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Old Guy – Maybe New Rider
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March 9, 2010 at 10:40 pm #3745Georgew6Participant
Hello Everyone, I can never resist a forum, so here are my few lines. I definitely am inculcated with the view that motorcycles are dangerous. Although this began early on; one of my best friends in High School died on a bike before graduating. Even though this was decades ago, I still remember how he died and what he looked like healthy. Age 17, riding in the rain on a old, busy NJ highway during commuting hours, on a dark, late evening, he skidded into the back of a semi trailer. The combination of natural events probably could not have been worse.
Unfortunately, much later the son of a good friend did a similar stunt on a rolling road, running into the back of a car, while driving at high speed. This time I only witnessed the father’s grief and felt my own for the father.
With all that, I guess I am convinced motorcycles are dangerous, although I still might buy one since, as with many people, I know such things cannot happen to me.
Except that about five years ago I bought, not a motorcycle, but the “perfect” RV camper with a new fancy truck. For $50,000, this camper body and the truck had everything – except stability. For the first time in my life, I felt that slow motion of a truck out of control and rolling over at the last second. Nothing much happened to me, but the insurance company would only pay for a heavily depreciated camper and $12,000 to repair the pickup only. That really left me with a truck to sell and a mountain of debt.
Today is an early day of spring or late winter. That gets my travel urges going and I really would like to whir along the open road to enjoy the rides in the Virginia countryside. Aside from winter and some obviously bad days, the weather is nice here, IMHO. I have also traveled to the Antarctic, and generally like the cold, when dressed properly. Nowadays, cold weather gear is so much better than when I tried skiing in the Colorado Rockies with cheap gear, since college students could not afford much in the way of such things.
Well, that is my long history of fear and desire. if you read this far, thanks and I hope to learn all good things here and end up with a medium sized bike to use on day trips and longer. Maybe even to save money and the planet.
March 10, 2010 at 5:25 am #24871SantaCruzRiderParticipantFear is a tough and typically unwelcome riding companion. It’s healthy (literally) to have a good grasp of how quickly riding can become dangerous, I think a pre-occupation with crashing can stifle your ability to learn proper technique and to avoid freezing when faced with emergency maneuvers. Take it slow and you’ll develop the skills necessary to become a safe rider.
It’s always tough to experience friends who die doing things that you later enjoy or want to enjoy. I’ve had friends die doing everything from driving, scuba diving and sailing, and it always gives me pause to think about the safety of these activities. Of course in the end, obesity and unhealthy diets will probably lead to an early demise for more of my friends than all other activities combined. So I try to keep in perspective — if MC riding, scuba diving, sailing and other such activities are the stuff that makes life living, why deprive yourself just so you can be deprived for a longer period?
Good luck with the new endeavor.March 10, 2010 at 6:01 am #24872MunchParticipant“I refuse to live life of restriction and boredom just to arrive safely at deaths door”………. or sum such.
March 10, 2010 at 8:17 am #24874eonParticipantI think having the view that riding motorcycles is dangerous is beneficial, if you keep it in perspective. Without knowing all the details it certainly sounds like the two friends you lost died due to their own actions and a lack of respect for what they were doing. Unfortunately it was their family who really paid the price.
Before I started riding I gave serious thought to what I was doing. I have one brother who broke a leg when he went over the hood of a car after it pulled out in front of him, another was rear ended while waiting to turn and has had a bad knee for decades because of it, and lastly another one who almost died in a head on collision. He was very lucky to escape with a shattered ankle, 6 months in hospital and several surgeries (and hospital infections!). He now has one leg shorter than the other. After all these painful episodes you would think they gave up riding but not a bit of it. Two of them have been riding for over 30 years. The one in the head on collision could not get back on a bike quickly enough. So there must be something to it that keeps people doing it after such painful episodes.
My personal belief is that the dangers are exaggerated as there is no shortage of idiots who will get their15 minutes of fame on YouTube. If you approach riding as a serious endeavor, take training, wear appropriate gear and ride within your limits, there is no reason to expect you are going to die. There are plenty of people out there who put thousands of accident free miles on their bikes but they don’t make the headlines.
Since taking up riding 18 months ago it has become an obsession for me. When not spending too much time on this damn forum I am out exploring the back roads of WA, making great friends along the way and generally living life and having a blast.
I would recommend signing up the the MSF basic class and see how you feel on a bike. Only you can decide if the risks out weigh the benefits. There is no right or wrong answer to that question. Good luck.
March 10, 2010 at 12:17 pm #24875TrialsRiderParticipant…guessing I’m as old in years as you too, fortunately I bought my first bike for $60 cash at age 10 and still feel it was the best investment ever.
Motorcycles have afforded me a lifetime of best experiences, friendships and skills, kept me in good physical condition and out of trouble more than anything else, Survived my share of spills, crashes and lost many close friends over the years, but the hardest ones to handle bought it in a hospital bed, or at their own hand, never to riding.
Hope you take up the challenge, seeing as you’re an old guy, take a look at Royal Enfield; if you’re lucky enough to find a dealer close by, makes a great full size beginner bike with classic looks, but with modern brakes.
You meet the nicest people on a motorcycle !
March 10, 2010 at 3:54 pm #24881IBA270ParticipantHello George!
Your views of motorcycling are actually quite common. The conventional wisdom is that motocycles (deathcycles, donorcycles, etc.) are inherently dangerous and while fun, that emotion certainly couldn’t outweigh the risk. Frankly, much of the media and many riders out there don’t help this perception.
At the MSF, we teach correlation between danger and risk management. I’ll let you self discover that should you choose to explore motorcycling further, hopefully through a Basic Rider Course in your area. I can address a few points for you from personal and professional experiences in motorcycling over roughly the last 20 years. From a statistical standpoint, there’s no question that motorcycles are more “dangerous” than other modes of transportation. When compared mile/mile with an automobile, motorcyclist are many more times likely to have an accident that a driver of a car. Naturally, the consequences are serious in any motorcycle accident. Quite frankly, a motorcyclist stopped at a light, without a helmet, can fall over and be killed without traveling a single inch. It has happened.
With all of that said however, motorcycling and especially safe motorcycling, depends on a few basic tenents; personal responsibility and risk management. George, I hope you won’t find my observations of your two fatal scenarios presumptuous, but judging only from your brief descriptions, you illustrated two accidents that shouldn’t have happened; they were both avoidable, likely without much fanfare, had the riders been properly trained and had managed the risks and conditions appropriately.
What crash data actually shows, and we as responsible riders see far too often, are folks who are untrained, poorly attired, riding motorcycles that aren’t appropriate for their skill level riding in an unsafe fashion. These riders don’t understand how to manage the risk as they haven’t been taught…which blows the first tenent; personal responsibility; they didn’t take the time to properly prepare themselves not only for that days ride, but for a lifetime of enjoyable motorcycling experiences.
Motorcycling is a fantastic sport. I cannot imagine my life without it. So many people in my personal and professional life always relate me to the sport, and I work hard to make sure I am a positive ambassador to it, just like every other motorcyclist should! George, I think you should weigh the risks based on what you know and what you want to explore, read all you can (just like you’re doing now) and invest a weekend to take a basic riding course. You’ll know within a few hours if it’s something you want to explore and continue with. If you’ve gotten this far, I’d say you’re ready to explore the course.
Hope all of this helps regardless of your decision!
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