I've had my 2006 S40 for almost seven years. In all that time I have never seen another one out on the road. Until yesterday afternoon. And I almost ran over the kid who was riding it.

My wife and I were in the car on a local road that runs through a commercial/industrial  area. This road has a forty mile per hour speed limit,  has very few actual cross streets, but there are stop lights every three or four hundred yards or so, so people can exit  the parking lots on either side of the road.

I was approaching one of these intersections - I had the green light - , and saw three motorcycles coming the other way with their left turn blinkers on. Traffic was very light. Most of the businesses on this stretch of road are closed on weekends.

As I approached  the intersection the first of the three bikes turned left in front of me. That rider, on a little sport bike, had enough room to safely make the turn, but just barely.

Something told me that the second bike was going to turn too, and I was already on the brakes when the front of my car got to the first of the two crosswalk lines. Sure enough, the rider on the second bike started to slow - I saw the forks compress - then did a little weave, and then turned right in front of me. I stood on the brakes and stopped about halfway into the intersection.

The rider on that bike must have realised she wasn't going to make it, panicked, and stabbed the brakes right after initiating the turn. She stalled the bike right in the middle of my lane, probably two feet in front of my hood, dead center between my headlights. She looked at me with eyes as wide as dinner plates, pulled in the clutch and paddled  the rest of the way across the lane. That's when I realised that the bike was a fairly new S40.  

The rider on the third bike had the presence of mid to stop in his lane with his left blinker on. Since I was already stopped. and there were no cars coming up behind me, I waved him through so he could turn into the parking lot and join his friends. Then I continued on my way. I remember my wife, who rarely swears, yelling "Holy Sh*t" sometime during this little drama.

The girl on the Suzuki was very lucky I think. I believe that the only  reason I even noticed those three riders was because I have been riding motorcycles myself for a long time, and I have trained myself to be very aware of what's going on on the road around me, even when I'm in my car and not on a bike. I hate to think about what might have happened had she - I'm almost positive the rider on the Suzuki was a girl -  turned in front of someone who was daydreaming his/her way down the road, had the green, and was oblivious to what was going on. Which is unfortunately the way a lot of people drive.

Hopefully the next Savage I encounter out on the road will just be cruising along and my interaction will be nothing more than a friendly wave.

This one was a little too close for comfort.

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I completely agree with that. Even the MSF beginner rider class, which is voluntary, not mandatory, in the US, is geared more toward simply passing the test for a motorcycle endorsement, than it is toward training new riders to ride safely on the roads. The MSF class is better than no training at all, but it could be a lot better IMO.

Unfortunately a stricter path to a license, or a tiered licensing system with multiple steps to a full, unrestricted license would be a very tough sell here. I think there may still be states that don't even require a motorcycle endorsement. When I bought my first street bike many many  years ago I was 17, had only had a drivers license for about a year and lived in Virginia. At that time there was no such thing as a Virginia  motorcycle license. I had ridden dirt bikes, so I knew how to operate the controls, but I had never ridden a motorcycle on the road until I picked up that first bike and rode it home from the dealer.

Learning by doing is fine as long as you manage to survive your rookie mistakes and don't repeat them. Some people aren't that lucky.   I made most of my mistakes on slower, much less congested roads than what we have today, with, for the most part, less aggressive, more attentive drivers. I also learned to ride on the street on  a much smaller, lighter motorcycle - it was all I could afford on the earnings from an after school job - than some of the bikes that brand new riders buy nowadays.

Savage/S40 is target marketed at new riders and women, remember the candy coloured paint job. Im my country they are learner approved motorcycles because of their 32 horsepower rating. So you will find learners and the inexperienced on them.

I see the Savage pretty regularly in the northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area.....about 1 every 2 months.

I see 3 in parking lots as their owners use them as commuters, another 1 I see parked in a driveway in the evenings or weekends, and then I see a few ride past me on the highway.

I used to see the old style Honda Rebels being used as commuter bikes on a regular basis too - they have started to fade away.

I see a few from time to time, as well as  a "girls bike", they are very suited to the post male menopausal fifty plus age bracket, as evidenced by the membership of this forum, I love mine.

ohiomoto wrote on 07/27/18 at 05:22:44:



Thank you for reminding me to update my profile, which is now done. I live in Norway.

Just 4 million total ?
Are you sure ?
That seems really low to me.

batman wrote on 07/31/18 at 09:43:45:


No matter how you look at it, be that the number of accidents per capita or per mile driven, Norway comes out at top. And it isn't due to us having good roads, either; we probably have the worst roads in Europe http://www.newsinenglish.no/2009/03/02/norways-roads-worst-in-europe/

The relatively low rate of people killed on the roads here are down to education, safer cars, very strict laws against driving under influence, and relatively low speed limits combined with big penalties for breaking them.