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Sturgis-The Numbers Are In And, It Aint Good

Bonerov said:
As a fellow nerd: :thumbup

Seriously, as Jason pointed out, it's amazing that only 9 people died. For those making comments about sportbikers actually riding their bikes, you should probably check to see how many people ride in for Sturgis from VERY far away. How many sportbikers ride their bikes to Laguna from more than even 1000 miles away? Very few....
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Spent 3 days riding to and around the Lassen/Graeagle area.

I'd say 90% of the bikes I saw were HD's or cruisers of one form or another.

I'd say about 5% of the bikes I saw were sportbikes.
 
Bonerov said:
As a fellow nerd: :thumbup

Seriously, as Jason pointed out, it's amazing that only 9 people died. For those making comments about sportbikers actually riding their bikes, you should probably check to see how many people ride in for Sturgis from VERY far away. How many sportbikers ride their bikes to Laguna from more than even 1000 miles away? Very few....
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No shit, but these numbers don't include fatalities traveling to and from Sturgis. It only includes once they're there, and from everything I've seen or heard, once there, those bike stay fairly stationary and/or are used for cruising. Not at all comparable to a group of sport bike riders that would likely be out in the hills using their bikes for what they were designed for, i.e., riding in a sporty manner. The latter would be expected to have a higher serious injury ratio, IMO, so I'm not surprised that the Sturgis numbers are relatively low.
 
Archimedes said:
Yes, but the sportbike riders would actually be riding their bikes.
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Are you sure?

GAJ said:
Spent 3 days riding to and around the Lassen/Graeagle area.

I'd say 90% of the bikes I saw were HD's or cruisers of one form or another.

I'd say about 5% of the bikes I saw were sportbikes.
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This is my experience too, once I get away from the usual racer road haunts. If you judge how likely folks are to ride based upon those observed - you know - actually riding, it's the cruiser folks, not the spr0tbilers who are actually out riding.

I'm sure that Sturgis has its fair share of trailer queens in attendance, but I'm guessing that the majority of those attendees actually rode there.
 
GAJ said:
For the whole State of California there are about 1.2 motorcycle fatalities per day.

For the week of Sturgis to match the Statewide figure on a daily basis is crazy.
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I think you have to keep it in perspective. I would bet that there's more riders at the Sturgis rally than are in California in total.
 
GAJ said:
Spent 3 days riding to and around the Lassen/Graeagle area.

I'd say 90% of the bikes I saw were HD's or cruisers of one form or another.

I'd say about 5% of the bikes I saw were sportbikes.
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Precisely what I was saying. Get away from the cities and it's all cruisers and Beemers. I always get a chuckle when sportbike folks say that the cruiser crowd don't ride their bikes. :rolleyes
 
Bonerov said:
Precisely what I was saying. Get away from the cities and it's all cruisers and Beemers. I always get a chuckle when sportbike folks say that the cruiser crowd don't ride their bikes. :rolleyes
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So what you're saying is that bikes designed for longer distance riding usually get ridden longer distances from major population centers...

Where a bike is ridden doesn't have anything to do with how often a bike is ridden.

Honestly, I have nothing against Harley riders. They tend to putt around slowly and safely for the most part. Ban those fucking loud pipes and I'd be singing their praises.
 
Bonerov said:
Precisely what I was saying. Get away from the cities and it's all cruisers and Beemers. I always get a chuckle when sportbike folks say that the cruiser crowd don't ride their bikes. :rolleyes
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This is true, except I now add the Can Am Spyder to that list. On all my long rides this summer and all my trips in Glacier Park have shown a good 10% of riders on Can Am Spyders, maybe even a little bit more.

Mostly Canadian plates.
 
Bonerov said:
Precisely what I was saying. Get away from the cities and it's all cruisers and Beemers. I always get a chuckle when sportbike folks say that the cruiser crowd don't ride their bikes. :rolleyes
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Given the amount of miles on the ones for sale on da Craig, I'd say they don't. :laughing
 
Meter Man said:
This is true, except I now add the Can Am Spyder to that list. On all my long rides this summer and all my trips in Glacier Park have shown a good 10% of riders on Can Am Spyders, maybe even a little bit more.

Mostly Canadian plates.
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I wonder if those just appeal more to CANadian-AMericans
 
GAJ said:
For the whole State of California there are about 1.2 motorcycle fatalities per day.

For the week of Sturgis to match the Statewide figure on a daily basis is crazy.
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Not so crazy. There are about 650,000 motorcycles registered in California. Many surely do not see much action, perhaps broken down or a second or little-used bike. So the number in use should be roughly comparable to Sturgis attendance... and Sturgis lasts a week, not one day.
 
rodr said:
Not so crazy. There are about 650,000 motorcycles registered in California. Many surely do not see much action, perhaps broken down or a second or little-used bike. So the number in use should be roughly comparable to Sturgis attendance... and Sturgis lasts a week, not one day.
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This is what I was getting at...just couldn't find the numbers to support it.
 
CABilly said:
I wonder if those just appeal more to CANadian-AMericans
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You don't see very many in the Bay Area?

Hell, two different groups of them pulled in to get fuel when I got back from a 7 1/2 hour ride yesterday.

I'd like to give one a try, the look like fun.


I also see a lot more trikes than in the past. Mostly Harley/Goldwing trikes, but some variations as well.
 
I don't give a shit what anyone says, I'd totally rock a Can-Am if I had the money.
 
A whole week of whiskey, wheels and toothless women. I think only 9 fatalities is a huge success.
 
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