I Love Motorcycles but...

I have ridden for just shy of 50 years. Yes I have went down, but I love bikes. The doctor told me last year my days on a bike are numbered, but I will ride till I can't anymore.
Most fatalities involve carelessness on someone's part. Or inexperience of the rider. There are a lot of people out there that shouldn't be allowed to operate a child's wagon let alone a automobile, but that is their "Right" so they think. Hell, my own mother damn near killed me when she violated my right of way. She was 84! Shouldn't have been driving at that age.
And helmets! They only offer protection up to 21 mph. But they do aid in your family making positive identification of the body.
The hospital staff call us "Organ Donors", and look at us as a sub culture. Yes they are dangerous, but a lot of that is due to stupid people in cars.

Damn LM, I thought driving was a privilege, not a right? My Mom drove till she was 90 & she scared the hell out of me. LOL

freetown fred wrote:Damn LM, I thought driving was a privilege, not a right? My Mom drove till she was 90 & she scared the hell out of me. LOL

My point exactly! We are a society of enablers. We promote a lot of our troubles. My mother is 94 and still thinks she should be allowed to drive. Can't walk, or reason normally, but she wants to drive. Sis took her car when she put her in the home.

windyhill4.2 wrote:a farmer's wife pulled out of a field with a truck & wagon load of hay

I call sexism A woman who drives a truck pulling a load of hay is a farmer, not a farmer's wife.
Sorry, off topic. Return to stories of mayhem. There was a kid with one of those yellow chain-saw-powered bikes like Smitty's, who used to flash past the house at about 80 miles an hour every morning. Some mornings he'd be pulling a wheelie. He disappeared a couple years ago, can't imagine what became of him.

Yo RB, up this way, she would still be referred to as "the farmers wife" and be damn proud of it, nor would she give a rats ass, as long as enough hay got put up for the coming winter!

windyhill4.2 wrote:....past our place on Rt 22....

I try to avoid that road on the bike as much as I can. With those (relatively) new extra-tall concrete barriers, the lines of site are worse than ever, and sometimes people trying to make a left turn across traffic don't see what's coming.

I was riding eastbound about 2 years ago on the bike, and about 50 yards in front of me, an elderly couple in a sedan heading westbound made a left onto Racehorse Dr right in front of a F150. Had I come through there a little earlier, they would have pulled out in front of me. A friend of mine saw a similar situation not too long ago at 22 and Bullfrog, and a couple years back, someone pulled out in front of a biker from Gravel Hill Rd.

Roads like this, 4 lanes, non limited access, intersections at the crests of hills and at odd angles are the worst places for bikes. And yes, I see bikers riding like morons all the time... Since its got some long straightaways, they treat it like their personal racetrack.

LDPosse, seems you know this road pretty good, it sure has had its share of fatalities over the years. Yet so many drivers fail to realize that flying low on this road with the non limited access & driveways coming right out onto the road is a disaster just waiting to happen. For a few years we watched a rider regularly pass our place on one wheel while doing in excess of 80 mph,haven't seen that one lately , but we are seeing/hearing the super, super,super fast ones flying by here the last few months.We cringe every time , waiting for the crash & the sound of a flopping body.

I've had many, many trips north of 100 mph all over the country on 2 wheels ... but every one of my close calls was in a city or suburb at 30 or less ....

Rt.260 (if memory serves right ...) out near Show Low, AZ circa 2000:

I gave up and sold my '79 Shorty after losing 2 friends in 2 yrs. I no longer had any real riding buddies left, and my wife refused to ride with me anymore because our youngest son was only 6-7yrs old and she said she couldn't stand the thought of him being orphaned. I had to agree.

That was 20yrs ago, traffic was way less than today...and there was no such thing as texting back then! I witness at least 1 vehicle a day crossing/swerving because their head is literally looking down at their phone in their other hand. That freaks me OUT.

I do miss riding though, more power to you guys who still do it.

Still riding after almost 50 years but not sure for how much longer. Idiots on the road and my slower reaction time are starting to be a factor now. It will be a sad day when I have to give it up.

I try to log about 5000 miles a year on two wheels. I only ride alone
and didn't start riding again till the kids were grown and out of the
house and on their own. You can't fear what might happen or you'll
never do anything. Ride with your eyes open and never be in a hurry to
get where your going.

I've been a tour rider on and off for most of my life. Logged around 110,000 miles on three bikes, more than half of them with my wife of 35 years navigating. Still have the '83 Venture XVZ12TK sitting in the garage. It's been there for the last 5 years because of my last ride but there's a story about that. I found myself at a point in my life's timeline that was just past where LDPosse is his now: Little ones. I was leaving for a short trip with the MC club and looked over my left shoulder to see my wife waving goodbye with one arm while holding our infant son in her other. No guilt trip thrown my way but that picture started one of my own in my head. After my daughter was born, I park it for 6 years.

When my son was 9, I brought the Venture out of mothballs. Rebuilt what needed rebuilding. Put it on a car trailer with two other bikes and headed to Colorado with my son, my good friend (who'll be here in 20 for lunch!) and his 8 year old son and his friend. We shared a 12 day ride together after parking the trailer in Colorado Springs. What a great time that was! Still remember my son with his arms out pretending he was an A-10

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I kept the Venture on the road for another 5 years for short rides with the kids and wife. The the close calls brough caution up front again so it was again parked until the kids were in high school.

About 5 years ago I brought it back out of mothballs. Took one ride, all rural roads. Had THREE close calls in one morning caused by inattentive drivers. the scariest was a driver that kept running up on my ass when I was doing 45 in a 45. I came up a hill and saw a warning sign that something was going on over the hill top so I just slowly backed off the throttle as I crested the hill and spotted a two car accident clean up with rollbacks and police. The driver suddenly locked up his brakes - right on my asss. I knew I was getting older and had college tuition to pay and though thru that ride. It just wasn't fun.

I must admit I'm thinking about getting it out again. Maybe even a new Victory. I don't know if I will with all the other issues going with getting older. It sure is a tempting thought with all those good rides in the memory bank ....

Earlier this week, a rider was run over by the rear axle of an 18 wheeler. He was 78 years old. It happened at the intersection of Rt 873 & Mountain Rd. This is a section or road not know for high speed riding or anything like that due to the river bridge and traffic light. And the news story wasn't real clear on how it went down. But at 78 years old, what's going on here? I guess if he still wanted to ride it was his choice. If I am still riding at 78 years old, do me a favor. Kill me but not on the roadway for everyone to see.

There are just so many more riders now then there were 20 yrs ago. It raises the fatalities. Sad but true.