A nice thread to discuss biker accident safety issues.

In the touring section also when I see some guys glorifying their peg scrapping/knee down skills on public roads in a country where it is not uncommon to suddenly see a truck after a blind curve barelling down at you on the wrong side, this reminded me of this wonderful commercial of Mick Doohan which aptly shows "Highway is not a speedway" as there are lot of obstacles on public roads that you dont see on a race track.

Motorcycle Awareness: Obstacles - YouTube

This is the most common factor. To avoid this, before overtaking/passing, you pull to the side behind the vechicle, 'flash the head lights if needed' make sure the driver sees you (wait for 2 3 seconds on the side before passing) and then make the pass.

By this the dirver infront of you also knows that you are getting ready for an overtake + you will also ve enough time to see what is infront of the vehicle you are passing.

This works good on highways. In city, there is more than one way to die.

I can vouch for this. This is how I ride on highways and it works well. However, there have been incidences that the driver in front of you sees you and for some incomprehensible reasons starts speeding up by coming in your lane! I guess they attempt to check the power of their car/SUV. So just dont assume that the driver will give you way. Unfortunately we are surrounded by a lot of drivers with sick mentality...so follow the mantra "DONT ASSUME".

Ditto, I do the same everyday while riding in the city to and fro office.
Many times, I come across one or two kids riding their scooties and revving as hard as they can zig zagging through the way.. many times they are saved by a few cms hitting something on road...
then there are few car people (mostly cabs or so called urban youths) who don't let you pass.. I always flash them before overtaking and wait a few secs before overtaking.. this does the trick most of the times.. if the person in front does not want to let me pass he'll atleast respond by blocking me in advance before I start to cross them.

Guys, I have not read anything in the thread but by the Thread name my answer is As Safe as the rider wants it to be.

It's important to follow the traffic laws and speed limits. But many accidents occur even in places like US, Dubai, Japan etc.

We need maturity more than anything else to be safe on the roads.

Yes accidents do occur in every part of the world, mostly because they violated the rules. I mean, one of the parties involved in the accidents. Even if you are precise the other person at fault could cause an accident.

Maturity is following up on the rules and laws properly and with patience. Immaturity is deriving your own rule or law upon the one in general.

But you are right bro, we are just talking the same thing with different words. So I agree, you're right

We can never completely eliminate Sbk/ any accidents, not in India atleast.

All we can do is make some people more aware than others and hope that they manage to uphold safety, even if other people around them are breaking rules.

For this purpose, I presented a plan in the Ayaz's news thread here:

http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/703082-post91.html (and some earlier posts too)

It is about educating NEW/ RECENT superbike owners.

The learned Xbhp members from each city can do something about it, by working on the plan I told above. Can't the XBHP members who are also Sbk owners from big cities help in this effort? PLAY YOUR PART by seeing my post linked above and acting on it.

Some Sbk owners don't even know that using front brake is more useful on roads. Come on, you guys can help them!!!

Otherwise, my posts & Ajmal & Ayaz's life are gone in vain... And I feel sad about it, although its none of my matter after all.

Nice intiative Samarth! If only I own a superbike, I would have shared my learnings

yup, and when the egoist drivers block u.. it simple means our trick worked and we spotted this guy in advance, than he pushing you off the right side of the road. Find another spot to take him safe..

Being safe

Well i guess Keith Code's "Twist of the wrist" should be the BIBLE for all sbk riders.As the saying goes "Learn to crawl before you walk" ,one must ride higher capacity machines with loads of torque and power after graduating up the cc's and mastering the art of riding.
Rightly said,there are no laws for same in India and hence a sbk in the hands of a teen or a youngster early in life is detrimental.One must use his right wrist judicially (a very difficult task for a dude astride a sbk) ,follow the 'Rules of the Road"(WHATS THAT??),learn to respect his ride and not to forget whose in charge.(Just like riding a horse...the horse wants to take you for a ride??). In the West you have to ride a 250cc bike with a 33 max bhp limitation till you are 25 years of age and then can you think of riding a sbk. We should follow similar set of rules .
Also parents who gift these expensive machines to their dear ones sooner or later realise the disastrous consequences that come as a part without proper training.TOO LATE MISTER!!
How many parents gifting bikes to their children throw in safety gear as well??
To all the youngsters out there itching to lay thier hands on their dream machines,all i can say is ride your present ride ,exploiting the machines potential and mastering the techniques to graduate to higher revving sports bike n finally a litre class.Better to make your mistakes on a smaller bike than ??

hahahahahahahahahaha... so dam true

I moved from 150 cc to a litre bike less than a month ago, so here's my 2 cents on what to watch out for as compared to a regular bike:

1. Power. You have to be conscious of it and always respect it. Go easy on the throttle and never speed on a road you are unfamiliar with. Every small detail (pothole, speed breaker, change in road surface from tar to concrete) will affect your traction levels.

2. People can't anticipate the speed you can move at, so always be aware of some idiot trying to cut into your path or pedestrian trying to run across the road because they think you're still far away.

3. Your brakes are better than anyone else's so don't brake too suddenly or you'll end up being rear ended by some enthusiastic tailgater.

4. Baiters. The world is full of people trying to get cheap entertainment out of you by making you race with them, tailgating, revving etc. Don't take the bait, it's not worth it. They will only drag you down to their level.

5. Ego. Your biggest enemy. If it wins, you lose.

I'm still learning every time I take my bike out. Will be glad to hear from more bikers. It will help us all become safer riders.

Some morons here on xbhp are complaining that while they were speeding in streets...a kid came by.
I want to ask them that when u were child, didn't u used to play on streets. Fact is that people are now used to break rules and they consider it as their birth right.

My 2 cents too:

1stly, lets face it... Bikes arent safe... period... so if you are a sbk rider, you need to be cautious of the your riding environment...

I agree to the fact that i have done some very insane speeds on street, have had close calls nearly every ride till date...

My last ride, i was running on old 2005 year tyres so decided to go slow due to very little or no traction... some stupid guy slammed into me from the rear so riding slow or fast aint the issue... Riding a super/hyper bike is not safe !!!