Please somebody start an interesting thread!!!

[JoseyR3Wales]

I concur 100 % with the previous posts by Hellfire.

 

[Hellwalker]

I have been on some dealer rides with tons of bikes and escorts as well as patriot guard runs but also I am guilty of 5-20 bikes in and unplanned after church run to dinner? That's a good point, no longer than a semi and probably a lifesaver but i don't know how many folks were on that desert run..

 

[Molinoman]

Hellfire, I understand how you feel on the subject but I, personally, think that is way too strict of a guideline. I didn't start till I was 21...started with the Honda 305 for my first two bikes...both used and I, knock on wood, have not had any accident at all (with the exception of in 1993 when my bike went out from under me pulling into a service station on a mixture of gravel and oil on the pavement, slow speed and twisted my knee slightly...healed in two days) in almost 37 years of riding. Maybe I'm the exception rather than the rule but the secret is, for the most part, not to start out on a 2300 cc beast as your first bike. But I've known others whose first bike was a Gold Wing for crying out loud that have done just fine...again that is the exception rather than the rule.

But to each their own.

Oh and other than the owner of the first 305 showing me where the brake, throttle, clutch and switches...I was self taught how to actually ride the thing.

But I do agree it is a tremendous responsibility to teach someone to ride if you choose to do it...so if that is what you were trying to get across I would have to agree on that point...just not the riding start age.

Dennis

30 dtg Dubai
31 dtg London

84 dtg Dubai
85 dtg Home (picking up 2010 Thunderbird, ordering R3T)

 

[Hellwalker]

I just hate to see a beginner go out and buy the coolest thing he can afford without puttering around first. A Honda Rebel or Ninja 250 will still get you killed, but you might have a better chance to learn something first.

yeah thats why I bought him a 89 Suzuki bandit off craig's list for $1200.00 but its a clean looking nice bike, probably too much power though your point is well taken.

 

[Hellwalker]

I guess the point is I love the hell outta riding bikes and if someone wants to hang out with me it's easier to do on two wheels, but man what a burden to introduce someone into biking and have that on your back, if something happens?
My daughter wants to start ridding and I don't even like to ride in the car when she drives???? I need to find that 250 rebel, Hellfire was talking about or something smaller I started on a CB 160.

 

[JoseyR3Wales]

I have been of some dealer rides with tons of bikes and escorts as well as patriot guard runs but also I am guilty of 5-20 bikes in and unplanned after church run to dinner? That's a good point, no longer than a semi and probably a life save but i don't know how many folks were on that desert run..

Thats why I am known in other circles as JoseyR3Wales. I ride mostly alone, whistling Dixie, smoking a cigar, and carrying a pistol or two. I prefer to enjoy every nuance of the ride and my surroundings. Add just one bike to that and the time becomes divided in half and the distraction doubled and this division is compounded exponentially by the number of bikes total in a group. I have friends but they number less than 10, and I have folks that I am comfortable riding with and not being concerned about who is doing what as it seems that we ride much the same and think in unison and they number less than 5. I do not intend to cast dispersions upon others skills, I simply try to ride alone as we all have learned differently on how to ride, we all have different styles, we accelerate at different rates, we brake differently and the larger the group the more it becomes like a disjointed snake or the surging, loping style of a slinky going down a set of stairs. Having helped conduct the demo rides here for the dealer and Triumph, as the lead rider I spent most of the time shaking my head in disbelief at what was going on in my mirrors. More stressful than a colonoscopy. Green Grass and High Tides Forever.

 

[Hellwalker]

OzzmanR3 i will even go as far as saying (because my wife is not a member or a visitor) I much much prefer riding solo 80% of the time, I find a passenger doing and causing all the distractions you mentioned to keep me from enjoying the ride . Don't get me wrong, I miss her the most, so I have to share my mistress with her because it's time expedient due to my stateside rotations and so is riding with friends. But someday I will be free to ride when I want were I want................

 

[HellFire]

I have the wife trained well (don't tell her I said that ) ... her brother nearly killed them both on a 650 when they were teens and she was deathly afraid of bikes when we got married, so I basically had to start over with her. She still doesn't like bikes in general but enjoys riding more lately (after 23 years she better). She knows not to fiddle-**** around back there shifting her weight around looking for crap, and doesn't do any leaning or backseat riding since she doesn't ride a bike herself. I've seen her drive everything else from a Fiat X-19 to a Mack truck with air brakes without hesitation, she just has an aversion to two wheels crashing, (if I was riding shot-gun while my retarded brother wrecked into a mall parking-lot island in broad daylight, I'd probably have issues as well). Get a little booze into her and it's "Kelly, take me somewhere on the bike" ...
So I really do enjoy having her along on rides.

It's my 4 riding buddies, "buddies" with that scare the **** out of me. We typically go on a couple trips a year together (Delmarva bike week is one) and I trust them when we ride in close proximity. I typically ride #2 (since I go too fast for their Hardley's) and I can trust #1 not to panic stop or make bad choices that endanger the rest of us. #3 and 4 can stay tight without having to worry they will crowd me or be day-dreaming when slowing, stopping or changing lanes. They trust me not to do the same and cause them to be in a bad situation at a bad time. Basically, we don't have to worry about what the other guy is going to do.
When the group gets bigger and the "part-timers" go with, that's when **** gets nerve-wracking . I could see being in a large group of riders where I have to worry what their next move is going to be, and then having a car (like that head-on) suddenly get in the mix. Arrrgg!

We've had potentially serious incidents with cars happen before when it's been just us 4 or less, and I trust they will do what they have to without worrying what I'll do, and vice-a-versa. We've become so familiar, they expect me to either be tapping on the window of the offending vehicle to "speak" to the driver, or caving in the door with my steel toes. #1 will be in front of them so they don't "rabbit" before the rest get to "chat" with them. We've had some good times with dangerous cagers that did stupid ****, it makes for lively conversations at the bar later .

But when the numbers get big, everything changes ... I'm scared for the whole group. The dynamic is different, some don't know what direction to go, whether to brake, accelerate ... **** themselves ... what. The bigger the group, typically the slower the speed ... and that makes even more problems. While before it was 4 guys traveling a little faster than traffic, now it's become 10, 20, 50 or more holding up traffic .... not fun for me at all.
Having to "make room" for that passing car that encounters oncoming traffic ain't any fun when some in your own group don't know what to do.

I'm very uncomfortable in larger groups of bikes, claustrophobic.

 

[mexican]

I started my son on a 250 ninja which i still have, took him to the motorcycle safety class before anything else, strongly recomend it.
IMO a 125cc bike is too small to start due to the fact that they are not hiway legal and anything after 50mph is really pushing the bikes limits, if they learn they will learn quick and they will want something bigger, which means you will have to buy another bike and try to sell the smaller one. Buying a ninja250 for me was better because is hway legal and by changing the sprockets you will break all speed limits and will not force the bike.
i have taken the lil ninja on 500 mile trips with bunch of bigger bikes with no problens, my kid moved up to one of my blackbirds but i still kept the ninja, is one of my favorite rides, not intimidating at all and very user friendly

 

[JoseyR3Wales]

Agreed Mexican. For new or young riders the Rider Safety Courses are a great thing to have them participate in. Knocks some of the young, cocky, and brashness off of them.

They also teach a lot of good habits to have and maintain. Some states like Ohio even offer an Advanced or "Seasoned Citizen" riding course as well.

A state motorcycle officer that teaches all state troopers that ride the bikes here has a course he teaches to us street folks. www.motomark1.com