08-31-2014, 01:30 AM
12cb96vfr, I agree with those who say "Give it a break for a while." Sometimes that's all it takes. Heck, I was recently traveling for a couple of weeks and wasn't able to touch a bike the whole time. I was a little bummed that I couldn't ride...but when I got home I realized that the break had done me good, and that riding felt "fresh" and fun again.
As for my own story....I grew up on a farm and started riding three-wheelers at 7, so the transition to motorcycles was pretty easy. My Dad bought an old BMW R50/5 when I was 16, and with his kinda-sorta permission I taught myself to ride on it.
Anyway, I learned to fly around the same time, and over the years the two interests have both waxed and waned, though not in sync with each other. I've owned a motorcycle consistently for the past 13 years, but I've ridden more and less at various times. When I'm less interested in flying, my interest in motorcycles picks up. For the past couple years I haven't been flying at all, for various reasons...but I'm far more involved in motorcycles than I've ever been.
At times I've had little scares on the road and briefly thought, "Maybe I ought to consider giving this up"...but it's never been enough to push me all the way. Oddly enough (or not), the situation that scared me the most happened while I was in a car. About a year ago I narrowly avoided getting T-boned by a guy running a red light at 40 mph through a nearly-blind intersection. Afterwards all I could think was, "I had a big metal cage, a seatbelt, and front/side airbags in that car, and I doubt I'd have made it through without serious injury. What if I'd been in that intersection one second earlier, and on a bike?"
In a way I suppose it was good: There was no accident, and it made me a lot more cautious about approaching intersections where I have a green light but a limited field of view...but I still spent a few days with a very acute, and troubling, sense of just how vulnerable we are out there.
As for my own story....I grew up on a farm and started riding three-wheelers at 7, so the transition to motorcycles was pretty easy. My Dad bought an old BMW R50/5 when I was 16, and with his kinda-sorta permission I taught myself to ride on it.
Anyway, I learned to fly around the same time, and over the years the two interests have both waxed and waned, though not in sync with each other. I've owned a motorcycle consistently for the past 13 years, but I've ridden more and less at various times. When I'm less interested in flying, my interest in motorcycles picks up. For the past couple years I haven't been flying at all, for various reasons...but I'm far more involved in motorcycles than I've ever been.
At times I've had little scares on the road and briefly thought, "Maybe I ought to consider giving this up"...but it's never been enough to push me all the way. Oddly enough (or not), the situation that scared me the most happened while I was in a car. About a year ago I narrowly avoided getting T-boned by a guy running a red light at 40 mph through a nearly-blind intersection. Afterwards all I could think was, "I had a big metal cage, a seatbelt, and front/side airbags in that car, and I doubt I'd have made it through without serious injury. What if I'd been in that intersection one second earlier, and on a bike?"
In a way I suppose it was good: There was no accident, and it made me a lot more cautious about approaching intersections where I have a green light but a limited field of view...but I still spent a few days with a very acute, and troubling, sense of just how vulnerable we are out there.