[krishsreedharan]

Voted High Risk

You might wonder why after looking at the list of bikes in my garage.

I learnt to ride a proper bike (A 1957 Royal Enfield 350 belonging to my grand father) when I was 17. I used to sneak that out to go to my mathematics tutions when I was in the 12th. One day, my father caught me sneaking out, and within a week, the bike was sold.

His mantra to me was “4 wheels is always better than 2” - and with me not earning at that time and not having much of a choice in this matter, I became a car guy. Not that I did not like cars - I loved em. But never got the change to get on a bike.

Jump cut 34 years later, I picked up the Z900 and 2 years later, the Versys 1000. I have both of them and I ride both of them. The Z has closed 22,500 kms plus and the Versys is at around the 8500 mark.

After driving a car/SUV for almost 34 years, I decided that if I wanted to enjoy the pleasures of biking, I would need to be aware of the risks and tune my responses and behaviour accordingly.

In the last three years since I have restarted riding, every time I am out on the road, the minute a young guy (or for that matter, a lady on a scooter) sees the Z, their first impulse is the twist the throttle to the max. In the initial stages, it just took me a flick of my right wrist to blast past them and kinda “show them who’s boss” but then, the saner side of me kicked in that I was not exactly exhibiting the right approach and behaviour to my 9 year old “prospective biker” son.

I have now, by and large, managed to master the art of going into Zen mode when I am on the bike and in the car. The important part for me is that I got onto the bike to get to my destination and not to prove my superiority to other road users. I keep to myself and somebody on a smaller bike wants to race, I give them the pleasure of bragging that they out-ran a Kawasaki from standing start.

The important takeaways that have been keeping me safe are:

• Always keep in mind that “with great power comes greater responsibility”
• Always expect the un-expected from fellow road users
• A successful and enjoyable ride is one in which you come back home without a scratch

I always brake very early and dont take unnecessary risks such as overtaking on the left, trying to catch up to a traffic light etc.

Last but not least, ATGATT.

Cheers!
Krish

[anshumandun]

Voted Medium Risk because it does not petrify me.

For me, riding motorcycle is an addiction. I know it is dangerous but I can't stop myself from riding. The joy of riding a big motorcycle in beautiful landscapes is something to die for, literally.

I did Bangalore to Leh by car last year. Link (Bangalore to Leh in a Polo GT TSI)

I enjoyed the drive but that drive pushed me into thinking of what this trip will feel like on a motorcycle. And I knew I had to do it soon. So this year I did it on a motorcycle and the experience is beyond words. Link (Bangalore to Leh on a Kawasaki Versys 650)

Another thing that keeps away the fear are some life experiences I've had in the past few years. Lost a dear friend to covid last year and he was super fit physically. Last month, while I was riding in the treacherous terrain of Ladakh, a neighbour lost his life while on his way to office in a scooter accident.

So better enjoy doing things you like before it's time to go. Sorry for going philosophical but there is no way I can logically explain the addiction to ride.

[allinbalance]

Interestingly the statistics for US road incidents with motorcycles is almost the same in China!

IMO, motorcycles/scooters/motorized 2 wheeled contraptions of all ilk - are inherently dangerous and a suicidal gamble anywhere. In India - it's like taunting death or injury on a daily basis and I will never ever own one.

Apart from stupid motorists and pedestrians, boorish road behavior, plain lack of sense and skills, its the Indian roads themselves which are a death trap - being mostly unscientifically and terribly built and maintained even worse. I live in Bangalore and trust me - fellow Bangalorean brothers in this forum from have plenty to talk about our roads!

Keeping skilled drivers / enthusiasts who ride bikes as a special category, I completely sympathize with the many who cannot afford a car and must rely on a 2 wheeler to commute - it is my humble opinion that public transport is safer.

2 wheelers are a bad idea. Period.

[SAMUDRA]

voted Medium Risk.

for me idiots come in all shapes and sizes. especially on our crazy roads.
There are many reasons for the high rate of accidents of two wheelers. be it inexperienced rider or an experienced one. I never say that you need to be at high speed to have a fatality, a simple fall from a bike / scooter can be fatal or even cause major injuries.

some of the simple steps that I follow to reduce the risk's are
1. whether it's office / long rides / grocery store rides wear proper helmet & footwear (no ill fitting or without helmet is a big no no)
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...w/86624824.cms
2. Always while on long rides take sufficient breaks (riding needs much more concentration than driving)
3. Understand the risks of highway driving. wear correct riding gear, helmet and Shoes
4. There is a reason for village limit speeds / driving speeds mentioned on highways or city roads ( please follow it)
5. Unknown roads and cities stick to speed limits ( you don't know what is to come next)
6. roads with eateries on the side are a major reason for stray dogs. be alert and within speed limit
7. always stick to left lane, in case of overtaking get visual confirmation or rear before overtaking

even after following the above rules, I've have more than 5 falls / accidents on my bike.
but sticking to those etiquettes has surely saved me from any major accidents.

-Happy Riding

[rajshenoy]

My biggest concern riding on our roads is unmarked speed breakers and stray animals cutting across. Have had my share of falls and even stopped riding completely for a decade.

Have just resumed riding and now I am a bit too paranoid about riding gear and hence the joy of riding to me is only on highways and I prefer car for urban commute

[dkaile]

It was and is HIGH risk in India.

But does that petrify the heck out of me? HELL NO!

We bike knowing all the risks we take. If you ride with your reflexes in place and a level head to control them, proper gear on, contemplating the move of your enemies (i.e. everybody else on road and they are about to get you)... Lolz, then it is no more dangerous than crossing a road with wrong pedestrian crossing lights (just saw one in prime location in Delhi where the pedestrian lights turn green with oncoming traffic lights also Green, happens only in my India!), and you should be safe enough to reach your destination.

Cheers...

[Vtach]

Voted medium risk, doesn't petrify me.

Wish there was another opion though : high risk, but the rewards are worth the pain with due protection.

I used to tour solo on my 2010 Thunderbird 350, the headlong recklessness of the youth! The samadhi like peace undisturbed while on the drive was (and is still) a big draw.
Till I had that one crash that we all have. I was returning from Mana village (Badrinath, this is somewhere in 2011). Somewhere near Saharanpur en route to Chandigarh they were burning stubble and the visibility was rather poor. I was cruising at around 50-60 kmph on a pretty wide road with little traffic, in the hindsight I should've been slower (first thing that flashed on hitting the groundl)
All of a sudden I see this tractor overloaded with grass,vernacular music blaring; with the cargo about half its width dangling on either sides. Before I could react the grass side swiped me full on my helmet and both of us(bike & me, thankfully no pillion)skidded sideways for a good 10-15 meters. Had a pretty sturdy leg guard that saved my legs, escaped with just some scratches on limbs. The rucksack I was carrying also padded some impact.
The handle bar was bent, headlight kaput, gear lever bent but that was it. Could drive back to Chandigarh with a little roadside repair, beauty of simpler machines and times.
The tractor driver didn't even bother to stop. Onlookers gathered but no one bothered to help. Got up, picked the bike and dragged to the side. To my absolute dismay the nonchalant bidi puffing locals seemed to be rather amused at my predicament, you know the kind of pleasure of the "have's" having been brought down to the level of "have not's". Some even sympathized with the offender that he might've not heard the crash as he had some music about !
Long story short, the risks are many, beyond the scope of this thread. However, I learnt never to go long distance solo and to get the best gear that I could afford. Keep riding!

[KGS]

I voted for medium risk considering the below observations :

1. Driving / Riding schools are more of a luxury than necessity in our country -
My experience with Driving school was not that great. Instructor was more focused on completing the amount of Kms than actually imparting the good basic skills.
However in the UK, driving schools start from basic even if you are driving for 10-20 years they teach you everything and force you to learn the correct practice.

2. Driving licences are joke -
Driving test and DLs the lesser said the better. If you have some money to spare you can get a DL for driving any number of wheeler. (Don't know the current situation but 5-10 years back RTO was just an office to send a man and DL issued from the convenience of home).

3. Combining above two -
Driving etiquettes are missing from majority of drivers / riders (exception are always there , I am trying to give you a high level picture).

4. Too many factors for a biker outside his control -
Road condition, gravel on road, water on road, scorching heat, traffic, cab drivers in rush, food delivery agents, etc makes it too hard to solve this complex maze every day in and day out. Even if you are riding sanely , any insane person or situation can lead you to hospital very easily.

I will give one example from my Pune to Mumbai ride. On 31st December 6 friends including me decided to go to Mumbai for a bike ride. Experience was great but on one turn all of sudden there was sand. My friend crossed it somehow but I was not able to slow down enough and sand was kind enough to bring me closer to mother earth. Luckily there was not much damage to bike or us. We continued our journey without much issues but that one instance made me realise, no matter how safely I ride there will always be factors outside my control.

In other instances while coming back from Hinjewadi office back to flat, I have seen people skidding on road and getting broken ribs or shoulder , due to bike skidding on a rainy day.

Considering above points, Riding a bike will always be a moderate to high risk affair to me.

Having said that I am never against a bike or bike ride. That experience of riding a bike is very different from driving a car. No comparison can justify the experience.

[TheHelix0202]

Of course it’s a high risk, high reward activity. Motorcycling is built on that very fact. The moment you pick up the bike keys, you should be aware of that fact. Whether it’s due to your mistake or the other moron’s, your life remaining intact on two wheels is not guaranteed. If you’re thinking otherwise, you’re only kidding yourself.

But I don’t wish to spend every waking moment in paranoia and insecurity. If I’m so scared, I should also worry about breathing in the foul air of the city. Breathing in all the germs, dust etc., is a scary thought. But I can never live if I’m so obsessed. Not everyone can book a cab 24/7 or drive a large barge everywhere they go, heck, even an Alto isn’t as convenient as a motorbike (not like it’s any safer in the event of a high speed crash either). I can’t base my life off of statistics alone.

In the end, I’d like to say that if my fate decidedly lies in my own hands or that of some other road user, I’d like to go down on two wheels in style, not in a cage.

[jeetumg27]

Voted High Risk (and if there was very high risk, would have voted for that).

Never owned a bike - but used to drive my cousin's TVS Victor briefly from Chembur to Matunga to attend classes.

I have heard of several fatal incidents involving 2-wheeler accidents of friends/relatives and also, in several cases, know the aftermath - how those families have coped up. These are distressing tales as most of the riders were young entrepreneurs or the sole breadwinners in the family.

When I see a family of 4 on a bike, the only thought that comes to my mind is that, didn't the rider feel he should take an auto or a cab, at least while going out with his family.

Purely going by the comments I read above, it seems to most, riding a 2-wheeler is exhilarating or gives a high.

IMHO there are better, safer & less fatal ways of getting a high. The risk-reward ratio is simply not worth it. Insurance, either life or medical or even personal accident, will pay for your death or injury - but what about the impact on your mind? What about the struggle that your family or loved ones undergo if you are gone or maimed?

I had attended a funeral and it was not easy to see a father light the pyre of his young son who met with an accident on a Hayabusa.

[MaheshY1]

High Risk - but possible to manage that risk with a change in riding style, experience and safety gear. But, that risk is what makes it addictive. It's not like I always ride with all the gear. But when I am geared up, my riding style is a bit more aggressive than when I'm only wearing gloves and a half-face helmet.

Even a Nano is infinitely safer than any pair of 2 wheels. At least gravel, a big pothole, a small rock or a stray dog won't injure you if you run into either of these things.

I was also in shock after I crashed my Pulsar 180 in 2008 and didn't ride for the next 6 years. Then I started riding a scooter again and ran into a stray dog on the highway. This time again I suffered some injuries but I made it a point to get good riding gear. Since then, I've poured an unreasonable amount of money into riding gear but I don't regret doing so.

With the riding gear:
- I have ended up with my right ankle between the Himalayan's engine and rocks
- I have slid on concrete roads and ended up with my left ankle between the road and a Bullet 500's engine
- I have crashed into a cinder block in the middle of the left lane on an unlit highway and tumbled a few times
And had a few other minor crashes. In all these situations, I've literally walked away with injuries, which took no more than 2 days to heal. I'm sure that without gear, I would've take weeks to recover. Perhaps, either one of these crashes would have convinced me to never ride again.

I get that a smoking red Ducati will look nice in your garage and with you on it. But, it's a myth that you need a powerful motorcycle to have fun. It's the other way around but it's not easy to get past "log kya kahenge." With a more powerful motorcycle, you have to be very cautious with your right wrist. In a Busa review on some website, the author rightly said, "One sneeze and you'll wake up in a hospital -- if you're lucky."

I have had the most fun on the least powerful motorcycle in my garage - the Honda Navi, which cost me peanuts to buy. It lets me be so careless with the throttle that I don't have to worry about the motorcycle putting me in the hospital.

I have ridden it on an off-road track in Gurgaon. I have done a solo road trip with it. It's my primary city vehicle. And I have plans to ride it on a go-kart track. I have also ridden my 150cc motorcycle on BIC with softer tires. Tracks in the southern region are tighter. So, even a 150 - 400cc motorcycle (R15, KTM 250, KTM390, RR310) is enough to learn, meet like-minded people and have a crazy amount of fun.

I love my cars, but I see them as necessities and appliances that get me from point A to B. My motorcycles are way closer to my heart.

[ubermensch]

My 10 cents (adjusted for inflation):
In India, its a pretty high risk endeavour. I’ve ridden bikes in almost every phase of my life: as a student, for leisure, to commute to work, for dates, shopping, cigarette runs, emergency travels across states, ridden them in over a dozen countries and I’ve owned the platina and a litre class Z900. All of the circumstances I stated above always carried extra risk owing to the driving ethics on road: we have hierarchies even on roads. The cars think of vehicles with lesser tyres as nuisance, and motorcyclists are barely given a right of way. People will take risky manoeuvres assuming you’ll make way for them. A simple knock on the handlebar will get your kinetic velocity vectors all over the place and any fall beyond certain speeds are fatal. You drive a commuter bike, and people will dish secondary treatment to you. Drive a superbike and get challenged by redlight GP racers who will cut into your lanes with an inch left for collision. Driving a two wheeler is amazing but the shabby driving habits and road sense make it a nightmare and i’d rate it to be as risky as cigarettes

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by no_fear

I voted low risk.

When I ride a motorbike, I assume that everyone is out to get me. My mind stays extremely sharp and I feel like I am playing 3 dimensional chess. I anticipate every vehicular and human movement in traffic. Why did the car honk? Why did the brakelight turn on? Why did the gentleman on my left roll down his car window? I do not take anything for granted. The one time I took road conditions as granted, I was rear ended at a traffic signal.

When I drive a car, I am comforted by the fact that I am cocconed inside a steel cage. That makes me complacent.

I feel safer riding a motorbike than a car, simply because I have to stay hyper alert to live another day.

Wow!! I couldn't have summed it up better!!

Although, I would still categorize motorcycling in India as High Risk.
The fact that one is aware, for conscious riders, make them focus more on the job. While driving, one can get distracted by music, conversation with co-passengers or just too relaxed because of comfortable seating, air conditioning, insulation from the outside world.

On a motorcycle, you have to be on top of your game most of the times. That is why personally for me at least, motorcycles are more tiring to ride on long distances yet they give you more satisfaction back on a weekend ride.


Rachit

[mygodbole]

Voted low risk. The loose nut is always behind the wheel. Or the idiot is the one with one hand wrapped around the throttle.

Having driven cars in some countries, and used bikes/scooters in some others, it all boils down to one factor: EVERY ONE is SAFE, or no one is. Assessment of risk/safety is a personal choice. And anyone who claims having ‘never ever taken a risk on a bike’ is simply being dishonest.

One’s perception of safety is another’s definition of a ‘risk’. Every one of us has divergent ideas on what constitutes ‘safety’.

Imagine a railway track: two rails running laid out parallel to each other. One of them, any one of the two, decides to have a ‘closer’ relationship with the other. That is the state of affairs on roads everywhere. One idiot is all it takes to mess up a perfectly good setup. Now multiply that with another dozen rails thinking the same on the same stretch of railroad.

In India, I have seen traffic discipline in a place that I least expect it – on highways. Two-wheelers (and often three-wheeler) stay on the left, ‘more-wheelers’ stay on right. More-wheelers of course include trucks, tractors, animal-powered vehicles, road-rollers, excavators and other non-transport, passenger more-wheelers.

This discipline stems from one fact, and one fact only: risk of death. Not risk of life/limb. Risk of death.

In urban areas, this risk of death is greatly reduced due to speed factor. As more-wheelers are deemed to be ‘at fault’ in a traffic accident, two-wheeler riders ride with impunity, not immunity, literally threatening everyone around them. As time goes by, this feeling of 'entitlement' is elevated to arrogance.

Take this rider on the highway and there is a metamorphosis: he/she/they are perfectly aware of the rules of the road and follow them diligently. Put them back into a semi-urban environment and their ‘street smarts’ return.

So, how many of us can claim to be perfectly disciplined ever since we started riding? Irrespective of age of starting to ride, not one of us can make such a claim.

I learnt careful riding after more than one near-mishap (actually many, many of them). I learnt to anticipate obstacles (pot-holes, buffalos, speed-breakers, other objects/creatures on the tarmac) after experiencing them personally and surviving to tell the tale.

Anyone who says ‘this is risky’ or ‘that is risky’, I will only respond by paraphrasing something all faiths state unequivocally ‘God is everywhere.’ and adding: So is risk. How one responds is what matters.

I have enjoyed riding a Triumph America both at 160kph and at 50kph. I used ride my Yezdi 250cc Classic at over 110kph on roads in Rajasthan in the 1980s. I have driven a Porsche Panamera (and once a Chevrolet Optra) sedately at 190kph and funereally at 25kph. I have driven off-road on sand at 100kph, gone rock-crawling as well as up-and-down some high sand dunes (high, not dangerous) in the Middle East. I even managed, in the pre-mobile phone world, to pedal my bicycle (on a level road, for about a minute and) overtaking motorized two-wheelers doing 30kph.

The risk factor was always present. I have just become slightly better at assessing them and taking action to mitigate them.

As Baba and Aai used to say: “God/Nature gave you a brain, two arms, two legs, two ears to hear, one mouth to speak; we as parents give you the best education that we afforded; what you do with your life is up to you; just don’t buy tobacco and/or other socially-frowned-upon beverages with OUR money. Earn your own and do what you like. We will not always be around to catch you if you fall.”

[GreyNomad]

Voted hi risk. Motorcycling is a scary affair but for me it’s the fear that dials up my senses multifold. It’s like having a constant Spidey tingle!
I graduated from a geared LML Vespa (which I used to ride like a maniac in my early college days) through a host of commuter bikes (HH Passion, TVS Victor, Yamaha Libero, Pulsar 150) to my current steed RE Classic350. With age my riding style has changed considerably, riding reasons even more so. I love solo rides but keep it limited to 250/300km runs at one go. It gives me my fix while limiting the risks (atleast that’s what I tell myself).
I feel, in motorcycling fear is an important ally, not a restriction. It keeps me super alert and grounded. And that’s what keeps the reward/risk ratio positive.
Ride on!