Ok, us old guys are screwed

[MET]

I have to agree with BillBell, I've seen them that is Harley riders very drunk in their club parking lots, when you suggest something like "need a taxi" You get something back like " I was riding bikes when you were still in diapers,a couple of drinks arent going to affect me!"

If I know them I will take their keys, even if it means roughing them a bit. I have seen to many accidents from too many beers.

 

[Big O]

I see it a every bike stop that serves beer. The older cruiser guys are drinking beer, and the younger sportbike guys are drinking Gatorade or water. The media skews the stats to sensationalize the story they want.

 

[tdrcomm]

I never quit riding-- helps @ 53  Thanks T-Fox

You have to stay tunned on a bike not just weekend riding.  I have pushed the limits far beyond many of my younger conterparts. I am 51 now and feel like 30 when I ride.  I have been riding for some 36 years and still enjoy riding everyday that I am on the bike..

I have lots of friends and some relatives that want to get started in riding.  Most think they can just get on and ride ride ride.  I try to talk most into at least taking a riding class.  I have seen to many new and older inexperienced riders, and young inexperienced riders get hurt.  You can usally tell by the amout of miles many custom bikers ride, 1,000 miles a season not much for experience.

I totally agree. You cannot expect to be proficient in riding your bike if you only ride 1000 miles or less a year. Factor in a 800lb Harley, a couple of beers and a runaway midlife crises, it's an accident waiting to happen. But it's no different than a 17 year old with 10 days of weekend riding on his cousin's dirtbike, shelling out $9K of daddy's hard earned money for a 120hp literbike. Accidents WILL happen. I don't think you'd see too many 45+ guys on sportbikes boozing it up on their way to the twisties, but I have seen COUNTLESS older cruisers tipping two or three at the Rock Store before heading down the hill. Conversely, you also don't see older cruisers pretending to be Rossi going wide on the turns, either. It's all relative. The more riders there are the more accidents will happen. I work in the media and it's all about the numbers, and numbers can be skewed anyway the media wants to.

 

[MC MUSTANG]

Well,
Everyone has an opinion on something like this, so here's mine.
I would like to see something in the stats that indicate the number of years of CONTINUOUS riding experience, emphasizing the number of years since the last ride. There is way to much of "the older I get, the better I was" syndrome. Also, if you used to ride a CB 450 in 1980, I don't see how that would equate to getting on a Busa after 25 years off the bike. Going back to one of the earlier comments, at least with a sport bike you can somewhat evade accidents if you have any indication they are coming --- some of the bulkier cruisers aren't quite so nimble.

Oh, and I really don't think the Busa is good as a first bike.

Just my .02

Errrrr.
Shawn

 

[Mikey D]

Yep. Sounds like skewed stats = bullshid to me

Thrasher, let's just keep riding!

 

[Busa110]

On my Sunday rides in the summer I go by a bar that is filled with Harley riders, most are over 40. At about 5:00 they start leaving, many of them staggering to their bikes and wearing a t-shirt and a leather vest. Many do burn outs (or attempted burn outs) as they leave, sometimes they pull along side of me and try to goat me into a race-which I don't do because I don't want to be responsible for any injury or worse from a race (if you could call a Busa and a Harley a race). Most of the more serious accidents that I'm aware of involve this type of rider. Also, from what I've seen, the younger kids on the bike seem more able to escape an accident with minor injuries where an older rider would probably be more broken up.
BTW, I also don't think a Busa would be a good first bike! If it was my forst bike I probably wouldn't be here now!

 

[Red05]

I don't put too much importance on the statistics. as mentioned, most of the problems involve inexperience and overweight, performance challenged bikes. Factor in the difference between loving lean angles, picking a line, knowing just where in the rev range your bike makes power and how the brakes react vs. riding for enhanciing a persons image. That difference leaves you knowing if it's best that you continue to ride.