To be Honest, Thinking of Selling Motorcycle and Quitting Riding

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
5,294
Ever since my last motorcycle crash cpl yrs ago, which I'm lucky to still be here, things have just become different. My wife will not ride two up anymore, the extent of my injuries freaked her out and she is afraid to ride pillion ever since (we were engaged at the time, married now). So lately I'm always solo one up, and just don't have the desire to travel ride w/o her with me, which leaves mainly squirting around the patch, same old scenery etc. The guys I know that ride, all co-workers, all own Harley's and will not allow different brands to ride with them. One even told me mixed groups look stupid and "we" don't do that. Pretty clear where he was coming from I suppose: Motorcycle as fashion accessory.

Anyhow, there's another factor. In about the past year, I've been getting these random hinky feelings, heebie jeebies if you will, that just come over me when I'm riding, like a feeling that I'm going to be in another serious motorcycle accident and not get another chance like I did with the last one. A car whipped out into my lane just the other day from a line of slow traffic. I had space and another lane to left to react and everything was fine but it only served to feed the negative vibes I've been getting because it did happen very suddenly.

I think it is the whole thing that I beat stacked odds by having a complete recovery from the type of brain hemorrage I had (helmet worn). Clinically termed a sub arachnoid the prognosis is 1/3 of patients have a good recovery, the remainder either die or have a permanent disability. It's like that thing in other hazardous hobbies or occupations where you've used your Free Pass and you start to think if there's a next time your number's up you already burned your freebie.
 
If your getting that feeling it's probably best to sell the bike.

I had a bad MC accident in 1979 and never felt completely comfortable after that...I eventually stopped riding. If I had that accident today my old bones wouldn't have taken it as well as they did 40 years ago.

PS: I think a Moto Guzzi is much cooler than a Harley.....
 
You can ride, but you don't hafta ride.
Your call.

Good luck; please ride ultra defensively.
 
Last edited:
I sold my bikes after ethanol started messing up everything with a carb. Also, like you, I lost my tolerance to a crash. As far as those Harley guys that don't ride with other makes, they are all posers and were never about the riding.
 
I quit riding after realizing the risk factor isn't worth it to me.
My last bike was a little known brand in the U.S.. It was an Aprilia Shiver 750, an Italian water cooled 90 degree V-twin.
Your better off having a small, fun car to drive like a WRX, Civic Si or a GTI.
 
Do what I did. By a Z06 Corvette.
banana2.gif
 
I have had the same fight in my mind. I got in a fight with a tree while doing some cutting and broke a leg with 3 compound fractures a year and a half ago. I have not ridden since even tho I am now able. My bike is still in the garage while I sort through my head, knowing that it is an unnecessary danger and also knowing how difficult a recovery can be, especially at 55 yrs. Family first brother.
 
My dad was sandwiched between two big-rigs in an accident, before I was born. He woke up with his left leg snapped and oddly angled above his head. He was too broke (physically and financially) to wait for a better pay-out and settled for the first amount he could get. Today, he walks like a pirate, with one left at full muscle strength and volume and the effected leg at less than HALF the volume. He has literally hobbled around and forced his bumb leg into compliance since before I can remember.

To be fair, he's "old-school" and refused a lot of care he could have received to possibly mitigate the issues, but that's besides the point. He has so many aches and pains and tells me often that I'm lucky to be around, all because two trucks with poor maintenance (things are better now) put him in an impossible position.

//

As an aside, he told me stories about when he was a truck driver back in the 80's, stomping on the brake pedal, down-shifting like a mad man and praying while drifting downhill through red-lights and stop-signs because he couldn't stop to save his life. I know things have gotten way better with regard to commercial trucking maintenance, but now there are so many other threats that have taken its place....e.g., distracted drivers.

I used to really want to get into biking when I was in my 20's, but every year, luckily, I would see some absolutely stupid driver almost kill a biker. The latest: I had to go to court to vouch for a biker who was injured after some teen pulled out in front of him, resulting in the biker going [censored] over tea kettle, sliding across half a dozen feel of road and plastic. The PoPo didn't write ANY of my statement, nor the ONLY OTHER DRIVER WHO STOPPED's statement down, so we had to go to court to tell the offending party's lawyer how [censored] up all of this was and how I was [censored] that they were wasting my time over some lying teens claim that he did nothing wrong!

//

Anyway, I'm sorry for you OP and I totally understand.
 
I feel your angst. My fast riding buddies have had families, moved away from the sport, or, been taken out by their sport.

I rode my VFR a lot when I bought it new in 2003...16k the first year. Less and less the following years. Last year I didn't even run a tank of gas through it. This year I told my insurance agent to not renew the liability since I don't feel like riding it. Looking at my records, I put 4K miles on since 2013.

My KLR is a good low-speed bike to explore and since it has the "shake" above 65mph, it's just fine to just enjoy the scenery and go a bit slower. I've only ridden once this year though.
 
I quit riding after a minor low side accident. The bike was cosmetically brutalized, and I walked away. What did it for me was the Escalade that didn't even slow down, swerve, or stop to check on me after nearly running me down. I stopped cycling on the road here for the same reason (the drivers, not an accident.) Cats get nine lives, we don't.
 
I'm on your side here as well OP.

Luckily I never had an accident on my bike, but I attribute that to being ALWAYS attentive.
Honestly, it may be fun riding, but I think the required attention really puts a negative spin on your fun.

When I decided to sell mine, I made the decision to put my time and money towards the bmw instead.
Best decision I could ever make, as I really was starting to hate the bike and the associated lifestyle incl:

-Always gearing up and down (protective clothes)
-needing additional clothes to change into at the office
-rain
-inattentive drivers
-having to always carry ear plugs
-no use for it once I quit commuting to that part of town

Don't get me wrong, there are parts about riding I like, but not enough to get another one in the foreseeable future.
I have since put my time and efforts into my bmw which I get more enjoyment out of.
 
Only you can decide what is right for you. I've been riding most of my life, had more then a few get-offs, and will continue to ride until I can no longer get on a bike. Planning on adding another bike to the stable soon. Fortunately, my wife feels the same way.

As for your coworkers, they aren't motorcyclists. They are posers, desperately seeking inclusion and approval.
 
On the way back from FL last Feb driving through PA on 81 a rider wearing dusty rose colored leathers on a mid sized machine started doing acrobatics at 65 mph she/he was absolutely nuts. We dropped back a little concerned that we would be involved, we were not. The only bike I ever rode was an Indian scout flathead when I was a teen. Too old to ride now.
 
I spent some time working on a brain injury unit. There were a lot of stories of people who made a remarkable recovery after major head trauma, but then after a further relatively minor blow to the head, lost it all. Seems the brain can only stand so much trauma.

If I had made a remarkable recovery from brain trauma, I'd do everything possible to make sure it didn't happen again.
 
Sorry to hear about the heebie-jeebies, LR. That's not a good thing. It's no good to feel that way, but it also undermines confidence in a way that makes us perform worse than we otherwise could or would. /-:

I hope you can come to a decision you're happy with.
 
Only you can make the decision of if it is "worth it" to you to ride.
I fault no one for stopping (or not even starting).

It is something I took a break from for almost 20 years (sold bike to pay for school, then family and wife saying no, but recently said she was OK with it), and have no plans to stop for the foreseeable future, but who knows what the future holds.

I do have a goal of a US tour by bike in the next 5 years, so after that, who knows.
 
I always rode trail and dirt bikes. A week in Indonesia dodging cattle, trucks, carts, chickens and pedestrians on a 250 made me never want to ride on a road again. Drivers these days are too old, too stoned (we live in a legal pot state), or too distracted, and it's seems even more dangerous than there. Now I ride a bicycle or drive.
 
Maybe get a smaller dual sport and do back roads and trails? I am thinking of trading my 96 YZ250 for a TW200 and just putter along, or wring it out WO, and still putter along!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top