How safe is riding a motorbike?
Motorcycling is changing. Not too long ago, pretty much everything we sold was a sports bike or a sport-tourer. Bikes designed to get somewhere quickly, and as a consquence, that's how a lot of us rode (and sometimes still do).
Sports bikes have been in decline for ten years or so, and the rise of the adventure bike like the brilliant Honda Africa Twin, retro bike like the CB1100RS and street bikes line the friendly Honda CB650F tell you it's more about the exploring a great new route or getting around without fuss, and not necessarily about being on the limit everywhere you go.
If you ride safely within your limits, don't speed in built up areas (where speeds are limited to 30, 40 and 50mph) and pay attention to other road users then you'll very likely to never need the protective clothing we recommend that you should be wearing.
Bikes are getting safer each year too. ABS is standard on new bikes over 125cc, 125cc have combined brakes and daytime running lights are now standard across the range too.