The morality of riding a bike married with kids

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I'm still married, but our kids are now grown and on their own.
Every spring, I think that a new (to me) street bike would be a great thing to have and every spring I see the carnage involving guys on bikes.
A guy I worked with recently lost his life in an accident that would have been little more than a fender bender had he been driving a car. He was at fault, not that it matters. The killer is that this really decent fellow left behind a wife and three young children.
The fatality rate per mile traveled for bike riders is about 25X what it is for those driving cars.
Maybe those who have people depending upon them shouldn't be riding bikes?
In this case, our garage tech had actually told the guy "dude, you got a wife and three kids. Your bike days are over".
The guy who died replied that he was safe because he was careful.
Food for thought.
 
Riding a motorcycle or a bicycle in traffic is rolling the dice. It does not ever matter who is at fault, the car or truck almost always wins.

I finally quit riding on streets. Now it's occasions romps in the dirt away from traffic.
 
Sad!
I personally won't own one. Last week I had seen a deer cross the road and wipe out a cyclist.. It was crazy how it went down.

How about those that join the military with families?
 
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
The number of deaths per mile driven are 26 times higher than for cars.




Grave statistic. Especially when one considers most motorcycles don't get the miles put on them that other vehicles do.
 
I sold my bike when my son was born.

It's not really about you being careful. It's about others on the road being careless, and you the biker paying the price for it.
 
Years ago, your employer was on the hook for your travel too and from work, the legislation at the time being that you had no other reason for that piece of travel other than get to your employment, so any injury incurred on that travel was workers compensation.

My employer at the time had a number of cases involving pushbikes and coal trucks, and were seeking legal opinion and agreement with the Unions that they were to mandate that bikes of any form couldn't be ridden to work...much hoohaa about it, but the law got changed such that travel isn't part of the cover any more for anyone.

In my mid 30s I thought of getting one, but realised that I don't have the muscle memory required to even contemplate it at this late stage, and would probably never ride enough to give that instinctive reaction that I've seen mates who have ridden their whole lives from posty bikes on bush tracks.

One of my mates, an avid rider, and his wife agreed that there would be no pillion riding until their son was in his teens, and even now it's sunny day rarity...he's teaching his son to ride dirt bikes now.

I wouldn't do it at 48...I don't heal anything like I did even 10 years ago.
 
Trust me, at 48 you're still but a boy.
Add a dozen and see how much longer minor insults to your body take to feel better.
OTOH, up to about forty, I was really unbreakable.
The slide then begins and does not end until one dies.
 
Nope. Lost a good friend owing to a shunt aboard his GSXR.

Sold all my bikes upon getting engaged. Life is short enough without tempting fate.
 
The fatality rate drops significantly when you subtract the unlicensed, drunk/drugged riders, Darwin's assistants(no helmet or other gear), and those that haven't taken the MSF RiderCourse or similar.

Still not as safe as a car, but better odds than a lot of people think.

When I ride I assume I'm invisible- and that any driver that can see me will try to kill me. I assume every oncoming car is going to turn in front of me if it can- and that every car on a side road will pull out on me. I don't crawl along, but I do cover the front brake and roll off the throttle a bit.

It's sad to read of accidents that a little training would probably have prevented- just this week an SUV turned in front of a bike and the rider said he had no choice but to "lay it down." He missed the SUV but hit the curb- killing his pillion rider.
I'd bet the farm he never even touched his front brake lever...
 
That 25X stat includes all bikes and every idiot on a bike. Not experienced road bike riders. Something like 20% of bike riders are legally drunk when they are killed. Most aren't wearing a helmet. Get the bike and plenty of life insurance and enjoy.

You can always mountain bike. Or find bike trails. We have several rails to trails around here. One is like 50 miles long.


EDIT: Never mind. Thought you were talking about bicycles.
 
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A mans got to go with his gut and I respect that. I see folks on bikes all the time that, to me, shouldn't be on the street. Too many people think when there on a bike they're the center of attention when in fact they're invisible to many four wheel vehicle operators. I guess I've just been mostly lucky the 50+ years I been riding. Only been ran over once and a hand full of near misses. Right now and much of the past a bike has been my daily driver. I ride under the premise I'm invisible to everyone else on the road. Wish me luck because I will not stop till I'm dead or can't throw a leg over the thing.
 
I have been riding on the street for the last 38 years. About 5 years ago I was headed home on My 04 Harley Electraglide. I was doing 70 mph and felt that I was doing so in a safe manner. Out of nowhere a mattress came flying through the air and knocked me right off the bike before I had any time to even react. I slid, tumbled, rolled for God knows how long. Saw my life flash before my eyes and finally came to a stop out in front of a bunch of speeding traffic.
Luckily for me the guy behind me was paying attention and stopped and blocked traffic from running me over.
I was taken to the hospital by ambulance and made my way through the trauma unit. That was quite an experience in itself.
I ended up covered in all kinds of road rash and a broken right wrist. 12 screws a titanium plate and two months of recovery before returning to work.
I had had a few minor wrecks before but this one made an old man out of me. I now have about 16 bits of hardware in different places in my body.
 
Dad quit riding when he got lightly tapped in the rear tire at a red light ... and ended up in the hospital with a broken back.

Even a VW Beetle is safer than a bike.
 
I did not ride until my son was through high school I did not want him to grow up without a father. I don't have my bike now. I might get another in a few years.

I would also think twice before riding with your wife on the bike with you , if you have young children. Wait til they are grown, its putting all your eggs in one basket if they are young.
 
95% of the time down here it's a careless driver that makes a left turn in front of a motorcycle and causes the accident.

I know a nurse that her husband was killed this way.
 
I bought a Kawasaki 450 that had been in an accident for cheap. Fixed it. Farthest I went with my bike to DMV. I sold it when my daughter was born. I liked working on the bike more than riding it.
 
Originally Posted By: RedOakRanch
Can't do it, you've already decided and I agree. But a WRX or similar...


Agree, in a YODAesque manner...would own a Toyota 86 or Cherokee SRT if I could just make up my mind which.
 
I had been riding a 750K the 50 mile round trip for work to save money, the year my son was born I was on the way home and came upon a dead rider, a trucker had taken an exit off the interstate, decided it was the wrong rural exit and rolled straight across the road in front of the bike. It easily could have been me. I rode home and put the bike up for sale next day.

Several years ago a good friend, safest most conscientious rider I know was out enjoying a ride in the country in Pa on his dual sport, a deer jumped out of the brush and cleaned him off the bike, he never had a chance to react. He lost a year to rehab. He quit riding but still restores 6 cylinder Hondas.

The first would have never happened, the second would have been just another deer hit, had they been in cars. Keep riding guys and rolling the dice.
 
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