Does anyone regularly ride a motorcycle? have you ever wrecked?

I do ortho trauma.

I see motorcycle accident victims almost daily. Most are very experienced riders who get hit by cars/trucks (texters).

It is brutal to see this side.

(no message)

Actually, I don't know anyone who rides regularly who hasn't had an accident...many of them are life-changing.

I rode several years ago, an enduro.

1. Unintentionally laid it over in a sharp turn (wet pavement) and would up unscathed but in a ditch.

2. Riding in the rain, had a long van turn in front of me from the opposite direction. Once she saw me, she stopped blocking the lanes. I chose to intentionally lay it down and I slid a looong way on my back. Road rash and no injury to me 9thankfully0, but my bike was a bit effed up.

I'd ride again, but in more remote areas and not while it's wet.

Buddy in college lost control of a crotch rocket, hit a culvert and had his intestines strung out. Lucky to have lived.

yes and yes

two accidents both caused by drivers not paying attention and doing stupid shite.

I used ride a lot and even did track days at Barbers. Ive low sided half a dozen times or so and fortunately the only time I high sided, I rolled and escaped injury.

The thing is there are people that are not meant to ride motorcycles. You have to be born with a spacial 6th sense of knowing where everything is around you at all times. Furthermore you have to be prepared for the worst case scenerio. Every car traveling in your direction can merge into you, slam on brakes or run over you while you are slowing. When stopped at a light, never be the only one at the light. Every car on side street can pull out in front of you so you must be prepared by covering your brakes. Every on coming car can left hook you (the single most dangerous threat to a rider). Always have an escape route.

As you can see from above, you can not relax with city riding. Motorcycles in the US, belong in less dense rural areas. Now that I have a family, I really dont think Ill get back into it until much later in life.

I worked in ems for many years and when I was younger I wanted a motorcycle. EMS cured me of that want. It doesn't matter who was at fault in an mva. If you were on a motorcycle versus a car.... You lose. How many people in cars do you see not paying attention on the roadways? I could tell many stories of disfigured bodies I've seen in my old job. Many people tell themselves that they are a careful driver and that may be the case, but there are plenty of careful drivers in accidents every day. To each his own but remember if you're in an accident versus a car, or God forbid a truck....you lose.

It's funny that the "I'm buying a motorcycle" brings out everyone that knows someone who was killed or maimed riding a bike. Say you're buying a house and no one responds with the people killed in their homes or broke something falling down the stairs.

Buy the bike. If it's your first - I don't recommend a big Harley or Wing - too heavy. Get a throw down Aero or VStar and learn to ride for a year. Smartest cruiser guys I ever met signed up for a track day with theirs to really learn how to ride them.

As mentioned - assume every car around you doesn't see you.

I think I've had 4 streetbikes in my life with the last bike being a Yamaha Vmax. I can't tell you the times I had to take the shoulder or oncoming lane to avoid the idiot that pulled out on me. I was lucky. Never wrecked it or layed it down. I just rode with the expectation that the car waiting to pull out was gonna do it in front of me. Ended up selling it to buy a drag car but I miss riding almost daily. I'll have another one. One day.

Get the bike. Ride like the cars don't see you.

What AYC said is pretty spot on, I have a sportster and from 2010-2014 I rode most days of the week, now I take it out every few months. I've never (thankfully) wrecked it but I attributed some of that to my riding style, I rode aggressive and defensive, constantly keeping my head on a swivel, always making myself visible, even if that meant riding like a douchebag. My brother and my dad both laid theirs down and were thankfully relatively uninjured. Even when I take it out now I notice a good bit more people are playing with their phones than they were just a few years ago.