er6 horsepower

Why do Americans think that riding motorcycles is risky?

There are a few reasons for this: Westerners term anything less than 50 horsepower as "underpowered". Even bikes like the ER6 which churn out 72 HP are termed "lacking grunt" by reviewers. This is because you need to be able to cruise at 80 mph on the freeway for hundreds of miles and occasionally overtake at way over 100 mph. If you ride anywhere on the freeway, you will be doing extremely high speeds for long distances this increases risk. Compare that to the bulk of Indian motorbikes that just about reach 120 kph or so (75 mph). Most bikes in India are 100cc commuters that barely cross 90 kph. The average American will start out with a 600cc class or more and some will unwittingly choose supersport bikes as their first bike because of an ego thing. Westerners are not as used to chaotic riding as Indians - The average Indian is aware of the complete chaos on roads and the lack of any lane discipline. We learn to expect and handle these situations as soon as we start riding. Potholes, slush, gravel, jaywalkers, roads suddenly coming to an end, cattle, random objects lying on the road, buses and lorries creeping up, wrong side overtaking, wrong side riding, lane cutting - these things I see almost everytime I ride out. You get good at emergencies only by being in emergencies. Riding motorbikes in India is almost a continuous emergency. In contrast, the west has completely regular traffic and a pothole could be enough reason for a million dollar lawsuit. Most accidents in the city in India happen at low speed - usually people die by getting crushed under other vehicles or by lack of a helmet. At 30 mph if you collide, you go to the hospital. At 80mph, people are scraping you off the road. What an accident means to Americans is much more severe than what we are used to in India. The average motorcyclist in the US is someone looking for excitement - it's not about convenience or budget. In India most people buy bikes because its cheaper than a car. It serves a purpose other than entertainment and thrills. Someone riding a bike for thrills is more likely to push harder and take more risks than someone who rides out of necessity. Take a look at the youtube videos of "rnickeymouse" showing riders crash on Mulholland drive at the infamous "snake". The kinds of insane speeds these riders are doing on a mountain road are quite unbelievable - perhaps 3 out of 10 riders out there actually has the skill to do those things. The rest just add to rnicickmouse's hit count. They would last exactly 30 seconds on Himalayan roads.