Motorcycle Self Defense

I wrote about bikers and guns a while ago (Do you still meet the nicest people on a Honda). It brings up a good point, kind of controversial also. Should you carry a loaded weapon for self defense while riding a motorcycle. I have never carried a gun while riding. Nor mace, or a tazer . No weapons at all, ever.

The fact is that as a motorcyclist your main threat is not from guns but from traffic accidents. I would guess accidents outnumber shootings about 10,000 to one. My main goal is to avoid the 10,000 chances of dying in a accident. Carrying a gun causes problems at borders, and statistically there is always a chance you will be shot by your own gun. (17% in the police force).

I have never been in a situation with my bike where I was really worried about my safety. People I meet are invariably nice or non threatening. So I shouldn't even be talking about motorcycle self-defence, since I seem to have no experience.

But much like driving defensively, I think there are preventive ways to look at self defence. My first defense is to never go where I am likely to need a gun. How do I know where to go? One way is to simply read the news. If there is a war going on, don't go there.

Also look for reports of tourists especially bikers being shot or robbed. But with stories of robberies, you need to dig a little deeper, because robberies occur everywhere - there have even been several holdups in our neighbourhood since I have lived here. I went to Baja, Mexico a few years ago, even though the day before I left, a story came out about Canadian tourists being robbed and left with concussion beside the road when bandits took their motor home.

Motorcycles do have some advantages when it comes to avoiding risky situations. Most people do not know how to ride a motorcycle, so your bike is not a good getaway vehicle. Even if a robber does know how to ride, he knows that not all motorcycles start easily, and all have different quirks - not like cars where you can jump in any one and drive off. If a gunman tries to "jack" a motorcycle, it can fall down and is hard to pick up. Also, if a lone gunman ever does try to steal your motorcycle, he will need to put the gun away when he starts to ride (remember clutch and throttle are both hand controls). So if you absolutely must fight back, your best chance is to give him the keys without argument, then wait until he tries to ride away. But if you are being robbed by an armed gang, I would say your chances of winning are slim to none, so avoid armed gangs at all cost.

I should not need to explain that a motorcycle cannot carry a lot of stuff worth robbing. Also your stolen bike is not easy to sell if it is not a Harley, and is all covered in dirt and bugs and looks like crap (I don't wash my bike during a trip).

Motorcyclists are always at risk, so are more alert than car divers.

Motorcycles are rare. Why bother setting up to rob a motorcyclist when you have to wait for a hundred cars to go by before you see one - and even then you may get two or three at a time travelling together. And motorcyclists tend to stop and help each other even if they are not travelling together.

Motorcycles are hard for bandits or terrorists to stop. They can go around and between things, and make u-turns faster than cars, and can accelerate faster than cars. To summarize, motorcyclists and farm tractors are equally unattractive bait for thieves.

I tend to avoid travelling at night unless I am sure it is perfectly safe. I try to stay where there are some other people - I don't look for free spots to camp. I check maps so that I don't get lost - getting lost is very bad for safety, in my opinion.

Be aware that motorcyclists always look a bit menacing, so innocent people, who may be carrying a gun might mistake you for a threat and shoot you. I remove my full face helmet before going into a gas station for example.

I suppose getting involved in road rage is one possible way to get shot or beaten up. I use politeness on the road at all time. Purposeful driving and politeness are not mutually exclusive. Don't try to teach other drivers a lesson, no matter how ignorant they may be.

I think I also have an instinct, like a sixth sense, about areas where there is likely to be violence. This I cannot explain, really. It might just be the angry expression on people's faces. It may be that people are gathering in groups. If I start feeling uneasy in a certain area, I try to go some place else. This may be as simple as getting off a back road and onto the nearby interstate highway.

One of the scariest places I have ever found myself was not on my bike, but in the car. Mary Ann and I had stopped at a motel in New Orleans the year before Hurricane Katrina. Most of that city is black, there is a high crime rate, and we were in a run down area. We decided to walk downtown, so asked the clerk, who was white, how long it would take to get to the French Quarter on foot. It depends, he said. "Half an hour usually, if you're being chased, about 10 minutes." We walked, and it wasn't so bad really. And the motel was really cheap.

Compared to New Orleans, Baja Mexico felt very safe. And many years ago, motorcycling in Sierra Leone West Africa (40 years ago) also felt totally safe at any time of day. Also anywhere in Canada or the USA, so far.

So no weapons for me, but I always try to be on the lookout for problems.