Here today,gone tomorrow

[Jackrat]

Atfer thinking a bit about resent comments on people that give up riding due to marriage,I think this is one of the main reasons I don,t relate very well to
a lot of other bikers.I lost count a long time ago of all the guys Iv,e heard say,I will always ride,I will never own,Drive a car ect, ect.
Now days when I hear these kind of comments,I tend to take them with a grain of salt at the very lest.So many riders seem so caught up in their,My bike is the best,My sub group are the ones who really know what biking is all about.Then when I look about it seems the people that don't come up with this stuff are the people who really have spent their lives riding.
I find it kind'a frustrating to look back to when I started riding just to realise that none of the guys I rode with are still riding today.
Today I know two guys that have been riding as long as myself,in both cases
longer.They both also tend to keep to themselfs apart from the odd well chosen event.Now I reailise these are not the only two out there,so any comments???from our older riders.
I mean whats wrong with being Joe average,a job,a morgage,2.5 kids and a BIKE.

[riffer]

I don't know if I qualify as an older rider but at 37 with 3 kids, mortgage job and bike, you make a hell of a lot of sense to me Jack.

[James Deuce]

I don't know if I qualify as an older rider but at 37 with 3 kids, mortgage job and bike, you make a hell of a lot of sense to me Jack.

Ditto, 'cept only 2 kids. And I have 2 cars, one for the wife and kids and one for my commuter/carry drums to gigs and rehearsals.

edit: Oops I'm 38 now - I forgot!

[matthewt]

I don't consider myself an older rider but I've been married for 11 years and have 4 kids so I'll have a go.

Why do some riders give up ??

For me (and lots of others on this site) riding is a passion and I suppose it's hard for us to imagine giving it up. For many others it's a hobby just like other hobbies they do and when time gets short something has to give. I used to play badminton 5-6 times a week a few years ago, when I started working longer hours and things like that I put badminton on hold. I still play the odd game but I've given it away to pick up later. That could of easily been riding had I been less passionate about bikes.

I nearly gave biking away in fustration last April after a minor spill but once the bike was back together my saying "I'll sell it" became "Err, maybe I'll keep it".

Family can be a major factor. I can't agree with people who's partners cause them to give up riding (or any hobby for that matter). If you were riding when you meet them then why would they expect you to stop riding afterwards ?? My wife would rather I didn't ride but knows I'm always happier when I do ride and won't ask me to stop riding regardless of what happens. Kids can be a major player as well. Sometimes people may give it away out of concern for being around to see their kids grow up. I know with 4 children aged 3 months => nearly 7 years I feel this more often than I'd like. Just before Xmas I was invited on a memorial run for a known Wgtn rider who died leaving 2 young children and a wife.

On a more practical level it's hard for me to get away for a weekend when I know I'm stranding my wife with 4 kids at the only time when I would normally be there to help her during the day. Both our families are down South so no help there. She's pretty good about this even when I took off for the Rusty Nuts 1000 mile run last year when #4 was only 2 weeks old.

Work can be a problem as well. There are probably a number of people here who work long hours or are on-call a lot. While this probably isn't a big enough reason in itself I know of a few riders who simply didn't have or didn't make enough time to fit in riding around work and family so sold the bike after not using it.

Personally I'm on the verge of giving it away for a few years now. I had a fairly nasty spill on Boxing day that saw me in A&E for 8 hours. In the end my injuries are minor and I'm over most of them now (nothing should be long term) but I now have 45 minutes of my life I don't remember. I don't like that at all. I don't remember the accident, 10 minutes prior or the following 30 minutes at all. After the accident I didn't know who I was, where I was, where I was going. About they only thing they got out of me was that I thought I lived in Wgtn. I can show you photo's of my helmet which would be a lesson in buying a good FULL FACE helmet. Before people launch in about acc fees and shit like that by all accounts I was doing all the right things (ie, not speeding and in the middle of the road). The local cop suspects wind/hot tar/diesel causing the crash.

If I was to die (and it was sort of close because I skidded across the highway behind one on-coming car and before the next one) my family would be looked after very well. But I'd miss out on so much. In the end I love my family more than riding (I'm sure at the end of the day most of us do). I'd like to think that I'll never have a bad accident but I also wasn't expecting to spend boxing day in ChCh hospital or new years trying to force my right arm to move more than a few inches.

Despite all this I'm already thinking about riding again.

[Hitcher]

It's cliche time:

You only live once
Life isn't a practice run
You could die tomorrow anyway
If it feels good do it
He who laughs last laughs longest
Judge not lest you yourself be judged
Run Forrest run!
Stop Forrest stop!!

[Obviously too much caffeine with lunch today...]

[750Y]

that's a perspective i can relate to MatthewT

[KATWYN]

that's a perspective i can relate to MatthewT

750y,What the heck is that picture in your avater thingy. Everytime I see it
it freaks me out (but I still look at it anyway!)

[wkid_one]

Personally I'm on the verge of giving it away for a few years now. I had a fairly nasty spill on Boxing day that saw me in A&E for 8 hours. In the end my injuries are minor and I'm over most of them now (nothing should be long term) but I now have 45 minutes of my life I don't remember. I don't like that at all. I don't remember the accident, 10 minutes prior or the following 30 minutes at all. After the accident I didn't know who I was, where I was, where I was going. About they only thing they got out of me was that I thought I lived in Wgtn. I can show you photo's of my helmet which would be a lesson in buying a good FULL FACE helmet. Before people launch in about acc fees and shit like that by all accounts I was doing all the right things (ie, not speeding and in the middle of the road). The local cop suspects wind/hot tar/diesel causing the crash.

If I was to die (and it was sort of close because I skidded across the highway behind one on-coming car and before the next one) my family would be looked after very well. But I'd miss out on so much. In the end I love my family more than riding (I'm sure at the end of the day most of us do). I'd like to think that I'll never have a bad accident but I also wasn't expecting to spend boxing day in ChCh hospital or new years trying to force my right arm to move more than a few inches.

Ditto to what he said almost to the letter- however I was helped along by the fact I already had a injured shoulder which had only been operated on 4-5 weeks earlier and a doctor who didn't take to my having an accident so soon after he repaired it that he took matters in to his own hands on my behalf.

Mine is also a case of not being able to get what I want out of riding on the road - and presently not having time due to work to enjoy racing in the weekend.

[Motu]

I guess my recent spitefull coment set you off on this one Jack,although I regret saying it I won't back down cause it's something that gets up my nose.

Thinking about it over lunch I realised I know quite a few people to who bikes are a big part of their lives and who have never stopped riding,some have come back and I respect them for that,some have given up for reasons I accept...I don't know people who have given up for reasons I don't respect.My friend with Parkinsons is a worry,bikes are so central to his being that he's not going to let it stop him,he hasn't riden for nearly 2 yrs,but he's working on it!

On sat morning I dropped into Henderson M/cycles for a looksee....getting back in my van I see a guy on the footpath next to a driving instructors car talking to someone - it was Dave Tompkins...now there is a guy who is my standard for a bike rider - Dave most likely doesn't know me from a bar of soap,but I've known him from before I could ride,I've watch him ride speedway,motocross and beach racing,I've owned some of his old bikes,I've been inside his house and seen a Vincent engine on the kitchen table and on the sink bench,I've spent time in his shop he had for a short while in Kyber Pass and got told off for touching things.Knowing guys like him set the standard for my interest in bikes,like,it's total man,it's my life.

When I did the bones of my arse no money thing (well,it's still the same,but you don't need my life story) my missus gave me $2 a week pocket money,this payed for my lunch,petrol and anything else I wanted,it took 6mths to save up for a 6 pack.For 7 yrs I rode a lime green C50 step through that was given to me,I couldn't afford a bike - but I still had one didn't I,and I rode it every bloody day,what a neat bike that was.To fund my motorcycle fetish I worked after hours to afford the things I needed...an engine swap on a XJ750 put a new clutch in the XS1,things like that.

Don't give me any crap about why you gave up bikes,you ride or you don't because YOU don't want to...no other reason.

[matthewt]

Don't give me any crap about why you gave up bikes,you ride or you don't because YOU don't want to...no other reason.

Everything we do is because we do or don't want to. The stuff I mentioned are just factors that go into that decision.

You sound like you'll be riding for the rest of your life. Sweet. I'm happy for you. My point was that for other riders bikes are a hobby and one that given enough reason to they may decide to give up on or put on hold. There are always people who will never give up a particular hobby/sport no matter what comes of it, fine, it's entirely their choice to do that.

[Motu]

So this is a site for people with a ''hobby''? I have approached a lot of things on a whim half heartedly in life too,just having a go at something that interested me,others can do this with bikes too.I'm ok with that,I'm not a big player in the motorcycle community,but I've been watching for a long time,gives me lots of opinions to toss about.

[matthewt]

So this is a site for people with a ''hobby''?

Hobby/sport/pastime whatever you want to call it. I thought this site was for anyone interested in bikes and riding ??

Perhaps hobby was a bad choice of words on my part.

[marty]

another cliche, stolen from No Fear:

it's not that life's too short,

it's just that you're dead so long....

[750Y]

750y,What the heck is that picture in your avater thingy. Everytime I see it
it freaks me out (but I still look at it anyway!)

lol, that is just eddie. he is a fictitious character dreamed up by the english rock band 'Iron Maiden'. I like that music so I think of it as a personal touch although i admit he isn't all that pretty.

I can see where you are coming from Motu and that's all good. sounds like 'my type' ain't all good in your opinion tho. lol. knock yourself out dude. I'm happy with my choices & they reflect what's important to me. like i said before... 'rubber and steel, rubber and steel'.

[Lou Girardin]

I gave up biking for marriage, new business etc. Strangely enough, I didn't get back into it when we divorced. I wish I had, but I'm making up for lost time now. An understanding wife helps.
Lou