actually i have shiney nickel to put into this thread. ive read all the pages up to here and i have to agree with just about everyones comments on their riding fears.. if not sand then people texting would probably be the worst fear i have.. if im not riding my bike i'm in a decent size dodge 2500 hemi, looking down at the fools doing 65 texing, turning and thumping their 12's , if you know what i mean..
well here's my overall point which i dont think anyone has gotten too..
and that is.. pipes!!! as much as i hate loud noises these days(40).. a decent pipe can and will save your life!! i have two 900's and one has a d&d which out of the two, i enjoy most.. it has a deep tone but is'nt as annoying as a harly with staight pipes can be.. sure wearing the right gear (visability wise) can improve your odd's of being noticed by as much as %25 percent. i beleive thats the actual number..but having a decent pipe that you use wisely, is priceless..

 

I can definitely agree to the pipes. I use those INSTEAD of my horn because it's much more noticeable. The D&D pipes really are awesome sounding. On to the fear thing, that kinda depends on the time of day and where I'm at. I live outside of town, so out near my house, during the day I'm more afraid of the gravel patches the county uses to "fix" the roads. At night, the deer and other animals...really dreading a skunk not just because of the danger, but because if I hit one, I have to clean my bike, myself, and most likely throw away my leathers if any gets on me. If I'm in town, I'd have to say inattentive drivers mostly. Especially older half blind and deaf people that have no business driving anymore. Had an 87 year old woman t-bone my wife and me right after we got together. She looked right at us and then pulled out from a side street and we were caging in a bright white Mustang on a sunny day. Turns out, her license had been dead for years because she was just shy of being legally blind, even with glasses. I treat EVERYONE in a cage like they are trying to kill me, because even if it's unintentional, they very well may be.

 

My biggest fear is some woman texting and not paying attention. Thats how a guy i knew had hes leg taken off when he was turning in his drive way. Chick was texting and plowed right through him while he was stopped with his blinker on getting ready to turn in his own drive way.

 

My biggest fear is simple - not being able to ride!

For me it is a very big part of my life, and if it means I have to be hypervigilant to avoid the morons doing stupid stuff in cages - so be it. I do have the 'withering stare' down pat. I try not to ride in cities (I live in the country) and ride to enjoy the experience, whether fast or slow, rain or shine. It's too good to miss.

Cheers, SB

 

I agree with Josh, I also have a fear of drivers using their mobile phones while on the move, it's a matter of time before one of these morons ends up crashing into the back of me, my solution was to ride slightly above the speed limit so not to get tailgated until I got done for speeding!

These idiots are in charge of a 1+ tonne vehicle and they're pissing about with their smart phone checking their facebook status updates, one of these days i'm gonna beat these cretins with their smart phone until hopefully the smart bit of the phone rubs off on them

 

Good question for a thread I didn't get a chance to read all the posts but I wondered if maybe we should, instead of just talk about what our fears are, maybe add a little bit about what we could do to overcome that fear.

With that being said, let's take a look at the above post which lists braking, or not being able to stop in time, as a big fear. This is a common one and as you said it affects how you ride because you are worried that something bad will happen if you can't stop in time to avoid it. What could you do?

How could you go about breaking through this fear? How would your riding be different if you were certain that you could stop as fast as you possibly could in any given situation?

Misti

 

Honestly, only way I can overcome mine is to practice. Keep braking later and later, creeping closer and closer to my fear.

How it affects my riding? Early braking encourages lazy turning. Which is ok-ish on the street. Shouldn't be out dragging a knee on I95 after all. Problem is you can get accustomed to lazy steering. And when a situation occurs that requires a quick steer, maybe to avoid an obstacle in the road, I may not be prepared to perform one. Never mind the obvious of not braking to my full limits.

 

my fear is definitely tire slip.. laid my bike down on by running over a single leaf during a corner.. i was fine but entirely embarrassed and lost a little pride.. ha.
i'm still hyper focused on what is in front of my when i ride.

 

haha dont be embarrassed. I remember when I hit the deck, yea it sucked, but I was just happy to be alive and essentially unhurt. But you are fine man, the hardest part is getting over the fear. I found my self hesitating, and target acquisition issues, but push through it. Now I rided hella comfortable... to comfortable I wonder 0-o

 

While not being able to stop in time is a legitimate fear (even under normal circumstances) has never been an issue with me, I try to keep my head on a swivel and look at least several hundred yards ahead of me, or as far as I can see around curves or hills. I never look any closer than 4-5 car lengths ahead of me.

If I'm on a multi-lane highway, I'm always looking at traffic, the speed of vehicles ahead of me, and how they are driving. Quite often you can anticipate what a certain vehicle will do by how close they are behind another vehicle, how fast they are approaching it, etc. I also always try to look for 'emergency routes' should some moron cut in front of me (even if it's the shoulder or between lanes).

I also made time to get real comfy with the front brakes of my bike: how much pressure is required for a given situation, and being cognizant enough to quickly ease up if the brakes lock (I have this down to a science in my cage).

The deer/large wildlife issue is definitely a big fear for me as well but my biggest fear is lowsiding/highsiding around a curve due to whatever...loose debris, over-throttle or worse, a blowout. And until I can get a suit with 'draggable knees', I'm also fearful of leaning it too far over and scraping the pegs hard enough to impede the flow somehow, or messing up my foot.
I know leaning the bike over at the right angle takes practice but in situations like that, any mistake, even a small one, can prove costly.