Bikes are safer than quads . . . . my achin' ***!

[SPDSNYPR]

Why are people always spouting off about how dirt bikes are so much safer than quads? I even hear this at the Honda dealership (the salesman said he wouldn't sell me a quad for my 10-year old son BC he thought they were dangerous).

I seem to see more people get hurt badly on dirt bikes than quads. People fall and injure themselves all the time out at our local track. Monday some guy ruptured his spleen and liver. A friend broke 9 ribs last year and punctured a lung. Another frined got a concussion and broke his leg.

Is there some sort of statistics that show bikes or safer, or is there some sort of logic I'm missing? I know quads are heavier, but it seems like you have to work at it to fall off of one. Dirt bike guys are constantly eating it. Even the really good ones.

So how are machines that people are always crashing on safer than machines that people crash less on?

I don't get it.

[coryatver]

for some reason it is acceptible that people get hurt on dirtbikes. But people getting hurt on quads is not. Major reason is there seems to be a lot more stupid people that ride quads than dirt bikes. Its hard to carry a cooler on a dirtbike.

[ZeroLogic]

Would you rather have a quad flip ontop of you or a dirt bike? Would you rather have a dirt bike tire grab your leg or a quad tire?

They are both dangerous, just that bikes are much more lighter.

[Regular_Joe]

The general feelings are .....

Generally when you fall on a dirtbike you end up off and away from the machine. This is where you get the broken leg, arm, etc. On a quad when you wreak it is hard to get away from and you end up with it on top of you. Here the injuries are more serious. Generally you are a little more cautious on a quad as well.

Dirtbikes = More frequent, less serious injuries
ATVs = Less frequent, more serious injuries

[Ruby Soho]

i look at it like, a dirtbike your not as attached to as you are a quad. difference is, you can go alot bigger on a bike, and the bigger you go the more you can get hurt.

a quad is more dangerous IMO, the only safe thing about a quad is that you dont need to balance it when your a beginner.

[smr]

I've raced both (even 3 wheelers) I've been racing since the 80's and either one is dangerous.

I will have to say that bikes seem to be safer because people respect them more. Your not likely to go to a family picnic and see some 8 yr old cruising around on dads DRZ400. But it's not uncomman at all to see an 8 yr (or two) cruising around on a 400 big bear.

you feel safer in turns on a bike though because you can lean. Other than that a bike is usually more dangerous especially in the sand. Tires wash out and stuff

[powermadd400ex]

the way i see it is their are wayy more drunks riding quad than bikes. thats wat make us good riders look bad
like cory said you cant carry a cooler on a bike.
alot more idiots are proned to ride a quad than a bike. because as a beginner, it seems fairly easy to ride a quad casually. on a bike is takes a little bit more skill and praticise. basically there are alot more inexperieced riders on quad than bikes.

[wilkin250r]

Originally posted by smr
I will have to say that bikes seem to be safer because people respect them more. Your not likely to go to a family picnic and see some 8 yr old cruising around on dads DRZ400. But it's not uncomman at all to see an 8 yr (or two) cruising around on a 400 big bear.

I honestly believe that bikes are "safer", because of exactly this reason. People respect them more.

By nature, bikes iherently feel dangerous. They are very unstable at slow speeds, which is where everyone start out as a beginner. You also have to lean into corners, which takes some practice before you feel comfortable. Almost everone that ever tries a motorbike has a small crash almost imediately, maybe scrape a knee. Right away, they respect the bike, and learn their limitations.

Quads are different, because the feel safe. You don't tip, you don't fall, it's very easy to get up to speed and exceed your limitations because you haven't learned where your limitations are. And unfortunately, while bikes get more stable at higher speeds, quads become less stable at high speeds.

Like smr posted, nobody in there right mind is going to let 10yr old Little Johnny take a spin on daddy's CR250, but they let him take the a spin on the Raptor, without a helmet.

It's not because quads are more dangerous by themselves, I don't think they're any more dangerous than bikes. It's only because people don't respect them the same.


And the reason you see more crashes (or worse crashes) on bikes are two reasons. The suspension on bikes is so much better, so people jump them bigger. Bigger air leads to greater impact, greater injury. The other reason is simple numbers, statistics. There are more bikes out there, you'll see more crashes simply by nature of higher volume.

I think i found the next pro on a quad. The kid I think he said was 7 or maybe it was 9? he was on a MX z400 haulin *** and doing jumps lol. It was a bit scary watching a kid that when standing his rear is almost on the seat lol. The quad couldnt even tell there was a rider but man for being so young and small this kid could ride

[SPDSNYPR]

I guess I can see the safer thing for kids/beginners. But I was looking at a 90 at the Honda dealership, and they said basically no way. And my kid is 10 and is stronger than his mother. He's also very cautious - not a big risk taker.

But I can see both sides of the argument. It seems like - if being supervised - the quad would be safer to learn on. Not going to fall off a lot, etc. But I understand that a machine 50% greater in weight will be more to land on you.

I dunno.

[XCRacer236]

any idiot can buy a quad since he doesn't have to balance. a idiot that has no idea what hes doing can buy a quad, and go out and think hes some almighty human, and wreck and about kill himself. an idiot like that will look at a quad, and think "wow that has 4 wheels, its never gonna flip"

THAT, is why some people think they are more dangerous. IMO anyway...

[k4f5x0r]

again with the weight issue. the power is the same but its alot lighter. its easier to move in general if something bad is gunna happen. you can dump it just incase and it will most likely prevent damage.

also dirtbikes are just easier to bail on. you can just jump off the back if you REALLY have to. with quads the plastics completely block your legs and you pretty much have to jjump to the side or infront.

[gcart2]

It seems as though the quad always finds you when you fall off:confused:

[jesseweaver]

i think the bikes are more dangerous but only because of how much bigger they go. look at a pro mx race. those guys are hanging it all out, not backing off at all, blitzing whoops at 65 mph flying all over the place. im not taking anything away from the quads, i know those guys go all out to, but you can only do so much on a quad. if quads were doing that and hitting like 130 ft stuff in a race i think they would be much more dangerous.

[Ryan]

I gotta agree with wilkin250r.... You have much more respect for a bike because it can feel unstable at slow speeds. Its easy to loose respect for an atv, pushing it past your limitations.



Another reasons satistics are so high, is probably because more people ride atvs over dirt bikes.

[woodsman250r]

Bikes and quads are both dangerous, that is a given. However quads are considered to be more dangerous because of the term "Quadtard." The quadtard is the person you see on a quad with no helmet, little experience, riding double, racing on the roads, cooler on the back, doing wheelies and doughnuts in the parking areas, littering on the trails, riding utilities on the MX tracks, and just being a complete tool to the sport in general. These people make ALL quad riders look bad regardless if everyone fits in that description. Lets face it, we have all seen riders like that on quads at some point. Reason being, it is easier for an idiot to get on a quad than to get on a dirt bike. There are always ATV accidents in my area, and majority of them include riding double, drinking, being on roads and no helmets. There are a lot less people around here that ride dirt bikes because starting out it takes a lot more skill. Not saying that riding a quad doesn't, but an inexperienced rider is much more likely to take 4 wheels over 2. This is why you see the rise in ATV related accidents. Bikes hand out there fair share of accidents too, but it just seems like the people who ride them are more cautious and more experienced. Just last week my buddy and I (bike riders) were going down a trail and almost hit a quadtard head on. He had a small kid sitting on the front rack, and another riding on the seat behind him and none had on a helmet. We stopped to see if they were OK and he proceeded to yell at us and say how we were idiots for not paying attention on the trail, in which he was going the wrong direction on! I couldn't help myself and told the guy how he was putting his kids in big time danger. His predictable quadtard response was the middle finger, followed by "F*&% you man! I know more about riding than you ever will." I wish I would have had the chance to get his name so I could look for him at the next GNCC in the "ride your two kids on the utility racks with no helmet expert class."

[trick450r]

When i was younger i never realized why the government put the age restriction on quads...not that im alittle older, the system makes alot more sense in that respect. Believe it or not being safe on a quad revolves alot around mental maturity. if your big enough for a 450r doesnt mean you are developed enough mentally to respect its abilities.

[reptikes]

Originally posted by powermadd400ex
the way i see it is their are wayy more drunks riding quad than bikes. thats wat make us good riders look bad
like cory said you cant carry a cooler on a bike.
alot more idiots are proned to ride a quad than a bike. because as a beginner, it seems fairly easy to ride a quad casually. on a bike is takes a little bit more skill and praticise. basically there are alot more inexperieced riders on quad than bikes.

Have to agree a 100%.

[bwamos]

ATV is easier to ride and harder to master.
Therefore it is easier for people to ride beyond their capability.

Also, drunk dumbasses that can barely walk can easily hop on an ATV and take off getting himself and/or someon else hurt. Where as on a Motorcycle he'd never even get it kickstarted let alone out of the parkinglot/campsite.

Also, the false sense of security on an ATV causes less people to wear helmets.

[Ryan]

Lots of good points here!

[rbgnwa45]

Injuries can happen while going hella slow on a trail, I don't race but I've had a few funny crashes. In like '00 I got an '82 KE100 as my first bike. If I was getting into any muddy trails I'd slide all over the place and sometimes fall over because of the mud stuck in the forks, its a lot of front end weight, that and the back tire was crap. That's about it. A lot of times I was trying to take it past it's jumping limits, which were soooo bad. The only injury I had on it was when I fell over and couldn't get up, my leg was touching the exhaust for about 5 seconds and it burned it pretty bad. It was worse than riding a mountain bike with decent shocks lol, it was too slow to get injured. The only fast bike I've ridden was an 02 RM125, I took it around a gravel turn and flicked the thorottle and it almost came out from under me, I had my leg out and everything, but that's a scary feeling and I didn't think the engine would make it's power that fast, they respond really well, not really the torque on the bottom end, but the transition to where the midrange picks up is quick (what is that like 3-5000 rpm). On most quads you can pin it around a gravel turn and not doubt that you can handle it just fine. I used to ride with someone who was riding a bigbear 350 and we were going about 45 down a road that had a huge 10-foot ditch to the side of us and a fence a few meters after, I was behind him and he looked back for a second, and right when turned back the front right tire grabbed the gravel and he went into the ditch topped out, he rode it out, and it was really crazy to watch because the grass in the ditch was a few feet tall, it was like he disappeared into all this grass, so I stopped and a few seconds later I see him and he drives up onto the road, shuts off his quad and says I'm fking lucky I didn't just get decapicated by that fence, I'm sure the suspension took a beating going down this 8 foot by 10 foot ditch that had rocks etc in it, he could of flipped right off the quad and had it topple over him. So, in some conditions you might be thinking a quad is safe when it could equally get you into trouble just for having the extra tires because they could pull you in a direction, it was a 2x4. When you look back on a dirtbike that usually wouldn't happen at a higher speed (20-30mph even) unless there was a lot of wind. One time I was riding on the back of an ATC in a forrest and the back tire hit some log the driver went into a tree rode up it and we fell off, going like 5. It also depends on how long you are riding for or your stamina, especially on a quad, with bad suspension, there are just too many variables. I've flipped an RM80 and landed on my bare knees on rocks etc, that hurt, but I was popping the clutch and trying to ride a wheelie. Stupid hurts. I can't even say I'd like either a quad or bike for trails, a bike would be easily guided through trees, but if there were branches infront of me, on a quad I could go, hold the branches, go, etc.. try doing that on a bike.

[Wills77]

when i was 10 a dealer said they couldnt sell us a lt80 because of the age thing then we said it was for my sister and he was still erry about it. and when i was 13 another dealer said that he couldnt sell me a blaster but he could sell me a crf450. then he was like i know the quads for him but just tell me its not and you can take it.

[krt400ex]

i think that the whole reason ppl say that bikes are safer is because it is much easier to bail on a bike. the other thing is that it hurts more when you have a 400+lb quad land on you as opposed to a 215lb bike

[SPDSNYPR]

Well - just got back from taking a friend/coworker to the ER after he crashed his bike while we were riding. He seperated a shoulder. On the way home, stopped by the Honda shop. One of the salesmen told me he was at the hospital all day yesterday with a friend who crashed a bike at the same track. Another coworked hurt himself on a dritbike a few weeks ago riding with us. The time I went riding before, a guy ruptured his spleen and liver on a dirt bike.

I'm just not feeling it on the safer dirtbike thing. It may be easier to bail off, but it's also easier to fall off or lose control. I dunno. I'm really thinking a smaller quad would be safer for my son - as long as he doesn't try a bunch of crazy **** on it.

[Ryan]

Anyone who rides hard is prone to injury.


Actually, its really hard to say which one is more dangerous... But the simple fact that the average joe who has never ridden before, can jump on a quad and speed, fly threw corners with confidence. I couldn't tell you how many accidents i've seen, of first time riders.

As soon as I sit on a bike and get going, my confidence goes down. They do not feel safe and stable like an atv. You won't see the average joe pulling corners fast on a bike.


Competitively, I'd say both are equally dangerous. Besides the weight and roll factor of an atv.


Anyways, lets drop the subject and try to ride safe, no matter what were on.

[zer0761]

i think that their are so many more idiots on quads because they think its so easy and they dont have to do anything but push something in and go when theres really a lot more to it

Originally posted by powermadd400ex
the way i see it is their are wayy more drunks riding quad than bikes. thats wat make us good riders look bad
like cory said you cant carry a cooler on a bike.
alot more idiots are proned to ride a quad than a bike. because as a beginner, it seems fairly easy to ride a quad casually. on a bike is takes a little bit more skill and praticise. basically there are alot more inexperieced riders on quad than bikes.

thts exactly y there is no quad trails near my house
lik over the summer these 2 idiots were drinkin all day and flyin up and down the road on their quads w/o helmets, well one ran into the back of another and he ended up in the hospital so it makes us all look bad

[trx310R#24]

Originally posted by ZeroLogic
Would you rather have a quad flip ontop of you or a dirt bike? Would you rather have a dirt bike tire grab your leg or a quad tire?

They are both dangerous, just that bikes are much more lighter.

true! iv rode both for years an i think they are both dangerous but in some cases you may cash on a dirt bike an walk away fine. but then on the other hand you crash less on a quad bc the 4 tires iv crashed ddirtbikes alot more then iv crashed quads but i never really got to badly hurt on a dirtbike...

an *** for the tire grab your leg your f-u-c-k-e-d if its a quad or bike lol maybe more on a bike think about it