Fellow that is new to motorcycles.

[RichDesmond]

Dang Rich, that's depressing !!!

Ugh, yeah ........

Sigh...you may find it depressing, I view it as a conscious acknowledgment of reality.
Absolutely nothing wrong with someone starting to ride or helping them to that end, I've done it a bunch. But, if I'm the guy encouraging/mentoring that person I damn sure want them to understand what the risks are, especially if they have major responsibilities to other people.

[earlfor]

This article is aimed at women, but it captures exactly what matters in this thread:

Just six months before Marjorie White bought her first motorcycle, her 25-year-old son, Tom, was tragically killed on his bike by a driver making a U-turn.

Looking for a way to cope with her son’s death, White went out and bought a bright green Yamaha 100, a street and dirt bike. It was 2014, and she was 58.

“I needed something for me — some way to move past the pain that had me frozen in place,” White says. “I could not have known how valuable riding motorcycles would become for my mental health.”

Her son’s death on a motorcycle didn’t stop her. For White, getting on a bike was like rising from the ashes like a phoenix.

“Riding helped me feel alive, to find joy again. It’s meditative, confidence-building, and inspiring. I feel at one with the universe — in sync, if you will.”


https://www.travelandleisure.com/tri...ycles-pandemic

Neither that view nor mine are either/or choices.

[earlfor]

Sigh...you may find it depressing, I view it as a conscious acknowledgment of reality.
Absolutely nothing wrong with someone starting to ride or helping them to that end, I've done it a bunch. But, if I'm the guy encouraging/mentoring that person I damn sure want them to understand what the risks are, especially if they have major responsibilities to other people.

Apparently, for some, it isn't reality.

[rphillips]

No doubt I completely understand the concern. My parents also had that conscious acknowledgement of reality. That's why I never had a bike till I was 27, Living in their house I went by their rules. I still think about all those yrs. I missed out on.... Still congrats & good luck to Josh.

[GS1150Pilot]

Apparently, for some, it isn't reality.

Earl, you just contradicted your own line of reasoning. I wonder whether you can even see that.

[GS1150Pilot]

No doubt I completely understand the concern. My parents also had that conscious acknowledgement of reality. That's why I never had a bike till I was 27, Living in their house I went by their rules. I still think about all those yrs. I missed out on.... Still congrats & good luck to Josh.

Thankfully, my dad was a passionate Triumph rider in the 60's, and got both of his sons into riding. I got my first YZ for my 12th birthday, and in the years since, was only off a bike for a little under two years during the early part of my marriage-before I realized her disdain for bikes had no bearing on my own feelings. Funny side note: My wife once told me I was going to kill myself on a motorcycle. She was a competitive equestrian. Over the years we were married, I had one accident, from which I walked away. She was thrown badly twice-and had three spinal surgeries as a result. Taking the irony further, she is now dating a guy who has been riding motorcycles, like me, all his life-and she is often on road trips on the back of his Road King.

[GSXR7ED]

I've worked with Josh for about ten years. He is in his early 40's wife, kids, mortgage... Over the years he would check out Craigslist looking at different motorcycles. He would come over to me and ask me about this one or that one... I would always encourage him but also tell him the downside about a particular motorcycle

. Fast forward to about a month ago. He showed me a add for a 1982 Honda CB 750 custom. It looked to be in very good condition. I did a little research on the motorcycle. Electronic ignition is a plus, original owner, another plus, and local. I told him it would be worth checking out. He bought the Honda for $800!

Next, since he has no motorcycling experience he enrolled in the Ohio Motorcycle Safety Course. It's a two day course, he had a blast. Plus he learned some very useful information.

Last Monday I took off work at noon to go for a ride. Tuesday at work Josh asked me where I went riding to. I told him that I went to East Liverpool by the Ohio River for lunch. Then I went over to the Pittsburgh Airport to watch a couple of jets take off. He seemed so intrigued. It will be fun riding with him next summer.

Good on you Norm for being a good mentor.

I had no such person before I went and bought my first bike in 2011 at age 44:



Ed

****

[GS1150Pilot]

Ed, you went big when you dove in.

[GSXR7ED]

Ed, you went big when you dove in.

No Joke!

The guy who sold it to me said, it was "mild-mannered."

He also said a younger guy wanted to buy it but he didn't want to be responsible if he hurt himself on it.

Ironic that when I sold it 6 moths later, the guy who bought it from me had a fatal crash.

Ed

****

[GS1150Pilot]

Mild mannered? Holy crap.

[GSXR7ED]

Mild mannered? Holy crap.

What did I know?

I was going thru a mid-life crisis...lol

Ed

****

[GS1150Pilot]

What did I know?

I was going thru a mid-life crisis...lol

Ed

****

LoL. I think I went through a whole life crisis for a good long time. The bike I gave up when I got married was a ridiculously modded GPz 750 Turbo, with ZX-10 suspension and brakes and a 225 hp motor.

[GSXR7ED]

LoL. I think I went through a whole life crisis for a good long time. The bike I gave up when I got married was a ridiculously modded GPz 750 Turbo, with ZX-10 suspension and brakes and a 225 hp motor.

Well, that's mild-mannered...isn't it?

Ed

****

[GS1150Pilot]

Well, that's mild-mannered...isn't it?

Ed

****

LoL. It would go from Clark Kent to Superman faster than a speeding bullet. Truly, the scariest motorcycle I ever rode. The FZ1 that followed it-and even the VMax, felt gentle in comparison.

[earlfor]

Earl, you just contradicted your own line of reasoning. I wonder whether you can even see that.

From my perspective, it is clear that you have no idea what my perspective and reasoning are. Sometimes, things are destined to go south, and it has nothing to do with what I have said. It is why I said think as you wish.