posted April 05, 2004 12:19 AM
When is when? Just this Friday my friend wrecked his GSXR750, wasnt too bad. But today (Sunday) and a good friend of mine high-sided his 2003 R1 into a post, wrapped it around, and he fell 200ft down the cliff, wearing full leathers, boots, everything. Just left the emergency room where I have been the last 8 hours and he just went into recovery from surgery...
Asked the nurse in there, and she said 2 other people this week alone have been in for wreckin their bikes. One guy I saw had everything broken and was going back for more surgery tonight as well.
Saw some real bad stuff in the hospital. My friend is in some real bad shape. I saw two different wrecks right before me no less than 5-feet away. I'm past traumatized, I dont know what to do.
When is when? When do you just cash out of a risky hobby to find another safer obsession? Do you cut losses and value your health? Do you ride the risk of life? I am only 25, I havent seen as much as a lot of you on the board, but please advise me, I'm in need of some desperate advice.
posted April 05, 2004 02:18 AM
There is no "when"... its just a loss of focus or unfortunate circumstances.
Everytime you straddle a motorcycle there is associated risk. If you cant accept that you could get killed or seriously injured... perhaps its time to move on.
Personally, its a mental shock thing. You dont feel the consequences of a crash until it hits close to home. Dont worry... your friends will heal and your doubts will pass.
____________
Official Charter Member of the RIDERS OF KAWASAKI MEMBERSHIP REVOCATION CLUB
Also a BadAss Internet Forum Moderator 4 Hire!! Come at me brah!
posted April 05, 2004 07:38 AM
Good that the story ends with him going to the recovery room! Congratulations to him on making it through. Every day is bonus after you fall off a cliff, I bet. How good does a beer and cheeseburger taste then?
Pretty damn good.
Risk tolerance is an individual thing. Who can advise you on what to risk and when? That said most trouble occurs due to rider error or booze/drugs(real rider error that). Now subtract fatalities due to no helmet and the odds get a lot better. Especially after the first so many years of operation. It is my opinion that bikes might not be that inherently dangerous. But like anything else you have to analyze your ability to execute with discipline. Motorcycles are kinda like sky diving in that your inability to operate systematically, within your skill level and at heightened awareness will be self correcting. It just might take longer.
The only thing you can do when your friends get hurt or die is to learn from whatever it was that got them that way. Real, hard lessons like that come at a heavy price. You owe it them to learn something. Last lesson I learned like that was that you should not ride off the edge of an exit ramp because you are going too fast with no helmet and sunglass on at night. That time the friend did not die, tho he shoulda, but the lesson was the same.
posted April 05, 2004 08:44 AM
Here's my humble opinion... I'm 55 and have another perspective based on experience.. I say just slow down and ride only when you really feel well... I was raised in dusty old Oklahoma and didn't have much excitement except for riding my Honda super 90 fast... I had the opportunity to do over three years of scuba diving in Okinawa.. It compares with riding the bike on the enjoyment scale. I was also lucky enough to ski a lot in Montana and that also compares with the motorcycle experience.. The motorcycle of today will take you into totally hostile territory almost immediately.. Public roads aren't designed to duplicate the moto GP thrills and you will crash eventually if you ride unsafe.. I know from experience of whence I speak... Just back off the race speeds and enjoy the straight line experience and maybe do the 1/4 mile thing regularly. If you want to hang it up then that's why it is so great to live in America.... We're free to make our own choices and seek happiness in our own ways... I ride a 12R for all the wrong reasons.. Need for speed, ego, race car driver fantasy, etc... but it scares me a lot and that helps me ride a little slower and more carefully... My 2 cents worth.. Later Mr Bill
posted April 05, 2004 08:50 AM
Sitting in the middle of the Desert in an M-1 tank is not safe? You could die of an Heart attack, lack of water! The deal is, "No one leaved the world ALIVE"! We will all be dead when we leave here and only you have SOME choice on how and when. I chose to enjoy life as much as I can while I am here because as far as I know, there is no special place in Heaven for people that never took any chances or enjoyed themselves.
Look at Wilson! Even look at me who walked on crutches for 3 years and bought my 2000 ZX12 as soon as I could walk and plan to run well over 200 MPH this year! (I had 7 operations and died twice between 1997 and 2000.) One last thing, most of my friends that rode bikes and are dead, got killed in their car! Mike the Bike Hailwood, who was one of the greatest riders ever and tempted fate many times at the Isle of Man and F-1 driver, got killed in his car only a few miles away from home!
"You pays your dues and takes your chances" ____________
Made History @ Daytona and still one fast old man!!
posted April 05, 2004 08:58 AM
beans, my thoughts pretty much echo billbisby's. i mean, there's nothing stopping you from bowing out of biking if you want to, but assuming you still love riding adn don't wanna give it up, jsut take it down a notch. instead of racing on the streat just ride at sane speeds where there is little risk of goin down. leave the fast stuff for track days. of course, if the reason you ride is purely for speed, then that will seem quite pointless, but i know i for one would ride even if i had to do the speed limit everywhere.
posted April 05, 2004 09:08 AM
I thought I was going to buy the farm when I crashed my 12 in 2001.As I was flying through the air down the side of that mountain I realized old fat asses aren't designed for aerobatics. My first ride after I mostly healed up was down the dragstrip WFO on a friends stretched zx-9. I love to go fast as I always have. I will never quit riding. It's in my blood. And oh yeah, FUCK a cruiser! but to each his own.I'll be that green streak that blasts past you and you think "what the fuck was that?"
I have almost died many times on motorcycles. Like bergie says Don'tBeScared!
____________
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways- Body thoroughly used up, totally worn out...Screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride !!!"
posted April 05, 2004 09:21 AM
Hey Beans - I always think of riding in "percentages" (yeah - too much Keith Code). Think of your riding speed/skill/experience/equipement in percentages. For instance - when you are riding to the absolute limit of your speed/skill/experience/equipment, you are giving 100%, when you are slothing around at 20 mph (provided that speed is safe) you are more around 20%. Reserve riding from 70~100% for the track (go take a Keith class or 2 - they are FANTASTIC and you WILL have the chance to bring it up (safely) to 90~100%). On the road - keep her below 70%. This gives you at LEAST a 30% margine of error should the unforseen happen (tighter corner than ya though, deer jumping out, equipment failure etc etc). Just my 2 cents, but it helps me to think of it that way. Remember - there is NO shame in knowing and living with your limits - that is the mark of a REAL experienced rider.
Needs a life
Full throttle!
Posts: One MEEEEEELLION
posted April 05, 2004 09:55 AM
One thing that really helped me get my head around 'risk management' was racing. The track environment is so much safer that you find you don't 'need' to go as fast on the street. Things you don't have to think about on the track (cars, peeps, cops) become all the more apparent when you've been in an environment without them. Does that mean that I don't enjoy riding a sportbike on the street? Hell no! But I'm not going to win any wars of egos, and will gladly cede the lead to anyone who wants to go around me. Not my place to tell someone how fast they want to go. I just know what works for me.
____________
82 Gpz750, 84 Ninja 900, 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy Big Bore Kit), *another* 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy custom stroke crank 1341cc motor), 2004 ZZR1200, 2005 ZX10R, 2007 ZX14, 2008 Concours 14, 2014 Versys 650, 2014 Yamaha WR450F, 2015 Ninja H2
posted April 05, 2004 11:48 AM
I think Swft said it best, it's all risk management. Like any negative event in life those crashes make you question things. I remember when I fell off my ZX9 (god I loved that bike) I wasn't going to ride again, and after the road rash healed I was back at it. Falling is bad, seeing someone else fall is bad. I can honestly say I know I have been through some rough shit. Falling wasn't nearly as bad. You just need to gather your thoughts and realise we all have a (TIME) and when it comes don't have any regrets about your life and what you didn't do.
posted April 05, 2004 12:57 PM
Beans - Get some leathers and let's go do a trackday at spokane, if you like it more than the street sell the 12, get a 600 and go that route, just remember the track isn't safe, just more controlled but when it goes bad it still goes bad
Carnage is unfortunately sometimes a part of motorcycles, I've seen alot of bad stuff on street and dirt but what do you do, let it change you?
You should have come out with us sunday I tell ya!
Needs a life
living life, and loving it.
Posts: 7981
posted April 05, 2004 01:55 PM
I guess my opinion would be this Daniel....you have to do what you have to do, but if you are going to think about the dangers of riding, do it while riding, so it keeps you sharp. Not all accidents are avoidable, but a lot are, by paying attention to what we do.
I hit a deer on a dirt road back in the late 80's riding my old CB750 Honda. The bike fared much better than I did. I fixed the bike and continued to ride once I healed up. Then in April of 1995 I was hit by a guy in a Ford F150 while riding my 600 Katana. It totaled both me and the bike out, I spent 8 months rehabing my leg. I didnt ride again until 2001. I just didnt have the desire to do it. I even quit riding dirtbikes, which I have done since I was 4 years old.
One day while stationed in GA my buddy and I went down to biuke week for a few days, and I was hooked all over again. I went home and bought my 600 a few days later and have been doing it ever since.
What I would suggest is that you takle you time and dont make any rash decisions. If you decide not to ride, dont get rid of the bike right away, incase you change you mind.
I had the same feelings you are haivng now, when I rode in the ambulance with my baby brother when he was hit headon by a S-10 Blazer while riding his GSXR1K. He talked me into continueing to ride. and he still rides as well. While both of uis now try to be a bit smarter now...
____________
When in doubt, lean farther and go faster....
posted April 05, 2004 02:36 PM
Livin in a college town seems to make the riding experience with other riders into a flat-out race session, where the twists and turns of the road are a personal racetrack. Egos are out there and everyone is pushin each other, and we ride hard around here, real hard on some insane (and deadly) roads.
Yeah I'm still shook up by the matter. I understand what everyone is saying. To address you Freek, the bottom line is I got into motorcycles for the feeling of just to be out there riding. That is where my true passion with bikes are, to just ride, there is no other way to put it. Speed has its moments, but I have come to just appreciate riding no matter the variables and no matter the kind or type of bike. I have no problem riding in the freezing rain to the tornado winds, just enjoy the everyday ride.
I'm gonna force myself to get more into the track world...try to get a second bike and make it just a track bike.
No rational descisions as of now, but like HDL said, to think of the dangers of riding while I'm out their riding to stay sharp....wow...
I appreciate all the advice, I digested it all, I'm still evaluating the risk versus fun in life.....aaaahhhhhhh
posted April 05, 2004 06:35 PM
My wife was just talking to me about the bike the other day, We have a baby coming in Oct. and already have a 4 year old, She knows I am safe but also realizes it is not "IF" but "WHEN" on a motorcycle. I guess all you can do is to always ride overly prepared and wear the best gear possible. Maybe I should sell my pipe and convert my bike to the French limited HP model?
Needs a life
Full throttle!
Posts: One MEEEEEELLION
posted April 05, 2004 06:50 PM
You don't want to do that, Josh, the french model only knows how to run back, not forward. ____________
82 Gpz750, 84 Ninja 900, 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy Big Bore Kit), *another* 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy custom stroke crank 1341cc motor), 2004 ZZR1200, 2005 ZX10R, 2007 ZX14, 2008 Concours 14, 2014 Versys 650, 2014 Yamaha WR450F, 2015 Ninja H2
posted April 05, 2004 07:18 PM
I've learned to wear my gear and stay clear of rush-hour traffic. Tho it would never take my place I do have a nice insurance policy for the wife and kids. You may walk away from motorcycling for a few years but it "WILL" call you back eventually. Risk Management is as best said.
Needs a life
Full throttle!
Posts: One MEEEEEELLION
posted April 05, 2004 07:23 PM
I guess I better get off my ass and put insurance on the 10R. Been dreading it, but just gotta do it.
____________
82 Gpz750, 84 Ninja 900, 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy Big Bore Kit), *another* 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy custom stroke crank 1341cc motor), 2004 ZZR1200, 2005 ZX10R, 2007 ZX14, 2008 Concours 14, 2014 Versys 650, 2014 Yamaha WR450F, 2015 Ninja H2
posted April 05, 2004 07:46 PM
It's a risky sport that we love. One has two choices. A person either stays at home and die on the couch or go out and live life. There are consequences to everything a person does.
I personally don't want to die sitting on a couch.
____________
3829
Needs a life
living life, and loving it.
Posts: 7981
posted April 06, 2004 12:27 PM
saitting on the toilet eating???????? ewwwww thats nasty, ya sick bastidge.....lol
____________
When in doubt, lean farther and go faster....
quote:My wife was just talking to me about the bike the other day, We have a baby coming in Oct. and already have a 4 year old, She knows I am safe but also realizes it is not "IF" but "WHEN" on a motorcycle. I guess all you can do is to always ride overly prepared and wear the best gear possible. Maybe I should sell my pipe and convert my bike to the French limited HP model?
Very easy, get large washers that fit the intake boot and have about 3/4 inch opening (18 MM) then you are ready. The only problem is, you will have to ride a lot better because you will no longer have the power to get there before the hole closes and slow enough so that all cars have an opportunity to hit you!
____________
Made History @ Daytona and still one fast old man!!
posted April 09, 2004 12:05 PM
If you are asking this question from your heart, I would say when is now.
I have NEVER asked myself that question. I've messed myself up pretty bad a few times on bikes, but I couldn't wait to hop back on every time.
I'll be riding till I can't get on a bike anymore. I also figure death will follow shortly thereafter. (or just before)
If you have to ask yourself that question, you don't have a bike jones in yer' blood like I do ____________
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posted April 05, 2004 12:19 AM
but to each his own.I'll be that green streak that blasts past you and you think "what the fuck was that?"
posted April 05, 2004 06:35 PM
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