Would you talk a friend into Motorcycles?

[JavaBrewer]

In the week of Nostatic's accident we are again reminded of the risks we take in our lives. About a 18 months ago a coworker buddy of mine bought a bike, a Ducati S2r several weeks after hearing me carry on about how great it was to be riding again. He completed the MSF course, bought the appropriate gear, and rode pretty sanely. About 5 months ago a pickup turned left in front of him on Ingrahm street in PB. He said he had no time to react and ended up broadsiding the truck suffering broken right wrist, arm, leg and also rupturing some stuff inside. He was in surgury 2x, then ICU, then moved to a room where he stayed for 3 weeks. He is fine today though still goes for PT and is on crutches - the leg break was complicated and bad.

So I can't help but feel somewhat responsible. I didn't pressue him to get a bike, the ground was already furtile, but I do know that me getting a bike set the wheels in motion.

I don't think I'll ever recommend a street bike to anyone as I don't want to feel this way again.

Thoughts?

OBTW, I'm nearing 1 week down on a 2 week trip to Korea for work. I'm totally jonesing for a ride. I think of my kids and wife everyday and also, secretly, my Aprilia sitting there lonely in the garage

[nostatic]

One of the keys to staying sane is understanding our limitations. We are not responsible for the happiness of others. Nor are we responsible for the decisions that other's make.

Now if we misrepresent something and someone makes a decision based mostly on our information, I suppose you might feel some twinge of guilt, but in the end an individual is responsible for their own decisions. So I think you should try and put the thoughts out of your head.

I am struggling with similar issues right now. Part of me thinks that I shouldn't have let my g/f on the back of the bike without full gear (I did give her helmet, gloves, and my armored leather jacket). That I should have been insistent of tried to "scare her" with the reality of going down on a bike. But we've talked about it, and she says the same thing: it was her decision. She took the risk. Eyes open.

The bottom line is that ***** happens. And we all make decisions on risk/reward. But second guessing does no one any good. The only thing you can do is try and learn from the lessons that the universe sends. Some of us can learn from others. Some of us require more drastic intervention. But in the end it is your life, his life, my life. We make our own destiny and our own choices, and live with the consequences.

The other way to think about it is: you are not God. God may have some responsibility for everyone and what they think/do. But you are just a man, and only in charge of your own life.

[5axis]

Yes, and I have but they have also seen me miss days of work and limp around for a few weeks/months too.

Pics of a friends crash from last weekend.

more
http://www.scooterphoto.com/id29.html

He is a little tender but will be back in a couple of weeks. Crashing is bad, walls SUCK

[nostatic]

holy *****

[scottmandue]

No... I actually talked a friend out of buying a bike as a daily driver.

However I would not tell anyone not to ride a bike as long as they are a sane adult they are free to make there own decisions and take the risks associated with those decisions.

Every choice we make has consequences, if you walk across the street you could get run over by a drunk driver, if you go swimming you could drown, if you want the thrill of skydiving you take the chance that something might go wrong. With many things in life the excitement of doing it seems to be directly proportional with the risk involved but you can't lock yourself in the house and never come out because you are afraid of the world... well I suppose you could but it wouldn't be much of a life.

I love riding motorcycles but I think it is something I could live without... too much chance of someone else f'ing up and ruining your day (or life)... and the coyotes... those sneaky coyotes...

When I first got my Porsche I went blasting by a friend going in the opposite direction, next time I saw her she said "your driving too fast, your going to kill yourself in that thing!"

[Flatbutt1]

I don't talk friends into anything. I talk about what I like to do but thats it.

[asphaltgambler]

Closest thing to freedom there is, except for flying; The most fun you can have with your clothes on.

You can die of heart failure on your couch, or choke on a burger. You can be run over waiting for your bus. Live life, not fear

[Britwrench]

Motorcycling is a risk...so is going up a ladder.

I've been riding for a more than 20 years..one accident, when I threw my old bevel-drive Ducati up the road after running over oil. Broke my leg. It does happen and it's a chance. Someone told me that you will always have one accident riding a motorcycle... that was it..I hope.

But you could also say that about roller-blading, surfing, ski-ing etc.

Life is a risk, some of it is known, some will just happen.

[RoundelRider]

Well...........I work in a bike shop so my view may be skewed.

Hell yeah Id recommend riding a bike. Does it HAVE to be a street bike? NO! It seems that is the type everyone is concentrating on.
Maybe a good trail bike would fill there need/desire.

Would I recommend a GSX-R 1000 to a 18 year old kid? Nope. If he was dead set on it, Id HIGHLY recommend proper gear, have us tote the bike home and recommend him taking the MSF class. Itll give that individual more ammo for heading out into the streets.

Either someone wants to ride, or they dont. If you help them make a decision to ride and they crash you cant blame yourself, theres too much out there that can go wrong. On the brighter side, you can get them into riding and have thousdands of good miles and lots of fun riding. Thats what you should look forward to, but keep a reality check that riding is a expensive,dangerous, and possibly deadly sport. You have to accept the risk.

Ride Safe Kids!

[Dantilla]

My wife is fine with me racing my SCCA 944 and flying airplanes, but would be uncomfortable with me riding a bike. So I don't.

Several years ago I shattered a leg skiing. Spiral fracture of the femur.

"I bet you'll never ski again, huh?" Geez, how many times did I hear that? Yes, I still ski. What do people expect? That I sit in a rocking chair, afraid that I might tip over backwards?

I'm going to enjoy life, and balance the risks and rewards.

I'm going to fly.
I'm going to ski.
I'm going to race.
I'm going to hike in the wilderness.

Someday when they put my body six feet underground, I hope it's pretty worn out....

[Victor]

They don't call them "Zoom-Splats" for nothing.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Absolutely I would. Best money I ever spent. My bike has paid for itself 100 times over in terms of the time I would have spent sitting in traffic, being unable to find parking, saved insurance costs, saved gas/fuel costs, etc.

There is NOTHING more satisfying than commuting to work each morning casually zipping up the car pool lane at 70 while the cage drivers fume off to my right stuck in gridlock. Well, maybe splitting lanes casually on a bumper-to-bumper Friday afternoon commute. That's pretty satisfying as well. . .

Knowing I'm getting 40MPG without really trying and that I paid about 1/5 the cost of a hybrid econobox is pretty satisfying too.

Yes, it's a risk but one that's well worth it IMO. Todd obviously thought the same way. Many other friends of mine do too. It's absolutely, positively the right tool for the job of commuting in this hell-hole of a city (L.A., not Long Beach in particular).

[Jeff Higgins]

I just struggled with this about a year ago with my older brother. He wanted to start riding and asked my advice. I'm the blacksheep of the family (bet that surprises all of you) and have been, among other unsavory habits, riding a motorcycle on the street since I had my license. I ride with several friends and acquaintances pretty regularly and have never even given it a second thought.

My brother was different. Maybe I really don't give a ***** about my friends or something, but the thought of him riding hit me altogeher different. It worried me. It still does. I actually made a somewhat weak attempt to talk him out of it at the time, but he was determined. I have never in my life tried to talk anyone out of riding, until him. I have convinced quite a few people to take the plunge. So far none of them have been hurt. Even if they ever were hurt, I don't think I could ever feel responsible in any way. Except with my brother. Even though I tried to talk him out of it.

[MMARSH]

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile
Absolutely I would. Best money I ever spent. My bike has paid for itself 100 times over in terms of the time I would have spent sitting in traffic, being unable to find parking, saved insurance costs, saved gas/fuel costs, etc.

There is NOTHING more satisfying than commuting to work each morning casually zipping up the car pool lane at 70 while the cage drivers fume off to my right stuck in gridlock. Well, maybe splitting lanes casually on a bumper-to-bumper Friday afternoon commute. That's pretty satisfying as well. . .

Knowing I'm getting 40MPG without really trying and that I paid about 1/5 the cost of a hybrid econobox is pretty satisfying too.

Yes, it's a risk but one that's well worth it IMO. Todd obviously thought the same way. Many other friends of mine do too. It's absolutely, positively the right tool for the job of commuting in this hell-hole of a city (L.A., not Long Beach in particular).

I couldn't agree more. I actually feel my blood pressure going up on the very rare occasions I'm driving the cage and stuck in traffic.

I get asked about riding alot. I usually give a three pieces of advice.

1. get some training

2. get some good gear

3. Don't go and buy the biggest baddest fastest sportbike you can afford, start small.

Ride safe Fellas

[widgeon13]

There were statistics released yesterday, (national TV news?) not sure of the source but suppose I could find out, that accidents on highways have gone up significantly in the last year. The cause was related to motorcycles. Don't remember if statistics sited were accidents or fatalities.

I do volunteer EMT work in rural upstate NY and unfortunately a high percentage of our calls are for motorcycle accidents in the warmer months and snowmobile accidents in the winter months. Most of these are very serious or fatalities. Almost without exception they are speed and alcohol related and usually victims are young (mid 20's). It is sad but most unfortunately, it is unnecessary

Responded to one last Sept where the rider could not keep the new bike on the radius of the turn and sideswiped an oncoming dump truck, bike burst into flames and driver was thrown from the bike some distance, this story did not have a happy ending, need I say more. There was very little left of the bike that made it recognizable. Young man owned the bike for less than 2 weeks. Out for a ride w/ his buddies and his brother. Beautiful fall day.

I always wanted a bike and had one when I was in college. Would not have one today, other caged drivers are too reckless and don't pay attention to what is going on around them.

Funny thing is that as I sit here and write this I must confess that I do ride a 1000CC Yamaha snowmobile and spend a lot of time in wooded trails. Big trees don't move much. Hope we have good amount of snow this winter. Stay safe.

[Rot 911]

My biggest worries when people want to start riding as adults is two fold:

1. They get too much advice from people who recommend Ducatis, Honda CBR's, Ninja's, etc. that they feel like they have to buy more bike than they should. Start small, don't worry about what others think.

2. They get too little training. Even the MSF course is inadequate. When you ride you always have to be expecting that everyone driving a car is out to kill you. I approach every intersection and side road with caution.

[Overpaid Slacker]

Originally posted by widgeon13
I do volunteer EMT work in rural upstate NY and unfortunately a high percentage of our calls are for motorcycle accidents in the warmer months and snowmobile accidents in the winter months. Most of these are very serious or fatalities.

No shyt. If a motorcycle accident is serious enough to call 911 to begin with, most folks aren't going home right away, if at all.

Where are you an EMT? I'm a vol Firefighter/EMT in Manlius (just East of Syracuse).

Are you coming to Vital Signs? I missed the FASNY convention that just wrapped up in Syracuse due to other commitments.

JP

[livi]

Some fathers would strongly object to two things regarding their daughters: Riding a motorcycle and marrying a Muslim fundamentalist.

At least some fathers would...personally IŽd hate to sound like a racist..

[widgeon13]

Originally posted by Overpaid Slacker
No shyt. If a motorcycle accident is serious enough to call 911 to begin with, most folks aren't going home right away, if at all.

Where are you an EMT? I'm a vol Firefighter/EMT in Manlius (just East of Syracuse).

Are you coming to Vital Signs? I missed the FASNY convention that just wrapped up in Syracuse due to other commitments.

JP

I am firefighter/EMT in Piseco, NY (southern Adirondack Park area). I'm not familiar w/ Vital Signs, I'll speak to the other guys about it. I split my time between here and CT so miss out on some activities. Ski Patrol in the winter and beach bum in the warmer months. Life's a beeeech.

[TSNAPCRACKLEPOP]

i recommend riding early in life, while you still heal quickly. i am still alive with no known broken bones after 35 years od riding on 2 wheels, city and country. Ride like everyone is trying to kill you and you may do well. i'v been pulled out in front of twice, and the first thing they say is "where did you come from?", and " i didn't see you". BE SEEN!!

i ride with an orange hunting vest. looks like crap, but they see me. they cut all that remaining leather off you in the emergency room. (boots included)