Another Reason Why Scooters Are Better Than Motorcycles

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Sun Jul 14, 2013 3:33 am

Another good reason why scooters are better than motorcycles is that when scooters get peevish they show it by not starting or refusing to go, whereas, when motorcycles get peevish they sometimes express their pique by trying to boost you into low earth orbit. Dani Pedrosa suffered a fractured collarbone when his parachute failed to deploy on reentry.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Sun Jul 14, 2013 5:12 am

Now that's what I call a high-side!

michelle_7728 · Post by **michelle_7728** » Mon Jul 15, 2013 2:04 am

Wow! That guy got some serious air time!

OldGuy · Post by **OldGuy** » Mon Jul 15, 2013 4:44 am

I bet the judges marked him down for poor form. I wonder if he nailed the landing?

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Mon Jul 15, 2013 5:18 am

OldGuy wrote:I bet the judges marked him down for poor form. I wonder if he nailed the landing?

No, he didn't. From the video replay it is very clear that the landing nailed him.

illnoise · Post by **illnoise** » Mon Jul 15, 2013 5:28 am

Did that just happen this weekend? I saw a few friends facebook posts over the last week about how "this was finally going to be Dani's year." Guess not.

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Mon Jul 15, 2013 5:37 am

illnoise wrote:Did that just happen this weekend? I saw a few friends facebook posts over the last week about how "this was finally going to be Dani's year." Guess not.

Yes, this was Free Practice 3 at Sachsenring this weekend. The thing is, Pedrosa did not break his collarbone, he merely fractured it. He was going to race on Sunday, but in the pre-race checkup his blood pressure bottomed and the doctors refused to clear him. Otherwise, he would have been out there racing. Because of the fact that he scored zero points, he fell to second in the championship race, but he is by no means out. He is only behind by two points in the championship and I will be very surprised if he doesn't coming roaring back at the US MotoGP in one (count 'em, one) week. Because of the famous "incident" between Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden in Hayden's championship-winning year, I am not a big Pedrosa fan, but you have to admire his guts and determination.

wheelbender6 · Post by **wheelbender6** » Tue Jul 16, 2013 1:46 am

Motorcycle.com said that it is the second time this season that he has busted that collarbone. Ouch!

LunaP · Post by **LunaP** » Tue Jul 16, 2013 2:01 am

wheelbender6 wrote:Motorcycle.com said that it is the second time this season that he has busted that collarbone. Ouch!

Yes. Broken collarbones are no joke... I think I read somewhere once that they are ranked in the top 3 most painful bones to break; the other 2 were femur and tailbone.

Southerner · Post by **Southerner** » Tue Jul 16, 2013 3:26 am

If that freaks you out then don't watch any videos from the Isle of Man. It looks positively kamikaze.

Still, I'm pretty sure any scooter is capable of launching you over the bars; you just won't be going as fast. I can envision some grim scenarios involving small wheels and road debris or potholes. One particular memory that sticks is of a childhood friend on an old minibike who hit a brick left on the pavement by under-zealous garbage collectors.

I used up all the Bactine, gauze and athletic tape in the house.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Tue Jul 16, 2013 3:26 am

LunaP wrote:I think I read somewhere once that they are ranked in the top 3 most painful bones to break; the other 2 were femur and tailbone.

Want to dispute that?

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:40 pm

Well, according to this report from Motorcycledaily.com, both Pedrosa and Lorenzo are planning to race at Laguna Seca this weekend. Also, word is that Ducati has not offered American Nicky Hayden a contract for next year, so this may be your last opportunity to see him ride a MotoGP bike at Laguna. As if you needed an excuse to go to the race this weekend, right?

CapnK · Post by **CapnK** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 9:48 pm

It is interesting to watch guys crash, who know *how* to crash, when they have the time to react, albeit very short.

Like in this video at about 1:30 you can see in slo-mo that Marquez is about to do a header at speed, his arm is coming down like he is going to punch pavement, but instead he tucks his hand and arm in, rolling down onto the protection of the elbow pad.

Saved a few broken wrist/arm bones there with that reaction, I'd bet.

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 7:18 pm

Hey, since some folks were interested, the TV schedule for the Laguna race this weekend is live practice on Saturday from 2:00-3:00 PDT on Speed and the race on Sunday from 1:30-3:00 PDT also on Speed.

P.S. Hayden and Ducati have officially announced they are parting ways in 2014, but the hot rumor is that BMW have offered Hayden a World Superbike ride, so it may work out for the best. It would be great to see Hayden racing for the win again instead of fighting tooth and nail for ninth place on that Ducati MotoGP bike.

I can't possibly think of a way to make this post scooter-related except possibly in jest...