Riding vs Flying -- How many here ride?

Kyle Boatright wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...

Having just returned from a 3-day motorcycle camping trip, the riding
experience is once again fresh in my mind. (Alas, I don't get to ride
much nowadays; but there was a time when Mary and I rode
coast-to-coast...)

I'm always struck by the similarities between riding and flying.
Basically, riding is 2-dimensional flying, with similar handling
characteristics and risk factors. The geometry of banking into turns
is identical, and the camaraderie with fellow riders is very similar to
that seen among pilots.

And, of course, the risk of instant death caused by someone else's (or
your own) stupidity is always present. That heightened sense of "being
alive" is something both riders and flyers seem to crave.

It used to be that most pilots I knew rode motorcycles, but that seems
to be less of a correlation lately. Wot say the group -- do you
currently ride a motorcycle? Did you in the past?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


Riding looks and sounds like such fun - probably as much as flying. BUT, in
flying, the "other" guy only causes a very small percentage of the
accidents. In riding bikes, the "other guy" causes what, 50% of the
accidents? I have a very hard time putting my life in the "other guy's"
hands. Especially when s/he isn't paying attention, is talking on a cell
phone, isn't looking for motorcycles sharing the road, etc.

I don't know the stats for sure, but, yes, it is the cage drivers I
worry about most when riding. I've been lucky in that I've ridden on
the street for nearly 30 years with nary a misshap. A few close calls,
but nothing that scared me off. My only serious motor vehicle accident
occurred last December when a drunk pulled out in front of my son and me
and totaled our minivan. Things like that are just really hard to
avoid. However, life has risk and I prefer to accept those risks to do
what I enjoy. Living a dull life has its own risk.

Matt

Matt Whiting wrote:
My only serious motor vehicle accident
occurred last December when a drunk pulled out in front of my son and me
and totaled our minivan. Things like that are just really hard to
avoid. However, life has risk and I prefer to accept those risks to do
what I enjoy. Living a dull life has its own risk.

Matt

What would have been the end result if you and your son had been on a
motorcycle when the drunk pulled out in front of you?

RomeoMike wrote:


Matt Whiting wrote:
My only serious motor vehicle accident

occurred last December when a drunk pulled out in front of my son and
me and totaled our minivan. Things like that are just really hard to
avoid. However, life has risk and I prefer to accept those risks to
do what I enjoy. Living a dull life has its own risk.

Matt


What would have been the end result if you and your son had been on a
motorcycle when the drunk pulled out in front of you?

No way to know. I'd have been going a lot slower at impact as the
brakes on minivans aren't anything to write home about. I also might
have been able to avoid the collision, but there is simply no way to be
sure.

In any event, it doesn't matter. Life has risks and I accept that.
Some folks can handle that and some sit on the couch and watch TV ...
and die of hardening of the arteries. I'd rather go out with a bang.


Matt

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
Wot say the group -- do you currently ride a motorcycle? Did you in the
past?

I bought a Honda CB650 ten years ago. I stopped riding it three years ago
when the float valve stuck and it poured a gallon of gasonline on my leg on
the way to work.

I bought a CBR1000 yesterday. Here we go again.

I think the majority of the airplane owners at my airport also own a bike
(or 2)

"Steve Foley" wrote in message

I bought a Honda CB650 ten years ago. I stopped riding it three years ago
when the float valve stuck and it poured a gallon of gasonline on my leg
on the way to work.

Wouldn't it have been easier, simpler, and more sensible to simply fix the
float valve?

I paid $100 for the bike in 1995. I took it apart and cleaned it five times,
but it continued sticking. Ther are a multitude of other problems with the
bike, so I simply put it aside.

I'm planning to part it out on ebay, so if anyone needs parts for a 1981
CB650 custom, let me know.

"John Gaquin" wrote in message
...

"Steve Foley" wrote in message

I bought a Honda CB650 ten years ago. I stopped riding it three years ago
when the float valve stuck and it poured a gallon of gasonline on my leg
on the way to work.

Wouldn't it have been easier, simpler, and more sensible to simply fix the
float valve?

"Jay Honeck" wrote in news:1151757324.076849.205190
@p79g2000cwp.googlegroups.com:

Snipola
do you currently ride a motorcycle?
Snipola

I've been riding for almost 20 years, but haven't got my
wings yet.

However, I want to address all the naysayers and negative
attitude towards safety on a bike.

Yes, it does come with more risks, which I like to sum up
as, "there's no such things as a fender bender on a bike".

Now, of those 20 years of riding, 19 have been in Orange
and LA counties. It's dangerous, and I nearly gave it up
when I was having more close calls than I could deal with.
I was on the verge of going postal on somebody, and some
did lose their mirrors or get dented doors.

But I then thought hard about it and realized, either I
give up the bike, or change the way I ride. I could not
continue with the way things were.

I chose to change the way I ride.

I now take active, positive, and if necessary, aggressive
control of my driving situation. If I sense even the
slightest hint of danger (the list of hints is huge),
then I do something to remove that danger from my presense.
I now have the attitude on the road that I *DO* own it
and to hell with everybody else and to hell with the
laws. I liken it to combat at zero AGL where everyone else
is out to kill you kamikaze style, and you have no weapons
to defend yourself. But that's an extreme. I don't always
have to be hell bent for leather. pardon the pun

I could probably write a book on what I've learned and why
I think it works, and I'm sure I could get into some mighty
flame wars over it if I were to discuss it here. All I know
is that what I'm doing now DOES work, and every time I try
to change it, I have more problems.

I guess my point is, because hardly anyone drives properly
anymore, you can't just sit back and expect things to be
hunkey dory. Too many people get behind the wheel and just
'zone' from point A to point B. Helmets, leathers, and all
that are just icing on the cake. They do nothing to protect
you from getting into a situation to begin with. For that,
you have to use your number one weapon, and that's the grey
stuff between your ears.

Riding a motorcycle isn't for everybody, just like flying.
Some people can do it better than others. Some are really
bad at it, and it's better that they don't.

BTW, I have an '86 Harley Sportster 883.

ps. I have had one minor accident on the bike, not my fault,
uninjured. But I learned a lot that day.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?

I now take active, positive, and if necessary, aggressive
control of my driving situation. If I sense even the
slightest hint of danger (the list of hints is huge),
then I do something to remove that danger from my presense.
I now have the attitude on the road that I *DO* own it
and to hell with everybody else and to hell with the
laws.

I agree with you...to a point.

There are many, MANY hints of impending danger when riding, and many
little tricks that I've learned to spot it well in advance. These
hints, when detected, require action to be taken NOW, without
hesitation -- whether it means flashing your bright lights, beeping
your horn, or hitting the binders. He who hesitates is lost,
especially when you're surrounded by brain-dead motorists.

Luckily, my only riding since the kids were born (16 years ago) has
been largely rural, cross-country cycling -- and damned little of that.
Of course, there was a guy my age that was killed here last week when
a deer jumped out in front of him -- so "rural" doesn't always mean
"safe", either...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in news:1151811765.345086.45160
@p79g2000cwp.googlegroups.com:

I now take active, positive, and if necessary, aggressive
control of my driving situation. If I sense even the
slightest hint of danger (the list of hints is huge),
then I do something to remove that danger from my presense.
I now have the attitude on the road that I *DO* own it
and to hell with everybody else and to hell with the
laws.

I agree with you...to a point.

There are many, MANY hints of impending danger when riding, and many
little tricks that I've learned to spot it well in advance.

Yes, and although one could write them all down for others
to memorize, experience is the best teacher.

For example, when I see a vehicle stopped on a cross road
or driveway, I look at the front wheel. It's much easier
to notice the wheel turning slightly than it is to notice
the vehicles forward motion. If the wheel is turning, the
vehicle is moving.

These new fangled spinning hubcaps should be banned IMNSHO.
My first encounter with them caused me to slam on my brakes.

Another one is that I somehow can sense when a person is
about to make a lane change. There've been many times my
"spidey sense started tingling" and I had the hunch that
a vehicle was about to change lanes. Sure enough they did.
This one bugs me as many times I cannot figure out what
the clue was that I was obviously picking up on. I do have
a habit of looking in peoples mirrors in the vehicle I'm
following, so maybe I'm noticing them looking around. But
I don't always notice it consciously.

Another favorite tactic is white lining. In a perfect
scenario I white line to the front while everyone is stopped
at a red light. Then, I take off fast enough to stay ahead
of everybody, only to catch up to the next block of cars
stopped at the next red light. This one works best on
routes that one travels frequently and knowledge of the
timing of the signals along that route. The upshot is that
I am only near other vehicles when they aren't moving.


These
hints, when detected, require action to be taken NOW, without
hesitation -- whether it means flashing your bright lights, beeping
your horn, or hitting the binders. He who hesitates is lost,
especially when you're surrounded by brain-dead motorists.

Absolutely. Again, this only comes with experience, but you
must become the bike. You can't think about what you need
to do. It must just happen. You decide you need to maneuver
to a certain position and it just happens. A person doesn't
normally think about how to pick up a leg and how to bend
the joints in order to step forward. They just do it.

I may have forgot to say this, but this is why my tactics
work for me, and may not work for anyone else.

There have been times I've reacted to a situation only to
pause and wonder how on Earth I did it.


Luckily, my only riding since the kids were born (16 years ago) has
been largely rural, cross-country cycling -- and damned little of that.
Of course, there was a guy my age that was killed here last week when
a deer jumped out in front of him -- so "rural" doesn't always mean
"safe", either...

Lately I have not been riding as much as I used to. I used
to ride every day. It was my primary transportation. In fact,
I've ridden so little lately that my clutch hand has got weak.
Harley's are known for their tight clutches. After 20 minutes
my arm is killing me now.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?

In article ,
Skywise wrote:

Absolutely. Again, this only comes with experience, but you
must become the bike. You can't think about what you need
to do. It must just happen.

Charlie: What were you thinking?

Mav: If you think, you're dead.

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate