Have you ever considered quitting riding?

[OldF7Guy_imp]

I have yet to seriously consider quitting riding but I have had my moments. About a week ago I go into town and within a 5 mile stretch I had 3 people cut me off and nearly run over me for no reason. I didnt give any of them the finger but I sure shook my fist at one of them. I got home alive and wondered what in the world I was doing. It was short lived and you can just never let your guard down.

I am fortunate that my Mother is still living and she hates motorcycles. Not motorcycles or the people who ride them but the danger involved. She made me promise I would always wear a helmet and I have kept that promise and always will. She knows its just something I love to do. My Dad used to fly airplanes back in the day and that didnt go over real well with her either. That is yet another deal I would like to try someday.

[Cormanus]

12cb96vfr, have a break. I know just how you feel. As I said earlier, that has happened to me twice and the only cure for it was not riding. In both cases the urge and the pleasure has returned..

[Elipten_imp]

12cb96vfr. I suggest, an MSF class to get the training you never got, track days, counseling if you really want to ride. If not close the chapter and look back fondly at the good time. That is how I look back at my military service.


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[tbone455_imp]

I quit ridding from 1987 until 2003. My GS1100 was in storage. My daughter was just born and my son was 5 yrs old. I had lost interest and the risk with two small children made my decision. I had the itch in 2005 and bought my XX Blackbird. I have caught up since then with ZRX1200, Superglide, ST1300, GSXR750, CBR1000RR and the CB1100. I made up for lost time I guess.

Ferret, my mom who's 86 still says your on that damn bike when ever i go to visit. My wife use to ride when we where teenagers but has not been on a bike for 38 years.

Edit: I been lucky to never have been down on the street. Many mishaps in the dirt.

CIP57: I can relate. I started out on dirt bikes and eventually got a brand new 74 CB750. I loved that bike. But in 1978 right after my first son was born someone pulled out on me. It scared me enough that I decided to quit for the sake of my kid.
But in 1992 I got the bug and bought a Goldwing. Rode it steady until last year. Now I am thoroughly enjoying my new DLX! I don't intend to ever quit again.

[12cb96vfr_imp]

12cb96vfr, have a break. I know just how you feel. As I said earlier, that has happened to me twice and the only cure for it was not riding. In both cases the urge and the pleasure has returned..

good advice......think thats what i'm going to do

12cb96vfr. I suggest, an MSF class to get the training you never got, track days, counseling if you really want to ride. If not close the chapter and look back fondly at the good time. That is how I look back at my military service.


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I took the msf classes and done time on the track, but never considered counseling. lol if my hobby sends me to counseling i totally need a better hobby [/quote]

[Elipten_imp]

And just to stay in but not ride maybe this place could use another moderator.


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[CIP57_imp]

Funny I'm just now seeing this post.......I'm dealing with this very issue right now. In fact both of my bikes are currently up for sale. I'll explain:

Back in like 2008 I woke up one day and said "I want a motorcycle". I'd never ridden before, I only knew how to ride from my buddy telling me one time how to use the clutch and change gears. I went out and bought a cruiser (Honda 750) that day and taught myself to ride. I jumped right in and loved it - I averaged about 1-2k miles/month on the ol' girl and had a BLAST doing it. I wore a turtle shell helmet, no other gear and never EVER considered I'd have a wreck....ahhh ignorance is bliss I suppose. My best friend rode a Screamin' Eagle Deuce so I just NEEDED something faster to ride with him lol, so 1 year and 20k miles later I sold the 750 and got a Yamaha Warrior. Then I realized how much fun it was to go FAST.

Then one Friday afternoon in March 2010 I rode my buddies new CBR600 and said "taking curves while going fast is fun, I'm buying a sport bike". The next day I went and bought a Z1000. I remember while driving it home I couldn't even open the throttle all the way it scared me so bad haha, what a beast. I made more sport bike buddies and was riding A LOT. Me and my buddy started a motorcycle group and it got HUGE fast. My whole life revolved around motorcycles and I was loving every second of it.

Then June 6th 2012 happened. One of my buddies calls and says "lets ride to hooters they have bike nite tonight". I remember I was checking my tire pressure when he called, but I had no plans on riding that night. Long story short, 2 hours later I low sided at about 50mph - thankfully the time I spent riding with my sport bike buddies taught me all about gear, so I was geared up and relatively unhurt. A few cracked ribs and overall soreness, but nothing major - the Z was totally destroyed.

That was the moment it all changed.

I went out the following Saturday (6-13-12) and bought the VFR that I have now. I still had the Warrior but I figured I needed to get right back on the horse after my wreck. I have not been able to get back the joy I used to get from bikes since my wreck. Now when I ride all I think about is a car pulling out in front of me, or getting hit by some drunk a**hole, or hitting gravel, or oil, or a dog, or the million other things that can go wrong while riding. I can't go out and clear my mind like I used to. I have forced myself to do it for 2 years now, but I realized last week that it's getting worse.

The hardest part for me is that my entire life revolves around motorcycles - my friends, my money, my whole life outside of work is bikes. It was nothing for me to go into my bike group, post a last minute dinner ride and have 5 (or maybe 25) buddies all go out and have a great time. Or there would be a large event and we'd have 100 friends show up and we would LOVE it. Now when I ride I'm constantly paranoid about something going wrong, I've always ridden very cautiously, but now it's taking the fun out of the ride for me.

So that leads me to today. Both bikes are up for sale and I have NO CLUE what I'm going to do once they go. I have my sights on a hot rod or muscle car, but I'm afraid that they won't do for me what bikes did. I don't know how to get the old feeling back, or if its even possible?

Well that's my sob story haha. So actually I've not quit riding yet, but I guess I'm in the process of it. I keep hoping that something will click in me and reignite that flame, but so far it just ain't happenin......

Throttle back and try ridding alone for a while so your not inclined to rip it when your friends do!! I ride alone 90% of the time, it keeps my head clearer. It takes a lot of discipline to not twist the throttle. Ride for the enjoyment and not the excitement for a while. Good Luck

[Pterodactyl_imp]

CIP57 said: Quote:Throttle back and try ridding alone for a while so your not inclined to rip it when your friends do!! I ride alone 90% of the time, it keeps my head clearer. It takes a lot of discipline to not twist the throttle. Ride for the enjoyment and not the excitement for a while. Good Luck
Sounds good to me. Enjoy the ride. Try to find what got you on a bike in the first place. Relax, work on your skill levels at a comfortable pace. Stop, look at the scenery and say "I love this, I'm a lucky man". It is, after all, all about you. Get what you, and no one else, want from the joy of motorcycling.

Cheers

[Powerdogg55]

I rode street bikes (mainly CB's) and raced motocross on Honda Elsinore's & Suzuki RM's. My dad was my race mechanic and we traveled almost every weekend to a race. Upon turning 25 I married my high school sweetheart (still together after 34 years) and basically parked/sold my bikes. I often thought about how much I enjoyed riding but between pursuing my career and 3 children I just put it out of my mind. After retirement my wife and I was sitting on the back screen porch and I told her that Honda had come out with a new (old school) bike like the CB 550 she & I enjoyed as teenagers. Told her I was thinking about buying the new CB1100. She just sat there for a minute and her response was "you deserve one". Went out and bought the CB1100 and the rest is history.

[pechorin75_imp]

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.