Motorcycle technology leading to more fatalities?

[Grumpy Goat]

Just watched this interesting video which makes some very good points. Appreciate the effort put into making the video too.

[Lee]

I only watched about half of the video.
He started off with one mistake when he said no motorcycle had rider aids in 1998.
Our 1991 K75Ss had ABS.

[Grumpy Goat]

Yes he had made his point by then and only added a little more on top afterwards. At least he edited it well and spoke at a good clip. I liked the clips and photos he included to supplement his narrative.

Good point on the ABS on your 1991 K75S. If that was his only oversight then that is pretty good given the effort.

[TriangleRider]

Text book example of correlation/causation fallacy and confirmation bias. The guy has a lot of feelings.

More interesting than the video is the comment section. Old guys that hate tech love to talk about how much better life was without tech on bikes.

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[Motorhead1977]

Last summer I was riding 2 up on US 250 through the George Washington National Forest in VA/WV and a large black bear came out of the roadside woods and crossed the highway directly in front of me. Applied maximum brakes and (thank you cornering ABS) was able to swerve around behind it and continue on with the ride. It was so close that a claw on its rear foot left a slight cut on the side wall of my front tire. Yessiree Bob, technology saved my bacon. Wouldn't be without it(Sayeth this 68 year old old guy).

[Grumpy Goat]

Last summer I was riding 2 up on US 250 through the George Washington National Forest in VA/WV and a large black bear came out of the roadside woods and crossed the highway directly in front of me. Applied maximum brakes and (thank you cornering ABS) was able to swerve around behind it and continue on with the ride. It was so close that a claw on its rear foot left a slight cut on the side wall of my front tire. Yessiree Bob, technology saved my bacon. Wouldn't be without it(Sayeth this 68 year old old guy).

I too have many such experiences where ABS has intervened and saved the day. This engineer can hardly be against technology, and I am certainly not. Quite the opposite. Cornering ABS, traction control, wheelie control, cruise control ... these are all top tier technological safety aids that will and do save lives. In the case of ABS and cruise control - these are must-haves on any bike I would purchase primarily for transportation.

One low-tech feature that BMW has not seen fit / been able to put on at least some of their bikes, and that could fall into the category of safety is backlit handlebar switches. I criticize BMW for that, especially given that other manufacturers manage to do this without any fanfare to boot.

[Lee]

One low-tech feature that BMW has not seen fit / been able to put on at least some of their bikes, and that could fall into the category of safety is backlit handlebar switches. I criticize BMW for that, especially given that other manufacturers manage to do this without any fanfare to boot.

The one I complained about for years is the poor rear lighting. The last few years they are finally starting to address this.