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A friend of mine had a big, heavy, customized 1400cc Harley. Then one day out on the highway he hit a patch of gravel he failed to see. The next thing he remembers he was floating through the air with the extremely-heavy Harley floating directly above him, with time slowed down to a crawl, and he remembers thinking, "Gee I hope that big thing doesn't fall on me, I'll die".
It didn't, it crashed to Earth right next to him, instead.
He got his injuries treated and sold the bike, and will never touch another.
He likes to point out that in a car, that patch of gravel would've done exactly nothing.
It's said the lowest rates of motorcycle ownership are among E.R. doctors and nurses (who call them "donorcycles" because they get so many donated organs that way) and physicists, who unlike the average guy truly understand the horrifying magnitude of the forces involved.
Occasionally guys tell me to get a bike, and I tongue-in-cheekly reply that I will, as soon as they make them with four widely-spaced wheels for proper stability, anti-lock brakes, traction control and vehicle stability control to prevent crashes and a rigid steel cage that completely surrounds me, multiple airbags all around me, energy-absorbing crumple zones and seat belts with automatic pyrotechnic pre-tensioning for the remaining unavoidable crashes. Then I add, "oh wait, that's a CAR! I already have one of those!"
My pal is still around and smoking great cigars today, relatively intact and in good health, thank god. But he warns anyone who will listen to consider taking a pass when it comes to motorcycles. You want that open-air feeling of freedom with the wind in your hair? Consider a convertible with as many safety features as possible. It's not quite as safe as a fixed-top car, but it's pretty close, and enormously better than a motorcycle, no comparison whatsoever.
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