Motorcycling with others

gush said:
I've had many close calls but you just have to ride like every car is trying to kill you and act accordingly.

I took a turkey vulture to the face at 70 mph on my zx9r. That........is another story.
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Some are very determined. I was on a crooked two lane with my daughter on the back (picked her up at school). As we came around a tight right on the first part of an S turn, a minivan was heading straight for us. I didn’t feel I could go harder right without hitting the ditch, so picked it up and swung to the extreme left side of the road. I should have cleared the minivan by a good 3-4 feet...but she watched me cross the road and turned into me. Dislocated my knee - I still have a headlight imprint on my shin. Broke my daughter’s ankle. Tipped the bike over and we went headfirst down a cliff.

She immediately called her lawyer. Luckily, the car behind her saw it happen and called an ambulance for us.

By the book, I was at fault for being on the wrong side of the road. The police officer who caught up with me in the hospital said he had to note that, but commended me for not taking us headfirst through her windshield. My insurance company also waiver the deductible and thanked me for not getting us killed.
 
So much distracted driving by people in cars/trucks since advent of cell phones makes me believe that my wife is right when she changed her mind about me buying another m/c and riding again. Not a day goes by that I don't see some idiot practicing idiocy behind the wheel. The latest was a young woman leaning forward looking into the rear-view mirror putting on lipstick. :rolleyes: Before that, a guy with some big sandwich in his right hand and a soda in his left, I guess steering with his knee on the wheel. I miss riding - the wind in your face, sensing the microclimate changes, the feeling of freedom, all that goes along with two wheels down. But ...
 
Fats said:
Riding since 1976, including a massive U.S., Canada, Mexico trip, 18k mi in 1979. BTW, the xc trip in ‘79 was on a Honda CB 350. Just took what I had. Didn’t know any better….
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Wow. On a 350?? I had one of those and it's... not a big engine.

Then again, I rode from CT to TX in 1979 on a Honda 450. Didn't have anything bigger, or better. (Nasty evil vibrating twin.)

I worked for a year and bought a proper Honda 750, then spent summer of 1980 on 10,000 mile trip from TX up to Alberta, Canada and then all the way down the west coast and across the desert southwest. Arrived home broke and happy.

(Sold the 750 for b-skool tuition. Turning my plowshares into swords?)

Here's to doing what you can with what you've got.

=K
 
After breaking my leg in half once I kept up the ride for another 20 years and sold the bike. I left bike rides but the general population started to get scary on the road.

I've been eyeing a Slingshot for a bit now though that's an appealing platform. No staggering needed!
 
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gush said:
I ride dirt and street with my street machine being an HD Ultraclassic. Riding is like true therapy for me and I absolutely enjoy taking long trips on two wheels and nothing gives me more inner peace than heading out in the morning while the sun comes up.

I normally don't ride with others but this summer we have started doing rides with two other couples and it is a mistake.

I will admit that I can be an ass about things like this but sometimes I like to ride fast, sometimes I like to ride slow, sometimes I just like to stop and look at stuff that interests me. What I don't like is stopping at bars, stopping for smoke breaks or just stopping for premature breaks.

Wife and I are going to LaCrosse end of this month and asked our friends to ride with but they asked their friends to come too which is the couple that recently started to join us for day rides.

Wife and I do not smoke so smoke breaks suck for us and this couple wants to change destination because LaCrosse is just too far.

We have reservations in LaCrosse and I have zero interest in changing our plans. I am normally an accommodating kinda guy and tend to go with the flow but interfering with my two wheel therapy is a no no.

Anybody else like this?
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Yup. ME! The group ride thing is weird and can be controlling by others that mess up your plans. It’s sort of like inviting the wrong couple to your party and the whole dynamics change and you want to shoot, well something…..
my wife and I ride by ourselves. Fast, slow, let’s try this new road, hurry, let’s get home before the storm ect ect
Freedom without all the social protocols involved with other people……..
if it were me, I’d cancel the ride with all of them…. Feeling sick… white lies are better than hurting other peoples feelings.
Then go out by yourselves to LaCrosse
i feel the same way about clubs….
 
68, back surgery, still riding. Sport bikes to Fatboy to Road King and now Ultra Classic. GF doesn't ride anymore, so tour par and touring seat hang on the wall.
I belong to an MC, but prefer riding alone, no stereo and just my thoughts. It's more therapeutic. Cross streets still pucker my sphincter with all the A-holes on cell phones, so I try to get out to cow country as fast as I can.
 
FDHog said:
68, back surgery, still riding. Sport bikes to Fatboy to Road King and now Ultra Classic. GF doesn't ride anymore, so tour par and touring seat hang on the wall.
I belong to an MC, but prefer riding alone, no stereo and just my thoughts. It's more therapeutic. Cross streets still pucker my sphincter with all the A-holes on cell phones, so I try to get out to cow country as fast as I can.
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Cow Country is good! :)…..I had to stop riding where I live now in Seacoast NH, S Maine cause the frikkin tourists have over run the area and now they all want to live here! It truly sucks……house prices are still off the charts…..
 
Rod Welles said:
Cow Country is good! :)…..I had to stop riding where I live now in Seacoast NH, S Maine cause the frikkin tourists have over run the area and now they all want to live here! It truly sucks……house prices are still off the charts…..
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I live in South Florida. It was nuts here already. We always get many visitors during the winter months, we call it season. There has been such an influx of people that the traffic in my area is starting to look like cities farther south of me. There are more folks moving in here by the day. The house prices have become insane. I can't believe how much people are paying for rent now. I could make a lot of money renting my house if I had somewhere else to live.
 
aphantomvaper said:
After breaking my leg in half once I kept up the ride for another 20 years and sold the bike. I left bike rides but the general population started to get scary on the road.

I've been eyeing a Slingshot for a bit now though that's an appealing platform. No staggering needed!
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I rented one last summer. It was a blast to drive!!!
 
Very enjoyable reading through this thread! I love riding but haven’t had a bike since I sold my Valkyrie years back. To the OP, I can double down on your sentiments by saying I don’t like traveling in groups on any number of wheels! It always turns out that the least organized and least considerate people end up dictating every move, and what was for relaxation and enjoyment becomes a frustrating and angry experience. I just don’t do it. Fine to meet at a destination, but traveling together is out for me.

With my wife joining me in retirement this year, it may be a good time to get back on two wheels. PRS-forum-enabled again. :)
 
RickP said:
Very enjoyable reading through this thread! I love riding but haven’t had a bike since I sold my Valkyrie years back. To the OP, I can double down on your sentiments by saying I don’t like traveling in groups on any number of wheels! It always turns out that the least organized and least considerate people end up dictating every move, and what was for relaxation and enjoyment becomes a frustrating and angry experience. I just don’t do it. Fine to meet at a destination, but traveling together is out for me.

With my wife joining me in retirement this year, it may be a good time to get back on two wheels. PRS-forum-enabled again. :)
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We are helpers here. :)
 
JasonE said:
The house prices have become insane. I can't believe how much people are paying for rent now. I could make a lot of money renting my house if I had somewhere else to live.
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Tell me about it. We refinanced in Oct, 2020, and got an appraisal for our dumpy townhouse of $159k. I was pretty happy with that since when the housing collapsed in 2008 we went from $150 to 90$. Anyway, guy across the street listed his for $209 in June. I thought he was nuts. It was on the market for a couple of weeks and ended up selling for $229k. W.T.F.!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Rider1260 said:
This was more my style before , but I have grown to love comfort along with speed :)
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The older we get, the higher comfort climbs on the priority list. My first bike was a brand new '77 Bonnie - a red & white tank beauty. The ride was not comfortable, but I was young and riding on her was exhilarating, quick & agile she was. Sold it three years later when I came down with a severe case of Harleyitis and got a new 1980 Fat Bob. Ride was much more comfortable and there was just something about sitting on that Harley with those buckhorn handlebars. Cool factor I guess. But, that's when HD was owned by AMF and it was a huge POS - left me stranded three times. So, out it went a couple years later and I picked up a used '79 Bonneville Special and put up with all the Triumph "idiosyncrasies" in exchange for that exhilarating ride. But, then age started creeping in and comfort kicked exhilarating out of first place. My last bike was a used 96 Yamaha Royal Star Tour Classic which I consider my favorite of the four I've owned. Total comfort, plenty of power for me, and a drop dead gorgeous paint scheme with metallic blue and pearl white on tank and both fenders. Wind screen, floorboards, the whole 9 yards. Sold it when we retired and moved way up north (too many deer, bear & moose on the roads along with a long gravel driveway to the house dictated the sale). But, crimafu*kenately!! We move back to civilization five years later. Now, I get to add one more item to the list of things I wish I'd never sold. D'OH :mad:
 
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