Well, you probably cant acquire skill without the other three. However, you asked, what is the biggest factor. Obviously all 4 (now 5) help a rider. I saw skill as the ability to perform. Without that, you will fail. If you do not have the ability to perform you won't perform well at all.

Knowledge, gear and courage are needed stepping stones/helpers, however they all lead to making the rider a more skilled rider.

Maybe I see this as more of a semantic question than anything else. I would like to see the results without skill as an option.

 

You made the stupid ****ing poll, dude.

 

lol well I coulda asked "if a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around does the bear taking chit hear the sound of 1 hand clapping?"

 

Well, it's pretty hard to have skill without knowledge or judgment.
On gear... I bet I can outride Rossi if he's on a 50cc mini trail.
And on courage... well, if you're afraid to ride a bike then the rest doesn't matter.

But you said to pick one that was most important... which would lead most to answer "skill". So then asking how you can acquire skill without the other three is ghey.

 

Judgement is the most important. But, if you don't have the skill and knowledge to keep your skin off the pavement until you acquire that judgement that only comes with experience I guess your gear would be number one.

 

I vote for judgement. The people I know who crash the most have decent skills at least but questionable judgement. There's so much power and agility and you're often on such a razor's edge on a sportbike that it's very easy to go far beyond your skill, available grip, or any modicum of safe riding practice if you don't have judgement or restraint. This is true anywhere, off road, in traffic, in the hills, or even on the track to a lesser extent. Judgement is also required to a certain extent to practice and improve ones skills.

Poor riders who ride well within their skills due to their judgement are generally quite safe. I know some ex-motorcycle racers who are quite unsafe on the street because they treat the street without the extreme respect it deserves; the street is not the near pristine tarmac you get on the track and it can be hard to unlearn that if you spend dozens of hours every month practicing and racing on the track.

 

I believe skill is a combination of knowledge, courage and judgement. Each one isn't sufficient on their own.

 

Most important is skill, but knowledge and and judgment play a close second and third. You need knowledge to know what to do, judgment to see what you can do in a given situation, and skill to execute that movement. And this applies to on the street and on the track.

 

I voted skill too but I feel it's a combination that includes judgement knowledge and experience.

 

I went judgement, it's about being honest enough with yourself to know when you're in over your head, and also making that decision that says "Let's just wait here for a second, I didn't see that guy put his indicator on so he might have been driving with it on for the last 3 miles"

Aim to grow old.

But I think it probably applies just as much in a car too