Motorcycles

[Silenced Fred]

Anyone got one?

 

I really wanna get my license then buy a Honda Rebel. Love the looks of that style of motorcycle, and they aren't too badly priced.

 

Nothing serious, just wanna ride short distances, I don't have the attention span to do long rides on a motorcycle

[DAS44]

I plan on getting my motorcycle license at some point, a family friend has offered me his bike (it needs work) for free, and I might get in on that if it's still available. Loads in the family, of course we try to be courteously quiet!

[jaxson50]

Rule number one;

Keep the dirty side down.

Rule number two;

Keep you're head on a swivel.

Rule number three;

We call helmets brain buckets for a reason...

Fill out you're donor card.

[Kolera]

I've got one.

 

 

[damian]

I used to ride......A Triumph.......A real motorcycle........

[Versatile]

Bikes can be hugely addictive....

 

There is a spectrum of riders, from shopping mopeds and scooters

 

To mature BMW, Honda, Kawasaki, Harley etc hard core intercontinental tourers

 

And the club social scene to match

 

A few dodgy Hell's Angels to be well ignored

 

Nowadays like never before, there is a design to suit every nuance of customer requirement

 

From racer, sports, sports/tourer, trailie, custom, off-road scrambler, tourer

 

Refreshing to see the relatively rare female bike enthusiast....

 

V

 

[retrosurfer1959]

I have the really hard core MC accesory - an artificial leg I lost the original to a drunk driver that didn't see me stopped at a intersection and it was a big Harley Davidson so he should have seen it, in fact it was a fully marked police bike, so he really should have seen it. But nope plowed into the back of me doing almost 70 mph. MC's are great, dangerous but a lot of fun, I would still ride one but my wife watched me go through 32 surgeries during a two year hospital stay - so I thought it was pretty reasonable when she asked me to sell the bikes.

 

Rules to remember.

 

1. Always remember drivers in cars don't see motorcycles

2. In accidents between MC and cars - the cars always win

3. Helmets and other safety equipment isn't dorky - there actually a lot cooler than wheelchairs and breathing tubes.

[Kimbabig]

I used to ride......A Triumph.......A real motorcycle........

 

Did it have magic power? Did you Fight the Good Fight on it?

[Silenced Fred]

I have the really hard core MC accesory - an artificial leg I lost the original to a drunk driver that didn't see me stopped at a intersection and it was a big Harley Davidson so he should have seen it, in fact it was a fully marked police bike, so he really should have seen it. But nope plowed into the back of me doing almost 70 mph. MC's are great, dangerous but a lot of fun, I would still ride one but my wife watched me go through 32 surgeries during a two year hospital stay - so I thought it was pretty reasonable when she asked me to sell the bikes.

 

Rules to remember.

 

1. Always remember drivers in cars don't see motorcycles

2. In accidents between MC and cars - the cars always win

3. Helmets and other safety equipment isn't dorky - there actually a lot cooler than wheelchairs and breathing tubes.

 

Sorry to hear that man. I know motorcycles are dangerous, and it would be more of a fun thing for me, not my main means of transportation. Its a nice small town, not to say accidents can't happen, but there are lots of people on motorcycles and where most of my driving would be would be in areas that are 25-30 miles an hour. I wouldn't go for long rides, I don't have the attention span for that. Full day cruises? nuh uh

 

my dad used to have a bmw touring model that he would take me for rides on as a kid, and I loved it

[jaxson50]

I use to ride till a idiot did a u-turn 35 ft in front of me when I was going 50 mph...never could enjoy riding after that. Still love bikes..but I hate broken bones...always wear a helmet, boots and if possible leathers...

[dem00n]

I really thought about getting a Motorcycle license after i get my regular license, but its just not worth it to me.

I'm always for danger but Ive always heard so many stories of guys getting their lives ****ed over becausee they went to go ride a motorcycle to go to the market and get milk.

Its cool but not for me.

[fl00dsm0k3]

dont have one but watching judas priest makes me reconsider

[Kimbabig]

dont have one but watching judas priest makes me reconsider

 

Are you old enough to ride one?

[grampa]

Not any more, not because I got hurt but because it was gauranteed that I would. Something happens to me when I get on one, I lose all sense and set myself up for a nasty fall. So I have been "officially" banned from riding.

Be very careful and be very, very aware of cars, I swear they try to hit you.

[Jantha]

Motorcycles are fun, but Fort Collins drivers are really dumb. As long as you don't get in between a soccer mom and her morning latte, you should be fine.

[fl00dsm0k3]

Are you old enough to ride one?

dont ruin it

[Kimbabig]

dont ruin it

 

Hey man, there's nothing at all wrong about being young. People can't control how old they are, maturity is a different issue though.

[bluzhammer]

Be careful !!!!! Not to dissuade you Fred, but food for thought...... My daughter is finishing up her nursing internship at the local hospitals E.R.; the Doctors that are on staff call motorcyclists " Organ Donors ".

[brundaddy]

steel-shank boots, armored leathers, helmet, rigid jeans (at least), and realization that all other motorists are trying to kill you always.

 

that's before you ever even start the bike. Don't get polluted with ideas that riding a motorcycle will make you cooler or sexier ... just remember there are 2 types or riders:

1. those that have gone down

2. those that have not gone down yet

 

Always ask yourself, how much trust do you place in your fellow man?? cuz your life is just as much in their hands as it is yours when you ride a motorcycle.

[buliwyf]

I started at a young age with a minibike driven by a lawnmower engine.As I outgrew that I was bought a Honda CT 70 and luckly we lived around a lot of woods so we always had places to ride.I have had several trail/street bikes as I got older and when i got my license I bought a Suzuki GN400 an inexpensive light street bike to get to work on.I stopped riding for about 10 years (got into classic cars)but in 2006 I wanted a new bike and after trying out quite a few I bought my 2006 Suzuki M50(that means 50 cubic inches)about 805 cc's. It is fuel injected,shaft driven and has reversed racing forks.

 

Just make sure you fit the bike well and it is heavy enough so if you take it on the highway the 18 wheelers wont blow you off the road.Good luck and when another biker rides by you always either wave or give him the 2 fingers down sign (it means keep both wheels on the ground)

[Gaolee]

I probably have 100K miles on bikes over the past decade. That's just on the street. There are probably about another 10K more on the racetrack. I ride a modern Triumph sportbike which is capable of over 150mph, and I have seen an indicated 170 on the track. I race a Suzuki SV650, since it is cheaper to race and parts are more plentiful than Triumph parts. I also ride an old Husqvarna (barely) street legal dirt bike when it runs and have a Norton in pieces. Yes, it is an addiction.

 

Here are some thoughts - Always wear full gear. Jeans burn through in about three feet. I wear armored textile or leather suits specifically designed for crash protection. Sliding down the freeway in full gear because some twit decided to suddenly slam a lane change into your front tire sucks. It sucks less than sliding down the freeway burning holes in your skin. Full face helmets are mandatory for me. I have had some pretty big crashes on the racetrack and although I'll admit a certain amount of luck was involved, to walk away from a 100mph faceplant crash with only a broken fingernail is testimonial enough to how gear works. Most of my racetrack friends have crashed and crashed hard. Most of them multiple times. Some have the occasional titanium body part, but injuries are far fewer and less threatening than you might expect considering everything. It gets into your blood and is very difficult to stop. The track is the perfect outlet, since it gets all the people like us out of the way of more sane people.

 

When you are on the street, remember that whatever happens, consider it to be your fault. It doesn't matter what the police, traffic rights of way laws, or anything else says. You should always make it your own responsibility to anticipate what the idiot in the next lane is going to do. It was my fault when the guy who knocked me down on the freeway swerved into my lane unexpectedly. Why? Because I was on my bike and should have assumed he was insane. It sounds paranoid, but paranoia has saved me from a lot of problems. Bikes don't behave like cars unless you make an effort to behave like a car. This sounds odd, but people in cars aren't looking for bikes. The more you act like a car, the more you will look like a car, too, and perhaps be seen. This means go the speed of traffic as much as possible, change lanes like a car, ride in a part of the lane which is most visible to the largest number of other people on the road, and avoid the urge to take full advantage of a bike's inherent acceleration advantage and ability to squirt through little cracks in traffic. Stay the hell out of blindspots! Finally, look as far down the road as you can and scan everything you can. The broadest range of vision you can manage is the best. You can't daydream like you can in a car. Sometimes you just get hit, and there's nothing you can do about it at the time, but trying to learn something from it is better than just shrugging it off. If the injuries are bad enough, like a prosthetic leg, then it might be the end of riding, but having been a motorcycle rider, you will always be a better car driver. Sometime's your number is just up (retrosurfer for example), and you just get whacked. It is more possible on a bike, so it is a calculated risk.

 

If it sounds like too much work, that's fine. For me, it's a lot like being on stage in front of a lot of people. It isn't adrenaline, it is a concentration rush. You can't think about anything except what's going on right now, and I find that refreshing and exhilarating. Sure, there's a risk involved, but there's a risk of getting squashed in a small car, or even a big truck if you run into a bigger truck. I have avoided quite a few potential crashes (I don't call anything an accident) by anticipating and using the bike's superior agility to avoid a situation which would have been unavoidable in a car in the same circumstances.

 

So, there's my two cent's worth, priced for value at zero. As you can see, this is a subject near and dear to me, and one I take very seriously. When people bring me gory stories about death and mayhem visited on motorcycle riders, they are usually shocked to find out that I'm not horrified, but instead want all the details about what happened and why. People who just make snide comments about "donorcycles" and the like don't get it, but like any group outside the mainstream, motorcycle riders aren't well understood or well loved by the entire population. That's OK, since we bring it on ourselves with loud, obnoxious exhaust pipes on cruisers and irresponsible stunt riding and squidly behavior by some sport riders. For me, the ability to get 40+ mpg and get where I'm going wide awake and refreshed instead of numb and irritable is worth the risk. Besides, it's fun or I wouldn't do it and do it on weekends at the race track when I can.

[Tman]

Gaolee that is the best discourse on this subject I have ever read.

 

Being a physician and exposed to the unfortunate results of MCAs (motor cycle accidents)I've always wondered why anyone would ride one.

You did a great job of explaining it (at least to me). Cheers and keep doing what you enjoy doing. I have the feeling you are one of the safest people out there.

[TommyK]

Careful Fred. One can only afford, but one, passion. Money spent on motor sicles cannot be spent on guit tars. Choose wisely.

 

In defense of the guitar:

 

A guitar will not fall on you and do extensive damage.

[brundaddy]

Only afford one passion? Bull...

[Namvet]

Just sold my Harley Road King. Rode bikes for over 40 years but the body has broken down and I've realized its time to give it up before something drastic happens. When the legs and arms get numb you don't actually have control and when you're on a bike, its imperative you have control both physically and mentally. If you get one Fred, take the riders course, don't ride if you've been drinking, and keep your eyes wide open at all times. Practice riding in an empty parking lot until you are comfortable on the bike. This forum can't afford to lose you so be safe.