Quote from sinbad :

Don't (...) okay.

at least in greece, it is not unheard of (it's quite common actualy) to have a used bike judged 'ok' by a mechanic but down the road develop some really weird problems (or complete and catastrophic failure) which are attributed to the bike being mistreated.
a mechanic can't foresee the future nor can he see if the bike has been mistreated and has a higher risk of developing problems due to (say) being worn-in the wrong way... ridden very hard in its early life.

Quote from sinbad :

Most people take good care of their bikes, but if you're capable of looking after one yourself, you're capable of checking if one is safe.

you can't know what has the bike gone through. here's an example. someone buys a bike, squeezes the life out of it, redlining it, whatever, for the first thousand miles or so and sells it. no mechanic can ever tell you what the bike has gone through.

Quote from sinbad :

I don't really agree with what you say about falling off either. It's like how people say "get a wreck for your first bike, you WILL drop it". Maybe because they dropped it themselves, who knows, but it's wrong.

but i actually said 'don't even buy used'. does that sound like 'get a wreck for a first bike' ? no, not at all. which means that you understood something wrong.

Quote from sinbad :

I think the people that truly are CERTAIN to crash, are the ones that are basically not in control of themselves or their machine.

ok about those two. are you actually in control of your surroundings too? you can avoid, using your abilities, almost anything. there are things tho you can not control.

Quote from sinbad :

It must be lovely to ride with that in your head.

consider it... something like a 'soft' version of memento mori.

you will fall off. not my words though (Wayne Rainey has said it, at least i know this). all the other things you said tell me you misinterpreted what i said and stretched them to extremes.

Quote from sinbad :

I've been riding nearly 2 years

much as you want to avoid it or don't actually want to believe it, it's those four words that keep you 'in line' so to speak. as a fellow rider i honestly and wholeheartedly wish you to never have any even slightly serious injury.

Quote from george_tsiros :

at least in greece, it is not unheard of (it's quite common actualy) to have a used bike judged 'ok' by a mechanic but down the road develop some really weird problems (or complete and catastrophic failure) which are attributed to the bike being mistreated.
a mechanic can't foresee the future nor can he see if the bike has been mistreated and has a higher risk of developing problems due to (say) being worn-in the wrong way... ridden very hard in its early life.

you can't know what has the bike gone through. here's an example. someone buys a bike, squeezes the life out of it, redlining it, whatever, for the first thousand miles or so and sells it. no mechanic can ever tell you what the bike has gone through.

Come on, engine blow ups are seriously uncommon, and it would take serious abuse, perhaps combined with oil starvation to destroy one in 1000 miles! If you're suspicious about how the bike was treated in its early days you walk away. Most buyers of new bikes don't buy them to abuse them, if you suspect otherwise you walk away. It's easy. The second bike market isn't a minefield, there are some duds but most bikes are looked after much better than cars are.

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but i actually said 'don't even buy used'. does that sound like 'get a wreck for a first bike' ? no, not at all. which means that you understood something wrong.

No, you misread the sentence you quoted.

Quote :

ok about those two. are you actually in control of your surroundings too? you can avoid, using your abilities, almost anything. there are things tho you can not control.

Does that mean I'm certain to be run over whilst walking through a city at some point during my life? Or that at some point I will be attacked and injured by a farmyard animal? There are lots of things in life we cannot control, but as a road user you surely know that there are people who minimise the risk and those that do not. Surely there are riders that go through their lives without an oncoming car switching to their lane for no reason, or that tractor pulling out at the very last second. You speak as if you're guaranteed to be in a serious accident caused by someone else, and it's just not true at all. You're as likely as a car driver to be in an accident such as those, although probably more so in fact because as a biker you're naturally more cautious and less trusting due to the consequences being more serious.

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consider it... something like a 'soft' version of memento mori.

you will fall off. not my words though (Wayne Rainey has said it, at least i know this). all the other things you said tell me you misinterpreted what i said and stretched them to extremes.

much as you want to avoid it or don't actually want to believe it, it's those four words that keep you 'in line' so to speak. as a fellow rider i honestly and wholeheartedly wish you to never have any even slightly serious injury.

And I you. Believe me, as I said I am fully aware of the risks and dangers. I have not resigned myself to falling off at some point, though, much less being in a serious accident caused by another road user. If I thought I was guaranteed to be in one of those, then I would not ride on the roads.