Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Dragonhawk wrote:I'm so glad I'm single.

ditto......

Johnj wrote:

dr_bar wrote:If you plan to fail, you will succeed...

Insert die instead of fail and it still works. That's my opinion about an attitude like that.
30+ years of riding and two things haven't happened;
1) I still haven't dropped a bike.
2) I still haven't died.
Are the odds going to get the better of me??? I sure hope not.
Two things I plan for;
1) A long life.
2) A safe ride.

And that my friends is what you call tempting fate. Way back in the olden days I was in the Marine Corp. When I was in NCO school, being taught how to plan a battle of a fire fight, it was always stressed that you must also plan for everything going wrong. Otherwise when the poo hits the fan, well lets just say it isn't pretty.

My Godfather was a motorcycle racer, (raced Indians at Daytona Beach in the '50s), stunt rider, (Also in the '50s, he crashed through flaming walls at local fairs) and a riding entusiast right up until he died from old age. (His best friend was a gentleman named Trev Dealey, a huge name in motorcycles in Canada...)

Anyway, he taught me to always plan for a safe ride, wear the gear, be aware of your surroundings, and never push beyond your abilities. Most of my riding life I've been very lucky, as I ignored the "GEAR" portion of his advice, all I wore was good gloves, boots, sturdy pants and a helmet. It wasn't until I got news of a pending grandchild that I realized how selfish I was by throwing care to the wind, and went out and bought proper gear.

As for pushing the envelope, to this day I consider myself to be conservative rider. I know what I'm doing, don't see the need to scrape my pegs or set land speed records. Sure I ride fast on occasion, but I pick my times and places and know that I'm not endangering myself or others. A boring rider??? I don't think so, I enjoy the twisties just as much as anyone else, I just don't need to do them at the limit of my bike's capabilities.

My Godfather took ill and never rode or drove for the last several years of his life, I would love to be able to ride until I at least reach my "very" senior years. I can see my retirement coming in about 9 years and my dream is to travel by bike for a long time after that, before settling down in my doddering old ways, lol.

But to end this small rant, I will say that I'm very aware of the risks involved, I limit them as much as possible. I also know that my time may come, right around the next corner. Being prepared for the worst is not the same as believing the worst will happen. If everyone on the road believed that it was just a matter of time before he/she went down, every rider on the road would/will go down. I believe in thinking positive, it's better for everyone in the long run.

Doug

PS: Sorry for the thread-jack...

Flipper wrote:

dataplex wrote: I did promise her that I would not ride once she got pregnant

I think we're done here.
Flipper

Yea, that's what I was thinking - he made a promise and now that she got pregnant way too soon for his tastes (did she manage to that all by herself?) - now he wants to back out on his promise. No wonder she is pissed. Also, dataplex - you two need to SERIOUSLY work on your communication skills - they are nonexistant.