How dangerous is it be to drive a motorcycle on a "quiet" highway?

I drive to work 20 miles, 5 days a week. The highway that I take isnt busy as the highway that runs north of where I live. Now I have thinking about a sports bike (because of price) to drive to work since I basically have a short trip to get on and off the highway from home and work and the biggest part of the trip is being on the highway, which is about 10 to 15 minutes. The way I see it is the money that I am using for gas (about 200 bucks/month), I could invest that into a bike. There are usually trailers on that road but like i said before, its not a busy highway. My biggest fear is that it seems that most bike accidents result in deaths. And most of the pages that I have read, seem to be talking about busy city streets and busy highways. And they seem to say that any little stone will cause you fly straight into a body bag. I hope ya'll can point me in the right direction and a little info into how hard it is to ride a bike.

Most of the people I know who have been in a motorcycle accident actually survived. Including me.

The right direction is down the road.
It is not hard to ride.

Go take a course, learn to ride.
Knowledge is fears biggest enemy.

I rode a motorcycle for a while, If the sports bike is equiped with lights and your not going over the speed limit, and wearing your gear then you should have no problem, But keep focoused, The minuit you do not respect the bike or the road is when you fall into danger.

Haven't you ever seen World Superbike or MotoGP they wreck at over 100mph at almost EVERY race. EVERY
Just like car racing.
I don't know what you're talking about. I wrecked 4 times on my Ducati. Maybe if you're not wearing a leather racing suit and helmet it could be fatal....

It doesn't matter what highway you are on. When you are on a motor bike you are vulnerable to everything else on the road. Even if there is no traffic but yourself a minor lapse in your conctration could be fatal.

I had a friend, and when I decided to start riding again (25yrs ago) and got my bike, he started giving me all this crap about how I was going to get killed riding it... Well, about a year later, he was coming out of a business meeting and while standing in front of the building, the awning over the door fell off and killed him...... So, I make sure not to attend many business meetings.... Get you a bike, and ride like you stole it....... just stay away from awnings.

anything can happen to anyone at any time. its just a matter of chance, your driving skill, and the driving skill of others on the road. almost anything in life has risks we just have to decide wether its worth it to take them or not. if this is your first bike i recommend that you go sign up for a motorcycle instruction course, some info on that can be found here.
http://www.msf-usa.org/
other than that once you start riding you wont regret it, motorcycling fills your life with as much enjoyment and pleasure that you could ever expereance.

The bike is a good option to save gas and what not. The best thing to do is but a cheap bike and get used to it first then go to a sport bike, that gets you used to the feel of a bike.

And another thing you have to remember, a biker does not get as much respect on the road as people driving cars do.


last biking season there was an incadent where a guy on his bike was going down a hill and was comming up to a 4 way intersection, he had the right of way but somone waiting to get up the hill try to get out before the biker was out and ended up crossing the line, the biker tryed to get out of the way but the car made contact to the side of the bike, the biker ended up flying face first into the drivers window and bounced off the window and hit the ground. his helmet colapsed on his face from the impact breaking his jaw and nose, he also suffered many broken bones and was air lifted to the hospital.

So you just have to make sure you take it easy and dont bite off more then you can chew.

It's not hard to ride a bike...... you are half way there because you can drive a car!

Its the road awareness you need. The ability to picture whats going to happen next before it happens. You do have to ride like your invisible. But this is possible and if you dont speed, wear the right gear (essential!!!) and you are careful then i would say that riding a bike is safe as any other transport.

Someone said above that if you lose respect for your bike thats when accidents happen. That is 100% right! you have to remember that you are basically sat on an engine with two wheels that in some cases has the same power as most small cars!

A quiet highway is safer than a busy one for sure.

Above all, we are all at risk of accidents in cars, walking, sat on a bus, riding a push bike (anywhere really!), but none of these will give you the same feeling as riding a motorbike!

It is awesome, and the most fun you will have outside the bedroom!

Take a course, but don't expect a sports bike to save much money, look at the more basic commuters like Honda's CB500 or for a sportier alternative Yamaha's FZ600 both capable and reliable. Most accidents are not fatal, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this, stones can be annoying but rarely cause an accident. To repeat take a course first find out if it is for you, buy the proper protective kit, save money on insurance and basic cost by buying a bike more focussed for your requirements and get out there.

I don't know about most bike accidents resulting in deaths. I do know drinking is responsible for the highest number of bike accidents and intersections are the greatest spot accidents occur.
Fatalities are also rising, but this is due to bikes being more ever powerful, gas prices, population factors, and finally the babyboomers (who recently had a higher accident ratio than the 20-30 y.o.'s) getting a last shot to relive the days of their youth.
My advice is to take a safety class first. Learn to countersteer, break and corner. Seems simple but you have several forces at work all the time. Lean angle, gear selection, speed, front and rear break application, rider weight distribution (i.e. pressure on the bars, footpegs, seat and tank) acceleration, decelleration, upshifting, downshifting are all forces at work all the time. Never mind navigating road conditions, and that through a stream of vehicles.
Something else you'll hear with experienced riders - ride like your invisible to cars. And you are. Look around you sometime and see how many cagers have a cell phone stuck to their ear, and how many never turn their head to check blind spots when changing lanes.
It doesn't sound like you'll be riding aggressively so I'd suggest something a little more upright. The 4 big imports make toned down versions of their superbikes that run twin instead of four cylinder and are highly recommended. If you get a regular inline four (cylinder), the Honda's always get the highest ratings overall for rider ergonomics, dependability, longlevity, and handling.
Didn't mean to be so long winded, it's just having survived on 5 bikes on the roads of Los Angeles and surrounding canyons for 10 years in a 20year span makes it an impossible subject to shut up about.