I'm going to knock out the next person who...

[lonesoldier84]

responds to the fact that I own a motorcycle with any of the following:

--"oh man, I know someone who almost died on one of those"

--"you should sell it, you are going to kill yourself"

--"that's not good, they are so dangerous. nobody usually survives that rides motorcycles"

or some other variant of these.

seriously, I am frakking pissed. I just got in from work, had guests over. First thing they say is pretty much each of the above. Even before they say hi pretty much.

I see the look of dread and horror in my mom's eyes. She is a simple woman and I have gone to great lengths to explain to her I dont wheelie and race people. Sure I ride aggressively sometimes, but never dangerously. I always account for errors on my part and other people around me.

She was a complete worry-case when i first got it and has gotten MARGINALLY better over the past few years. Every time someone says something like that it reinforces her belief that she will lose her only son to this death-machine.

Seriously like the third time this week someone's said that around her.

I let rip into the people we have over. Completely turned the mood so awkward haha. I dont care though. I am not being rude for being angry. They are being rude for pretty much telling my mom her son is going to die.

If this forum didnt have filters I would tell you guys what I really thing.

 

[n1one]

I hear you man!

I have family members that say the same stuff to me all the time, sometimes in front of my kids! I finally pulled them aside and told them politely that they were entitled to their opinion, but that when they were in my house or around my wife and kids that they can keep there opinion to themselves or don't come around. Period!

 

[Stumbles06]

I hear ya dude. I've gotten that before, and my wife isn't a fan of motorbikes either.

Over here, they call riders "Temporary Australians". I always respond with... "you've got as much chance of being killed in a car as I have on my bike".
Not sure of the exact statistics, but out of the 100 or so deaths this year on our roads, there'd only be about 5 from motorbike accidents. And.. It's the same here as everywhere, most of them are caused by cage drivers.

:rockon:

 

[lonesoldier84]

indeed stumbles. but the only thing about the stats is per collision the riders are more likely to die. but they are less likely to get in a collision in the first place (except for the 18-25yo superbike rider category)

and ya n1one, thats exactly what it is. why upset our families with those largely unrealistic fears? this one guy earlier this week after telling me and my mom at a retail store that he knew 3 people who died on sportbikes saw my moms face go INSTANT WHITE and he started backpeddling quite quickly. I gave him a very dirty look and pretty much told him his friends must have been reckless and caused their own downfalls, however tragic the events may have been.


and P.S. to the original post....this all started because they know a guy who did in fact almost die in a moto-crash. he started riding this year and bought a top of the line extremely high-powered harley davidson. all nice and shiny when he bought it. scratched up and busted and covered in blood now i think.

he is ok now...but was dicey for a while. he also rode like an idiot from what i have gathered. red light to red light monster.

 

[Moses195]

So now anybody that knows me, knows why I bought the Grizzly 350 first, then the TW200, then the FZ6!!!! I take care of my 88 year old mother!!!! And she wasn't about to have a motorcycle in the garage!!!! LOL. Death machines!! Sometimes you have to work UP!! Only cost me $2800 in losses to get the FZ!!!!!

 

[lonesoldier84]

So now anybody that knows me, knows why I bought the Grizzly 350 first, then the TW200, then the FZ6!!!! I take care of my 88 year old mother!!!! And she wasn't about to have a motorcycle in the garage!!!! LOL. Death machines!! Sometimes you have to work UP!! Only cost me $2800 in losses to get the FZ!!!!!

i paid 2800 in repair bills because i was learning on the fz6. i may not have been the ideal picture of a safe rider....but i wasnt even close to as bad as most of the nut jobs out there. so ya....consider those 2800 bucks you spent in losses as unavoidable no matter what route you had taken.

 

[n1one]

I gave him a very dirty look and pretty much told him his friends must have been reckless and caused their own downfalls, however tragic the events may have been.

The truth is that anything can happen to you the minute you step out your door in the morning! It does not matter if you walk, ride a bicycle, ride a moped, drive car, ride a bike or just strap on some roller skates, you can be hurt or killed by things that are beyond your control.

When my wife and I got married, I was also a pilot. I had been flying in small airplanes since I was 2 years old with my Dad. We never had an issue, but my wife was petrified at the thought of me flying around in the sky. She also did not like bikes either.

I gave up flying, but told her the bike was staying or I was going with it. Over the last 10 years, I have been able to convince her to go riding with me. She really began to enjoy it.

Now she has her own bike........a happy ending!:Flash::rockon::cheer:

 

[yukon_alex]

Luckily for me I have a very supportive wife and kids. We are all looking at getting dirt bikes and I will be teaching them all to ride!

I like to pass on to people like your "guests" that EVERYONE DIES. At least you should be enjoying the very short time that we all have on this earth and not worrying about the time, place and method of your demise. The fact is that if your time is up, it doesn't matter if you are walking down the street, rock climbing some mountain, throwing yourself out of a perfectly good airplane (those people are crazy!:rockon, or riding your motorcycle, your time is up! Nothing can save you. You are needed elsewhere.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

[Mexi-can't]

I just laugh and say that I like my murder-cycle.

 

[n1one]

I just laugh and say that I like my murder-cycle.

:rof::rof::rof:I'll remember that one!

 

[Wolfman]

Well it drives me nutty too, being called a "temporary citizen", by all & sundry....but you gotta look at it like this....Motorcycle's are dangerous! And Middle Class society, the media, etc, also like to cast all bike riders as the "devil".

So as a result, the great majority of our loved ones, who really do care about us, like to force feed us this attitude every chance they get....cause they care...

strange way of showing it, but at least it shows that you do have love in your life....as for random people who like to tell me of the dangers of bike riding...i normally retort with something just as silly, like "Well at least i will have a smile on my dial when i go", or similar.

:rockon:

 

[crazy dave]

Yea I hear you...everyone is against it in my family except my father. I get the same responses. It really does get annoying.

 

[Denver_FZ6]

I heard those comments the first few months I got my bike, but not much since. Funny how folks feel the need to tell you about the risks of motorcycles. What? You don't think I know? Here in the US, the yearly auto fatality rate is somewhere around 35k, but no one thinks twice about getting in a car.

I don't kid myself though, MOTORCYCLES ARE DANGEROUS. Based on US statistics, you're about 600 times more likely to be hurt or killed on a motorcycle than a car. But I'm an adult and responsible for my own actions.

 

[cv_rider]

I've probably got louder voices in my own head saying that crap than anyone around me.

 

[lonesoldier84]

I've probably got louder voices in my own head saying that crap than anyone around me.

but your loved ones cant hear the ones in your head and worry so much they dont sleep.....

i dont mind people saying all this to me when my moms not around. i just brush it off or joke.

different story when i see the look on her face because of these people.

 

[chunkygoat]

I get that all the time, from family and friends. Another one that gets under my skin is when people tell me i shouldn't smoke cigarettes - as if i wasn't aware of the dangers of riding or smoking.

Another one that makes me angry is when i people tell me i have a headlight out - that is really one of the few reasons i want to mod my headlight - is so that people stop telling me my headlight is out - IT ISN'T!

I guess people are just trying to be nice in warning you. They just don't realize you are already aware of all of the above. Can't blame em for trying to be nice...just for being ignorant I suppose.

 

[Hellgate]

I just laugh and say that I like my murder-cycle.

That's what my former boss used to call them, she went on, and on, and on, and on...give me a break.

 

[DaveOTZ]

Im with ya... but hey everybody like to hang there crap on other people
The worst thing I hear is

"ohh they look fun but theyre not for me, I feel like you have to pay attention to everything"

Well Axxclown... WHen I have brain injured clients that were hit my drivers at age 4 you do need to pay attention moreso in a cage, because you are controlling a dangerous machine... Dangerous for other people..

And I will probably get popsicled for tackling this one... but please do not compare smoking to riding... Riding as prescribed in most cases leads to a long life of riding... Smoking as prescribed will kill, disfigure, or reduce your functionality... I dont much care about that, aside from the fact that most hospitals are subsidized by tax dollars... So yeah keep smoking, just dont compare the two please

 

[lonesoldier84]

Another one that gets under my skin is when people tell me i shouldn't smoke cigarettes - as if i wasn't aware of the dangers

you shouldnt smoke. it causes cancer. you should stop.

 

[forwil]

My brother in law is the same way the day he found out I had a bike he was telling my wife I am going to die my wife responded with
He took the MS class now he has a street bike that was the deal
I too took him aside and explained the difference in telling someone to ride careful and your husband is going to die
A week later his brother in law went to hot into a corner freaked and garbed a fist full of front break landed on his head and spent the next few days in the ER
So it started all over again

I like the murder cycle