All of the above nodes seem to support the premise of the title. I disagree with the title of this node. I think that motorcycles should not have a higher speed limit.
Speeding accounted for 41% of all fatal motorcycle crashes as opposed to 30% for all vehicles. Speed correlates with higher death rates.
Both Starrynight and Wedge.net tell us that a motorcycle rider is less likely to get in an accident than a car driver. This is false. For every 100 milion miles traveled, 1.9 car drivers died, but 36.5 motorcycle riders died. That's 19.2 times more likely. If you break it down by vehicle numbers, rather than by distance, there were 57 motorcycle deaths per 100,000 registered vehicles in 1999, compared to 17 for cars. That's 3.4 times as many.
By the way, the most common type of motorcycle death was caused by the motorcycle leaving the road (41%), followed by the motorcycle or other vehicle running a red light (18%). Motorcycle deaths are almost evenly divided between rural and urban settings (switching in recent years to rural being the more common). Also, 91% of motorcycle deaths were male.
Where does he get all these crazy numbers?! They come from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, who keeps tabs on all fatal accidents in the United States down to the minute detail.