WetLeather Motorcycle Rider Information

I thought this was an interesting snapshot...

Who is most likely to be involved in a motorcycle accident?

Statists show that, overwhelmingly, it is young, inexperienced males who are most likely to be involved in a motorcycle accident:

• 93% of riders involved in injury accidents are male
• the peak age for being killed on a motorbike is 17
• comparing riders aged 20 and riders aged 30 with the same riding experience, the 20 year olds have three times the accident risk of the 30 year olds
• comparing riders of the same age, those in their first year of riding have a three times greater risk of accident than those in tehir sixth year of riding
• the average rider starting at 17 will have had more than eight accidents by the age of 35

-Motorcycle ROADCRAFT, the police rider's hadnbook to better motorcycling

This is a list of rider safety books- or at least, books on riding skill, which is mostly the same thing- that I have floating around the house. If I'm waiting for a phone call, or otherwise have a few minutes to fill, I pick one up and flip it to a random page.

In no particular order:

• Proficient Motorcycling, David Hough
  
• More Proficient Motorcycling, David Hough
• The MSF's guide to Motorcycling Excellence
• Sport Riding Techniques, Nick Ienatsch
• Ride Hard, Ride Smart, Pat Hahn
• Total Control, Lee Parks
• Twist of the Wrist, Keith Code
• Twist of the Wrist II, Keith Code
• Soft Science of RoadRacing Motorcycles, Keith Code
• Motorcycle Roadcraft: The Police Rider's Handbook (UK)

The first three are basic and follow the safety "party line" in the US fairly closely.

I really should know better, I should. The weather guesser said "showers likely". OK, so I grab the windbreaker, which is just waterproof enough for "showers".

The weather turned out to be "steady drizzle with occasional showers". For the entire three and a half hours I was on on the range this morning. Not once did it stop drizzling, except if it was raining.

The only thing not soaked was the top of my head- because I put my helmet on and left it on.

[This has been floating around in my head for a few days; figure I better spit it out somewhere.]

July 1, Team Oregon lost an instructor in a motorcycle accident.

His death was a shock to everyone, and has left a hole in many people's lives- not the least of which are his fiance and daughters. One daughter is herself a Team Oregon instructor; the first class I taught with him, one of the students was the woman who would become his fiance. I worked with him several times after that, and saw him numerous times. He always had a smile and you could expect some good natured ribbing, and some good-natured carping about his sore feet. He earned those, having been involved in enough classes to help almost 1000 new riders in a little over five years... twelve at a time. That adds up to a lot of weekends chasing students around a parking lot. He wasn't a person to lament or dwell on the downturns of life. He was one to howl at the moon, or dress up in an Easter bunny costume and ride around the campground on a children's retreat.

When I realized the paycheck I was about to deposit wasn't signed. sigh Most of the time, I like being half of a company, and having the other half far enough away that he's not looking over my shoulder. Other times, I think the only reason I'm not 100% of the company is because I recognize that the rage would wear off before I could drive/ride that far with a lead pipe in my hand...