Back home safe and sound

[Idaho]

Meanstreak asked if I made it home and after reading Chuck Burts travelogue I decided to let you know that I am here and I would like to offer a thought or two. Chuck and I shared a passion for the road and long distance riding, when I left Mansfield, Ohio Friday morning I rode for 1000 miles before I stopped for the night in Nebraska. As I read Chucks posts I realize that for some of us we push limits and take chances that we normally would not take in order to put on the miles. It actually alarmed me as I read his posts because of his shot of the 105 mph on the speedo and talk of riding at night. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Chuck at all, rather, I'm trying to draw attention to how easy it is for us in our enthusiasm to temporarily abandon safe riding techniques so that we can enjoy some kind of hero status when we post our numbers. Right now I don't feel like any kind of a hero. I wish that Chuck was still here with fewer miles under his belt.

Please, every time you ride, observe speed laws and common sense techniques that we all are taught regarding sight distances and following distances and riding at night. It also occurs to me that taking pix while riding (I have done this also) is a really bad idea. Ignoring any of these can get you killed. Please ride safe, always.

Peace, Idaho

[ells]

Idaho,

I, and probably others, are sharing your thoughts, well said in your last post.

[oledawg]

Respectfully & well done Idaho! ;)

[cactusjack]

Food for thought, folks. It sure makes a guy think. Thanks for posting it, Bud.

[audiogooroo]

I couldn't agree more Bud. Right said!

[waterman]

Well said and glad you are home safe and sound.

[pirate]

Very well put. I am going to carefully make decisions because of the past couple days' events.

[dantama]

I tend to agree with Idaho, but with a little bit of a different take on it.

Riding a motorcycle is dangerous and unnecessary period. If you are doing it, you are not being as safe as you could be.

So if you are doing it, you must either enjoy it enough to take on the extra risk, or you do it for image and put up with the risk to maintain an image. I suppose there could be more reasons, but I would suppose that those are the main two.

So if we are in agreement that it is a dangerous and unnecessary risk, it all becomes a matter of degree after that. Is taking pictures while moving more dangerous? Probably. Is going fast more dangerous? Probably. Is riding at night more dangerous? Probably. But riding at all is more dangerous and unnecessary.

So we all find our level of dangerous enjoyment. For some it will be riding the speed limit at all times, in the daylight, on clear days with light traffic. But even that is more dangerous and unnecessary than not riding.

For some riding fast through corners, taking pictures, and riding at night and for long distances is where their level of enjoyment is. Who's to say that their level of enjoyment is the wrong one, and yours is the right one? It's all dangerous and is just a matter of degree.

One isn't right and safe and the other not. If staying alive is the goal, neither one is wise.

But if you get enough enjoyment out of it, and are as safe as you can be at the level of risk that you are willing to take, I don't think that you are dumb to do it. Do it all for image and I think that you are pretty stupid.

My level of enjoyment, and Chuck's level are different than many peoples. I try to do mine as safe as I can at that level, and I suppose Chuck did too. I feel much better about Chuck doing what he loved, the way he loved to do it, and dying.......Then if he lived his life holding back, not being as passionate, feeling constrained, and still not safe. Just safer, but only by degree.

To a Volvo driving person who always goes the speed limit, and only in light traffic......This whole conversation probably seems a little surreal. :)

Ride at the level that you enjoy and ignites your passion, and do that as safe as you can. None of us are being safe. All of us are taking unnecessary risks.

If I die, it will have been worth the risk for the enjoyment that it brought. I tend to think that it was for Chuck too.

Ride your own ride at the level of risk that you are willing to take.

[blowndodge]

Dan,

Your riding skills are probably second to none at KawaNOW. You have no problem riding at 100 plus or dragging your boards around every corner, maybe even breaking the rear tire loose from time to time.

All that doesn't mean a hill of beens if a cager is driving a little carelessly while your "hauling the mail" on your Nomad if he takes you out in the process.

Yes riding is very dangerous. I ride as if I'm the bullseye to every car out there and I don't stunt drive with them. I too have good skills but that all fades away when I'm doing 100 and crest a hill and someone is passing someone else coming in my lane. at 65 I may have a chance, at 100 draggn' da boards I'm toast!!

[Idaho]

Sorry Dan, I don't agree. Sounds like you are rationalizing to justify poor riding decisions. If we use your logic then just getting out of bed in the morning is dangerous. Riding a motorcycle is not inherently dangerous if it is operated in a safe and responsible manner. No more so than driving a car or walking down the street. There are safe ways to drive a car and there are unsafe ways to drive a car. Too many people who justify speeding or reading books or running computers in a cage because of their unique skill levels wind up dead. Common sense and our elders taught us to walk down the street facing traffic for a reason. It is safer. Bad decisions that abandon safety for the thrill of the moment can not be rationalized away as being justified because of skill. I always thought that Indian Larry was a fool for standing on MC seats at 50 mph. He thought it was cool and now is dead. Taking a pic of a speedo at 105 is dangerous. Running a camera while riding a motorcycle is asking for trouble. You do what you want but I do not buy your arguments. Motorcycle safety is a definite science and art form that must be studied and practiced constantly. Those of us with more skill than others should practice, as well as preach, safe riding techniques for the benefit of everyone. Safety is not an option. Respectfully, Idaho (Bud)

[dantama]

Originally Posted by Idaho (High Plains Drifter)

Riding a motorcycle is not inherently dangerous if it is operated in a safe and responsible manner. No more so than driving a car or walking down the street.

We can agree to disagree. I haven't found a motorcycle safety expert who shares your opinion that motorcycles are not inherently dangerous.

If you want to believe that motorcycle aren't any more dangerous than a car when operated responsibly, you can have that view. But I don't think it is wise to claim it as a fact. It is simply not true.

We can agree to disagree.

As to specifics about what the recently deceased may have done. I think that it is bad form to criticize them when feelings and emotions are strong. I will not discuss their riding decisions till it is more appropriate to do so and hope others will join me in this.

[Idaho]

You can read what you want into my statement. I did not say that motorcycles are not inherently dangerous. I said that they are not inherently dangerous when operated in a safe and responsible manner. Big difference. You are right, we will just have to disagree.

I know for a fact that Dan Lund has slowed down his riding in recent years, as his Nomad couldn't go nearly as fast as bikes he'd previously owned (by his own admission.) A good part of his motivation seems to be that he prefers to stay out of jail/court, and I wouldn't blame him a bit.

I find I have also slowed down a bit since my Z-Bike days. I still enjoy riding. I don't ride as fast or as far as I used to, but I sure as hell enjoy it every bit as much as I used to. In fact, since I bought a more comfortable bike, and since bikes have gotten more reliable and durable, and since Judy started riding with me, and since I've met some fine people to ride with over the years, I find I enjoy it even more than I used to.

I don't go hill climbing any more, and I don't buzz around the streets with the front wheel in the air or drag race from stoplights (well not too often.) I don't try to ride 1000 miles in one day (or rarely even 500!) and I don't rocket down the road at 130+ MPH.

But I have done all those things. I do know what the lure is. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Got it out of my system too. In fact it's been many years since I did most of those things, and that may explain why I'm still around and don't have a single scar on my body from motorcycles in some 35+ years of riding. (I haven't had a ticket on a bike since 1981, BTW.) I had my younger days, I grew older, I grew wiser, and while I can't say that I never break the speed limit, I learned that you don't have to be crazy on the road just to have fun.

I don't have to prove anything to anybody on a motorcycle. That need simply does not exist for me any more. What I do seem to need is to keep riding. Every day I can manage it, for a long, long time to come. I don't give a rat's ass who rides better than me or who has a more expensive bike, or who has a Iron Butt trophy, or who broke 6 seconds (or is it 5 nowdays?) or who won Le Manns or the Isle of Man, whether an Agusta will beat an Aprilla.

I do my own thing. Whatever it is, it's enough for me, and I have fun doing it.