My beautiful addiction

[BarBender]

Yet when someone opens their bike up in front of me my natural instinct is to get past them and fuck them up.
Why is that, does anyone have an answer for me?? I am 43 years old.
Gary

The rush of riding a bike at speed is one thing...Track days help that to a degree...but I'm guessing that you're touching on what drives behaviour...
Dont know what the answer is for you Gary but I've been thinking and talking about the 'whys' with others for awhile now...

1. Hate - theres gotta be some of that in a person if they feel they have to fuck someone up...or put them in their place...or show them who's boss (for want of a better term)...
2. Riding on the edge as a means of feedback and validation of ones own worth from others and oneself
3. Inability to relax and or control ones own behaviour...
4. Addiction to speed
5. Closely related to speed addiction is the psychological dependency on adrenalin...or thrillseeking...adrenalin junkie...
6. Competition
7. While we dont like to admit it - but to take it to the next level and do crazy shit on the road, you'd have to have to some degree a disregard for yourself and others...
8. Lack of acknowledgement of risks and/or consequences...even after the spills
9. Mistaken belief in our ability and experience to date: Thinking we get through on 'skill' when it is in fact 'luck'
10. A combination of some or all of the above

Remedies?...Dont know about you...
But something valuable I learnt some years ago in a book by Steven Covey was that behaviour is based on See - Do - Get. The results we get in life (our lot) are based on what we do (behaviours) which is in turn is based on what we see (our mindsets, mental paradigms, belief systems). Thats basic 101 Psych. However the key to it that if we want to change our results, you cant focus on behaviour and what you do. You have to focus on whats between the ears and challenge those beliefs that drive the behaviour. Its hard but thats what I've been trying to do.

You know me - so I hope you know Im not being patronising or trying to be Dr Pharken Phil. I'm back on a bike for 3 years after 15 years off and this dilemna is real for me. Hopefully we can learn from each other.

Rona (41)

[Grahameeboy]

How very perceptive...yes I did say corners.

I am into the details don't ya know

[DMNTD:Me]

I am into the details don't ya know

However they seem to be misaligned with the truth in this case

[saul]

I bought the poulan it's only a baby bike so I am nice and safe

[Oakie]

Relax. The main thing is that you recognise there is an issue so in time the pendulum will swing to the point where a good balance between fun and safety is found.

[beyond]

dude, you are going though the change of life, at 40 you find yourself talking to yourself more , finding reasons way you should not do things and blamming your age , but get on two wheels and that goes out the door, think about buying a bike that look better going slow than fast and turns heads, buy some form of muscle bike, and play nice with the sportsbike

That's what I did. Bought a GSX1400 as it's meant to be an old geezers bike.
Trouble is I'm 50 and it didn't work for me

Even a big muscle bike goes like hell and corners amazingly well.

[BIGBOSSMAN]

Thanks for you kind words guys, I guess I'm a bit amazed at my regression back to old habits. Although I'm not the blind corner overtaking/ride as fast as you can in the wet/let's make her slide in 3rd gear exiting a corner type of rider I used to be - maybe there is a safety valve buried deep in my noggin somewhere eh!
Faarken love these bikes tho

[Chickadee]

Trackdays sound like a good way to get things outta your system.

I would suggest a limited speed bike like a ginny fast, but hey you have to enjoy - and you've had something with more poke, which would be frustrating getting on a snail instead of a rocket.

Perhaps put something on the bike on your handlebars to remind you to be a good boy (when you have the urge to be crazy on the bike)

[HenryDorsetCase]

Way back in October 1986 as a carefree 22 year old my life almost ended whan I t-boned an errant Vauxhall Viva with my RG500, an accident that almost ended my life, left me in hospital for 3 months and modified my behaviour.
That was until April this year when I bought my ZX10R.
I've found myself slowly regressing back to the same bad habits, excessive speed and extreme lean angles through corners.
Am I crazy?? I have rediscovered my drug, the adrenaline hit that comes when you attack a set of corners/sweepers at maximum velocity. The problem is that my landscape has changed, I'm no longer the punky young kid with nothing to lose, I'm a father to a fantastic 13 yo girl, mortgagee, engaged to a fabulous woman, and my career is going places.
Yet when someone opens their bike up in front of me my natural instinct is to get past them and fuck them up.
Why is that, does anyone have an answer for me?? I am 43 years old.
Gary

I hear you...... sell the tenner, buy a naked bike (you will feel like you're going quicker, due to no fairing....) buy a cheap bike and GO TO THE TRACK....

worked for me anyway... I no longer feel any need at all to hang it out in public (plus theres that restraining order....)..

[rainman]

does anyone have an answer for me??

Buy a cruiser?

[vagrant]

I'm a father to a fantastic 13 yo girl

Put a picture of whats important to you in the tacho to remind you why you need to make home tonight.

[SVboy]

Oh puuuuleeze! We are a long time dead! [and I know some bikers end up dead earlier] BUT many of us bike for the buzz, the here and now, the thing that justifies bothering to stay alive. Live in the moment-sounds like you have a safety valve already, but geez, follow your own heart. Its clear you/we embrace lifes responsibilities, mortgages,children,relationships etc but bikes are the escape. Without the passion-perhaps we should all buy Toyota Corrollas, in order to practice for those motorised mobility scooters that seem to looming large in some peoples visions!!

[oldrider]

Way back in October 1986 as a carefree 22 year old my life almost ended whan I t-boned an errant Vauxhall Viva with my RG500, an accident that almost ended my life, left me in hospital for 3 months and modified my behaviour.
That was until April this year when I bought my ZX10R.
I've found myself slowly regressing back to the same bad habits, excessive speed and extreme lean angles through corners.
Am I crazy?? I have rediscovered my drug, the adrenaline hit that comes when you attack a set of corners/sweepers at maximum velocity. The problem is that my landscape has changed, I'm no longer the punky young kid with nothing to lose, I'm a father to a fantastic 13 yo girl, mortgagee, engaged to a fabulous woman, and my career is going places.
Yet when someone opens their bike up in front of me my natural instinct is to get past them and fuck them up.
Why is that, does anyone have an answer for me?? I am 43 years old.
Gary

Hasn't gone away in 68 yrs so looks like ya gotta learn to live with it! (lol) Cheers John.

[fergie]

Relax. The main thing is that you recognise there is an issue so in time the pendulum will swing to the point where a good balance between fun and safety is found.

i agree , good comment. i sold my fzr 750 cause i was an accident waiting to happen!

[MD]

You probably dont need another Vauxhall Viva at this point in your life.

Now I'm as confused as Bigbossman. Do I buy the Viva, or Corrolla or mobility scooter mentioned on here.

I hear where you are coming from BBM. Like you I have the darling children, Wifey, pets, relatives... ..and mortgage. All things I want to return home to after a ride. Even the mortgage has a purpose so for some warped reason it appears on the list.

I like to ride every single weekend so the track day suggestions have little merit. I have done heaps of track days over the years, but they are still a hassle to get to, require prior arranging and availability is usually infrequent. No one can finish work early on a Friday and just decide, on the spur of the moment, to pop out for two hours to the local race track.

Even if you had a race track within half an hour of home who could go there once or twice every weekend? Unless you owned it you can't just turn up, open the gate and play. I used to live close to Ruapuna and we used to hire it mid week for evenings in summer. It was great fun but required pre-booking and getting mates to commit to turning up to share the cost.

So to get as much enjoyment out of your bike you have to ride it as much as possible, and that means on the road. The catch 22 is that more risk does return more excitment.
Speights moment - It's a hard road finding the perfect risk:reward balance boy.
If someone finds the answer, besides driving a Vauxhall Viva, let me know
Thanks
Mark