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[guest7]

I was watching something on telly last week where a bloke said, "well since having kids I don't think it's right to do things like ride motorcycles anymore"

I'm lucky in that Mrs Onepot doesn't try to stop me riding, but I do have a different attitude to my riding now I have a family. Is it right to give up riding do you think? From our perspective motorcycles seem safe enough, but the cold hard statistics would suggest that we owe it to our families to choose a safer mode of transport.

Any thoughts?
GC

[KirriePete]

.... Is it right to give up riding do you think? ....

Short answer - no.

WAR & PEACE ALERT!

"Slightly" longer one - take all the Rossi wannabees out of the accident statistics and how dangerous does our chosen form of transport then appear?  I lose track of the number of 'Biker Down' and 'Near Miss' postings on my local biker forum every year at the start of the "season" (whatever the f**k that is, Wee Arfur and the lady Guinevere get used all year) and, almost without exception they're by crotch rocket pilots 'making progress' or some Power Ranger giving it a handful on cold tyres (low speed highsides - always good for a laugh and much pi$$taking).

My last off was in 1982, and that was 100% the ******* in the Escort's fault (coupled with MZ 250 Supa5 standard brakes, if I'd had the Honda TLS up front.....) since then I've done an advanced course or two (2 wheels and 4), worked out my own System and tried to hone my 'sixth sense' - it's amazing how much early warning you can get from a car's 'body language'.  Upright and gravel rash free for 27 years and counting must mean I'm doing something right, surely?

I've attempted to pass this attitude onto my son (now 19 and coming to the end of his 33bhp probation) with some degree of success - he doesn't ride like a loon and isn't a fashion victim (drives a diesel Citroen Berlingo and rides the Lady Guinevere GN400 - says it all really).  In fact, I've done such a good job of promoting safe biking within the family that the prospective daughter-in-law is looking at getting a Yam SR125 (maybe this week?) and Mrs KP is talking about me getting something a bit meatier next year so she can resume pillion duties after a 16 year layoff.

What I think I'm trying to say (Monday morning, back at the coalface, braindead already) is that trite old cliche of "it's not the form of transport that's safe/unsafe, it's the way you use it".  If the bloke on telly had said "well since having kids I don't think it's right to do things like ride motorcycles like a ******* anymore" I'd be inclined to agree - the problem with guys like this is that they only see bikes as playthings, not useful transport, so every ride is a trip to the fairground for an adrenaline buzz.  They think it's an either/or situation - ride or not ride - and never seem to realise that the throttle goes both ways, it is possible to enjoy a ride without going 160mph with your ar$e on fire.

Ahhh cr*p, look what I been & gone & done, started to rant ....... I'll shut up now and get back to work.

END WAR AND PEACE

Back to short answer - we owe it to our families to use whatever mode of transport we choose in the safest manner and to strive to improve our skills constantly.

You're welcome

[Steve H]

Part of my role as a parent is to demonstrate to my children that taking calculated risks is part of life, and that such activities actually enrich their life. Besides if I were to give up all of my 'dangerous' activites, which give me a release, then  I would have no other outlets and would be even grumpier than I already am !. So turning it round they actually benefit from me riding bikes.

[guest18]

Hmmm, not having children I'm not sure I'm in a position to comment... that said I participate in a sport perceived as dangerous (scuba diving) and in a sub branch perceived as particularly dangerous (wreck diving on rebreathers, the cliche is "one breath from death".)

As with my biking, as the years progress I've had to adjust my diving/biking to account for the fact that I have more responsibilities and tbh every dive/ride is a calculated risk where I offset the potential gains against the perceived risk. Plan, prepare, train and then do it...

That is not to say I have removed risk, just that I consider the perceived level of risk before deciding on a course of action and, if required, modify my actions to reduce the risk.
Same on the bike, hang back rather than take the dodgy overtake, stay inside the posted speed limit where possible, undertake further training, stick on a high viz waistcoat when I commute in the dark wintertime... and if anyone thinks that is boring then follow me down the A7 and I bet you wont be bored 

Speaking as one who helps lead youngsters within a youth organisation I think we have an obligation to continue undertaking activities perceived as "dangerous" in a controlled and sensible manner. Young people need to see that the avoidance of all risk is 1. often not possible and 2. often not realistic if you ever want to leave the house(!) 3. Often the avoidance of fun 
Giving up riding bikes teaches your children that bikes are dangerous and "good" people don't take risks. Continuing to ride but in a responsible manner teaches that risk is a fact of life and must be considered, BUT that the complete avoidance of risk can cause you to miss a lot out of life...

Our lives are not dress rehearsals, we only get one go and there is no "perfect" solution, I may cross the road tomorrow and be killed by a bus.... but if I use my head (and eyes and ears) I can make it unlikely and help ensure I am alive to go for a nice enjoyable bike ride....

Or that's the plan anyway 

[guest24]

Absolutely not! I've got 4 of the little darlings and they like bikes. Me bird used to ride, and just needs a tad of encouragement into her leathers and then I'll have her on the back 

When I used to run a bike training school, we had a significant number of blokes come along wanting a refresher course as they had recently separated from their spouse and wanted to get back into biking. Evidently they had given it up due to marriage/brats/mortgages etc etc, and now released from said 'encumbrances' they wanted to get back to being themselves. My advise to anyone is only give it up if you and you alone want to, rather than by peer pressure.

[squirrelciv]

Never read so much common sense contained in a single thread before Absolutely agree with my learned friends. Risk management is all that's required. If we simply stop doing everything 'perceived' as dangerous we stop being human.

I can't add anything to what has already been written really other than enjoy all the things this life offers you and never turn away from the chance of adventure. Life in the old folks home will pass very slowly if filled with regret but be a joy if lit by the glow of happy memories.

[Steve Lake]

good question,

Me gradad was a biker, stopped biking several weeks before he died in 1954 (biking was then a matter of necessity not choice)...my father was a biker until my mum died, he lost all interest in it for 10 years then got a gold flash with a watsonian sports chair and had that until 1960 (i eventually bought that outfit from my uncle in 1964). a bike was the only form of transport i knew....now of course, with a few exceptions biking is a 'life choice' more a passtime than a necessity. My Son had no choice but to get a bike at 16 as he needed transport to get to work and college until he was 18, buy then the damage was done :-) , and he's had a bike/s ever since, and somewhere in the pics section is a pic with my grandchildren sitting on my srx, and niether myself nor my Son have a problem with them riding when they are old enough, we'll just make sure they get the right training and support as did I from my Dad and I gave to my Son.... I wholeheartedly agree with SteveH,
but i will add....SWMBO is not a lover of bikes, and aparently always worries when #1 Son and/or I are out riding......anyway, thats my pennyworth.

[guest7]

I'd love to carry on in the devil's advocate vein that I started, but I can't,

it's already been said, but your replies confirm everything that I think a decent rider would say about riding.

I can't see biking as unsafe, I honestly can't. If you have an ounce of sense you can apply the discipline that Smudge applies to his diving: Weigh the risks and act accordingly to stay safe.

But, to slip back into debate mode, if SWMBO was so worried about your biking that she repeatedly asked you to consider giving it up, should you?

GC

[guest27]

Hi All

Dad used to ride a bit too hard and came off too many times, including a 6 month stint in Stone head hospital, mind his cracked skull would have been  a lot worse had he not been wearing the safety helment my Mum insisted on. (The wall he hit come off pretty badly)

I have fallen off too many bikes too often, but apart from one instance these have been ice, snow or diesel related. Never at any sort of speed etc.

My Mum was killed in a car crash.

Riding your bike may (repeat may) be more dangerous than driving your car, but you owe it to your family to be you.

A lass I went out with many years ago was a nurse in the Bromham hospital, a mix of heaqd injuries and brain damage etc, she introduced me to one of her patients - neak break and supposedly no real brain function (that is why he lit up when I sat and talked about my bike to him).  e had always wanted a bike and his parents would not let him.  He joined the army and before he had finished basic, he was involved in an accident (car-truck interface issues) and landed in Bromham, his parents were devastated, not just because of his injuries, but because their protection had prevented him from doing one thing he really loved.

Currently I do nto ride, many reasons, but those of you who do - keep doing so as long as it make sense to you.  Otherwise you are not the whole person you were.  I know there is a big lump of me missing.

R

[guest24]

But, to slip back into debate mode, if SWMBO was so worried about your biking that she repeatedly asked you to consider giving it up, should you?

She falls in love with the man who walks alone
She marries him
She then tries to make him the man who stays at home....
End of story.

Marriage is a very hard thing to do successfully, harder than bringing up your brats. Pressure to change something to suit someone else after knowing about it for years is effectively torture.

I can see where you are coming from on this and am now reticent to continue as its not a road I would ever wish to go down myself.

[guest18]

But, to slip back into debate mode, if SWMBO was so worried about your biking that she repeatedly asked you to consider giving it up, should you?

GC

My Maternal Grandfather used to race bikes, damn near killed himself on one back in the thirties, and due to pressure from his wife, and I suspect a realisation that he rode bikes to ride fast (opinion not known fact) he gave up after the crash and sold his bike. He always loved them and was a factor in my love of them.
Was he right to give up? Well it suited his circumstances at the time. No-one could say right or wrong except him.
Use your head, but listen to your heart, we do not live alone and almost every decision we make in life is a compromise visited on us by our conciencies and the opinions and cares of those around us.
SWMBO knows that riding bikes is part of who I am, it gives me an almost medatitive break twice a day that I sometimes jokingly refer to as "therapy", but only half jokingly. If anyone is looking for a black and white, it doesn't exist, the world is full of shades of grey. Think, look, think some more then do what you believe to be right. No-one can do more.
Of course if someone you love is worried about what you do then it is incumbent upon you to ensure that they understand how careful you are, and how that care which you take is because of your care for them..

[guest7]

Of course if someone you love is worried about what you do then it is incumbent upon you to ensure that they understand how careful you are, and how that care which you take is because of your care for them..

Erm... yes... but the trouble is, she's seen me riding a bike 

GC

[002]

 Is it right to give up riding do you think?

  BOLLOCKS !   What a load of old tosh !  

Having grown up in a motorcycling family,where all 5 of us(Ma,Pa and us 3 Boys) were on 2 or 3 wheels at some point.Didnt do me any harm  
And having lost someone dear to me due to a Bike accident.

Why give up something that you enjoy to appease somebody else !
Only to make yourself miserable and resent the fact That You have given up a pleasing past time for that person.....or worse end up Resenting that person !

Quite easily be maimed or killed going to Tesco...so give up going to Tesco !


Jethro

[guest18]

Then my friend, perhaps it is time to pointedly undertake some more training and demonstrate a slightly, erm, different side to your riding peronality  
(after all, anyway, smooth *is* fast   )

(a slightly more roundabout version of Jethro's reply  )

[guest7]

Erm... yes... but the trouble is, she's seen me riding a bike 

GC

I was re-reading that and I glanced across to the little picture of the sidecar on the left... oh dear 

GC