The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), just released a study of insurance losses among the various classes of motorcycles and it’s not good. Of special note is the death rate among what the IIHS calls “supersport motorcycles” or what we might term racer replicas, which was pegged at 22.5 deaths per 10,000 registered motorcycles. The next nearest rate was 10.7 among “Sport/unclad sport” all the way down to 5.7 for cruisers and 6.5 for touring motorcycles.
It’s the young guys on sportbikes not boomers on Harleys …
For some time we’ve been hearing about the rising rate of motorcycle accidents and it seemed everyone was attributing this to baby boomers buying their Harleys and driving off the road because they lacked the skills and reflexes of the younger riders, at least that was the common theme. But a funny thing happened when they looked closer. It was instead the young riders on the Gixxers and Ninjas who were crashing and killing themselves. On top of the deaths, the collision and theft losses were far higher in the supersport category, leading the pack for those numbers was the Kawasaki ZX-10R.
The riders who will protest the most when laws are written to restrict their riding are the same ones who encourage non riders to demand a crack down when they practice their wheelies in traffic or on the interstates, lane splitting at high speed and then wondering why everyone doesn’t understand bikers. The skills to safely pilot a literbike don’t happen by magic and a little maturity and common sense go a long way. We have to work a lot harder than drivers to display good judgment because there are far more drivers than riders and it’s easy to restrict the minority.
C’mon guys, if you have to race, check out a track day. Do it safely, get the right gear and wear a helmet. Owning a GSX-R1000 doesn’t make you a Mladin or a Spies, it makes you dangerous to yourself and others unless you use your head and learn to ride it right. If riders don’t police themselves, non riders are more than willing to write laws no rider wants.
Link: IIHS Study
OMMAG says
It’s not always the young hotheads that take themselves out.
Over the years I’ve seen a couple of mature riders get themselves into trouble. After a decade or two of not riding they go for the gusto with a liter bike and end up in big trouble.
You just know that the insurance guys are thinking to cut their losses on the backs of the motorcyclists in any case.
Blair says
I don’t see anything surprising in the numbers. The severity of injury is somewhat related to the speed of the incident so therefore faster bikes (or faster riding styles) are more likely to result in death. Plus sport bikes do tend to attract people that want to go fast, that is their purpose after all (why else would they need over 150hp?) and younger people with poorer decision making skills also tend to be the ones who want to go fast. I know what I was like when I was younger. Mind you, I am only 28 but I know my survival skills dominate my driving and riding much more than when I was younger and I chose my bike for ridability over outright top speed (SV1000s). The thought of a 20 yr old me riding a Gixxer Thou scares the pants off me.
Richard says
Where I live, the majority of motorcycle deaths *really are* the Harley riders who run off the road when they enter a corner a bit too fast because they just don’t know how to make the bike turn. Often, they’re drunk at the time, too. The newspaper always reports something like this:
“Mr. Bill failed to negotiate a turn 2 miles south of 34 on Glasgow Rd. Saturday and crashed his Harley-Davidson motorcycle into the culvert. He was airlifted to University Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.”
Nationally, however, kids on sportbikes probably do account for the highest percentage of deaths.
If you want to ride a bike and you want to live, learn to ride well, practice basic skills every time you ride, read books about proper riding skills and practice what they suggest, take motorcycle safety classes, always wear the maximum protective gear, avoid driving at night, avoid riding anywhere there’s lots of other traffic, never ride with a group of lunatics, never push your limits on public roads, always assume everyone else is trying to kill you, never ride if you are tired or physically or mentally impaired (even a little bit!), never race or do stunts on the street… There’s probably a bunch more, but that should give you the idea. Oh, yeah, stay relaxed and have fun!
If you can survive a few years following this advice, then the odds are good that you’ll have learned enough to survive for several years more, doing the same– but there are no guarantees. That’s life!
sfan says
When I was a kid first riding, I day-toured with some older BMW types. I remember asking one for words of advice for enjoying a long life of riding. I was told an old saying about pilots but just as applicable to riders: “There are old ones and there are bold ones, but there are not so many old bold ones.”
RH says
I would love to see a stats breakdown:
How many of the deaths in which group that were not the rider’s fault, which ones were single vehicle accidents, and which group had the entry level deaths vs re-entry level deaths. Plus the age & experience breakdown. And alcohol involvement.
When I was a young GI, all of the on base deaths were on supersports, mostly because that’s all they rode. It was always some mixture of reckless riding, inexperience, and alcohol – those 3 kill anybody in/on any vehicle. They would have died on scooters if that’s what they were riding at the time.
A highway patrol officer I know was relating some of the gruesome supersports vs car (supersport at fault) mishaps he responded to and about how dangerous those bikes are. Then I asked him if those mishaps would have been even more deadly if the (always very young) riders were driving cars instead of riding bikes. None of the car occupants were hurt – the bike and balistic body were no threat to the car.
Sad to say, but that’s one of the reasons they haven’t been banned – they are less of a threat to others than cars when “controlled” by some idiots.
RH says
I also forgot to add that I remember the IIHS and Senator John Danforth’s efforts to outlaw the bikes many years ago – so the IIHS does not generate a positive vibe in my being.
mel mackinnon says
I’ve mentioned this before and this confirms what my own experience has taught me. Young riders need to learn on much less powerful equipment. Moto journalists have consistently undermined the efforts of the manufacturers to make small bikes appealing. I do not think it was deliberate but probably due to the fact that lots of them consider themselves far better riders than they are. Its a dangerous world and bikes are unforgiving, and way fun!, but we need to return to a time when an 11 second bike was considered a monster not for beginners. We need a cb350 for the millenium.
Ry says
I don’t know what you guys are talking about , Motorcycles have got to be safer than airplanes at least.
In my many years of riding it seems to me that the drivers out there notice the biker a little better than 15 years ago, and less likely to run you over . The problem with that is you get used to assuming that they see you.
I don’t know many occasions that you hear of a wheelie related death or neck breaking stoppie, I think those are the good riders. But little Bobby at age 17 trying to beat the traffic with his brand new busa doesn’t stand a chance.
Chris says
I hate insurance rates…there’s a reason why they go down as we get older.
If you’re young, learn to ride well, and only ride with experienced groups, you’ll learn some great assault tactics, and you won’t be riding around proving who’s got bigger brass.
-Ride or be ridden-
todd says
There is a perception that a bigger bike makes you a better rider. I recently rode with a group of relatively new riders, two were on their first bike (SV and Ninja 650). Every once and a while we would pull to the side of the road to let them catch up. At the end of the ride they were both relating how they wanted the latest liter bike – their thought was that would help them keep up.
Mind you, I was riding my 1973 BMW and I wasn’t pushing it, I don’t like marring up my valve covers. The guy behind me was on a new Ninja 600R. I think the fastest we were able to go through the curves was 50mph or so. A Derbi or Aprilia 50 with a good rider could have kept up (and passed us).
I told them to buy an old bike and get used to what a poor handling bike is like and then they would be better able to exploit fine handling bikes like the SV and Ninja 650; at least wait until they’ve reached the limits of their bike’s capabilities. I think it fell on deaf ears. Let’s hope they don’t go and hurt themselves.
-todd
Bryce says
100% in agreement with Todd. Riding a smaller, less powerful bike really forces a rider to learn to ride well. You have to really make the most of the power and momentum you’ve got and find ways to make it work.
taxman says
I agree with all the comments about engine size and learning curve. I definitely started out on a bike that was more than I needed (Buell XB9R), and it’s not nearly as powerful as others. I blame this partly on the fact that there are not enough choices in the smaller size category that appeal to a younger crowd. There is of course the peer pressure to have the biggest and baddest. The thing that kept me safe was my respect for the machine and getting proper education.
Motorcycle education classes are far too hard to find, and the ones that are out there fill up fast. I am in Michigan and nearest class was 1 1/2 hours away and I had to register almost 2 months in advance to get in. I really feel that motorcycle safety classes should be mandatory (in Michigan they’re not) and that there should be levels of endorsement based on engine size or style. Mopeds (
RH says
There was a rumor many years ago that some impending supersport bike could only be purchased by those with a valid racing license. But that would chase the kiddies to the other brands’ showrooms – can’t have that.
Since supersports seem to appeal to the stunta/hooligan/urban something-or other types, how much longer ’til motard type bikes – with lower insurance – take over the “All Balls/No Brains” demographic?
Ry says
Taxman, I agree.
What makes it even worse is you do not need a endorsement on your licence to own and insure the machine. At least you have passed the safety test if you have the endorsement. From what my lower east Michigan police buddies tell me is that 9 out of 10 crotch rockets they pull over belong to a unlicensed rider. In fact I watched a kid on a brand new R1 just fall over turning on the corner of my city block. I don’t think he could ride a bicycle let alone a R1 Yammy.
Chris says
Ry:
Just for the record…*all* land-based motor vehicles have a worse safety record than airplanes. Watercraft, for which I’ve never actually read any safety statistics, strike me as the only thing that might, on a per-mile basis, be safer than flying when the idea of “getting somewhere” is involved. (I suspect that the vast majority of distance traveled and time spent by boats is in the pursuit of recreational activities rather than transportation.)
Even those planes which the public perceives as “unsafe” — i.e., single- or twin-engine private aircraft that typically seat two to six persons — have a far superior safety record than motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses when viewed in terms of either number of accidents per time or per distance traveled.
I agree with the other posters who have said that motorcycle education classes are, in general, too hard to find or so expensive ($450 for a two-day Harley RiderCourse, which I would really like to see included by ALL manufacturers as part of the purchase price of a bike for people buying their first, to encourage people to take these classes) as to be essentially inaccessible to the public.
Those of you in Southeastern Michigan will be pleased to know that Washtenaw Community College offers a two-day state-approved basic course for just $25 (or it was in 2003 when I did it) that’s reasonably easy to get into. You’ll likely be on “standby” for any given class, but when I did it, they said about 50% of the registrants don’t show up for any given class, which means about 10-15 people (they limit class size to either 25 or 30, can’t remember which) on the standby list get into the class. The guys who teach it have been doing it for years and are VERY good at it.
chappy says
IIHS study, yeah I bet it is right on the numbers, completely unbiased and all that, suuuuurrrreee
Ry says
Chris , I am well aware the safety data statistics with aircraft. I was being sarcastic.
James says
AMA says:
…
In an attempt to sort through this confusion, the AMA requested a copy of the classification system the IIHS used in its analysis and found several significant anomalies. For instance, although the IIHS report focuses on speed and acceleration as the factors that make its “supersport” category so dangerous, the two most powerful motorcycles you can buy in the United States, Kawasaki’s ZX-14 and Suzuki’s Hayabusa, are placed in the Sport category, which is rated considerably less dangerous. And they share that category with Honda’s ST1300 and Yamaha’s FJR1300, two bikes that define the sport-touring class.
“No matter what name you put on it, the Hayabusa and the ST1300 are simply not in the same class of motorcycles,” Moreland said. “And if you’re claiming to rank fatality rates by category of motorcycle, it’s hard to get meaningful results when you lump those very different machines together and declare them to be in the same class.”
….
More at http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=30210
Paul G. says
Good grief… talk about cherry picking data. IIHS is unbelievably biased on this.
#1 Did anybody think of coming up with deaths/mile instead of deaths/registered motorcycles? Let’s face it, no matter what they ride it isn’t going to kill them if it sits in the driveway getting polished every weekend, or collecting dust with their other passing fancies.
#2 Did everybody read this,
“Alcohol also is a problem in fatal crashes of motorcyclists, although less so than among passenger vehicle drivers. In 2005 it was a factor in the fatal crashes of 19 percent of supersport riders and 23 percent of sport and unclad sport riders. Alcohol impairment was an even bigger factor in the fatal crashes of cruisers and standard bikes and touring motorcycles, particularly among riders 30-49 years old. Thirty-three percent of cruiser and standard riders and 26 percent of touring motorcycle riders had blood alcohol concentrations above the legal threshold for impairment.”
So the stereotype is right and more older cruiser riders ride between bars, get drunk and crash into things. Yet nobody mentions that, instead we get a crowd with pitchforks and torches singling out the easily identifiable “racers” as the bad guys that need more regulation.
The IIHS is always looking for ways to charge more for something that is a legislated necessity. They have the ultimate captive consumer base. I was once told by a Gieco phone rep that, “Those race bikes are all about speed, you just keep going faster and faster ’til you crash. I ride a Harley.” Please, like one bike or another makes you safer than another. CBR + Semi or Dyna + Semi still equals dead.
I for one am waiting for the a full NHTSA report that should be less biased.
I don’t remember where I read it but it comes down to three rules, and three rules only.
1. Wear your gear.
2. Pay attention.
3. Don’t do anything stupid.
Sean says
To reiterate what almost everybody here has said: Ride a small bike, learn, and then buy a slightly larger bike to start learning again. I’m very glad of the 250cc limit on learner motorcycles here in NZ, because looking at the late model Triumphs my dad writes about I realised that if I went straight onto a Speed Triple I would be dead. Hunter S. Thompson was right when he said that a 900 SS Ducati was the easiest, cleanest, least-incriminating way to kill someone.
Randall Graham says
You need to get the latest AMA magazine, or perhaps their website. The IIHS study is a reguritation of a proven-flawed study of some 20 years ago. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THIS COMING OUT, AGAIN, IS TO BAN, YES BAN AS IN ELIMINATE, SPORTBIKES IN THE U.S. THEY FAILED ONCE, BUT ARE GOING TO TRY AGAIN. EDUCATE YOURSELF, CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS AND TELL THEM THE IIHS STUDY IS FLAWED.
Gibbon138 says
hey guys i see what you’re saying here and i agree that supersports bikes aren’t something you should just jump on and “boom” off ya go, here (Australia) we have fairly strict laws relating to learners and provisional plate riders. and before you get even your learners licence you have to do a two day course to learn to ride safely around traffic and even after that you are only allowed to ride a bike with the power output of 150Kw/tonne till you have a full licence (18 months later and after another full day advanced rider training) now we can still get a hold of some fairly big bikes, hayabusa’s among them but not untill you’ve had some time on the roads. I tend to look at it in a positive light because knowing what i know now about my riding skills and roadcraft i would be terrified to think of people without that training and expierience jumping on a bike like that it’s just plain suicidal
Cody says
I am new to this site, but I like how you guys dont just single out the sport bikes. I agree with what you other bikers say. I am 17 and recently had the opportunity to purchase a ZX12 -R for very cheap, however my mom told me no so I decided to go online in search of reference material to support my arguement. Now I know you must be thinking that im biting off more than I can chew, and your probably right but I’m not new to motorcycles and have rode and owned many dirtbikes and dual sports over 9 years. But that is beside the point. I have worked at an automotive repair shop for 2 years and have gone out on my fair share of wrecker calls, 10 of which were motorcycles and you know what. All of those riders were intoxicated, or were riding someone elses bike. And none of those people had any business riding after dark on a dangerous highway. They met their demise because they faced hazzards like deer, highway corners, and alcohol. 9 of those people were on HARLEYS and 1 was on a Suzuki cruiser (like a Harley). I am not oblivious to what happens to careless kids going fast on a race ready bike, as I got to watch 2 teenagers hit the rear end of a stopped flatbed trailer that didnt use its lights to signal a turn. That Honda sailed through the air like a big tumbling yellow football and both occupants avoided death with SEVERE injuries. Anyway thats my 2 cents on the subject.