As a rider, you should behave more like an airplane pilot than an automobile driver when it comes to operating and maintaining your vehicle. For example, you should make pre-ride inspections a routine. Beyond these quick looks around your bike before you ride, you should also make it a habit to keep the bike clean. If it's dirty, you are more likely to miss damaged wires, cracked parts, etc. during your inspection. Also, when you clean you have a great opportunity to examine carefully the various parts you're cleaning.
Earlier this week, I was going over my bike with a micro-fiber cloth and spray wax when I found a cracked mounting bracket. (See photos.) My guess is that this crack resulted from hitting a particularly rough pot hole this spring. My left saddle bag contains my tools, first aid kit, rain suit, etc. It almost always has at least ten pounds or more of stuff in it. When I hit the pot hole, that weight was enough to snap this mounting bracket. I found a replacement on eBay and expect it to arrive in the next ten days or so.
People sometimes tease me about my obsessive maintenance habits, but then they and others marvel at how good this bike still looks at 82,500 miles!
Keep the shiny side up.