Fear of death or injury

[flynrider]

“I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”

― Jack London

How has that escaped my attention all these years? What an excellent verse!

I'm cutting that out and sticking it on my wall! No wait...

Riding bike is like flying fighter jets in combat. Experience and training is the key to raising your odds of survival. Second do not do stupid things, drinking, drugs, driving tired, not sure about the cell phone in helmet comm systems.

Drive like they are all out to kill you, and drive in 3 second increments for survival.

It is more dangerous now than 40 years ago when I started, no cell phones then, huge SUVs, and a lot less traffic. Also don't buy a biker bigger and more powerful than you can handle. A 750 was big then, now hard to find a bike that small and that good.

That video is full of people doing mostly stupid things, or very inexperienced. In many countries I visit there is no training for car lisences let alone motorcycles. Other countries licenses for cars and motorcycles are tough to get (Germany and Japan).

I'm not going to stop riding, if combat did not kill me, and if I fear to ride, life just is not worth living. As there are few things that give me greater joy.

Heads up, use mirrors, keep bike maintained, wits always keen. ENJOY!


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I think I know who you are;

Fear? death? Injury? Yes but do not dwell on it. Ive had numerous saves both on race track and real road situations and actually crashed a month ago but riding to me is a constant study in honing ones skill to stay alive and to keep it up right, I love it and it challenges me on a daily basis. I know the dangers & I know of videos on the interweb but I choose to rather watch girls on trampolines or these types

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu598EhI7LU

Holy smokes! Why didn't someone tell me bikes that good were available? Those things are 'wheelie monsters'!!

I'm selling my CB and buying one of those!

Now, back to my basket weaving ...

My first five years of riding brought home the realities of sharing the road with mindless cagers, and also the consequences of just doing stupid stuff on two wheels. Several high and medium speed getoffs left me with time (while healing) to think about the real risks.

While those experiences drastically changed the way I went about riding, I don't think I ever considered selling the bike and taking up basket weaving. In the risk / reward equation, riding is just too rewarding to give up. Instead, I've done everything I can do to minimize the risks, mostly by altering the way I ride. So far, so good. I ride just about every day and it's been well over 25 yrs. since I put a scratch on a bike (although cagers try to put a scratch on me at least once a week).

If I decided to sell my plane and bikes to live a low risk lifestyle, I'd be dead of boredom within a year

Pilot, Lais c'est fiat attitude to life, this wouldn't be you, would it?

Nope. Most people think I'm a bit nuttier than that guy