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/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> The Cafe >> How responsible is it to ride? /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1314123172 Message started by Philip on 08/23/11 at 11:12:51 |
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Title: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Philip on 08/23/11 at 11:12:51 Hey guys, I have been riding for about 6 months now and love it. I am married and just found out that we're having a baby and starting to really think about if I should sell my bike or not. I work as a paramedic and every motorcycle accident I work makes me question myself about riding. Its ultimately a personal decision but whats everyone elses input on this? |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Boule’tard on 08/23/11 at 11:35:37 The answer is going to be different depending on a lot of factors such as: What kind of riding do you do, at what speeds and distances, in what kind of traffic, and do you wear full gear and have good training/experience, etc. Also consider that your overall picture of motorcycling is going to be heavily biased to the negative, because of your job. Nobody calls the paramedics to inform them that they just had a great ride. I have two kids and the answer for me is "very responsible, and possibly more responsible than not riding" because riding motorbikes is a thing that keeps me sane and happy, and able to be a good father. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 08/23/11 at 11:37:32 I gave up several things when I became a dad, riding was one of them, I didnt own a bike when I got married, but I had & I was wishing for another, but I couldnt see it,, not with my history, Ive totaled 3 & hit 3 cars w/ bicycles, so,, maybe Im not the guy to ask, but it doesnt matter how careful I am, I can still get turned across & someon can run a stop sign, bikes simply dont offer protection, Once my kid got grown, I got a bike, , You have to consider all the elements, what would happen IF you got hurt, what happens if you get crippled,, what happens if you die Now, as a responsible husband/father, is it not your duty to limit your exposure to unnecessary danger? & Boule makes a good point,, its your call,, |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by EJID on 08/23/11 at 11:45:21 Just my opinion, but I sold my dirtbike in 1993 about 2 yrs before I got married. Had a daughter born in each 1998, 2002, 2007, then twin boys in Feb 2009. I picked up my first used street bike in July 2009. I've been riding that bike to/from work and occasionally on a weekend since then (weather permitting). Initially my wife (an RN) was not too fond of the idea, but as long as I promised to always wear at least a helmet she would be OK with the bike. There's been a few "pucker" moments that have scared the bejezzus out of me, but I learn from them and continue to ride. Only just this summer, my wife has taken an interest in riding 2up with me for an occasional date night or such. She finally realizes how much fun it is to ride but agrees this bike is a bit small for the 2 of us. I was amazed when she suggested that maybe I will need a bigger bike so we can ride together, but she didn't want to sell this one because she thinks she might want to learn to ride it herself. :o I say, keep riding if that's what you want to do, but always keep it in your mind that now more that 1 person is relying on you making that ride back home each and every day :) Ride On!!! 8-) |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 08/23/11 at 11:49:52 Where you live could play into your decision. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Classic650 on 08/23/11 at 12:02:58 I learned to love riding as a youngster because my father had motorcycles from the time I was in diapers. It's your decision, but I'd never give it up. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by dasch on 08/23/11 at 12:23:17 2 kids, gave up riding when 1st one was born. Sold two bikes. Gave up everything, in reality. Pretty soon I realized I need at least something I love. Just my nature, I have to have something apart from cliche. Bought another motorcycle. Then another... I ride slow and cautious. Always did, always will. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by drums1 on 08/23/11 at 12:47:13 Look at it this way. Bike or car, If you crash or get hit, you can get hurt bad or die either way. But I'm betting your not gonna quit driving a car. I say keep on riding, just be a little extra cautious. Obviously, don't drink and ride. Personally, I choose to not wear a helmet, but if I had little ones at home, I probably would. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by verslagen1 on 08/23/11 at 12:51:12 You know better what is the consequence to being in an accident. Professionals (motorcops) ride the streets for years w/o accident. Yet can be killed walking across the street. And you can be killed while on the job. My point being theirs no point in withdrawing from all risk, that's not living. If you're talking about being responsable... financially, then carry as much insurance as possible. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by babyhog on 08/23/11 at 13:00:51 I've mentioned it before, because its something that has stuck with me. In the safety training course, they compare riding with climbing a ladder. Your level of risk-taking is different from everyone else's. How high you climb the ladder and how much risk you accept is up to you. The higher you climb, the more risky it is, the more damage that can be done. Maybe now with a little one depending on you, just back off a rung or two... |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by dasch on 08/23/11 at 13:12:23 exactly! Back off a rung or two. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by engineer on 08/23/11 at 14:06:34 I live in a fairly rural area where the local paper serves two counties and four motorcycle accidents have been mentioned in it this past spring. They were mentioned because the rider was killed or in one case left with serious brain damage. None were wearing helmets. All were the fault of the motorcycle rider and none were at high speed. I have personally known several guys who died on motorcycles. One messed up at an intersection and headed for the tree lawn and saddly drove under a stay wire for a power pole, it caught him under the chin. A close relative was found in a coma in a ravine, he was wearing a helmet but the strap was apparently not fastened, it took him about a decade to die. A family friend, a middle aged guy was cleaning out his garage and on a whim ran his sons tiny little dirt bike down the road just to run some fuel through the carb. They found him in a ditch dead of head trauma, no helmet. Another friend failed to negotiate a curve at night, no helmet. I had a head on collision with a car at about 55 mph and survived, I was wearing a helmet. I dumped my bike this summer and broke two bones and will be laid up for several more weeks, I was wearing a helmet. My brother and I had lots of motorcycle wrecks when we were young and have broken lots of bones but not any heads. Is it risky, I think so but I know guys who have ridden all their lives on a regular basis and have never even dropped a bike. When I had kids growing up I quit riding, now that I am retired I started riding again and intend to keep riding, as soon as these bones heal. One thing I am certain of is that a good helmet saves lives. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by LarryC on 08/23/11 at 14:45:50 Take a MSF New Rider Course. You not only learn the basics, but you also save on your insurance. LarryC Riders Edge Instructor All accidents are predictable and preventable-MSF |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by verslagen1 on 08/23/11 at 16:00:30 7C72627077746568766468110 wrote:
Ok, can you predict this? You are traveling down a 3 lane one way street with left and right turn lanes in the left lane. You know this street so you are traveling the right speed to time all the lights. You come to an intersection with a red signal, and parked in the middle lane is a car waiting for the signal. What happens? Next, You are traveling down a 1 lane each way road. The car in front of you goes into the left turn lane. What happens? And we've all heard the stories of some distracted driver blowing off a stop sign T-boning whoever was crossing. Almost happened to me too. You can't predict everything. You will have to react as if your life depends on it... it does. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Serowbot on 08/23/11 at 16:56:21 Ever watch the "Final Destination" movies?... If it's your time, it's your time,... probably end up slipping in the shower... ... or choking on a chicken bone... ... or sitting on an exploding toilet... ... or a meteor will fall on your head... :-?... |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by kimchris1 on 08/23/11 at 18:19:13 Myself I just got into riding 4 years ago.. Wished I knew what a blast it was and therapy as well, when I was younger. My hubby also rides a bike. If something happens, it happens. I have already been down and recovered. Could not wait to get back in the saddle. My mother hates the fact that I ride, yet has realized that I am going to ride, no matter what she says. It may very well be what I get taken out of this world on.. I will be doing what I love, if it does.. I won't be sitting in a rocking chair singing to myself.. You have to make up your own mind. Yes you have dependent children and a wife. Yet anything can happen, anywhere. Life is way too short to not enjoy it doing something you enjoy.. Just my 2 cents worth... Hugs.. :) kim |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by bill67 on 08/23/11 at 18:56:07 717F6F7D7A7968657B69651C0 wrote:
BS I taught myself and never been down in 40 years of riding.Forget the riders courses and teach yourself. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by HJH on 08/23/11 at 19:28:15 Define responsible. You're burning a lot less gas riding than you are driving a gas hog, and that is responsible. Personally, I need the speed rush and got the bug when I was 25, after riding a friend's Bultaco. I got a small used motorcycle to ride while in college, saving myself lots of gas even though it was cheap back then. Living the example in Verslagen's post, had a guy in a plumbing truck turn across a lane in which I had the right of way. I had my son on the tank in front of me on the Bridgestone I was riding, and managed to drag him off the bike with me as we jumped the curb avoiding the truck that had stopped crossways in the lane. The bike was totalled, he and I were both wearing helmets and fine. That did not make me quit riding, it just made me ride paranoid, and I have ridden the street paranoid ever since, watching every stopped vehicle and every side street. I never get on a motorcycle without a helmet, having seen several split in two in motocross races while the riders walked away with headaches. I think wearing one is responsible if you have a family. I am now on motorcycle number 19, having gone through 19 years of racing motocross and enduros, and another 25 on street bikes, and my son still rides 38 years later, although I wouldn't be caught dead leading with my head on his crotch rocket. I feel a lot more responsible running errands on the Savage than in a 12 mpg pickup. I never felt my family suffered when I bought and rode a used bike, since I did the maintenance work my self to save money, and my being in a better frame of mind after a ride and in much better physical shape while riding off-road made my high-stress job easier on me and thus on the family. So there's a few ways to look at responsibility. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by BIGDADDYMC on 08/23/11 at 19:29:58 I am also a paramedic and I have my first child on the way I have thought about this. I see it the same way most of these guys do, don't trust the other guy on the road be safe and drop it a rung or two if needed and as you should know in our line of work no matter what when it's somemore time it's their time and anything and everything can be the cuase and the people who fear that and then embrace the that fact always live a little close to the edge but still have firm footing and at least one hand on the rails. So all in all it's your choice but I say go for it just prepare for each thinking check the bike like the check list for the bus and allways wear my PPE for the ride. ;) And yeah I have never had anyone call and say they had a great ride today but I have had many a call where the riders did make it and still ride. :) |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by BIGDADDYMC on 08/23/11 at 19:33:11 It is also a very good stress relief after a bad day at work and know you know what i mean. 58535D5E5B5E5E4357591A0 wrote:
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Arizuno on 08/23/11 at 19:40:05 I suspect bill67 would agree the world is a different, and less forgiving, place from what it was 40 years ago. The MSF BRC is well worth it. Take the Course, if you haven't, and practice, practice, practice. Knowledge is power, and in this case, safety. Guaranteed, no, but its's an invaluable leg up. And consider that honing your motorcycle skills will make you a MUCH better automobile driver (learning to think of oneself as invisible is invaluable), to the benefit of your precious baby. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Dj12midnit on 08/23/11 at 20:08:13 I have been in two accidents one on my bike and one driving a tow truck. The bike accident I was doing a test ride on the bike two weeks after my shoulder surgery. The tow truck I spent five months in the hospital. Based on my experience ride the bike stay out of tow trucks. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Gyrobob on 08/23/11 at 20:41:46 Ride responsibly, have fun, and stop whining. Or quit. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Digger on 08/23/11 at 22:15:50 Sitting around the Digger dinner table in Houston one sultry evening were SWMBO, me, and our two kids, back in '97. I had been working for NASA for just a few months and it was pretty evident that my training was getting to be VERY pricey. "Well," I said, "if I'm ever gonna give up motocross and street bikes, I guess now is the time!" My daughter, 11, asked why. "My training is really expensive nowadays." I said, "Seems kinda irresponsible of me to be taking risks in my personal life that could easily put it all to waste....and unfair to NASA and the taxpayers who are footing the bill." To which my son, 13 (and, I'll never forget this), replied, "But Dad, that's not who they hired." True story. Without bikes, I would not be who I am, nor would I have been where I've been.....it's as simple as that! BTW, I tell friends who come to me for advice on riding, "Get you a cheap bike you can learn on and that will be easy to sell. Ride for one year. Then, look at yourself in the mirror and ask, 'Can I live without this?' If the answer is 'yes,' sell the bike and get on with your life. It's too dangerous a hobby to do unless you absolutely can't live without it!" |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by weracerc on 08/24/11 at 06:24:32 everyone has a slightly different view & it all depends on your own personal values and beliefs: I am conservative by nature and a safety professional by trade so I felt that i had to weigh the risk vs the reward - I used to ride bicycles when i first got married - almost got taken out in a residential neighborhood by two cars that were chasing each other at a high rate of speed and did not see me - that single experience made me reflect on the "what if's" - I decided it would be more responsible for me to get off the bike eliminate the risk exposure from that activity because i had to support a wife and 3 kids - there was no other option for me, in my mind - I had to control/eliminate the risk........then once the kds got grown and out I decided I could afford to take some risks since I was worth more to my wife dead than alive and I was done raising children.....so I got a motorcycle, took the safety classes, only ride when it is dry and daylight and i use it for commuting mainly - I have only ridden for fun 2 times since i got the bike a little over a year ago....I cant get short or long term disability because of other medical conditions so I have to think about the risks involved in exposing myself to potential injury by "sport riding" so I choose to control my risks by only riding when it is dry, daylight and only short communte to work and back <10miles round trip a day......my son came to vist a few weeks ago with his R6 we took 5 hours on a Sunday to take a ride up in the mountains (sport riding experience number 2) risk exposure high - it was a lot of fun but the whole time i was worried about something happening to him since he has 2 1/2 yr old and another on the way......I would prefer he sold the bike and eliminated the risk for his families sake - but it is HIS decision not mine - back in April i did a charity group ride (sport riding experience number 1) this a controlled escorted event risk exposure limited......I will do 1 of these limited risk exposure charity group rides a year - going up in the mountains on the twisties for fun probably not by myself and probably not with my son again he will be too busy being a dad & a Marine......if my cycling buddies at work ask me to go ride the twisties i might try it again. bottom line your life your choice what risks are you willing to take and at what potential cost? |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Southpaw on 08/24/11 at 10:15:44 I quit riding years ago, started that decision for the same reasons you did, took me 20 years to get back to something I really enjoy!. (Ok that and a safety provision at my work for supervisors...aka I took the money and ran!) The problem is once you stop there's always a reason not to start again. Can't afford the time, can't afford another vehicle and insurance, should be using the time and money for something for the family etc. Ultimately the decision is what makes the best sense for you but don't short change yourself. Everyone needs SOME kind of outlet. Hunting, sports, even jogging through town ALL have risk and time requirements. How you manage those risks says a lot about your level of exposure! |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Skid Mark on 08/24/11 at 21:31:08 Life is a adventure and full of risks. Only you can decide on how much risk you want to take. If you carry on riding you can reduce the risk by riding responsibly. Even a slow evening ride can be a good getaway from the joys of family when you need some time away ;) |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by MMRanch on 08/24/11 at 21:57:13 Heck Eating chicken or fish can be more dangerous that riding a Motorcycle if you doin't pay attention to what your doing ! Just keep you mind on what your doing , and remember " There ain't no big hurry to get there , It the ride that matters , Drag the pegs when its safe to play - not in downtown traffic" 8-) |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by stinger on 08/25/11 at 01:13:18 I met this guy in Glacier National Park that was in his middle 50's and said it was time to hang up his bike. He thought that at his age motorcycle riding was too dangerous, so he bought a sports car. The same week he bought it he went for a ride in the mountains and a boulder came down took the top off of his car as well as his scalp. He was still recovering but decided he could die lots of different ways so he bought him a new bike. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Boofer on 08/26/11 at 00:32:46 I have been married 34 yrs. I quit riding after I married, because I didn't want to risk losing my income. 2 yrs ago my wife ok'd a mc when we discussed it. Everthing's paid for and I have life ins. She recently said, even though it's dangerous, it's the best thing for me to have a bike as therapy. Discuss it with your wife and see how she feels. I think this decision should be made by you and the one who loves you. I could argue both sides all day. You two are a family. Get her input. :) |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Philip on 08/27/11 at 09:20:47 Thanks for all the good feedback guys! My wife is actually encouraging me to keep it, she likes the cost of the insurance and fuel for the motorcycle. I always wear a helmet and typically wear a protective vest and good boots, but even that does not do a lot of good when you're under a car. I think I am going to keep it for the time being. I need to replace my primary vehicle and if I cannot afford what I need then I might put the bike up for sale but only take my top dollar. BIGDADDYMC, are you from Georgetown Kentucky?? Ironically that is where I work! |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Gyrobob on 08/27/11 at 16:04:57 4964646D6E790B0 wrote:
I have been married 43 years. I have been riding for 53 years. I only got killed once. |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Boofer on 08/27/11 at 18:10:52 437D766B666B66040 wrote:
I have been married 43 years. I have been riding for 53 years. I only got killed once.[/quote] ? :-? |
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Title: Re: How responsible is it to ride? Post by Starlifter on 08/28/11 at 21:20:17 I've been killed several times by Ms. Starlifter. ;D |
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