'Supersport' cycles step up risk

[Constant Mesh]

https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-0...es_N.htm?csp=34

Number of deaths for every 10,000 registered motorcycles in 2005, by type of bike:

Cruiser (low seat and center of graity): 5.7

Touring (powerful, heavier weight): 6.5

Sport (lightweight, built for speed): 10.7

Supersport (one-person racing bike): 22.5

 

[Toecutter]

So where does Supersport Touring fit in?

 

[odot]

The average is 14.5

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

"People that parachute are much more likely to fall to their death from an airplane than people that stay seated and wait for the plane to land."

There are risk takers, then there are those that are into riding for other reasons. Risk takers are a lot more likely to be on a supersport bike than a cruiser. So what? The bike doesn't make the difference, the rider does.

 

[0Face]

I love When the Media releases the results of "Studies".

I'm sure with all the engineers on the forum we have some people familiar with statistics (more than me anyway) and how they get manipulated.

These things are never looked at objectively by the media. We all know how they portray motorcycles as "bad". Just like guns are bad. It's not the instrument it's the player right?

So why is it that these bikes are overrepresented in the accident statistics? Is it really the bike? You can't tell me that "apehangers" are safer than an R1. Do we enact tougher licensing? Restrict the size of bikes to the length of license time? Age of rider?

In my opinion it's the morons these bikes attract. Don't get me wrong I love those bikes too (I guess I just called myself a moron). It's just that I see these "kids" riding high performance bikes with a helmet strapped to the back seat. I think these guys make us all look bad. I go out of my way to be polite to knuckleheads in cars so they won't get the wrong impression of bikers.

So, any ideas? I'm not for more laws, there's enough of those already but is there anything we can do? Or do we just wait till they thin themselves from the herd?

Sorry, I don't mean to rant. :angry:

 

[mdisher]

I'd chalk that up to a big "Duh"

Simply check out any of the video sites...

You don't have to look to far for folks practicing 'stupid' on either sport or super-sport bikes. Cruisers and Tourers are much less likely to put themselves in a higher risk position by doing something dumb.

I'd venture to guess we're somewhere in the middle.

---

I do know that Deer don't discriminate, nor do cagers that simply aren't paying attention.

 

[Ignacio]

So, any ideas? I'm not for more laws, there's enough of those already but is there anything we can do? Or do we just wait till they thin themselves from the herd?
Sorry, I don't mean to rant. :angry:

From a news article to a political rant in 4 posts. Congrats....it's a recent record!

Please keep the discussion about the article and off politics to keep this thread open.

 

[odot]

Where the hell is captain amerika when we need him?

 

[Silver Penguin]

Cruiser (low seat and center of graity): 5.7Touring (powerful, heavier weight): 6.5

Sport (lightweight, built for speed): 10.7

Supersport (one-person racing bike): 22.5

Another survey quotes statistics that apples are safer to eat than oranges, however the prudent fruit lover should steer clear of bananas.

There are so many variables, eg. rider skill, rider experience, annual mileage, rider attitude etc etc that these figures are meaningless.

In my garage, there are several different types of motorcycle. Does my risk increase fourfold when I choose one over another?

Jill

 

[Ignacio]

Here. At least the IIHS offers a Status Report with spiffy charts and graphic of their study. They use the ST1300 as an example of the "sport" category.....so the FJR would logically best fit into that category.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Seeing as only slightly over 50% of accidents are the rider's fault, does this mean that supersport bikes are 4 times harder to see than cruisers?

How many of the people had licenses in each category? How many were on stolen bikes in each category? What experience level in each category? What were the average ages in each category. I sure don't want unliscensed riders impacting my insurance rates.

I know the insurance companies are going into more depth in their analysis, why don't they publish the complete actuarial assessment?

 

[Ignacio]

I know the insurance companies are going into more depth in their analysis, why don't they publish the complete actuarial assessment?

Try here and report back their response.

The idea that crash risk is that different between motorcycle type is interesting though. Maybe it's in the "Duh" department, but I think prevailing attitude around here has been that baby-boomer cruiser types going through mid-life crises were the big chunk of increased motorcycle deaths. It would seem less likely now as related to per capita.

 

[ionbeam]

The results could have been worse for SuperSports if they had looked at how many miles each class of bike typically travels per year.

Adding on to OV's questions... What were the years of riding experience? How much training did the riders have? What were the accident rates for states that have more rigorous licensing requirements?

I'm willing to bet that Touring bikes and Sport bikes have racked up the highest number of miles, while representing a lower accident rate. [There are always anomalies like BrunDog ]

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

I think it's very interesting that the average age of Sport style fatalities was 34 when the average sport bike owner is 39. What does this tell you? In fact, the average age of the fatality is significantly younger than the avergage age of the owner in each class except in the touring class.

 

[exskibum]

Iggy, I'm hoping this isn't over the political line, but it's my sense of the reality of this situation.

First, this is about bottom line (maximization of profits for insurers couched as minimization of losses). That is likely intended to be accomplished by enlisting government via the usual mechanism ($$ + statistics ==> lobbyist ==> politicians' campaign coffers ==> legislation against manufacturers).

Manufacturers are the usual target of such things, and it may be true that reducing the performance of bikes in the crotches of the inexperienced and rash squids does reduce the aggregate amount of payable claims. At the least, even if that legislation against manufacturers does not come to pass, the insurers' ability to raise motorcycle premiums across the board is augmented (e.g., "see, we told you so, tried to get a fix, and when we couldn't get it fixed to our recommendations, we were left with no choice but to increase premiums").

Rigging the statistics is often usually a part of this process. Some of the composition of those statistics is probably true (though it excludes more relevant statistics such as training, age and experience), but it's very easy to get away with exaggerating or fibbing here when the statistics that are being tortured are so related to behavior that is the subject of public outrage. And that's where the super sport category gets hammered by squids doing wheelies down the freeway at 90 mph.

 

[twowheelnut]

This is exactly why you'll see Honda moving toward scooter type of LuxoBarges. Note the slim offerings of their sportbike line? CBR1000RR and CBR600RR. That's it. Two sportbikes. (they list two more as sport, but the 919 is really a standard and the VFR is really a sport touring). I think Honda is looking down the road at hi-po sportbikes and their nekkid versions being legislated out of existence. This thread topic only serves to confirm my belief...

You heard it here first.

 

[Ignacio]

Iggy, I'm hoping this isn't over the political line, but it's my sense of the reality of this situation.

You did an admirable job to *actually* tie the discussion to motorcycles. Your signal to noise ratio is quite fine.

....and I personally think you're not too far off the mark. Hard to tell when these organization release such general observations...sort of include a slightly more detailed glossy for those that dig.....but don't include the detailed analysis. I hope they do in the near future.

The insurance industry has tipped their hand that they're going to be focusing on "super sport" bikes most. We should probably be aware that the second hottest area will be the "sport" group....not the "cruiser" group. We, of course, will try and feed the beast of justification on this and other Internet forums, but the real trick will be to find some way for our class of bike premiums not to jump.

We can do our part by convincing squids to move along and go buy an R1 and not choose our steed.

 

[RiderCoach Lar]

So, any ideas? I'm not for more laws, there's enough of those already but is there anything we can do? Or do we just wait till they thin themselves from the herd?

I can appreciate the questions you pose on this Bike-related Discussion about this article and didn't feel you're being the least bit "political" (could it be our political sensitivity meter is set a bit high?).

Unfortunately, there's not enough SHOCK in the universe to completely eliminate ignorant riders from the gene pool. In other words, the herd will always contain riders who are a few fries short of a happy meal. The media knows this and would much rather run a story about an irresponsible rider becoming a hood ornament than ANYTHING having to do with responsible riding. Sells more papers, I guess. I think the promotion of rider education is a great step in the right direction (yes, of course I'm biased). Unfortunately all the laws (there's that political word again :angry2: , sorry Iggy) in the world can't make people be responsible or understand risk and consequences. That's more a common sense thing and we all know how uncommon that can be.

Just my couple o' pennies.

 

[RiderCoach Lar]

We can do our part by convincing squids to move along and go buy an R1 and not choose our steed.

I said it on a different thread, and my opinion is based soley on the Chicagoland forum members I've met, but FJR riders are among the most responsible groups of riders I've ever come across. I agree with Iggy, squids need not apply!