[Gas Man]

Ok, so I have been thinking about something...

Do you ever look back on something you did on your bike and thin..."Gee that might have been pretty stupid"?

You take a 40 mile jaunt up the highway and your speedo never falls below 115mph, you complete speeds of 150, 160, 170 and it's nothing to you. Even through traffic? You get off the bike after dicing up traffic hard core and while it was fun during and right after... later you think that may not have been a good move? Then you start to think about all the "what if's" and think that you have people that depend on you being alive and capable of working?

You start to think that maybe you should slow down?

Maybe? no way? sometimes?

What do you do about it?

 

[Tuna]

Honest most of the time! my buddy and I did that last saturday. on I-95 we took off heading south back to pooler. a good short ten min ride on the interstate. oh that was cut short by 6 or 7 mins. when we get back to the house i was like wow that was fun/stupid/can we do it again? :bash:

 

[Gas Man]

Yeah exactly... fun but stupid! But do you ever think that maybe you shouldn't do those stupid things?

I can honestly say that if I had a kid...no way no how... couldn't justify it. But should a wife (or husband but most chicks don't have this problem) alone be enough to slow down?

 

[twisty]

Your getting soft in your old age.

 

[Tuna]

this might sound crazy but when im just riding by myself i for the most part take it easy its just when its a group of us we all do stupid things that we shouldnt get away with at 170 mph. but being single like me i dont think about it as offen as i should.

 

[Gas Man]

Your getting soft in your old age.

You may be very right there Twisty!

DAMMIT Jim...no warp speed!

 

[itgirl25]

i always try to take it easy. motorcycling is a privilege for me. i hafta return home safely for the sake of my 2 girls. i can't imagine what their life would be like without me. maybe that's just part of being a girl. but i'm sure everyone has had 2nd thoughts at least one time or another. the key is to let that experience influence your future decisions. everyone matters to someone. ride safe. :dthumb:

 

[pickle.of.doom]

That is my number one reason for wanting to get out on the track... Traffic scares me a lot more than it used to for some reason. Fear of being dropped by ins company too, I don't even want to enter that mess of trying to find good rates. I'm pretty much <100 90% of the time... even on the freeways I usually stick to about 75-90, save for those few speedy slip-ups I have tamed my speed beast on the street for the most part, but it needs an outlet, and it needs one bad!


Of course there is still nothing better than bouncing off the rev limiter in 6th while passing a line of like 10 cars on a 2 laner backroad... at night in the rain

 

[Mudpuppy]

I understand what you are saying Gas.. it is so tempting all that power right at your finger tips.. how can you resist and open road or openings in traffic big enough for a bike and the sheer enjoyment of dicing it up.. i have done some stupid things and looked back thinking wtf was I thinking.. funny thing though you would think after you hit the track you would want to be a speed demon 100% of the time.. not so much for me.. traffic dicing and high speeds on unpredictable roads has lost its enticement for me.. i only think about hitting the track again and having free reign to tear it up in a much safer place and limit my risks.. lately I have found myself just cruising on the street and pondering when I am going to get to Gingerman, Mid-Ohio, Autobohn, etc. etc. Plus 2 20+ over tickets in my car in like 2 weeks didn't help beginning of summer.. lately I could be riding an HD on the road because what is there to prove really? how dumb you look pulled over or laying there bleeding AFU or worse? street riding nowadays is more of a survialist effort - dodging the cell phones, pot holes, cops and orange horses, etc. and by high speed traffic dicing you are playing russion roulette..

 

[Gas Man]

I think you're right MP... These thoughts have been haunting me lately... the voice of age and reason has been getting real loud this year. I'm leaning away from getting another sportbike for the street. I just don't see myself slowing down when I have the power or ability under my right hand. This is a big factor in what I may get in the spring.

I believe it was Fatburg that said I have to much riding on me to ride out of control. or somin like that...

I really don't think it is right of me to do that when I know my wife is depending on me coming home in tact. I was just curious to hear who else thinks these things and what do they do about it... I think I have become to complacent with the speed and the danger...

 

[Earlzach]

The voice of age cought up to me about three years ago.
I have a smokin fast bike, but I ride to enjoy riding. I dont look for the thrill of speed and driving crazy at all. I have to much to risk. And I take it a little easy for the wifes sake. I can ride wheelies as far as I want to go. But since I have bought this bike I havent even tried to ride one out. I have snapped the gas just to see what it would take, just a torque test if you will. I just wish I could get her to lighten up a little on the riding after dark thing. She is a worry wort about that. Other thanthat My mellow riding is my choise. And it is due to voice of age. I dont feel like being hurt. That is just painfull. :2cents:

 

[GsxrJack]

rode bikes for over 30 years, the list of stupid things that ive done is too long to list... :crazy:

 

[Mudpuppy]

I think you're right MP... These thoughts have been haunting me lately... the voice of age and reason has been getting real loud this year. I'm leaning away from getting another sportbike for the street. I just don't see myself slowing down when I have the power or ability under my right hand. This is a big factor in what I may get in the spring.

I believe it was Fatburg that said I have to much riding on me to ride out of control. or somin like that...

I really don't think it is right of me to do that when I know my wife is depending on me coming home in tact. I was just curious to hear who else thinks these things and what do they do about it... I think I have become to complacent with the speed and the danger...

um i think i told you that last year gas.. but did you listen no? remember our discussions about my concern about you becoming a road pancake? oh yeah that's right. like I say now and I will say again - if people just listened to MP 75% of life's problems would go away.. :spam:

 

[GsxrJack]

the only thing that i sort of did different as i got older is instead of riding insane 100% of the time, I would chose my spots to go nuts a little more carefull as i got older..but i still love speed, whether im in the vette doing 160 or taking a friends bike out for a test drive...

I just feel the need for speed.......

 

[Gas Man]

Yep...MP... I sorta do remember that... and you're right. I don't want any syrup with my road pancake. These ideas that I'm taking to heart are curving alot around my choice of my next bike.

 

[bumblebee]

Your getting soft in your old age.

:withstupi ...time to buy a cruiser and join the Hooters crowd...

If you are afraid, you should not ride. There are some things a person can do to avoid getting hurt, but it is so out of your control. When Katrina hit So. Florida, it was a category 1 storm. It killed 5 people...2 by power lines and 3 by trees falling on them.

You can't live your life waiting for trees to fall.

 

[R1up0n1]

I've done alot of stupid things on my bike...but oh well I am safe now, hell my engine locked on me at 140 mph! I never let off for about 10 miles! I do this stuff all the time... It's all dumb fun, but it's just too tempting!

 

[ShanMan14]

Even on my whimpy 650, I find myself contemplating dumb moves. Sometimes I do them, sometimes not; more often not.

I'll tell you what... having a wife and two small kids will temper your riding habits. Call it old age, maturity, whatever...

 

[Earlzach]

Even on my whimpy 650, I find myself contemplating dumb moves. Sometimes I do them, sometimes not; more often not.

I'll tell you what... having a wife and two small kids will temper your riding habits. Call it old age, maturity, whatever...

Said a mouth full there! :dthumb:

 

[bumblebee]

For me, riding my bike is a lot like the Hi-rise window cleaning I did for years. You are 250' in the air, sitting on a piece of 3/4" plywood, dangling over the side of a building, secured by a 5/8" kernmantle rope. You can't distract yourself with looking down and thinking about what if...you have to concentrate on the task directly in front of you and you almost forget how high you are. I fell from 3rd story once, landed on a car and blew all the glass out, just like on TV...Man was that guy hot when he came out...But I was back on the roof making drops as soon as OSHA cleared the job site

On my bike, I am concerned with what is going on now, in front of me, watching behind to not get run over. I don't think about, "well, if I lane split between these two goobers, and car A goes..." I look and react and go.

I have had a few adrenaline pumpers, last month we were riding 45 miles one way to go to Dennys, (we don't have a Dennys here in Tally and Snakemann had to have Dennys) And we blew past the FHP cruiser running 95 + He flashed the spotlight on us, but didn't come out after us. On the way back, he had someone pulled over and we blew past at 95 + again.

I don't make time to think about the what ifs...otherwise, I wouldn't ride