Are we death defying idiots?

[2000 Intruder]

Two of the easiest things a rider can do to significantly reduce his or her risk of serious injury or death while riding are:

1. Wear a helmet.
2. Don't drink and ride.

Ride safe!

 

[Capo79]

I know many folks who gave up riding when they got married, or moreso when they became parents; that's kind of a pragmatic and human way of looking at it. :thumbup:

A good thread.

I got my license and bike seven months AFTER I became a parent!:ban:

I've always told myself not to get a motorcycle, or I'd get killed pretty fast. I've always been driving too fast, totalled one car and barely made it, and have paid roughly 3-4000$ in speeding fines all in all.

My reasoning for getting the bike after the kid was born, was simple and I think most parents will agree: As a parent you become more risk averse. Hence, I figured the risk of crashing and die on a motorcycle could be kept to a minimum. So far so good (knock on wood).

I must add that getting the license and the bike, is probably the best thing I ever did (except becoming a father, of course). The freedom of riding, the elements so damn close... Nothing so far can compare to it. It can, as someone else mentioned, clear your head for everything but riding and controlling the machine you're sitting on. The bike would quite certainly be the second to last thing I'd get rid of if I had to.

 

[mellofelow]

5 long pages and every post is relevant. The reality is we all are commonly unordinary. In a way, we're all Kahunas, catching waves of almighty earth. At the end of the surf, we always touch down on the beach. Although danger lurks in the water, riding the wave is much more spiritual.

We live to ride... but most importantly... when we do,
Ride to live!!

 

[lonesoldier84]

wrote this after my first ride ever (not counting random countryside riding in india on a single-cylinder royal enfield)

Well im exhausted and have an early morning but i wanted to do this while it was still fresh

for those who didnt read my countless rants in the previous weeks:

Bought an FZ6. First bike ever. Rode it tonight.

The setting could have been better but it was still amazing:

11pm to 1:30am (with a large chunk of that spent at a friends house, and the riding time cut into 8-10 minute intervals with me taking a few minute breaks to rest up {and warm up})

it was freeeeeeeeezing. I am still waiting on most of my gear but have my chest back knee shin helmet. I was a bit tired from an early morning today and in retrospect I have decided not to ride if im tired no matter what the situation is. New rider + even a little sleepy = trouble. Caught myself losing a bit of focus due to the extreme cold and slight fatigue.

And my helmet is garbage (as i bought one from a department store to cover me until my real helmet gets here at which point i return the one i got now). So my eyes were tearing up from dryness as I had to keep the lid up one click to keep it from fogging up instantly.

But even with all that aside, I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of my life. Everything was racing through my mind as I dropped the bike into 1st. I dropped my visor down. I closed my eyes and went through the pre-flight routine I had laid out for myself before-hand. I took in deep slow controlled breaths and cleared my mind. I released the breaths just as slowly and instilled into my empty mind a message of "nice, easy, controlled, shhhhhh, feel it, thats it, yeah, thats the zone, be smart, be calm, be at peace, be alert, be focussed, shhhhh, mmm hmmm, warm and fuzzy, happy happy, shhhhhh" Then everything I had ever been previous to that moment as an individual and my countless life experiences and such just melted away as I eased off on the clutch and lifted my left foot to the peg. No stall, clean launch.

Easy cruise around town. Fighting back the extreme cold, the intense watering and dryness of my eyes, the touch of fatigue, I felt something very special. When a man is completely and utterly focussed on something with his mind, his body, and his emotions....it has a way of becoming almost spiritual.

Just utterly amazing. What a ride. Nothing went wrong (except a handful of stalls at red lights). My prior fear of the bike was completely unfounded. She is a sweet sweet girl is my Fizzy. A couple of times I was slightly unsure if I had come into a corner too quickly. I know I hadnt as I was really going very slowly relative to the world around me, but to my rookie self a couple of corners had alert flags going up. I leaned my weight over a touch to compensate and Fizzy grinned at me and took my hand in hers and we coasted around our turn. I thanked her right then. Low speed maneuvering her rear brake lever was soft to the touch and very responsive and smooth. (I had problems with rear brake control on the dirt bikes in the training course)

I have identified some areas I need to work on. 1) being afraid to try to turn the bike quickly (I was trying to pick speeds and paths that would allow me to just every so gently nudge her where I wanted to go and I learned it was because I was not completely at ease with turning so need to practice 30-60 kph turns)

2) quick swerves to dodge obstacles. I was making sure to steer clear of things on the road but even in the training course I was having problems quickly shoving the bike in one direction.

3) clutch control. all shifts were fine over 1st gear. only a handful of stalls on 1st. problem was I could have been smoother.

well im off to sleep sleep now.

cant wait to do this again 2morrow in the daylight and decent warmth.



Gnight all~

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Fizzy says goodnight too~

 

[lonesoldier84]

and somebody mentioned about skydiving:



http://www.600riders.com/forum/main...ion/4249-deadly-mathematics-motorcycling.html