...should someone decide to take up biking again? A relative of mine has just decided to start again........at 71.....the last time he rode a bike, I reckon was when he was 25. He has bought an 1100 Virago....OK, not my choice, but I warned him he will get a shock when he whacks the throttle open in a low gear for the first time... I hope he is bl**dy careful.....bones and skin don't heal too quickly at that age. AL.
Where i live theirs a old chap riding a CBR600, must be well into his 70s, all black one piece leather and black helmet. He pulled up at the oasis cafe on the sea front looking all cool but was a bit slow getting his feet down . It was a 10 seconds fight with gravity but he managed to save it. I say "good on him" your never too old ( i hope )
A friend of mine got give a Super Blackbird for his 70th. He uses it for everything bar transporting hay bales. But he wasn't a newbie. If you've not ridden for nigh on 50 years, you'd pretty much have to start all over again. Like not diving for 50 years - you'd be a liability. So I hope he's signed on for plenty of training.
Someone in my family is about to die. She's 88 so it's hardly surprising. But I can't help reflecting on life and the point of it and I have decided that there is no point to it at all other than self-perpetuation, which is no kind of point. So far better to wipe yourself out biking at 71 - living - rather than sitting about doing fuck all - existing. So I would say that there is no age that is too late. Just depends how you want to go.
Some times you live to regret things you always wanted to do but never quite got around to it. 3 years ago at age 57 I got bowel cancer and it gave me a right kick up the arse to get on with life because you don't know how long you've got left. I hadn't had a bike since I was 20 and as I had been thinking about one this gave me the jolt I needed to buy the 748 I have now. Since then I have been to the I.O.M T.T. and World Ducati Week, both things I have wanted to do but put off. What I am trying to say is if you want something don't let age be a barrier, let fitness and state of mind be the deciding factor. Steve.
If you're physically fit and mentally able then they should be no age barrier IMO so crack on grandad!:biggrin:
Well there are those rubber ones on eBay mental agility , physical state rather then age... oh crap I'd better give up now seriously .. But if iwas him I'd have started with a smaller bike as bikes back then didn't have the size and power they do now even if it's a virago! A jap inline 4 400 is nippy still !!
I met a chap 4 years ago, he was 79 then, so now he is nearly 84. He has just bought an Aprilia RSV4.....he also owns a Honda SP2....and he does track days!!!
Jimbo The guy I know ( I used to work for him years ago) is 84 still doing track days , bought an RSV4 Factory last year to add to his extensive collection of bikes that include Manx Norton, Triton, 848 e.t.c This is him on a Gixer 1000 at Mallory. Which reminds me, I haven't seen him this year, must get in touch!
If he was a relative of mine I would probably say that he was too old but I say good on him as long as he's careful.
