Motorcyclists, Past and Present

[Bravus]

My beloved is getting her motorbike license today (fingers crossed), and it got me thinking about riding... How many people here ride motorbikes now? How many have in the past but don't now?

[CoAspen]

Have owned two in the past, daily use. Gave my last one up because of safety issues...traffic that doesn't see you...ever!!

Would like to own one again but not for use in city traffic!!

Wouldn't mind owning a touring bike.

 

[Outta Here]

We owned one ever so briefly. My husband did not enjoy the feeling of near-death experiences every time he went out; I did not enjoy the destruction I did to the garden when learning to ride! I never did feel safe on them though--my step-mother (an avid Harley girl) needed some serious skin-grafts in her early 20's because of a biking accident. The image of her rectangular patchwork skin still make me shudder.

[Tom Wetmore]

Motorcycle license at 16.  Survived riding as a teenager.   Rode sporadically over the years and current bike owned since 2000.  Still ride but significantly less since last accident...

[Bravus]

What's your current ride? I have a Suzuki Bandit 1200S, which I think in US language would be called a 'standard'. Suzie has a Honda CB125E, a beginner's bike that is really too small and slow for her, but we have to wait a year before she gets her unrestricted license (she did pass her test yesterday) and can get a bigger bike, so we'll do lots of local rides in the mean time.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

there's some very cool motorcycles out there, but this would probably be about my speed:

[Outta Here]

So Pam, it's really more of a hobby for you?

[Tom Wetmore]

My current ride is a Yamaha V Star 1100 Classic.  Color is black.  

[Aliensanctuary]

I rode a Yamaha 400 til the night-time encounter with the side of a big truck parked across the highway. That was my first helicopter ride but I was unconscious and don't remember anything. Even though I was wearing a full-face helmet, I was knocked out, and still got road rash through jeans, long underwear, and a snowmobile suit. I shouldn't mention again the broken bones and loss of a kidney. I never knew what pain was until after that accident.

Although it was a two-cycle, the bike ran quiet, and I felt like I was flying. With no windscreen, though, it was nice to arrive at my destination after a 60-mile ride. I liked the smaller bike because it was light and I could load it into my van if needed, plus, both of my feet could easily touch the ground.

There was that problem with other drivers not seeing me, even though I always rode with the lights on. 

If a motorcycle falls from the sky into my yard, I'd cut the parachute off and start riding it locally, but not to the city. I don't care much for dirt biking, so I hope it's a street bike.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

had to post this for Bravus!

 

[phkrause]

[Gerr]

WOW!  A real head turner for sure, Pam!

[BigMark]

Bought my first Harley at the age of 17. I was a junior in HS. Rode until I was 34. Someone made a left turn in front of me in a residential area at night. 3 days is the hospital and a few thousand that I had to pay, God spoke loud and clear to me. No more riding unless the people around you are controlled (i.e. a movie set where people are actually paid to stop at red lights and not text while driving). I lost a half a toe on my left foot, but other than that, everything is normal. My advice: DON'T GET ONE. I have read about people who bought a motorcycle after retiring only to have someone run into them and kill them. Not worth it folks. Just my $.02

[Aliensanctuary]

BigMark's two cents worth of advice could save thousands of dollars on hospital, rehab, or funeral costs. Street riding has huge risks, so maybe riding where there is little or no traffic is the safest. I have seen on the local news where a retired couple on a motorcycle were both killed when the husband failed to negotiate a turn and ran into a tree. Generally, if you crash on a motorcycle you will get hurt, maybe seriously, maybe fatally.

I'd love to get another bike for back road riding, but I need less stuff, not more.

[Bravus]

You guys are welcome to your views, of course... but even if you stay in your house wrapped in cotton wool you could get struck by a meteorite.

Life inherently involves risk: some of us decide the joys and practical benefits of riding make those particular risks worthwhile, others make a different decision.

If the bike doesn't get you, cancer or heart disease or dementia will... so I'll ride.

Having said that, I wear my helmet, jacket and gloves, ride alertly and with care, maintain my bike, pay attention, ride defensively and do all the things I can do to reduce the risk.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

here's a motorcycle bakery creation for you, Bravus!

[Bravus]

Vroom-nom-nom.

[CoAspen]

Maybe more like yuuum, yum....yuuum, yum!

[Tom Wetmore]

Sweet ride...

[Liz]

When I was growing up my parents, both brothers and a brother-in-law all had bikes, I rode in the side-car. Now just one brother and both of his boys and the one brother-in-law still ride.

[Gregory Matthews]

I have stepped out of airborne airplanes, as high as 4,000 feet above the ground.  I have stepped out of a helicopter at 90 feet above the ground, but I consider a motorcycle to be to dangerous for me to ride.

 

[phkrause]

20 hours ago, Gregory Matthews said:

I have stepped out of airborne airplanes, as high as 4,000 feet above the ground.  I have stepped out of a helicopter at 90 feet above the ground, but I consider a motorcycle to be to dangerous for me to ride.

 

I can remember back when I got drafted and stationed in Germany. I went to visit my relatives, And watched this motorcycle weaving back and forth from one lane to the other! Until he came around one curve on the wrong side of the road and ran right into a dump truck, the rider and his bike were burned to a crisp. I had planned to look into buying a bike when I got out, but after that I decided against it. I still think about it every once in a while, but I see all the fatalities, and say to myself I made the right choice, at least for me.

[Gregory Matthews]

In California, were we now live, it is legal for a motorcycle to drive between two vehicles driving beside each other!

That even scares me ad they zip by me.

 

[Green Cochoa]

1 hour ago, Gregory Matthews said:

In California, were we now live, it is legal for a motorcycle to drive between two vehicles driving beside each other!

That even scares me ad they zip by me.

 

I did a bunch of that today.  Sure helps to get from point A to point B quicker, especially since the traffic was so heavy.  Motorbikes have their advantages.  Around here, people ride on the sidewalk too if they have to to get around the traffic jam.  I'm not so worried about me making a mistake as the other guy.  About thrice today, as I was cruising along, another vehicle near pulled out right in front of me having not seen me coming owing to the line of cars that I was passing which blocked their visibility in crossing the road.

Blessings,
Green Cochoa.

[Aliensanctuary]

I hope those bikers driving between lanes on the freeway are body-part donors with life insurance. A driver of a vehicle changing lanes while a motorcycle pulls up from behind them in-between lanes likely will be unable to see the bike. I would never, ever drive between lanes unless I wanted to die. I might drive on the paved shoulders on either side of the freeway, which would be safer than in-between two lanes.