When it might be time to consider a bigger bike…

[dieziege]

As far as pokin fun goes, you don't seem too happy when I poke fun at motorcyclists sayin' they are no different from obese people.

The sad truth is that they are all life choices... overeating, riding, cutting, getting tats and piercings, eating red meat, BASE jumping, attending wild unprotected sex parties, flying, taking drugs, and so on... all shorten the life expectancy of those that do them. That doesn't mean they are all instant death. There are obese people that live to 90 years old just as there are motorcyclists that die at 17 and cocaine users who contribute meaningfully to society.

We've just become habituated to applying a moral weight to those decisions. You see it around here... people saying a woman with young children who rides is making a morally wrong decision, that she should wait until her children are ready for her to die before she rides. That a some football player is morally wrong for riding without a helmet. You see it in the laws... laws saying you should wear a helmet, that you should not take drugs, that you can't have oral sex....

That obesity is harmful isn't the question. That obesity is correctable by behavioral changes isn't the question. The question is, is it any worse for someone to choose be fat than for someone to choose to use a type of vehicle that is perhaps 36 times as dangerous* as a car?

I can't see the difference. Both are choices, both have potential negative sides, both fulfill some psychological need.

* Based on UK Transportation stats which show 11 motorcyclists killed per 100M kilometers vs. 0.3 auto drivers killed per 100M Km. I chose those stats because UK has more strict licensing requirements than the US which reduce or eliminate the "literbike squid" factor.

[roscowgo]

Wild unprotected sex parties you say?



*fetches a big mac some ky, and a couple of used tattoo needles. Yeaaaaa boy gonna have me some fun tonight!

[Kaiser Soze]

Screw sensitivity. If you are this damn fat and you ride a frickin' scooter in public, you might as well wear a sign saying LOOK HOW DAMN FAT I AM.



My god.

[roscowgo]

Screw sensitivity. If you are this damn fat and you ride a frickin' scooter in public, you might as well wear a sign saying LOOK HOW DAMN FAT I AM.



My god.

Eh. hes out riding. not banging a keyboard into submission. Like each and every one of us.

[Nalian]

Now the real question is - where is his helmet?!?!?!

[The Grinch]

He doesn't need one. That scooter can't do more than 2 MPH with him on it.

[DieMonkeys]

I'm overweight because I'm lazy and I enjoy good-tasting food too much. However I know many people that are overweight because of medical reasons however it is possible for them to lose alot of weight, they could lose 100-200 lbs. and still be considered fat to a lot of people. How do you think you'd feel if you lost 300 lbs. and still had people calling you fatty fatty fat fat? You'd feel like quitting and not believing it's worth it.

[DirtyD86]

fat people, in my eyes, are disgusting people. they have the choice to diet, exercise, and stop being such nasty piles of "poo poo" in their everyday lives. no one is to blame but themselves. you can say "oh you need to be more considerate, some have medical conditions" all you want, but the truth is that a tiny portion of people with obesity can blame it on a medical condition. tiny.

[Z (fka Sweet Tooth)]

fat people, in my eyes, are disgusting people. they have the choice to diet, exercise, and stop being such nasty piles of "poo poo" in their everyday lives. no one is to blame but themselves. you can say "oh you need to be more considerate, some have medical conditions" all you want, but the truth is that a tiny portion of people with obesity can blame it on a medical condition. tiny.

The same can be said for people that smoke alot, abuse alcohol, have chemical dependencies etc...

As in any discussion both sides have made some really good points, but at this point I think you guys are just beating a dead horse.

[DivideOverflow]

I'm overweight because I'm lazy and I enjoy good-tasting food too much. However I know many people that are overweight because of medical reasons however it is possible for them to lose alot of weight, they could lose 100-200 lbs. and still be considered fat to a lot of people. How do you think you'd feel if you lost 300 lbs. and still had people calling you fatty fatty fat fat? You'd feel like quitting and not believing it's worth it.

There is a difference there. People who lose 300lbs realized their problem and are fixing it. They can't worry about what other people think to get that kind of change made... they have to do that for themselves. When someone says to me "I lost 100 lbs last year, and I'm working towards ### lbs by the end of this year!" I definitely commend them for making personal goals and improving themselves. I'm always happy to hear when someone is really making the effort, but does that mean the weight wasn't their fault in the first place? no.

Sweet Tooth, you brought up smokers, alcohol abusers, drug addicts, etc... and that is the exactly the same thing. Those are things the individual realizes aren't healthy, but they continue to do it anyway due to lack of self control or willpower.

Back to comparing motorcycling, this is the reason I disagree with the comparison. Innately, motorcycling is not harmful to your health. It has similar risks to driving in a car, and it could be related to extreme sports if you really want to... but those activities are different than substance abuse (in any form, drugs, food, etc). Every time you smoke a cigarette, you are hurting yourself through lung damage. That isn't up for question, that is what happens. Same thing with alcohol, you drink excessively, you lose excessive braincells.

Now, for activities, you aren't hurting yourself unless someone screws up. And when you DO hurt yourself, do you go back and try to do the same thing the same way? No, you improve it to minimize injury. There is the difference. Motorcyclists attempt to always minimize personal injury, substance abusers inflict it every time they abuse.