ok, so the title might be a bit over kill, but my mate who reckons that doing other activities are just as hard as riding a litre sports bike just as easy. Skydiving for instance in his words are just as dangerous he says, me disagree as the odds are slightly stacked against the possibilities of failur much higher for the rider. Road riding is fraught with chances on every ride given road conditions and unknown drivers. I explained that riding a big bike at speed is the thrill that is like being alive at the end. Sure many blokes ride bikes but rarely give it large, and are quite happy plodding along and enjoying the scenery. Their must be be many people who go out for a serious hack like horse riders do who go beyond the perimeter of their abilities and get a kick from it, it’s only human nature to do so. We as bikers or sports bikers like the danger that comes with that, and I am in that category. Speed is very addictive and is like a drug Unlike sailing you really can go beyond your ability and get in trouble. It seems that biking does command big balls if you want to play that game as I tried to convey to my friend . I wonder what percentage of the people who post on the Ducati forum have the same view..? More newer bike are really getting faster and more powerful than ever before so there must be a market for speed freaks.
agreed I’ve fallen off more times on horses than I care to remember The only thing to date that’s caused me hospitalisation is falling off the bed when I broke my arm My balls are quite tiny mind you
Speed doesn't kill you it's the instant stopping that does. They joys of track days go as fast as you want in a relatively safe environment.
Balls of steel or pea brains. I enjoy being out on the bike in any situation, but most of my riding is seeking out clear b-roads and ringing it’s neck - it’s not big or clever, but very addictive. Straight line speed does not get me very excited, it’s twisties and accelerating that get the blud pumping. The problem in the UK is finding the right environment, but the roads are there, it’s a question a timing and knowing where to look. Taking you bike on the continent is the best though - did the B500 last year for the first time You do need to know your fellow riders very well in my opinion - I’ve got a select group of riding buddies who’ve grown to know each others style. Tend to stick to most speed limits in built up areas, but when that national speed limit sign appears, it’s time to pull the pin.
the only place you are going to get proper rider v road is road-racing. Anywhere else it's visibility/traffic that are the limits. I'm mildly gutted that the Jurby roads was stopped before I got my licence (only UK clubman road race AFAIK). Wife's not unhappy about this, mind...
I have lost my best friend, numerous customers, and family members, through bike crashes over the years, most of those due to excessive speed on the road. One of those guys raced at the Manx, and I am sat here typing this looking at his newcomers trophy from that year on my desk, given to me by his Mother after he was killed on the road. A few years ago in this area there was a bike crash involving six bikes, three of those riders died on the side of the road, all down to having balls of steel and being real men Mr PeterT. Get yourself an ACU licence or some trackdays organized, and save your family having to put flowers out every year at the scene of your head on with the Stobart truck.
Hmm, not entirely sure of the point you are making ?? Firstly, I would put myself in the fairly nippy rider category, and yes, I enjoy bikes for the rush. I don't really dig on straight line speed and find it boring, but acceleration and bends are what a bike is all about. However, I disagree with the analogy that other sports can't provide the same rush and that our tezzers are massive, a quick look around google showing sailing on rough seas (I'm don't sail by the way) can show its just as much of a rush, as is sky diving, snow boarding or base jumping etc etc. To say, you need big balls to ride fast is a bit daft, as one look at a multitude of other sports shows the same rush can exist there too, its just how far you push your own limit for each sport surely ? I think its just a case of which activity gives the individual the rush, so your mate is correct in the fact, that if he opens his chute later than normal, the danger, big balls and rush are still there. To say, that bikers have the biggest balls is ludicrous, as any activity can be pushed beyond the participants comfort zone if you are daft enough to partake in this manner.
This will get you killed. And that's coming from someone who likes to ride as fast as the bike will go. I wouldn't for a moment put myself out as a model that anyone should replicate but it's rule number one that you should always be within your abilities. If you go beyond your ability then it should be a very strong signal that you have f*cked up and need to take a look at what you are doing as you are playing a numbers game with your own life and other peoples. For instance you should always be able to comfortably stop in whatever amount of space you can see ahead of you. If you have not successfully tested your ability to stop from say 70mph in 30m (to pick a road legal speed out of the air and random distance...) in an open area with plenty of room for error then you definitely should not be trying it into a corner that you cannot see around. You can safely increase the perimeter of your abilities on the road but you soon reach a wall where you are just playing with fire.
The "rush" of extreme sports like bungie-jumping and sky-diving comes from fooling your body and nervous system into thinking you're about to die while your intellect knows you are not. Its controlled fear. If when you ride a bike you set out to scare yourself you probably are about to die.
I'm not sure the analogy of having big balls aptly describes someone prepared to push themselves over what they do not appreciate to be their own personal limit. Sadly this will inevitably catch up with them and they will soon be sporting a wooden overcoat. I've seen the aftermath of at least one fatal accident and it is an extremely unpleasant thing to witness. I understand the thrill that courting with potential disaster brings but exploring those limits is much better suited to a track where any errors you make are far less likely to kill you. Exercise that same logic on the road and it comes down to stupidity. You could not only being risking your own life but someone else's in the event of an accident.
I do know one bloke who is an extremely fast and talented track rider but classes himself as a road racer. His favourite place is the IOM. He has said he loves the thrill of knowing that if you make a mistake in road racing you are likely to die and for him track riding doesn't give that same buzz. I would say he is very unusual. He does ride hellish fast on road but while he's way faster than anyone I know on public roads he doesn't ride near his own limit because of other traffic and general hazards. But when he rides on closed road circuits like the IOM, he rides on his limit and knowing that he is risking death if he makes a single mistake is what does it for him. That's a level of commitment beyond most riders and I don't think I could do it even if I had the talent. If most people tried to sustain the absolute limit of their ability on just one 47 mile lap of the IOM under controlled race day conditions they run a very high risk of being killed. To ride at that limit on open public roads is near-suicide - its only pure luck keeping you alive. If you ride beyond your abilities anywhere, its certain suicide and on public roads it probably won't take long to happen. I also think that knowing your absolute limit, being able to identify it and ride at that level for any length of time is extremely difficult and most riders never get close. The problem for my mate will be whether when the time comes he will be able to accept that he just can't do that any more and he allows himself to slow down. If he doesn't and tries to stay 33 forever, that is very likely to happen.... He is also hyper-competitive. He'll never let an overtake go unchallenged and if you think your bike is faster you will have a race on your hands. When I ride with him I don't even try. Apart from anything else he keeps blowing up the engine on his R1 because he constantly wrings its neck. I can't afford those games...
Both my brother and I have had near death experiences in the last two years. That's a combined 50 years and over 250,000 miles of riding without incident.... then two weeks apart we have devastating accidents. We both now have life long impairments, his much greater than mine (mislaid a leg). It's all great until something goes wrong. For the record at the time of both our accidents our speed was under 25 MPH.... Remember us riders have to be lucky EVERY SINGLE time... eventually the dice comes up snake eyes. It haunts me the look in both my sister in law and my wife's eyes when they first saw us after the accidents..... it's completely changed my enjoyment of motorcycling.
I have had more accidents from kitesurfing than bikes, snapped tendons etc.... As for riding bikes, the road is such unpredictable place with so many variables, I so much prefer being on a track nowadays, so addictive and relatively safe....most the time.
The most injured I’ve got is surfing. The sea is a right bitch sometimes. Only ever had a low speed accident as a novice with minor injuries, but it taught me a lesson nice and early. Lost a lot of money on the bike too.
