I envy you motorcycle riders.  I'm terrified of them.  When I'm on the road or street I want sheet metal around me.  I don't know why I have this fear of motorcycles, I just do.

Noel

4 hours ago, W2DR said:

Boy, was I ever going to impress them.

Yes you set yourself up right then and there! 

As riders who have managed to survive the early years of street riding the challenge is to maintain maximal situational awareness at all times, which is also the draw as it's a meditation of sorts.  Of course sometimes you're at the mercy of things out of your control despite having perfect focus, just as you would be flying a plane.  I bought this bike to accompany my older brother who wanted to do a x-country trip before he got too old and we did, or should I say I did, nearly 10K miles from coast to coast and up into Canada in 2016 on this trip.  On our return ride brother hit a big buck on SR14 out of the Big Horns in Wyoming OTW to Cody.  He walked away from it virtually unscathed which rarely happens with animal v bike, but his new FJR1300 was essentially totaled.  I rode on home thru Tetons and down thru eastern Oregon and we flew him back to coastal CA out of Cody.  He had 4 events of this type over his riding career and never had any major injuries which is beyond remarkable.   In fact, on this crash, he had chronic low back pain that resolved after this crash, forever!  I had the sticker below made for his next motorcycle which he had in the garage 10 days after this event!  Wildlife in general is my worst fear especially after witnessing this crash since the most desirable places to ride are often higher risk for bike v wildlife.  Vehicle traffic I fully understand are trying to kill me so I can keep my distance and always mitigate risk by being an active rider, but deer shooting out from behind the brush as happened here is very hard to deal with!

 

3 minutes ago, Noel said:

maintain maximal situational awareness at all times, which is also the draw as it's a meditation of sorts.

"You'll never see a motorcycle parked in front of a psychiatrist's office." 

😄

Hook

PS.  If the doctor rides one, it's parked in back.

H.

2 hours ago, birdguy said:

  I don't know why I have this fear of motorcycles, I just do.

Noel

 

Because its utter madness.

Zooming along at insane speed with zero protection is actually nuts. Like you, I like as much metal as possible and plenty of airbags and lots of driving aids like ABS and traction control. 

 

 

12 minutes ago, martin-w said:

I like as much metal as possible and plenty of airbags and lots of driving aids like ABS and traction control. 

 

And comfort.  Like a backrest and adjustable lumbar support and the safety of a seatbelt.

Before seatbelts became mandatory, I already had them installed in my car.

Noel

22 minutes ago, martin-w said:

ooming along at insane speed with zero protection is actually nuts.

Well sure that qualifies as 'nuts', but you're creating a false stereotype by reducing motorcycling to that.   Riders who wish to return home in one unbroken piece understand what's involved and get on with both eyes wide open as well as the ones behind their head, with fully armored riding gear, and utilize continuous risk reduction strategies in their approach to riding, and so forth.  I became a much better car driver after learning to ride well because one can get a false sense of security while protected with sheet metal.  In fact my only speeding ticket was exactly that--listening too intently to a podcast was all it took.  Just for context, in 2019 the combined pedestrian+bicyclist+other non-motorized micromobility device fatality rate was ~7,500.  Motorcycle fatality rate came in ~5,014 during the same period, in the US. 

Edited December 27, 20214 yr by Noel

26 minutes ago, birdguy said:

And comfort.  Like a backrest and adjustable lumbar support and the safety of a seatbelt.

Before seatbelts became mandatory, I already had them installed in my car.

Noel

 

We agree one million percent and your crimes against the manned colonisation of the solar system are forgiven.

I recall we adopted mandatory seat belt wearing a long time before you guys in the US. But yes, even before it was illegal in the UK I had mine fully tightened. 

Is it illegal to use a mobile phone while driving like in the UK. I see plenty of US TV shows with phones being used. 

 

There is much similarity between motorcycling properly and flying and can give exactly the same sense of freedom and pleasure  , and like flying it needs to be done properly or it bites back, but the same can be said for driving cars.

The problem with motorbikes is they’re relatively cheap to obtain for what is an extreme level of performance and they end up in the hands of those with little experience or the wrong mental attitude.

A bit like Airwolf , motorcycles are too dangerous to be left in un enlightened hands ! ( file A56-7W) 😉

1 hour ago, martin-w said:

Is it illegal to use a mobile phone while driving like in the UK. I see plenty of US TV shows with phones being used. 

Taking away one's cell phone in the US is equivalent to cutting off one's penis or tit.  It's become an important and permanent part of one's anatomy.  When it rings or buzzes or rings out with Big Ben's chimes or Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture or whatever strange bell tone the owner likes it has become mandatory to drop whatever you're doing, even in midsentence with someone, and say, "I've gotta take this".

When I bought my car two years ago the salesman told me to bring it in with my phone and he would do whatever magic was involved to integrate it into the system.  I seldom have my phone with me, but when I do, and I am driving, if the phone rings I just have to tap a button on the steering wheel and answer it.  I listen and talk through the car's radio speakers.

A couple of years ago I was walking to the adult center which is just a few blocks from my house.  As I was crossing the parking lot a lady on a phone was trying to back into a parking stall.  She hit the front fender of the car in the adjacent stall.  Without putting down the phone she kept talking as she got out of her car and inspected the damage.  Then she got back in her car and drove off.  I went and checked the car she bumped into and it had a small dent and paint smear in the fender.  I took down the license number of the lady's car and gave it to the receptionist at the front desk and told her what happened.

Noel

Edited December 27, 20214 yr by birdguy

2 hours ago, martin-w said:

Is it illegal to use a mobile phone while driving like in the UK

It's state-specific, more or less in the US.  Where I live, it's exceedingly common to see people holding a phone and talking.

The following states ban handheld cell phone use while driving:

• California
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Washington
• West Virginia

Noel

4 minutes ago, birdguy said:

The following states ban handheld cell phone use while driving:

Only 16 out of 50 states, compared to all 10 provinces and 3 territories in Canada.

As to the feel thing?  None of the sims have it, no.  That feeling you get when you're below the lowest cloud deck and the air is moving around.  The airplane suddenly drops 50 ft or rolls quickly on its axis.  Or the bumps down final until you get below the treeline...or squeemish stomach when you're floating over the runway because your speed was too high...bleeding off speed...bleeding off speed, watching the far end of the runway getting closer.  The turbulence is doable with a bubble of up and down drafts surrounding the planes and with variable wind.  It can be more real than it is.  I keep hoping we'll see that.  Someday.

1 hour ago, dmwalker said:

Only 16 out of 50 states, compared to all 10 provinces and 3 territories in Canada.

Well, we have large contingent of folks here who say, "You can't tell ME what to do, even if it's good for me."  

Noel

 

5 hours ago, martin-w said:

Is it illegal to use a mobile phone while driving like in the UK. I see plenty of US TV shows with phones being used. 

yep here in oz  its  the  same, now  that they  got  cameras  set  up in  one  state   to  catch  the  drivers using phones. Number  one  reason  for  our   accidents here   other  than of  course  DUI.