I grew up in the late fifties thru the sixties riding Harley choppers. For about the first five years they never even had a front brake and the back brake was actuated by a rod hooked to the brake pedal. The plus side of that experience was that you learned to automatically leave plenty of room between you and whatever is in front of you. Space is the saving grace when riding a motorcycle or even driving a car. Today I am 76 and have 60 years of riding big bikes under my belt. I still ride with more space between me and the next car than most others do. One of my vintage choppers still has only a rear brake and a suicide clutch and jockey shift and I still ride it. Our Rocket has ABS and stops on the proverbial dime but I still ride it the same way as the vintage chopper with no front brake. I like to go fast but only in the right situation, not in traffic. Helmets were not part of my attire for the first 40 years and armored clothes was not yet invented. I still ride mostly in a tee shirt and jeans and tennis shoes although I now wear a small DOT carbon fiber helmet. The safety clothing is GREAT once you get in a wreck or go down but the priority for me is to foresee possible problems and take myself out of that equation. Riding a motorcycle no matter how safe you ride it is a dangerous proposition, if you get hit by someone, an animal jumps in front of you, the road has oil on it in a turn, the bike speed wobbles or numerous other things that cause you to crash you will be hurt. I have been with more than one person as he died on a motorcycle. For me it comes down to staying aware, paying attention and luck.
