So, you think you want a motorcycle?

Better be sure your health insurance is paid up and your organ donor card is signed.

Dittohead not! said:

Better be sure your health insurance is paid up and your organ donor card is signed.

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I remember talking to the nurses when my mom was in the hospital. Somehow the topic of motorcycles came up, they referred to the cyclists as "organ donors". They had some gruesome stories.

This is my left thigh:



I saw my femur! that night. I also broke my tibia and heel on my left leg. My right ankle was also broken. My left hand was pretty much crushed. Broken nose as well. And there were several lacerations.

I own the only type of motorcycle I would ride. It has six wheels, has steel all around me, and an eight foot bed in the back - it's my Ford F350.

I had a good friend that lost his head riding his bike one day. He was coming around a curve. He was in the outside lane of the curve, hugging the yellow line in the middle of the road. A large truck came around the corner in the inside lane of the curve going a little fast so he was drifting a little toward the outside of the curve. My friend had his bike leaned over, and the front of the truck impacted his head, ripping it off instantly.

In my days in the military, I experienced a multitude of dangerous events and did more then my share of stupid acts - However, I don't ride motorcycles, never have, never will.

This would be a good thread for a teen asking his parents for a motorcycle. If he's the kind that can learn from others' mistakes, he'll back off.

But, if he's the sort who has to pee on the electric fence for himself, well, he may find himself in a video.

To be young an fearless again. I did my riding in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada. Thousands of miles of roads with little to no traffic and warm sunny days. The late 70s in the Army 10' tall and bullet proof. The ideal place to ride a motorcycle. In those days riding a motorcycle was one of the safer things I was doing.

Yes I do, but not enough to ever get around to it, and now I probably wont. I hear that gets less fun as you age.

I flipped my ATV a few weeks ago doing a dumb stunt. No way I want a motorcycle and cars involved.

Hari Seldon said:

I remember talking to the nurses when my mom was in the hospital. Somehow the topic of motorcycles came up, they referred to the cyclists as "organ donors". They had some gruesome stories.

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Very altruistic types, indeed.

PIPEWRENCH said:

To be young an fearless again. I did my riding in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada. Thousands of miles of roads with little to no traffic and warm sunny days. The late 70s in the Army 10' tall and bullet proof. The ideal place to ride a motorcycle. In those days riding a motorcycle was one of the safer things I was doing.

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I believe I once read that the mortality rate for servicemen in Vietnam in 1971 was lower than among motorcyclists.

Sometimes you need some dark humour to get you through the day.

This was an accident in Sweden (reassembled for a road safety display after the three bodies were removed.)



Classic smidsy, a car pulls out into the path of a motorcycle, and once the dust settles the car driver says "Sorry Mate, I Didn't See You."

joG said:

I believe I once read that the mortality rate for servicemen in Vietnam in 1971 was lower than among motorcyclists.

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I am sure it was. I had just missed the Vietnam war by a few years. I probably would have been safer in the Vietnam war than the unnecessary stunts I was doing back then. I also believe where you ride changes the odds considerably. I gave up riding when I moved to Houston. I always thought of getting another bike and riding only in the country. I knew myself and I would have rode in the city. Considering how many people run into my truck over the years I most likely would have been in one of those videos.

It was not what I was doing but the fact that I was not informing people and doing them alone. I had a bad habit of doing things spontaneously. I went to the Grand Canyon and I had to climb out on to a spire. I was trained in mountain search and rescue so I did not need to notify parks service. I did not need a co climber. I did not need ropes and safety gear. Sure as hell after getting to the top I couldn't figure out how to get down. I was the cat in the tree. 1 hour to get up and 6 perilous hours trying to get back down.