzziguzzi]

I forget how perfect some of us are .

 Dusty

It's understandable. You're merely, currently blinded by the overglow of my inimitable faultlessness. I'll move to the right a little to give you some relief. The penumbra if you will.

I understand that people are OK with stuff like this passing as journalism - more's the pity.

What I don't get is folks getting upset about others holding journalism to a higher standard.

Folks consuming "news" in easy to digest sound-bites, bullet statements, headlines or screen bottom tapes has led to two or three generations of under-informed voters. This article, in stating that these are pernicious rumors which need to be quashed does more to advance the "rumors" than anything else.

Fact is, seeing a half century quite some time ago, being born and bred in America and spending around 40 years on bikes has exposed me to essentially none of these "rumors" so much as has this article. I exclude the pipes because as I stated above, it is not a rumor so much as a difficult to swallow potential fact.

This is very much an example of the age old question out of the blue: Have you stopped beating your wife?

I get to just say something must stop and the activity - whether real, imagined or nefariously implanted has become "a thing" on its own. Then I get to step back and say "What, I was just sayin'..."

Todd.

[Cool Runnings]

They left out drinking and riding... 

[cruzziguzzi]

They left out drinking and riding... 

That's because it's an unassailable "myth".

Everyone KNOWS that you're better off being completely lit and relaxed in a motorcycle crash. It's the sober guys who get all tensed up and break their own bones.


Now there, there's a real rumor for ya!

Todd.

[Cool Runnings]

That's because it's an unassailable "myth".

Everyone KNOWS that you're better off being completely lit and relaxed in a motorcycle crash. It's the sober guys who get all tensed up and break their own bones.


Now there, there's a real rumor for ya!

Todd.

I see the *new* poser-pirates in the biker bars all the time. I think it's called drink & ride. 

[JBBenson]

#5 -Drivers Will See You

Car drivers don't even see other cars, let alone motorcycles, as they are usually busy texting. Don't worry, no one can possibly believe this. Or do they?

#6 - Roads And Streets Are Safer Than The Interstate

I read this many years ago and made intuitive sense to me: where there's no cross or oncoming traffic, you are less likely to get t-boned or crushed under a car. I believe it.

[Guzzistajohn]

Uhh guys, writers get paid to Do what? Doesn't mean everyone will like what's being read.

[rodekyll]

That's what we're talking about, John.  The bar for what's acceptable as "writing" has been buried so low that this guy got paid.