I got a lift off a delivery man recently and we were talking about bikes, he said he had a VFR 400 once (I found this a little hard to believe as the guy was massive, he was like 6.6ft and about 22stone, he must of felt it was a bit small for him) but he got rid of it because he felt it was unsafe? So he got a moped instead. He said he found his moped a lot more safer because it was less risky than motorcycling. I said the only thing more risky about motorcycling was that you can go a lot faster and a lot quicker, there’s no real difference. Then he assured me that “no, mopeds are a lot safer because when you crash you fall to the side than over the handle bars” ??? I said I didn’t think that was the case as I’d heard of mopeds crashing and going over the top of cars and such. But he said it was much less likely because of the shape ???
He’s not alone in this thinking either, a friend of mine said he’d never get a motorbike but wanted a scooter as he said they were more “crash proof” ???
Now I’m scratching my head here and i can’t think when a moped would be a safer than a motorcycle in a crash if they’re going the same speed. Surely there’s nothing a moped will offer differently than a motorcycle?
don’t know, doubt it. If anything at 30mph head on your legs would be crushed by whats in front of you on a moped.
Either way, If my time comes from being on a bike - I want the last few miles to have been with a smile on my face
The other thing that makes a motorbike far far safer is the turn of speed. riding a moped on the throttle stop at 30mph you only have 1 option which is to brake when the action to get you out of trouble might be to accelerate.
I’ve been surprised by the acceleration of some of the scooters I see, some of them are pretty quick off the mark - a lot of the time beating much bigger bikes. I agree though that more power = more options for safety.
Quite an interesting thought… I guess another factor maybe with the engine on the rear wheel, under extreme heavy front braking the bike is less likely to endo making the rider less vulnerable to being thrown over the handle bars
putting safety asside, I am sure a 400cc+ scooter is much nicer to nip about round town on than a revvy 600cc nothing at the bottom end 6 speed sports bike like mine!!!
I should have worded it as “more acceleratation and higher top speed”.
I know some mopeds are quick off the mark but generally they’re lower revs and can’t hit 0-60quicker than bikes over 250cc. Usually most bikes under 125cc will take a bit to get from anything over 50mph - over 70mph. Unlike bigger bikes.
I found the smaller tyres on a moped to handle much worse when the conditions of the road were poorer than a motorbike - however I was much younger back then (10 years ago now :w00t: ) and I was just getting into riding.
Mopeds aren’t intrinsically safer than motorbikes - they just tend to operate at lower speeds and in less dangerous scenarios than most powerful motorbikes - hence the difference in perception of the safety of a moped compared to a motorbike.
What kak. I feel far safer the faster the bike is that I have! The fact that I can speed away and leave a bigger gap between me and the muppets on mopeds, bicycles and white vans to fight for road space behind me is a far better option than not having enough power and getting stuck in the melee.
But surely your argument only holds true when taking off from the lights? Otherwise, a bike is only as fast as the rider wants it to go. And if the rider chooses to enter into and continue on in a tight filtering situation at high speed they are surely increasing any risk, not reducing it.
But mopeds, and I mean those bikes restricted to 30mph whether scooter style or “real bike” style, are just so slow that I reckon they are inherently dangerous on any road.
More generally I would say that making good progress on a bike where you are sitting less aggressively and without the constant clutch/gears fuss probably feels smoother and more fluid. And so could feel safer in comparison, so I can see where he’s coming from.
Of course how the rider feels is relevant. If you’ve driven a car with music on, think how the different tracks you’ve played have affected your driving. And if the bike (or car) is uncomfortable or has an annoying trait, you can experience distraction which is also not good.
If I’m nervous for whatever reason (in the o/p this seems due to being intimidated by a powerful machine), I’m almost certainly to be physically tense which can lead to control issues, and being mentally tense might lead me to over-react to situations. It is also tiring to be on edge for any lengthy period which is a whole problem in itself.
My own personal choice for commuting is a large scooter simply because with one hand for GO and another for STOP, with the comfort of the riding position and inherent weather protection of the bodywork, I feel more more comfortable and more able to devote my concentration to what’s going on around me. Now granted many won’t feel the same, but for me this seems obvious.
