85

yes this is a long read heres the short form: just hit my 3 year mark for riding, saw a really bad accident tonight, im on drugs right now (legal) and i was afraid to ride my bike home tonight.

Back when i took the MSF course, i remember the instructors saying "before you get on the bike, make sure you understand the risks" and ever since then i have. i hit my 3 year mark of riding (9 June). I ride EVERY day and never really think anything of it. i always wear a helmet with anything more the moving my bike in the driveway and wear just about every thing else. It was yesterday that i caught myself going out for a ride that changed. i realized that whenever i go out to actually ride I have been looking around my house as i walk out the door wondering if ill return that night. I'll admit i ride stupid! no i don't go around doing wheelies like i did im my first 6 months nor do i do these 170mph runs. instead i hit the corners hard where i can where i don't feel like ill endanger anyone else. from knee pucks to full length gloves i wear what i can but i know that no gear is perfect.

i hope that at least some of what im typing is making since cuz im tired and kinda high on a bunch of stuff i got from the doctor today. (codeine and pain killers for sick & torn ligament in ankle)

i saw a car on my way home tonight that was DONE! you know those crashes where your almost positive that someone dead and everyone else will be soon? yeah it was one of those. someone in a silver VW got T-boned at about 70mph by a car. I didn't see the accident but when i was driving by my heart stopped. about 10 min later after arriving at a friends house i found i was afraid to drive home so i popped-ed my meds and im sleeping here for the night.

Senbonzakura

I got fear of riding before i even started. I didn't have any of those "i aint afraid of death" "i'm unstoppable" feeling. All you can do is just rest when you don't trust yourself or have bad feelings. Give yourself some time off and since your on medication just rest until its all gone. Better safe than sorry . Hope you get better

FF-Greg

i know how u feel meds will really mess with ur head, i think if i feared riding i wouldnt of ever started but riding to my one true happiness and thing that sets me free with out that i dont know what i would do.

Stay up and hope u feel better soon...one

ninja 6

When I ride without fear is when I ride the best.

thehondaguru

I am always scared to get hit by some retard again. Every time I think about it my insides hurt again...

MSchu

If you got the fear, take time off(even a day or two) or get out...

Its not fear you should ride with, it's respect. Despite what "Impartial" insurance statistics say about riding accidents versus experience, the most dangerous time of a riders career is when they become comfortable, complacent... You relax, become brash, take risks. respect the bike

unusual71

the only time i worried was just before i got the bike. i had payed for it but i had to wait a week for honda to set it up or whatever. anyways i got high one night with some friends and was thinking thats i just bought a bloody weapon. anyways it occured to me that i shouldnt be smokin' anymore pot so i quit and now i dont worry about it much anymore but hearing about bike wrecks still makes me uneasy.

99electron_blue_si

i am afraid of laying down everytime i get on the damn thing, but for me pushing a little harder to get a little better everytime i ride is what makes it so much more fun. but yes i do respect it, which i guess is the reason i really have no desire to ride anything larger than a 600 in the near future.

i also try to block out the phone calls i get from my mom that always go something like "did you hear about ________(insert bike accident resulting in death)" i try to do everything as safe as possible, but i love being outside, and riding really just relaxes me, even though i am challenging myself more and more.

85

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MSchu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you got the fear, take time off(even a day or two) or get out...

Its not fear you should ride with, it's respect. Despite what "Impartial" insurance statistics say about riding accidents versus experience, the most dangerous time of a riders career is when they become comfortable, complacent... You relax, become brash, take risks. respect the bike</TD></TR></TABLE>

i agree. respect has save my *** on more then one occasion. i tend to ride the hardest when the weather is the nice and hot and i fell everything is good.

2 things i fear: others and that one day ill be going through a corner and im not gonna make the turn for one reason or another.

85

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 99electron_blue_si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
i also try to block out the phone calls i get from my mom that always go something like "did you hear about ________(insert bike accident resulting in death)" </TD></TR></TABLE>

i get that almost every day at work from people who i really dont care about but it !@#$ing pisses me off!!!

life sux die

i ride with fear up until the first corner, after that i ride with nothing but respect. respect for the mountain, bike, others, and most importantly myself.

Mag00n

i went for a ride with some guy I met at dunkin donuts a few years back. I was new to area and was trying to get to know some people.

Well we hit some twisties and about 5 mins in his rear kicks out on some sand and he went flying into a ditch. He ended up breaking some fingers i think but he rode home (prolly afraid of the cops showing up for w/e reason). First time i saw a wreck in person.

Didnt really do much to me. I took like 2days off from riding just to reflect and whenever i was on that road i usually took that one turn pretty easy.

hybridreams

What's weird is being scared AFTER the ride.

I only did this once, but after this one ride I had to pull over after I broke off from the group to collect myself. I just remember thinking "what...the...expletive" followed by a reflective ride home going speed limit, lol.

OHmotorsports

After my father was killed on his motorcycle by somebody making a left turn in front of him, I learned one thing, you can respect the bike, but most drivers don't respect motorcyclist. It took me forever to get back on a motorcycle today was my first time in a year and a half.

MSchu

Luke... I am your father.


One funny thing for myself is that I have had this one dream over and over... maybe like 4-5 times over the years, that I am flying along(at well over 130mph or so) and I see the backend of a WHITE van fractions of a second before I am about to hit, in a blink of an eye. but I always wake up before I feel the pain, so I guess thats how I will be buying the farm

MSchu

thank god its a white van and not a black van

gsr-2nr

Definitley don't ride afraid then you won't be focusing at the level you should be paranoia would play a part and thats when you would mess up. I think all of us (and stop me if im wrong) have some fear b/c you can't see the future one does not know what will happen and like mama always said thats why they call them accidents. there's measures one can do to mitigate the fear and opportunities of a bad event be aware of your surroundings and definitley ride within your limits don't be stupid because what does the cute little band-aid on all honda powersports literature teach us? Yes, you in the back? "Stupid Hurts"

85

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MSchu &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Luke... I am your father.


One funny thing for myself is that I have had this one dream over and over... maybe like 4-5 times over the years, that I am flying along(at well over 130mph or so) and I see the backend of a WHITE van fractions of a second before I am about to hit, in a blink of an eye. but I always wake up before I feel the pain, so I guess thats how I will be buying the farm</TD></TR></TABLE>

I've woken up quite a few times over the past 3 years with sweat on my face just before i hit the metaphorical white van. those are the worst dreams i have. they are never the same but ending sucks!

lilpastrana

i thought thats why half the people ride. for the fear of everytime you get on the bike ya get that adrenaline rush and the freedom of the open road. and beeing alone away from everything.

3Dcycle

hey i know how you all feel. i went to americade this past weekend for 3 days. on the way there i was ridding in a group of 10 bikes 5 honda's 5 harleys. and riding through a local gap there was a bunch of other bikes not with us. 1 damn near drove through a gaurd rail. then a beamer smoked his clutch on the way up. that scared the **** out of me. thinking that i saw 2 jack asses in 2 minutes, how many more am i going to see in the next 4 hours.