“He doesn’t really like the crotch rockets, how you have to lean and everything.”
I’ll forego my comments on my hatred of the term “crotch rocket”… But seriously, “how you have to lean”? Uh, show me ONE bike that you don’t have to lean. Please, I’ll wait. In the meantime, while I’ll be collecting my Social Security checks, who ever it is that’s looking will STILL be looking. Cruiser, dirt bike, fully-raked-out chopper, sport bike — the ALL turn by leaning. Yes, sport bikes have higher pegs and are built such that you can generally lean it over farther, but that certainly doesn’t exempt any other bike from HAVING to lean in order to turn.
“So he’s probably thinking it’s a crotch rocket too, and that I’ll get myself killed.”
Again with the crotch rocket thing… But believe me, you can kill yourself just fine on a cruiser or motard, a sport bike by itself doesn’t make it any more likely. Cars turn in front of touring bikes just like any other, they merge into you, “don’t see you”, etc. In fact, though, in a situation where you go into a corner a little too hot, a sport bike is actually better equipped to come out of it on the road. Not saying that makes it okay to rail every turn, just that it’s all in the rider’s control.
Not wanting you to get hurt IS a good thing, but I think his arguments need some more work.