So You Want To Buy a Motorcycle......

[CoastRange57]

I rode some back in my early 20's. Honda 750 4 cylinder that I put the 900 kit in. Rode it locally and then to CA for a trip and back and some other trips. It was a fast bike and I was smart enough to know that it was going to bite me at some point. That and my azz got sore after a 500 mile day.

Then I became a firefighter / EMT and worked a couple critical injury and fatal motorcycle accidents. Pretty messy and the critical ones were long term recovery with some major neuro deficits. Most were operator error like the guy who hit a parked semi at 100 mph, but some were random hits.

Sold the bike and that was the end of the biker days for me. I see the donor cycles running the highway by my house at 140 mph all the time. I will hand it to you older guys who still ride, my reaction reflexes are just not good enough to ride a motorcycle, I will just take my chances in the airplane, there are a lot less obstacles to run into up there.

 

[billdeserthills]

Ride to Live-
Live to Ride

Not that I ride for long, but it makes me feel alive & I need that
Same thing to me as eating all that food that's so bad for me, not to mention
my other varied hobbies--otherwise I might as well check out right now

I'm doing my best to outlive my parents, but all bets are off after that

 

[OregonTJ]

I definitely realize my mortality more now than when I was in my 20's, but I've had a street bike of some sort since I was 18 (40 yrs) and this is my current, likely my last and I'll have it for some time to come......

 

[JudoGold]

What do you carry when you ride? I just did a run to Antelope for the eclipse with a 224 IWB in leather pants.

 

[kmk1012]

When I got this bike, it had 1100 miles on it and had never seen rain. I kindly told the previous owner that I'd fix that, LOL. I've been on and off road for over 30 years, and I'm only 37.

 

[WWShooter]

Totaled a couple of bikes on the Angeles Crest Highway in SoCal, one of the greatest motorcycle roads in the world. 50 miles of technical riding (one turn directly into the next - rise from the right and continue without pause into the left) giving way to high speed straights and tight corners as you got further up the hill.

Learned several things:

Bodies heal, bikes don't;
Anyone with a "Catch me if you can" license plate frame can be caught;
Bikers, like gun owners, come in all stripes.