Quote:
Originally Posted by FrugalNinja250
This is almost word for word one of the arguments he used to justify his bias against smaller bikes.
Let me ask everyone here, presumably most or all of whom have significant experience with riding 250 Ninjas, this multi-part question:
1. Have you ever been in a situation where more horsepower and quicker acceleration would have prevented a collision or crash?
2. How many of those situations were caused by you (failed to check for oncoming cars before pulling out, misjudged traffic speeds before lane changing, cooked into a corner way too hot, etc.)?
It is my opinion, based on my 2 years and 25,000+ miles of riding experience, that the argument that more horsepower = safer is false, and at best the additional performance is simply a cover-up for poor riding skills and bad decision-making in traffic. If more HP = safer then it would stand to reason that the only safe cars on the road would be Lamborghinis, Veryons, etc, and the only safe bikes would be Hayabusas. Of course, this is patently absurd.  |
I have no bias against smaller bikes. And you are misinterpreting my point. I am not talking about the extra power being available to prevent a collision or a crash necessarily, but rather to move you out of a more dangerous situation. If you do much highway riding, it is much more dangerous to be riding within a large group of cars/trucks/busses, than it is to be riding out in front of them. The danger being from them not seeing you. My point is that when I am riding a bike with more power, I do have the ability to get out of these situations to a larger degree than I would if I were riding a smaller bike (depending on the bikes in question of course). So yes, in this circumstance, you can use the additional power to your advantage.
I also never made any claim that more HP made a bike safer. The biggest factor in rider safety is in the skills of the rider him/herself. While I would never claim to be an expert rider, I do base my opinion on over 25 years of riding.