When Should You Get A Motorcycle - Starting Strength Radio Clips

[Bre Hillen]

[Nockian]

I've ridden since I was 18 and had one crash and one slide. Patience is definitely a life saver. I get on my bike always being consciously aware that it might be my last time. It sounds pretty morbid, but its an acceptance of the reality of the risk of riding bikes and not an incantation for luck.

I took an advanced riding course about 20 years ago and the instructor said much the same thing, that you had to accept the risks, then do what you could to reduce them, but there is always that one thing that will blind side you out of the blue-the unexpected and unanticipated.

I always tell those thinking of riding that if they aren't prepared to fully accept the risk, then they shouldn't get on a bike. Those who tell me how dangerous it is to ride a bike I never attempt to rebutt. Bikes are dangerous and that's part of the game.

[Mark Rippetoe]

You have to ride as though you are under attack -- as if everybody who has a shot at you is going to try to kill you. It takes a lot of work.

[Nockian]

You have to ride as though you are under attack -- as if everybody who has a shot at you is going to try to kill you. It takes a lot of work.

It's why I enjoy it. There is a sense of satisfaction of learning the skill, observation, machine control and patience to ride-but there is always that one thing and I accept that reality. A lot of accidents are just a result of poor rider control-braking, standing the bike up and running out of road when the rider could easily have taken the turn. It takes a long time to understand the nature of opposed steering and throttle use - even experienced riders will attempt to steer away from a danger by returning to tricycle steering and slamming on the brakes, which puts them right into a collision course with only the brakes left to save them. Unfortunately few of them have ever really practised hard braking, so even that is compromised.

Pity you stopped riding Rip, but you have to know when it's time to hang up the Spurs.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I haven't had any second thoughts about it. Every time I drive into town, my decision is reinforced.

[Nockian]

I haven't had any second thoughts about it. Every time I drive into town, my decision is reinforced.

Not sure if it's the same in America, but over the last few years the driving standard has dropped alarmingly. No one takes any pride in their driving anymore and the aggression is bad. The more distractions and safety features the cars have, the further the standard of driving, attention and politeness has declines. Even our public service buses have got in on the act :-/ Maybe I will eventually give up, I don't ride as regularly as I once did since taking up strength training funnily enough. Still nice to get out and carve some bends now and then.

[Erik Y]

As a friend of a friend once advised him, “When you buy a motorcycle, you’re starting a clock.”

He wound up deciding not to get a motorcycle.

[shoq]

As a friend of a friend once advised him, “When you buy a motorcycle, you’re starting a clock.”

He wound up deciding not to get a motorcycle.

Agreed, people who ride motorcycles are fucking stupid because it is so dangerous.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I rode from age 15 on and off until age 29. I had several accidents, the only semi-serious one on at low speed on a gravel road full of switchbacks. I boogered up my knee with road rash. This was in Illinois.

Flash ahead to 37 years in SoCal where DB put her foot down after a friend of ours got some broken bones in a motorcycle accident. No mas, she said.

On the drive back to Illinois after we retired, DB asked if I was thinking of riding again. After some stunned silence and asking who had just taken over her body, I stammered out "Well, yes, Dear." I got a 48 Sportster and took the AMA safety course in lieu of the driving test required by the Illinois DMV, which even the han trying tonice ladies behind the desk there was a better idea to pass their own figure 8 test in their parking lot with a bike the size I had. The course was very useful and informative and included practice riding, fast stops, swerves, and weaving around cones.

I too discovered that things had changed for me in the latter half of my 60's. My cognitive ability to evaluate and process things had slowed and I recognized that riding in town and on well traveled highways might be a bad idea. So I stick to the roads less traveled, and there plenty in and around the Shawnee National Forest. Last year I was returning from a ride and took a low speed turn (about 10 mph) on to a county side road. Some of the small chip gravel had accumulated around the center of this side road and I went down. Boogered up my knee just a little again and my helmet significantly harder. I still ride and will continue to do so for a while yet, but the accidents are out there waiting for you, like the abyss looks back at you when you look over the precipice at it.

[bobman]

Cell phones made riding much more risky