This guy makes me upset...

[thefifthcircle]

Here is a non riding columnist that wrote a piece on motorcyclists and how we all die by hitting a twig in the road. It is a short colum but it got under my skin a little. I wrote him a couple questions about where he got his facts from and will await a reply before going off. :evil:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/steinberg/cst-nws-stein22.html

[JRE]

Yeah, I'd venture a guess to say that he is ignorant. :roll: The problem is that most of the press that bikes get is negative. You always hear on the news when some squid wraps his bike around a tree but you never hear that a group of responsible riders got together and rode all day without incident and returned home safely.
It's basically the same with SCUBA diving. It's a relatively safe sport if you follow the rules and pay attention. However, you always hear stories of people dying in the news. Bad news sells I guess. It just builds paranoia and skews people's perceptions.

[thefifthcircle]

SKUBA DIVE !!!???!!! Are you NUTS :lol:

I did get a reply from the gentelman that wrote the article. He said that he got his stats from the director of the transplant center in Chicago. I wrote back another e-mail to him with advice......nothing bad just that he might think about either writing about the good side of motorcycling or trying it out for himself. 8)

[JRE]

Maybe there are more bike accidents because there are more idiot cagers on the road??? :twisted:

[Bob]

This is a bit long.

Those uninformed commentaries are annoying. On the other hand, I think we all accept that motorcycling is more dangerous than not motorcycling. We have all chosen to take that risk, because we all know the benefits outweigh the risks, at least for us. Same as scuba diving, sky diving, skiing, snowmobiling, driving a Porsche or 'Vette way too fast, etc. So why do we do it? For the sheer joy. I just finished reading for the second time a book I read several years ago. It's "The Perfect Vehicle: What is it About Motorcycles" by Melissa Holbrook Pierson. This is one of the best books I have read about bikes, and does a better job of capturing why we ride than anything I've read. She also doesn't avoid the "fear" factor. We've all felt it. Hauling ass around a blind curve on a mountain road, only to suddenly spot mountain goats, flying past them because it's too late to brake and they are thankfully all on the shoulder, and silently telling yourself you know better than to take a blind curve that fast in a National Park with lots of animals. That particular example is a personal one from just a few weeks ago, but there are lots all the time. Fear is part of the game, and what actually makes it more exciting. What we learn as we become more skilled and experienced is how to lessen those risks through intelligent choices and skilled riding.

Anyway back to the book, which everyone who rides should read. Here's a few quotes to whet your appetite.

"And what can be truly fun that does not at least remind us of danger? What could make us feel exhilaratingly alive that does not remind us of death?"

"Riding is something that hovers between you and the road. Or rather, it is about removing as much as possible between you and the road, about extending yourself past the very vehicle that enables you to feel the road in the first place. So in one sense it's about the way a road moves past you."

"Motorcycles are a way into yourself, and a way out. For those who work on them, they provide a simulacrum of life itself--the project that is finished only when you are. The improvements they can stand are limited only by the amount of ingenuity you can spare, the time, the focus, the willingness to examine, tear down, think and rethink. But they are comforting in a way life cannot be, for, in their role as surrogate bodies, they may become sick, yet they can always get well."

"In the perfect and concise phrase of a friend of mine, who ought to know, given that his garage is packed wall to wall with them, motorcycles are charismatic objects. People are rarely neutral on the subject, neither those for whom they act as a second heart, nor those who think them a tool of misfortune. The Greek word charisma means 'favor, gift,' and my dictionary adds an apt cross-reference: 'see under yearn.'

And one last one:

"So it begins. You learn the basics of how to ride, make mistakes, not too serious if you're lucky, learn some more, futz around. Buy a bike and learn to fix it, because the fixing and the accompanying flush of self-sufficiency are part of the bikes' allure in an increasingly monolithic, unfixable world."

Anyway, you get the idea. Buy the book. You won't regret it.

Bob

[Plybelle]

I just checked on Amazon.com. They have it starting at 6 bucks. :)

[YLO-JKT]

Just a thought but why not send this moron a list of every charity ride that we have participated in and see if we as motorcyclists can get some good press for a change?

[GB #121]

Just a thought but why not send this moron a list of every charity ride that we have participated in and see if we as motorcyclists can get some good press for a change?

That won't change his opinion. But, like me, there are a number of industry safety professionals (some of them internationally recognised) who ride motorcycles. A number of them are on this site and own V-Stroms (but DL1000s methinks). I know others riding Honda CBRs.

I often have people look at me aghast and say "you're a health and safety professional, how can you ride a motorcycle?" And I keep telling them: I have a sensible bike, I've taken advanced driving/riding courses, and I have a healthy distrust of any other vehicle on the road".

On this type of bike, well maintained and riding appropriately, I can accept the risks involved. It's a lifestyle choice. With a bike I can enjoy breakfast with my family, then head to work. In my car (during adverse weather, i.e. snow) I have to leave an hour ealier, before they awake. I prefer tea/toast with the kids.

[JRE]

Let's face it, not everyone gets it. Conversely, I think some do and are too afraid to try and so deride others who have the nerve to swing their leg over a bike.
Bob is right, there is an inherent risk. Most of us acknowledge and accept it. I guess they can't fathom why we take that risk. What's the value? It's an unexplainable, intangible feeling of freedom and exhilaration. It's the subtle things like the fresh air, unobstructed views and the ability to accelerate effortlessly at almost any speed. It's also the "quiet time" you get riding by yourself with just you, the noise of the bike, wind and the voice in your head.
I get the same feeling when I'm diving. When you get down below the water, all you hear is the sound of your regulator/breathing. Everything is calm and peaceful and freedom is abound. Ahhhh, life is good. :wink:

[LiterStrom]

Well said Joe..... Perhaps I'll ty Scuba diving sometime. I think it is simply human nature to fear the unknown. It wasn't hard to scare yourself when you were three was it. My mother told me I had a big fear of a monkey getting me when I was two. Unfortunately the gentleman probably has some stats to back up his story (although I didn't see any). Perception is not always reality. I expect that some of us Strommers follow some old instincts, you know, the guys that went out looking for the Saber tooth vs. the guys that sat around the fire quaking in fear and scaring each other. Somebody has to give natural selection an opportunity. I'm just glad we're allowed to do it. Just remember to hone your instincts for today, cagers with cell phones are the Sabertooths we need to watch for, and they don't always look so scary.

[CDN_RN]

My nursing career has included 4 years in various E.R.'s. I have seen thousands of automobile injuries, many very serious. I have seen 2 motorcycle injuries.....1 from a race track (scratches), the other hit by a car (broken leg).

[GB #121]

My nursing career has included 4 years in various E.R.'s. I have seen thousands of automobile injuries, many very serious. I have seen 2 motorcycle injuries.....1 from a race track (scratches), the other hit by a car (broken leg).

Very good point. And neither, I presume, from a V-Strom?!

[Bobcat]

I think Bobs point about fear being 'part of the game' is good.
I'm sure we've all been in that situation where you tip the bike into a bend at speed and the thought flashes accross your mind, too fast !!!
But you counter steer a little, hold the throttle steady, maybe shift your weight a fraction and your through, heartbeat going through the roof and adrenalin pumping like mad.
Irresponsible? I don't think so, I'm sure everyone on this or any other bike forum knows exactly what I'm on about. There is , to my mind, an acceptable level of risk. If biking was 'safe' we probably would'nt ride.[/i]

[Convert]

The thing about riding to me is it holds my attention completely. When my mind starts to wonder I get in trouble. I don't know if you all have the same response as I do but I am much more relaxed after a ride than before the ride. Unless, of course, I just decided to ride again after a good ride..... This holds true even when my mind has wondered and I left say .25” or road to spare around a corner. At the end of the day riding settles my mind and clears my head. So if the choice is between Prozac or riding, I will see you on my strom.

[trailbuster30]

Well put, Convert, my case exactly. To borrow a quote from a fellow Strommer "A car moves your body, a motorcycle moves your soul". I never get the "high" driving my car around that I do riding my bike. I'm sure this is because of the all-encompassing external sensations that you get when riding a bike. Even at my old age I was at one time addicted to video games and it was kinda similar, it required your absolute full attention and pretty much blocked all other thoughts out.

Dan