Absolutely Freaked Out

[Nibblet99]

To be honest its no different to some of our newspapers that sensationalise everything and would have you believing that in every street, theres a Al Qaeda peodophile rapist waiting for you.

Oh man, now I REALLY have something to be worried about.

Just remember to put a baseball bat holster on the side of the tank, to fend them off when stationary at traffic lights, and you'll be fine.

I wish you many happy years of riding

[wmg1299]

I often wonder if my riding is selfish because it puts me at risk and could affect my wife and children. Then I think of all the other things in life that are just as dangerous.
I'm actually unable to walk without crutches or a walker for the next 12-16 weeks due to a broken pelvis suffered in a car accident. I have had people say things like, "if you were on your bike, that would've killed you." While this is true, there is no guarantee that the accident would've happened at all if I were on my bike due to the excess level of attention I pay, the heightened sense of awareness, and the manuverability of the bike.
I consider myself very lucky to be alive and able to recover, but I see my accident as proof that plenty of other things can kil you besides motorcycles. Ride safely, trust in your abilities, don't trust any of the driver's around you, and you should be fine. Bad things happen regardless, and we really don't have enough control over them to put too much effort into worrying. Do what you can with the things you can control, and trust in faith from there.

[MZ33]

I'm actually unable to walk without crutches or a walker for the next 12-16 weeks due to a broken pelvis suffered in a car accident.

Eeeeeyowww! That hurts! I'm sorry you're out of comission for so long! Do take care, and I hope your healing is quick and uneventful.

I think we've covered this topic pretty thoroughly, but to add my two cents:

Ride2Die uses the shock value of grossly mangled bodies. They are real. Splat happens. Understand the shock value, and move on. If, like Zagnut, it grounds the reality of why you wear gear and stay on alert, great. If, like Rhadam Ygg, it irks you and you have other ways that ground the reality of why you wear gear and ride defensively, great. What's great is wearing the gear and riding well. What's not great is either being paralyzed by or completely dismissive of the fear.

But it sounds like you've already come to grips with it, and in fact, are moving on. Whoohoo!

[totalmotorcycle]

I finally got my first bike, a 2002 Suzuki GZ250. I've taken the MSF course. I'm still acquiring safety gear, and plan to ride completely covered. I rode a moped and a trail bike as a kid, so I'm not completely new to this. Is this semi-normal? Have any of you gone through this before?

From the sound of it, you will be a fine, safe rider. You have chosen a great starter bike, taken the MSF course, getting safety gear and even have a little riding experience to boot! I would put you in the very low risk catagory. We all have scares on our bikes (just like a driver would in a car), but that's part of living. You just live more on a bike.

It's fun and yes, it can be dangerous, but it's you, the rider who decides how dangerous it is but you'll always have fun.

Pat yourself on the back for starting off right and ENJOY that you'll be out riding that GZ250 soon and you have the knowledge, the MSF course and safety gear to help you along the way.



If you have time, check out our Total Motorcycle Beginners Guide to Motorcycling, its helped millions of new riders. http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/school.htm

Mike

[oldriderdude]

fear is not a bad thing as long as you don't let it control you.keeps you on your toe's and makes you alert.but you have to remember you can get hurt taking a bath or walking down the street.some of these web sites only show worse of the worse not the better of the best times of riding.