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How to deal with Rider "Phobia"?

Give not a fuck, young Patawan.

If it bothers you so much, don't talk about the bike. Simple as that. If someone asks, say it's going fine and don't feed the conversation past that. Next time some asshole goes on about how they don't crash, cheerfully tell them about how happy you are you got yours over with. The complacent and proud get themselves in a lot worse pickles than the meek.

There will be naysayers in every group of people.

Slow down your learning on your bike. You got a bigger bike to learn on than what most recommend. Motorcycles don't give a rat's ass about you. They are machines made to go super fucking fast in a straight line, and only yield with your input. How much fight it has depends on the bike.
My 250 was like learning how to hog-tie a calf whereas your bike is more of a bull. Take it easy. The learning curve is steeper, so take it slower, even if your bike can do much more than it needs to at first.
 
Carlo said:
But for all the motorcyclists, like yakoo (and hopefully, you) who started riding on a fast bike successfully, there are others who pay a high price (often, the ultimate) for their experience, when they probably would have done a lot better on a smaller, more ergonomic bike.
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I agree to some extent... When encouraging a new rider, I tend to recommend some dirt experience first before they hit the street but what dirt bike should I recommend them??? :laughing

here is a quote from another forum member from a different thread. I have altered this quote some to suit this discussion but it holds true....

Some Forum Member said:
The safest thing for me to do in the morning if I don't want to get injured on a motorcycle is to get in my car and drive to work instead. What I do with my own body is my own choice, not yours. No offense. It's just that there's a large contingency of BARF'ers who apparently have nothing better to do than psychoanalyze people's choice of first bike and then talk down their noses to them when they do not approve of what bike they chose.

:2cents
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and this is why I chose to make my statements in these threads. Since the OP commented regarding one of my posts, I assume he has read them and understands them. My posts aren't directed to anyone in this thread other them him outside of the normal banter and cross talk.
 
2wheeldragon said:
So im sitting here in my room, letting my 2 Spicy Chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-a grow cold. There is something thats been bothering me and today i felt like i just have to share.

I love motorcycles. I love riding. It makes a bad day go away. Its fun. I bought orange disc cones so that i can do the parking lot drills in "Total Control". I just got my leather racing pants and will be getting shoes to be completely race ready hopefully next paycheck. My copy of "Proficient Motorcycles" arrives tomorrow from Amazon. Ive been down once already in 2 weeks (lowside) and the next day with a sore knee i went to ride up the calavares mountains again. Its safe to say, i enjoy riding a lot.

But there is this fear that has been at the back of my mind the whole time. Throughout the whole process of me getting a bike, my family was against it. I have two doctors in the family who swore to disown me and told me all sorts of stories about riders essentially becoming crippled etc.

My coworker who has been riding for 40+ years jokingly said "Oh you survived the weekend! I lost my bet" the week after i got the bike.

Another coworker(he left riding because it finally got to him) said "Ive been riding for 4 years and only have been down once, you have been riding only 2 weeks and you have gone down once. Thats not a very good record. Whats gonna happen in the next two weeks?"

I got so much shit from the people around me that im embaressed to say that i even had a dream of random people who ive known in my life (dont even talk to them) telling me not to buy my GSXR the day before i bought it.

I can handle this social pressure, its irritating and in someways i welcome it because it keeps me aware of what could go wrong. But then there are the stories of riders dying. Recently a fellow rider died on the same day i low sided. He was on 9 and i was going to be heading there if i hadnt low sided. I am sorry for his families loss. Then today i found out that my friends cousin died in a motorcycle accident in India in the most gruesome way i can think of (My worst nightmare). Im not going to share the details, but the way he died is my biggest fear of happening to me on a bike.

All of this has scared me to an extent. I do not want to quit. I do not want to let this get to me. Am i being overly paranoid? Im new at this and maybe some of you went through this when you were starting out. Heck maybe some of you go through this everyday.

How did you deal with it?
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Personal Experience

I went down like 3 times in the first few months of riding on my SV650 as my first bike. I spent the money and got myself full leathers.

A year later I sold the SV650 and got my 690 SMC. Started learning wheelies and stoppies. Went down again.

Then I took it to the track in a year, 2 days, back to back. First time going. The instructor of the beginner group walked up to me at lunch and told me to GTFO beginner group and go to intermediate because I was passing all the bikes, sometimes twice in a 20min session.

Second day that same instructor told me that at my next event he wants me in the advanced group. Because I was passing bikes again, too many. On my thumper. This is at NHMS, by the way.

Around lunch time I lowsided at WOT at around 40 mph coming into turn #2. This is the video form both days: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiqllG5Iizc. Skip to the very end to see it.

I stood the bike up, rode it back, adjusted handgrip, passed tech and was in for the next session without skipping a heartbeat.

Then I went to NJMP (thunderbolt) for another 2 day back-to-back session.

Advice

Don't listen to advice from people with no experience. Seek out people with experience and ask their advice.

Doctors are a biased group in that they deal entirely with failures. I don't imagine they share beers with skilled riders who have been doing it their whole life and are better men for it, do they?

  • Full leathers, no excuses
  • Spend money on track days, you will see why
  • Pull over and take a break when you catch yourself losing conentration, track or street

Performance (or safe) riding (or driving) is entirely mental.
 
"Wah, wah, wah, you should ride a 250, because that is what everyone says you should ride. It's what I learned on and it's what God created to make you learn right."

Bullshit. Ride what you want. Keep your right hand connected to your brain. Work on your focus. Learning to ride dirt bikes will make you a better street rider. If you go riding with some guys, don't try to keep up.

Careful now.
 
Certainly some bikes are easier to manuever in different regimes than others, but take into account also that there is a huge factor in LIKING what you ride :)

Sure a Honda Shadow is a perfect beginner bike and super easy to manuever and control, but if doesn't get your heart rate going to swing your leg over it, why would you?

I think that as long as you never lose your connection from your brain to your right hand you could start on a literbike and be fine, whereas a 'tard with no sense or practical reason will keep crashing their skateboard and backing into parked cars in the family station wagon.

In the MSF there is a statement, "How would you identify a person who would be a danger to themselves or others on a motorcycle?" and the answer is because they are often a irresponsible and a danger to themselves in lots of other things they do.

Start with a responsible person with their head on straight, or trying to keep their head on straight, and the literbike is not a death sentence, AND they love riding the thing too.

The risks should be mitigated starting with restraint and training, mechanical restraint is simply a band-aid because the silly will ALWAYS find a way to hurt themselves :) Even sitting on the couch!

p.s. In college a buddy wanted to see if he could back flip himself over the back of the couch from a seated position... 2 hours later in the ER...
 
Last edited:
Feanor said:
p.s. In college a buddy wanted to see if he could back flip himself over the back of the couch from a seated position... 2 hours later in the ER...
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And a friend of mine, was sitting on the railing of his porch, that was only four steps up from ground level.
He lost his balance, fell backwards, landed on his head (in dirt)...was in the hospital for 3 days..and then dead.
 
louemc said:
And a friend of mine, was sitting on the railing of his porch, that was only four steps up from ground level.
He lost his balance, fell backwards, landed on his head (in dirt)...was in the hospital for 3 days..and then dead.
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Damn! :( I hate hearing those kinds of stories! Just the other day a friend across the street got really drunk at a party and he fell down the three porch steps and hit his head on the concrete path... That sickening "kechunck" sound of skull on concrete...

I was so freaked out that he might have a hematoma that I kept calling their house every 2 hours to make sure he was ok since he was belligerent and wouldn't let anyone take him to the hospital. The only reason I didn't force him to go was that he had no bump on his head, but your buddy probably didn't have a bump on his head either if he hit dirt :(
 
Feanor said:
Damn! :( I hate hearing those kinds of stories! Just the other day a friend across the street got really drunk at a party and he fell down the three porch steps and hit his head on the concrete path... That sickening "kechunck" sound of skull on concrete...

I was so freaked out that he might have a hematoma that I kept calling their house every 2 hours to make sure he was ok since he was belligerent and wouldn't let anyone take him to the hospital. The only reason I didn't force him to go was that he had no bump on his head, but your buddy probably didn't have a bump on his head either if he hit dirt :(
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That guy, should of heard of two other people I knew..
One triped on the curb of a sidewalk, then she fell, hit her head on the sidewalk...Killed her.

My Nephew came home from work, found his wife, laying dead on the garage floor. She had been on a short step ladder, getting a box of something out of the rafters, lost her balance, fell that short distance, hit her head.
 
louemc said:
That guy, should of heard of two other people I knew..
One triped on the curb of a sidewalk, then she fell, hit her head on the sidewalk...Killed her.

My Nephew came home from work, found his wife, laying dead on the garage floor. She had been on a short step ladder, getting a box of something out of the rafters, lost her balance, fell that short distance, hit her head.
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:( I think there are only two injuries that I REALLY try to take incredibly seriously, one are head injuries, and the other are back/spine injuries Those are the two (and I know there are many more) that I just see as getting to a point that doesn't seem "serious" and then they go downhill really fast and with little warning :(
 
jh2586 said:
I don't see why everyone is trying to disprove me... it doesn't matter what the statistics show.. SPEED kills.. end of story.

Just use common sense.. when you lower your speed, you naturally have more control over your vehicle. You will have more time to brake, more time to react. It's why they put speed limits... because if speed isn't a contributing factor then why even have speed limits if it were perfectly safe?
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To me, the two paragraphs above are saying separate things. The first paragraph says speed kills. The second paragraph says speed is a contributing factor.

People are arguing with you because your statement is not correct. Speed, by itself, does not kill. Saying "...SPEED kills... end of story." is demonstrably false. If that statement were true, then all racers (professional, club level, etc.) and all track day attendees would be dead. They go fast; speed kills; therefore they must die.

The misapplication of speed kills. Your second paragraph, quoted above, is spot on. Combining speed with a rider's inability to control their motorcycle is a recipe for death. I'm not arguing that speed isn't a contributing factor. It absolutely is. However, speed by itself doesn't kill. Not knowing how to ride a motorcycle kills. Putting an inexperienced rider on a motorcycle capable of easily attaining high speeds is a problem. Combine speed and inexperience with alcohol or drugs and your fate is practically sealed.

What causes vehicle related death is lack of capability. Speed makes it worse, but the removal of speed from the equation doesn't remove the root cause of the issue.

I've said it a million times..........I can't go rent a bottle of compressed air for a dive without showing a scuba diving certificate, but anybody can buy a motorcycle. No license? No insurance? No problem. Here's an R1. Have fun.

Riding a motorcycle is FUN, but it's no joke. As long as we let people with no current motorcycling capabilities ride motorcycles we're going to have lots of death. Speed isn't the cause, speed is the catalyst.
 
Squidly McSmearstain said:
To me, the two paragraphs above are saying separate things. The first paragraph says speed kills. The second paragraph says speed is a contributing factor.

People are arguing with you because your statement is not correct. Speed, by itself, does not kill. Saying "...SPEED kills... end of story." is demonstrably false. If that statement were true, then all racers (professional, club level, etc.) and all track day attendees would be dead. They go fast; speed kills; therefore they must die.

The misapplication of speed kills. Your second paragraph, quoted above, is spot on. Combining speed with a rider's inability to control their motorcycle is a recipe for death. I'm not arguing that speed isn't a contributing factor. It absolutely is. However, speed by itself doesn't kill. Not knowing how to ride a motorcycle kills. Putting an inexperienced rider on a motorcycle capable of easily attaining high speeds is a problem. Combine speed and inexperience with alcohol or drugs and your fate is practically sealed.

What causes vehicle related death is lack of capability. Speed makes it worse, but the removal of speed from the equation doesn't remove the root cause of the issue.

I've said it a million times..........I can't go rent a bottle of compressed air for a dive without showing a scuba diving certificate, but anybody can buy a motorcycle. No license? No insurance? No problem. Here's an R1. Have fun.

Riding a motorcycle is FUN, but it's no joke. As long as we let people with no current motorcycling capabilities ride motorcycles we're going to have lots of death. Speed isn't the cause, speed is the catalyst.
Click to expand...

Well Said!
 
Squidly McSmearstain said:
People are arguing with you because your statement is not correct. Speed, by itself, does not kill. Saying "...SPEED kills... end of story." is demonstrably false. If that statement were true, then all racers (professional, club level, etc.) and all track day attendees would be dead. They go fast; speed kills; therefore they must die.

T.
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geez, you must be a enganear. thanks soooo much for deciphering what that all meant.
 
Ol' Gravy Leg said:
If Squidly is driving a train, then speed is more than just a catalyst.:nerd
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If train A, packed with Barf'ers leaves Chicago traveling 100MPH and train B full of hair splitters leaves New York traveling 150MPH and the distance between the two cites is 600 miles how far from New York will it be when the two trains meet?
 
assmodeus said:
If train A, packed with Barf'ers leaves Chicago traveling 100MPH and train B full of hair splitters leaves New York traveling 150MPH and the distance between the two cites is 600 miles how far from New York will it be when the two trains meet?
Click to expand...

Trick question : they're both going in circles. :x
 
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