How can I convince a risk averse, freaked out wife that I can be safe buying and riding a motorcycle?

For the past several months I have been researching buying a motorcycle. I have taken and passed my learning licese and plan on taking a safety course. I have picked out to purchase the plated jacket, full face helmet and reinforced riding boots. I%26#039;ve read the statisitcs on the main causes of motorcycle accidents and the majority are do to driver error or stupidity.





I%26#039;ve tried to explain these things to my wife but she says she will never believe they are safe and that the greatest way to increase safety is rider awareness and safety. In other answers I%26#039;ve read the suggestion to have her ride with me or to eventually get her one too, but that will NEVER happen.





What can I do or what stats/information can I show her to ease her mind that I am not strapping myself to an electric chair?





Thanks, CPD

How can I convince a risk averse, freaked out wife that I can be safe buying and riding a motorcycle?
Here%26#039;s what I tell my wife:





On a motorcycle, you have fewer distractions than in a car. No stereo (at least on my bike :) no food, no fumbling for crap in the back seat, no yammering on the phone, no talking to your passengers. Two goals... ride the bike... don%26#039;t die.





You sit higher than most vehicles on the road. You can see clear over most cars.





Because you have less mass, you can accelerate faster, stop better, and out-handle anything on 4 wheels (mostly).





As far as you are concerned, if you%26#039;ve taken the MSF course, and apply their defensive driving skills, the odds of avoiding an accident will likely be in your favor.





If you do a lot of freeway driving (like me), you get an added bonus. The freeways are the safest place for motorcycles. Everyone is going the same direction, and the only difference is speed. It%26#039;s really hard to get into major trouble on the freeway unless you are acting stupid or totally spacing out.





Incidentally, I would try to avoid some of the obvious corrolaries to these statements, if you can, as they might work against you!
Reply:In a way she%26#039;s right, who%26#039;s to blame for an accident is academic...the issue is that the motorcyclist is always more vulnerable than the motorist and will therefore by definition suffer greater injuries in an accident.





That said of course.....you just live with that risk and get a bike anyway because it%26#039;s worth the risk.





I think you should just buy it and tell her to live with it also....I don%26#039;t think there is any amount of logical explaining that will convince her.





I%26#039;d like to see my husband trying to get my approval before he did something he wanted to do but I know it just ain%26#039;t gonna happen any time soon.





Enjoy the ride........I do.
Reply:There%26#039;s probably nothing you can do to change her mind. And ultimately, she%26#039;s right.





You have control over some groups of accidents. You can choose to never drink and ride (not even a single beer). You can drive in a safe fashion (avoid excessive speeds, for instance). You can become quite good at positioning yourself properly in traffic and always having an %26quot;out%26quot;.





But there%26#039;s nothing you can do about the other idiots on the road.





I ride a motorcycle. I%26#039;ve been hit once. A young driver changed lanes to run a yellow-turning-red stop light. He changed from the right lane to the left lane in order to pass the car in front of him, who was stopping. The light was so red that I almost cleared the intersection (from a stop) before he hit me. Luckily for me, I saw him with enough time to twist full throttle and he missed my leg, catching only the back portion of the bike. I walked away bruised and battered, but not broken.





He never touched his brakes until after he hit me.





I%26#039;ve had people look at me -- eye contact -- and then begin lane changes into me.





I%26#039;ve had numerous people pull right turns from the left lane or left turns from the right lane, and the only thing that has prevented my getting squished is that I saw them driving oddly and didn%26#039;t trust them.





I%26#039;ve had to hop onto the shoulder or onto the lane divider lines to avoid cars that weren%26#039;t stopping fast enough, that would have smooshed me from behind. Sometimes those same drivers then don%26#039;t even want to let me have my old place back.





On a motorcycle, accidents ARE going to happen, and no matter what gear you wear, you ARE going to get hurt. Maybe you%26#039;ll only get hurt a little bit. But you have absolutely no protection.





Your wife is right to be worried, and you won%26#039;t change her mind.





I still ride.
Reply:I would not push it mate, I%26#039;d rather her than the bike, and it sounds like you%26#039;re almost there already. You have responsibilities, and you should not endanger them by needlessly endangering your life. It won%26#039;t be your mistake, it%26#039;ll be someone else%26#039;s, someone blind, stupid or drunk, and your family needs you alive and unharmed. Make the sacrifice willingly, she%26#039;ll appreciate it. Mine did.
Reply:It doesn%26#039;t matter how careful, experienced, brave, wise, etc you are.....you%26#039;re not going to win against the wife.





Coincidentally, none of those matter on a motorcycle either, because there are just too many drivers with the exact opposite characteristics.
Reply:Buy the bike. Ride the bike.





Take a safety course, and then take it again and then take another one. Make sure that you know what you%26#039;re doing. Riding a motorcycle is, or should be, 80% skill mixed with paranoid hypervigilance and, if you%26#039;re lucky, 20% pure exhilaration.








It%26#039;s your responsibilty to do your best to minimize the objective dangers and to show your wife that you not only take her seriously, but that you also take riding a motorcycle seriously.





She may ultimately come around to your side or she may not. There%26#039;s no gauranteed way to convince your wife that motorcycles are safe, because they aren%26#039;t!





Only a fool would think that: riding around on a two wheeled, high horsepower conveyance in traffic wherein the drivers of the other vehicles are usually paying less attention to driving than they are to the radio/cell phone/make-up/kids/sunset/etc, protected by only robust clothing and an air of invincibility, is a safe pastime.





Most motorcycle accidents are the result of a combination of factors, including driver error, inattention, %26#039;the other guy%26#039;, poor riding technique, weather and road conditions and sheer bad luck. Of these circumstances you can only reasonably be expected to control 2, and even then not all of the time.





Motorcycle riding is an inherently dangerous activity that exposes you to a significantly higher risk of serious injury or death than any other commonly sanctioned road legal enterprise. You should understand this fact, and understand that your wife has at least some basis for her concern.





Ride if you want to, it%26#039;s a greatly rewarding way to spend your spare time, or even become your main mode of transportation, but understand and believe, that getting on a motorcycle raises the stakes that it may be the last thing you do when you leave home in the morning.





Good Luck.





In the interests of public disclosure.... I currently own and ride three bikes ranging in size from 350 to 750, slow to VERY fast. I%26#039;ve been riding motorcycles for the last 35yrs and I%26#039;m a certified MSF rider-coach teaching riding classes on a regular basis.
Reply:It%26#039;s not like you%26#039;re going out there and engaging in some of those extreme sprots, freehand climbing sheer granite walls, skydiving, becoming a trapeze artist, swallowing swords, driving nails up your nose, etc.





Every time you or her go out in the car, statistically there%26#039;s the chance you could be involved in an accident or even killed. Statistically it%26#039;s also possible for you to be accidently shot in a drive by shooting. Everytime she blow dries her hair at the sink, statistically she could electrocute herself. In fact, she could slip on a grape in the produce isle and crack her skull open. Does she drive a SUV? If so, you know how roll over prone those things are...you better insist she trade it for a minivan...with imitation woodgrain on the side to boot. There isn%26#039;t a day that goes by where statistically you could be injured or killed. Agreed, the chances of being injured or killed while skydiving is going to be greater than playing bingo, but you must also remember that some of those old bingo ladies take their game seriously.





Is she really that concerned about you becoming a statistic? Are you accident prone and have broken your leg rolling over in bed? If so, then you better listen to her. Or is it that she just doesn%26#039;t want you having any enjoyment in life? Does she figure you%26#039;ll be out with the boys while she%26#039;s home with the kids? Is it that way already? Or is she the one out gadding around while you%26#039;re the one at home with the kids and cleaning house? Can you actually afford a bike? Or are you bi-polar and this is yet another passing fancy that%26#039;ll get you two into financial trouble?





I%26#039;m speaking from experience. My ex was the bi-polar who blew money on one fad after another while I raised the kids and cleaned house. And she didn%26#039;t want me going on bike trips with my buddies either....of course it was ok for her to go on cruises, etc.





If she is truly concerned about your safety, you can tell her that as long as you%26#039;re alert, your chances of being in an accident are slim and in a dangerous one very, very slim. Tell her that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Better yet, tell her that all play for her and all work for Jack makes Jack resentful and there%26#039;s a greater chance of her loosing you that way than from your bike being run over by a Kenworth.
Reply:buy the most uncool looking bright yellow glow in the dark riding jacket you can find





show her that it would be impossible for anyone not to see you wearing this monster jacket.





combine it with the ugliest bright yellow gloves you can find.





*
Reply:there is nothing you can do friend. you cant change her mind. so compromise and get a dirt bike.
Reply:Well, I rode them for a couple of years as well, right up until the truck turned in front of me and it almost cost me my life. I would not own a bike if I lived any where near a populated area. People just do not pay any attention to a bike these days. Any rider who has been on a bike for many years will have his or her own horror story, I just finally came to the conclusion that I wanted to see my kids grow up more than I wanted to enjoy the bike. Sorry, I agree with her!
Reply:Million dollar life insurance policy on you, naming your wife as the sole beneficiary.
Reply:Tell her that you%26#039;ll always wear DOT approved safety gear, and take motorcycle safety classes. worked on mine
Reply:I have been riding for over 30 years, and I have my own stats, from observation, if you get 2 years under your belt without an accident, you will probably be one of the most defensive drivers around and have a good chance of not having an accident, horror stories I got being a paramedic for 20 yrs retired and seeing for myself. Your wife knows you better than I do, but I know bikers, and none of my friends would have even asked for her opinion. If you arn%26#039;t single, or have an attitude like that, don%26#039;t get the scoot.
Reply:You will never convince her it%26#039;s safe, because it isn%26#039;t. If you want to ride be a man and buy the bike. If she doesn%26#039;t like it she knows where the door is.
Reply:motorcycles are not safe never have been never will be.
Reply:http://www.motorcycle-accidents.com/page...


http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-S...





Good luck, be safe, have fun, etc.



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