Great thread. Admittedly, I commute the MC almost full-time and bike in on occasion.
I've been back on the bike for two years and have operated my first MC for one year. I have mixed feeling over which is safer. My family and friends worry the most about bicycle commuting. I'm more worried on the moto. I have awesome braking but at those speeds it takes some time to haul you down. You'd think less inertia would be faster to decelerate but as someone here said the friction co-efficient is not the same. A four-wheeled race car will out-brake a race motorcycle. Hard to believe, but even out-turn.
The maximum braking force you can apply on cycles is that which your back wheel is rising and just losing all traction with the ground. Of course, you have less control now. I find it easier to get away with braking and turning at the same time on the bicycle.
I don't bike much in heavy traffic, so I'm skewed a bit and think pedaling is safer. The moto I ride more often in heavy traffic and if someone makes a move I can't avoid I know it is going to be likely severe. I feel I can 'walk off' the bicycle more readily. Suppose the same goes for the moto at slow speeds.
Definitely ATGATT! Yes, boots, armor, pants, jacket, gloves, FF/MX helmet every single time I climb on. I've crashed once on the street, low-sided in a parking lot at 15 mph practicing tight figure eights. Crashed more times than I can count in the dirt.
*Some information interpreted from
Total Control by Lee Parks,
Motocross Riding Tips by editors of Dirt Biker Magazine and
Mastering Mountain Biking Skills by Brian Lopes and Lee McCormack.
Since we're posting some pics, here's my dual-sport/motard/dirt bike, (which is a breeze to trackstand and crawl while slipping the clutch. I don't ride it when there's snow/ice/salt on the ground, even knobbies don't do well without studs/spikes.)
Heading down the highway to the lake with 17's and sport bike tires. Look how small my footprint is.
First time out with the 18/21" knobbies and I submerged it. Got help pulling it out and rode my bike back down to change and properly dispose of old oil because it was milky.
That's as much as I'll clutter up this thread, more stuff I've done is linked from my sig.