So why does one ride, a motorbike that is...

[speedog]

Starting this to hopefully keep another thread from going askew.

Some don't seem to understand why people ride motorbikes. Personally I've been there, done that and know why - not my thing anymore but maybe it's a case that I don't want to admit that I might be afraid of getting on one again and rediscovering that I might still enjoy it.

Never the less, I'll let that current riders explain as best as they can the experience. I've gone down twice, got some road rash and that still didn't stop me when I was an active motorcyclist - many couldn't understand me getting back on a bike after coming off twice and it wasn't something I could make a non-motorcyclist understand. You either get it or you don't.

[blairtruck]

i have never rode any type of motor bike. i can never imagine owing one for the few months it could be used. and would never ride one cause of the other crazy drivers.

[Dumbass17]

i owned one and loved it.
freedom, adrenaline, danger. all a mix.

i was rearended on deerfoot by another bike (wasn't even riding with him) and I haven't been back on once since. Shook me up pretty bad. I would like another one someday but I really scared my family and friends and drivers in AB = not worth the risk

[legendboy]

I took a 10 year break from riding sport bikes, switched to dirt biking. Too many injuries from dirt biking and gave that up when I became self employed.
I also witnessed several crashes on sport bikes riding with groups that played into giving it up.

Couple years ago I bought a cruiser to ride with my friends and didn't really like the bike itself. Just bought a VTR1000 and am having a blast with it.

My best bud just bought the same bike and my other bud just bought a busa, so we have a small riding crew together.

For me I love the feeling of intense power, acceleration, power wheelies...etc. but also love going on rides thru the mountains. Scenery, fun and just being in the moment is probably the biggest thing I enjoy.

Riding is about the only time my mind is truly in the moment, that and sex

[16hypen3sp]

Love every aspect of it.

It's just a fun thing to do.

I grew up on a farm and started on dirtbikes. I thought that was fun... then I hopped on a '97 GSX600F and made my decision that road bikes were the way to go. That said, I come from a family of motorcyclists so I was raised with a lean towards bikes.

It's just more exhilarating than cars. However, I should note, I have only ever owned two "sports" cars... an '03 RSX-S and '03 350Z. So, I favour motorcycles more as I have tried a few. For shits and giggles, here's the list as it stands today:

'00 XR80R/'03 CRF230/'04 CRF250R/'97 GSX600F/'03 XB12R/'05 CBR600RR/'07 CBR600RR/'05 VT750/'08 C109RT/'07 CBR125/'14 CBR1000RR/'14 FXDF/'14 FLHXS/'05 VT750C2/'14 VT750C/'11 VT1300CX/'15 FLHXS

[codetrap]

.

[bigboom]

I rode one from the time I was 19-23 and then from 27-31. Each period in my life was about different things, early time period was the thrill of speed and cornering, never really thought about the consequences. The later period was about just getting away...then I had kids and the fear of biting it finally outweighed the benefits.

But the bug to get another one is starting to kick in again...

[blairtruck]

Originally posted by codetrap
I commute on mine from April to November.

It's more than a few months.

I ride because I love it. Why do guys on here collect shoes? Or Transformers? Why does anyone love anything?

i only love my family. nothing else. i dont collect things and have no friends outside of work.

[killramos]

I have never known anyone who owned and rode a bike who hasn't seriously hurt themselves at some point. I'm not even talking about people who are pushing the limits or speeding on their bikes. In most cases it was thinks like manouvreig in a parking lot or driving through an intersection at the speed limit that got them.

My uncle was permanently disabled in chronic pain, crippled, unable to work about 27 years ago from a car doing a u turn into him.

I would like to take the top cool course and get my license classes one day. But I'm not sure I would ever buy and ride a bike myself.

But that's just my opinion and experience.

Does anyone know real statistics are in how many motorcyclists end up seriously injured in their lives compared to motorists (car drivers ) ?

[blairtruck]

i always here from dudes i know that ride a bike.
"Its not if you go down its when you go down. "
No thanks

[MintRacer]

"knock on wood"

my first bike R1, had it for 11 years, never crashed it. Came close a few times from in experience but un scathed.

Still have the bike today.

[speedog]

It would appear some people have fears with respect to riding a motorbike and rightfully so. They do only have two quite small patches of rubber contacting the ground as compared to any regular 4 wheeled vehicle. The rider does have very limited protection in the case of any sort of accident compared to any motorist in a car/truck. Many riders do not understand the very real and different dynamics of controlling a motorcycle and even if they do, often will still commit grievous errors when faced with an emergency avoidance situation - steering away from something they're trying to avoid as opposed to steering towards it. Yeah, this is something you do on a motorbike that is at speed - push steering is the term and it can indeed get you out of dangerous situation if it becomes second nature - problem is most riders may know what it is but will revert to their car/truck driving ways and try to steer away from something to avoid it which on a motorbike will just place you in a more dangerous situation.

I been off twice, both not of my own fault - minor road rash and I still kept riding. Inexperience is often the biggest factor for many riders and is what gets them in trouble. Their inability to properly handle their motorbike, understand how to actually ride it, to understand and respect the power that it has; to really, really (I stress really) understand that they always need to be on the defensive - it doesn't matter if you're in the right as a rider, you will always come out on the losing end in a collision with another vehicle. The guy in the other thread who smacked the car turning left in front of them - was the situation avoidable, maybe yes, maybe no. Whomever was a fault in that situation, the rider still came out with the short end of the stick.

But regardless of all of the above, riding a motorbike is a totally different experience than driving any 3 or 4 wheeled conveyance. You are so much more in tune with the whole motoring experience, every nuance of the road and the environment around you is much more intoxicating then anything I've experienced in any car. Highway 6 from Nakusp to Vernon is about as good as it gets for a motorcyclist - I've done it both in a variety of cars and motorbikes and and I truly believe that there is not one car that will ever match the experience I had doing that 194km trip on a motorbike. The Coal Trail from High River to Longview many decades ago when it was newly paved and please note that I am not opne to condone excessive speeding, but I had my 1985 FZ750N up to 245kph on that stretch (was still pulling) - such an exhilarating experience and when I slowed down to 160kph it felt like I was going so slow that I could step off of my motorbike, never have I experienced the same in any car because you are enveloped in a cocoon of sorts and quite insulated from what's really going on while you're driving down a road.

That said, riding a motorbike is not for everyone and the motorbikes of these days are vastly way more powerful from those of my youth - hell, my 1985 FZ750N was a machine that had way more power than any human being needs in a vehicle. I could ride so deep into corners on the Banff-Lake Louise parkway that I could grind hard parts and that was two up with my wife to be on the back, intoxicating a motorbike is but always to be respected at the same time. It is an experience I am very glad I had - sort of like hang gliding, have done that as well, don't any more but so mind blowing it was.

[ercchry]

I've gone down, once my shoulder healed up i was right back at it, for me it ticks a ton of boxes.

Been a gearhead from day one, started with cars, love working on them, modding them, getting an adrenaline rush from them... then one day someone offered me a trade that just made financial sense for a gsx-r750, was end of season so didn't want to sell it till the spring, and i had some buddies that rode. Cut my teeth on that beast, was really not my cup of tea... but there was something i liked about riding. So in the spring i got myself a little old honda cb as a project bike. Made a whole lot more sense than a project car. Takes up less space, easier to work on, cheaper parts, etc, etc. Also learned a lot about old technology and working on carbs.

From there my passion grew, i like driving cars faster than bikes... but there is just a thrill to it all, a freedom. The same feeling you get doing any extreme sport really (which i do a lot of). Then there is the hobby aspect, the gearhead side... also its just a great way to spend a day with your friends, go exploring, take the long way home. Travelling is fun too, adds a whole new aspect to a trip. Sight seeing actually becomes enjoyable! Nothing like hopping on a strange new bike in a strange new country with your girl on the back and just taking off for the day, finding hidden beaches and fun backroads.

Will i give it up one day? Hard to tell, if i do i doubt it will be because of someone else's actions. I could see myself changing up the style of bike... spending the later years on an adventure bike, exploring our less traveled roads and camping... but i think in one way or another i'll always have something with two wheels in the garage even if its just to tinker with.

[ercchry]

In regards to the whole power thing... my current bike and the MOST fun bike i've been on is my little ktm duke 390,140kg dry and 44hp with exceptional handling, most fun you can have under 150km/h! ...no really, with my fat ass on it its barely pushes 150

[Sugarphreak]

...

[eglove]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
I'd probably love riding a bike... and someone else would probably kill me on it too

this. haha

[Graham_A_M]

Yeah having an Enduro is pretty cool. I have an 82 Honda XL500 that's been in my family since new, Damn near mint condition. Still decently fast, but I don't go faster then 130-135 on it on the highway. That's fast enough. It's a lot of fun riding it out to back country roads then just bombing around it on. It's pretty Damn cool actually, but takes a lot of getting used to as I grew up mainly on sport bikes, so the brakes on the Honda are Fricking scary (dual drums front and back).

I dont know, one of my favorite rides out near calgary is taking highway 40 between Longview and the Delta lodge in kananaskis. Wow it feels just amazing on a bike, the scents of everything you can smell as the air rushes past your face. The cool breeze fresh off the mountains, you feel so a part of it all, not just observing it as you do in a car, seeing it from a glass bubble almost. The connection is just surreal. That's one of the countless things I've always immensity enjoyed about riding.

Jeez, been riding for 26 years now since I was 6 years old.... it's just a huge part of me. If a girlfriend ever told me to sell my bikes since she didn't like me riding, or was uncomfortable with it, her ass would be tumbling out the door with her stuff in tow in a real hurry. It's just who I am, and always has been and will be. An enormous part of my life and enjoyment. Probably one of the cheapest, guilt free, harmless, enjoyable past time I can think of really. Feeling alive and exploring the world in the seat of a bike has always been quite a cheap and easy vacation to me, which is why I broke down and bought a cruiser finally.

[carson blocks]

I love bikes. It's not something easily explained, but once people try it, they usually get it. Yeah, it's dangerous, but +90% of the incidents are due to untrained and unskilled riders and/or riding like an asshole. The average rider seems to duckwalk their bike around, drag their feet from lights, have no idea about control, no understanding of countersteering, weight balance, braking, body position etc. They white knuckle their bike through any stuff that actually requires skill, then pin the throttle in the straights. When something goes wrong, it's invariably the car's fault, despite the fact that the rider is going 60k over the limit and simply wasn't there when (ok, if) the car checked.

If it's something you enjoy, learn how to do it well and how to interact with traffic, and it takes the greater portion of the risk away. Shit can still happen, but life's too short not to do stuff you enjoy. Don't let stories of a wife's co-workers cousins friend getting killed dissuade you from an enjoyable hobby. Get trained, get good gear, seek constant improvement, use your brain and don't ride like an asshole and you'll be fine. Miss one of those things and you're gonna be the story that makes some poor whipped fuckers wife not let them get a bike.

[Graham_A_M]

^ agreed on all counts. That's why I have yet to go down. Just be alert and fully aware of every situation at hand.

Yet a very small handful of riders go down each year, a couple of them killed and everybody just loses their Shit over it... always followed by comments like "fuck I value my life WAY too much, frankly I'd rather not die on a bike". It's like.... wow really? There is what, I don't know how many thousands of motorcyclists in Calgary, but one or two deaths isn't really of any sway to me. And yes, what I've always said.... it's 90% the riders fault. Most of us have all encountered the EXACT same situations as some of the statistics have, to which they couldn't properly handle and died as a result of.

Some friends tell me "they want to get a bike". With a lot of them I almost beg them not to. Since they don't know wtf their doing, and will likely be statistics themselves.

[speedog]

My two downs - a taxi making an unsignalled right hand turn across my lane from the lane to the left of me. More experience may have kept me safe but very difficult to avoid a vehicle that doesn't do a shoulder check and all of a sudden in directly across your path - minor road rash, minor damage to bike. Second time, was rear ended by my brother (also on a bike) on an interstate in Wyoming - both of us went down with minor road rash, both rode away from scene. Problem was me stopping too quickly to aid another broken down motorcyclist and my brother being inexperienced and also not paying attention - stopping quickly was just something I was used to from regularly driving in Calgary and something he wasn't used to because he lived and drove in the country. I will readily admit that in both incidents there was possibly more I could've done to prevent the situations - be more attentive to the taxi cager and also more attentive to my surroundings when slowing down.

As far has emergency avoidance techniques, it's something I always practised when ever I had a chance - braking and the dynamics of front versus rear brake usage. My brother-in-law (smug SOB) learned first hand which brakes to use when going into a corner too hard - went into a corner way too hard on Old Banff Coach Road and hammered on his front brakes - boy, did he discover how big his eyes could get when using the front brakes alone as his bike quickly stood up and took him directly into the ditch he was drifting towards and hoping to avoid. Luckily he rode it out and was safe but he did learn a very valuable lesson in a very short amount of time about some very specific motorbike dynamics.