Why do people hate motorbikes?

Question

When ever I read a question in the motorbike section someone is always saying get a car its more safe than a bike and then goes and give a load of waffle on how many deaths are caused by accidents by bikes in some year.

I would like to inform these people that real bikers don't care and are not interested in the statistics of how many people died in the past because most accidents are caused by riding to fast; which is the bikers fault or by the car driver ignoring the fact that any thing can be on the road but them.

I think most anti-bikers fall into 2 areas.

1. Never been on a bike and to scared to.

2. Used to own a bike though had to get rid of it because wife said so, so hopes to make others are miserable as them.

SO here are some tips for the car drivers that read these pages and I hope other bikers might leave some more.

You might think you have a high performace sports car and it might look good with the ladies when the lights go green though the only thing you will be seeing is my exhaust, so please don't rev the engine or roll forward on amber.

Use your mirrors and your eyes we have lights on in the day time and some of us use hi-vis vests and dress like power rangers so you can see us, we dont teleport so we didn't come out of the blue and appear out of nowhere.

If I am filtering in slow traffic I will over take you either on the left or right so pulling so far over that you are making traffic on the otherside of the road move over because you are a danger is only stopping yourself.

What do other bikes think?

Answer 1

because when most people think of people on motorbikes they first think about those idiots that do wheelies and ride your but and fly past you but there are a lot of bikers out there who are very careful and precausious thats whit i say

Answer 2

I am an ex truck/tanker driver,and well aware of the shortcomings of other motorists,but i have no particular hates.Every form of transport  has one common factor,A DRIVER,!!.I taught my two daughters to drive both cars and motorbykes.I drummed into them never undertake on the inside,that is the dead mans road,i also told them never to make any move near a truck unless they could see the truck drivers face in his mirror(if you can see him then he can see you.)I rode bykes in trials,enduroes and motocross,prefering sidecar racing to solo racing.My conclusions after all those years is----ONLY DRIVERS ARE DANGEROUS,NOT THE TYPE OF VEHICLE.The one thing everyone must learn is that everyone can and will make mistakes through lack of attention to the road and their circumstances at some time or other in their lives.GO WITH GOD.

Answer 3

I don't hate motorcycles, scooters, motorized bicycles, and the like.

What I hate is the deceptive marketing that sells problem products

which includes motorcycles, scooters, etc.-etc.

Mesh protective clothing, for example.  At one end you've got 1,000

Denier Carbolex shell with armour additions good for nearly the same

tarmac slide as leather and other nylon mesh that sells with no rated

CE armour or protection values.  Let the buyer beware, fine, but some

more consumer protection ethic would be appreciated.  

Answer 4

I think it has a lot do do with the stats though.  I mean, how many times have you heard about a motorcycle crash, and not heard either the words dealth or serious injury....the fact is, if you crash on a bike your more likly to be seriously hurt...however, there are very few motorcycle crashes caused by the motorcycle driver themselves...a majority of those crashes are caused by people pulling out infront of the motorcycle.  Most people I know who hate bikes, have had a friend killed or seomthing like that on a bike, but what is funny to me is, they have also had friends killed in car accidents and don't even think about hating cars or driving.....who know...personally, I say to those people,...let me drive what I want, you drive what you want and thats that....and you are right, most people who "hate" them, have never owned one or rode one....

Answer 5

they are just selfish & not got the guts to ride, so want to stop people who do

Answer 6

Ignorance.

Plain and simple. People are scared of what they do not know.

Cut it up and boil it down however you want.

The end result: ignorance.

Answer 7

Its like going to the amusement parks , you either like the rollercoaster or not its alot like a rollercoaster !

Answer 8

We are supreme. I have a 1972 Harley and consider myself very proud on the road. To all the doubters ****.

Answer 9

Good points well made, Siberian Wolf.Might fall on deaf ears though!

Answer 10

Why do people hate bikes?



scared, usually when folks fear or don't understand something they turn their not knowing into hate.

Answer 11

Jealousy and the fact that they whip past you with ease and are not inconvenienced by queues.  

Answer 12

Well those people are probably correct.  But to those who just have to ride bikes it isn´t a factor.  So let them give fair warning to those who shouldn´t be riding a bike anyway.  Motorcycles are for those who are born to ride them.

Answer 13

We have more freedom than they do. They hate us for that.

Answer 14

I like your posting mate. I gave up motorbikes after waking up one day in the middle of a roundabout with the bike 50 yards down the road after being carved up by some dork of a car driver. Apart from many bruises' i was OK which was more than could be said for the bike!  BUT seeing as I had one cousin and 2 pals killed in bike accidents i took the hint and went the 4 wheel way from then on.

I dont think any car drivers are jealous of motorcyclists!  Maybe would like the performance a modern big bike has, but when you are sitting there comfortably in mid winter, in your shirt sleeves with the heater at 70 and your favourite CD playing I can guarantee that you are not jealous of the guy on the Harley in the freezing rain!

You will probably find that most car drivers have the opinion that most bikers think that traffic regulations dont apply to motorbikes.  If you are fair maybe you will admit that motorcyclists in general pay scant attention to speed limits on the open road.  Yeah, i still remember that thrill when you drop a cog and wind the throttle back and the bike takes off like a jet for the horizon. But I also have to admit to being peed off at motorcyclists when I am sitting behind a truck on a windy road and cant overtake because i cant see far enough ahead, then a bike rockets past and disappears into the distance at highly illegal speeds. Well, maybe that is jealousy.

The thing that worries me is when you read bike mags, which i still do now and then, they dont talk about IF you have an accident, but say WHEN you have your accident!  When I read that I know that no matter how much I liked my Norton Dominator 99 (which shows how old i am!) I probably made the right decision to switch to 4 wheels.

Answer 15

Good Question. I can see your point but I don't think it is just those two categories that anti-bikers fall into. My dad used to be a biker, before I was born, and he would never even consider buying a car but he had a freak accident once when his pillion leant the wrong way whilst going around the corner and dad had to swerve to miss a lorry and came off his bike and it nearly killed him! Now he can't ride as he gets problems with his joints now, but after that accident he has never ridden again and he actually bought a car. I also had a friend who passed his A2 test last year and he took the restriction off his bike, when he legally shouldn't have done, and went too fast around a corner, over taking a car on a duel carriageway, and came in too quick and hit the front of the car with his back wheel and that knocked him flying through a row of trees and hedges and he took two trees out with his legs and stayed on the bikes as he refused to use his common sense and let the bike go and save himself. Again, he is lucky to be alive and lucky to have his licence as he was riding illegally but he won't ever get back on a bike again!

These another point: Some people have been riders but due to a freak accident, they don't ride now.

Another point is my mum always used to love bikes, when she was with my dad, and loved riding on the back. But after my dad had his freak accident that put her off a little but what really put her off was a few years ago now. We used to live along a road which was popular with bikers (still is now) in Devon and it had a few sharp bends in it, hence why it was popular. My mum, step dad and my 2 little brothers was driving back from town and just before they was about to go around a particularly sharp corner, two biker came flying around on their side of the road but when they was going around the corner another biker cam flying around on the wrong side of the road and hit my mum and co head on! Luckily he survived, and did admit it was his fault and Ive never heard someone call me and apologize so much (the biker called me on my mums phone to let me know what had happened)! My mum was unconscious for a little while. That really put her off motorbikes! She had whiplash for ages and a few cuts and bruises but although you can't tell now she is still scared from that, inside!

Another point: Some people have been involved in an accident before which has put them off.

I do agree with what you are saying, put just wanted to make those two points as well.

I work for a training school and we train alot of people which have been driving around in a car for years and you would be surprised the amount of them that are unaware of the dangers involved between car and bike! If I see them around you can see that they are much more aware of bikers now, its nice to see. I live in a biking community now and the majority of cars and other vehicles are aware of bikers and most of them will pull over to the side for you to pass but there are a few people around which will see you coming and they still go and cut you up! That mostly happens when Im teaching, they will see the L plate and think its ok for them to cut us up! Thats until I get my pupils to pull over to the side of the road and have a break and I will catch up the a**hole and get him/her to pull over and give them a mouthful! I will give them a business card and tell them to come over and take a CBT so they can see how much grief they cause us when they cut a biker up! Its funny to see how many of them actually come in to take a CBT!

As for the filtering, there are two ways you can look at it. Technically, it's illegal as you are creating a third lane. But if you read some of the 'learning to ride' books from the DSA it will state that you can filter as long as you are not going no faster than 30mph - For UK.

I don't know why some people hate bikers so much, I suppose you can't please everybody. I must admit I love biking and will ride my bike everyday but there are days when a car comes in handy.

There is only one thing we bikers can do, keep on riding to the law and then car drivers can't do anything, if they hit us then it's their fault if you was riding legally.

A few little hints: Do the best you can to make your presence obvious so when you get knocked off, they can't say "Oh, sorry didn't see you!" - as they like to do. Always check over you shoulders and use you mirrors when riding and make sure you are always aware of whats around you. Make sure you always wear the best motorcycle gear you afford.

If you drive a car, why not set the example to the other cars and let bikes go past freely and always be aware that more bikers do come out during the sunshine so always take extra care and let them pass so they can continue to enjoy the biking season!

EDIT: Jon M. Many Bikers don't just rev their engine to hear it. They do it to warm the bike up on most occasions. I do it before I take my bike out and so does ever other biker I know, including our bike examiner! Plus most bikes need to have the choke switched on when they are first started which causes the engine to rev higher, which will cause the bike to sound rather loud just as it would with a car.

Answer 16

I think there are a few other reasons why people don't like bikes. I have heard a lot of hyprocritical people who moan that bikes are too fast, they can weave through traffic and can park almost anywhere. They moan about how cars can't do that, and how unfair it is. I know all too well the disadvantages of owning a bike, but all they seem to care about is how bikes have some advantages over cars.

These are the same people that whinge about congestion and the lack of car parking spaces as well.

Basically they hate the fact that one section of the motoring community sometimes has an advantage over them. I know people that like to slag me off when it rains, but then get jealous when there is a traffic jam and I can whizz through it.

Part of it is envy because none of them has the guts to ride a bike. They snipe at bikers but are too chicken to try it for themselves.

Answer 17

Jealousy

Answer 18

Sadly it's largely because of bikers. Nonsense like "because we have more freedom" is just ignorance. Narcissistic, arrogant ignorance.

Every time a biker with loud pipes drives past a home and wakes someone up, particularly a sleeping child, a new anti-biker is created.

Every time a biker cuts off a driver in traffic, endangering those in the car and others on the road (particularly families), new anti-bikers are created.

Every time a biker revs his pipes just to hear them, while preventing conversations for blocks, new anti-bikers are created.

Every time a biker does something stupid and someone catches it on video (or the paramedics take pictures of the consequences) thousands of new anti-bikers are created.

Why is it any surprise that so many people hate bikes and bikers? Consider the way the obnoxiously conspicuous minority behave and you can't blame people for hating us. Maybe if they p**s off enough of the right people they'll pass laws outlawing all of us.

- Jon