Riding vs Flying -- How many here ride?

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"

Reading about the other guys' bikes brought back fond memories. I've been riding since about 9 years old.

I've owned:
Bridgestone 7 (anyone remember those)?
(2) Honda 90's (one was the 5 hp model with the long carb slide. It was cut down to size).
Honda SL350 I was 14 and thought this thing was a power house).
AMC Harley 125 (piece of crap)!
Suzuki 185 (Highly modified. Started racing motocross and hare & hound races with this one).
Suzuki RM 125 motocrosser (also highly modified).
Kawasaki KX 250 dirt bike.
Suzuki RM 465 motocrosser
Suzuki GS 1100 street bike (in the barn awaiting restoration).

Not currently riding. Almost had a mid life crisis and bought a Goldwing a couple of years ago. The wife said no!

Joe Schneider
N8437R



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JJS wrote:

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"


Reading about the other guys' bikes brought back fond memories. I've been riding since about 9 years old.

I've owned:
Bridgestone 7 (anyone remember those)?
(2) Honda 90's (one was the 5 hp model with the long carb slide. It was cut down to size).
Honda SL350 I was 14 and thought this thing was a power house).
AMC Harley 125 (piece of crap)!
Suzuki 185 (Highly modified. Started racing motocross and hare & hound races with this one).
Suzuki RM 125 motocrosser (also highly modified).
Kawasaki KX 250 dirt bike.
Suzuki RM 465 motocrosser
Suzuki GS 1100 street bike (in the barn awaiting restoration).

Not currently riding. Almost had a mid life crisis and bought a Goldwing a couple of years ago. The wife said no!

If you listened to the wife, then it wasn't a real MLC! :-)

I've owned only four motorcycles in my 30+ years:

1970 (I think) Chibi - how many folks ever heard of those?

1973 KZ100 Kawasaki (at least I think it was a KZ model, they had two
different 100s that year, one that had a dual range transmission. I
didn't have that one)

1976 KH400 Kawasaki (one of the famous two-stroke triples. Fun bike,
but only 35 MPG!)

1987 ZG1200 Kawasaki

I sold the last one two years ago as Kawasaki had told the AVA (American
Voyager Association) that a new model was in the works and imminent.
When they dropped the Voyager from the line-up in 2004 I was sure the
new one was just around the corner. Then someone offered me way too
much money for mine so I sold it thinking I'd buy the new one in the
fall when the new models came out. Then Kawasaki reneged on the deal
and decided not to build a new touring model. I'm still ticked at them
and likely won't buy a Kaw as my next ride even though I have a long
history with them.

The only bikes that I really like now are a couple of the BMW models,
the K1200LT in particular, although I'm waiting for a full-dresser to be
built around their new inline 4 engine. Trouble is, the nearest BMW
dealer is 80 miles away. My next in line is the Yamaha FJR1300, but it
lacks electronic cruise control which my old wrist needs for long
distance riding. I couldn't believe Yamaha put a gimmick electric
shifter on this model last year yet overlooks something with true
utility like cruise control. I haven't see any sales figures for the AE
model, but I'll be astonished if it sells well.


Matt

On 1 Jul 2006 05:35:24 -0700, "Jay Honeck" wrote:

[snip]
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?


I had a 2002 Harley Dyna Low rider for a while. At 49 it was my first
motorcycle but sold it after 2 years for two reasons.

1. The longer I drove it the better the odds became that some idiot
driver would injure me. I know with more experience I could learn to
reduce the potential dangers, but I have heard of and known too many
guys that have been injured or killed on bikes that I thought it more
prudent to get a boat instead.
Which leads to the second reason.
2. The motorcycle was such a solitary experience for me. My wife never
liked riding on it. And most of the time I was just cruising places on
my own. I did ride a few times with a buddy and was part of a special
ride with another 700 bikes once, but still it always seemed to be
such a solitary endeavor. I can now take another 10 people on my boat,
about 9 more passengers than the bike would carry. It's just more
fun to be able to hang out in the river, drink some beer, do some
tubing, water skiing, swim and generally just lounge around.

As of now, between the boat and sharing the flying with a colleague of
mine, I don't particularly miss the motorcycle.

Kirk

FlipSide wrote:

On 1 Jul 2006 05:35:24 -0700, "Jay Honeck" wrote:

[snip]

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?



I had a 2002 Harley Dyna Low rider for a while. At 49 it was my first
motorcycle but sold it after 2 years for two reasons.

1. The longer I drove it the better the odds became that some idiot
driver would injure me. I know with more experience I could learn to
reduce the potential dangers, but I have heard of and known too many
guys that have been injured or killed on bikes that I thought it more
prudent to get a boat instead.

Actually, and we had a long thread recently about this on one of the
newsgroups, but maybe not his one, the probability does NOT change based
on the past.


Which leads to the second reason.
2. The motorcycle was such a solitary experience for me. My wife never
liked riding on it. And most of the time I was just cruising places on
my own. I did ride a few times with a buddy and was part of a special
ride with another 700 bikes once, but still it always seemed to be
such a solitary endeavor. I can now take another 10 people on my boat,
about 9 more passengers than the bike would carry. It's just more
fun to be able to hang out in the river, drink some beer, do some
tubing, water skiing, swim and generally just lounge around.

I actually like riding alone, but the good thing is that my wife likes
to ride, fly and shoot, even though she had done none of these before
meeting me. She knew that I was doing all of these before we got
married and wasn't likely to give up any of them. :-)


As of now, between the boat and sharing the flying with a colleague of
mine, I don't particularly miss the motorcycle.

Yes, I know I have too many passions and it is hard now with kids and
such to keep up with all of them. That is one reason I haven't been in
a big hurry to get another motorcycle, although I do miss riding a lot.


Matt

in article , Jay Honeck
at wrote on 7/1/06 5:35 AM:


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?

I've had a number of friends who rode, I've been a passenger a few times,
and generally enjoyed the experience. And obviously I respect everyone's
right to pursue it.

But as I sit typing this on a peaceful Sunday morning in a quiet, suburban
neighborhood, I feel it is incumbent upon me to remind you all of something:
a lot of you are really LOUD. How do I know when the guy five streets over
has decided to go riding? Because I have ears.

The next time some motorist behaves rudely or callously towards
you--behavior which I certainly do not condone, by the way--consider that
their nerves may be on edge from lack of sleep, or having the peace of a
Sunday morning shattered. As I just did in the middle of typing this.

Philip S. wrote:

in article , Jay Honeck
at wrote on 7/1/06 5:35 AM:



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?


I've had a number of friends who rode, I've been a passenger a few times,
and generally enjoyed the experience. And obviously I respect everyone's
right to pursue it.

But as I sit typing this on a peaceful Sunday morning in a quiet, suburban
neighborhood, I feel it is incumbent upon me to remind you all of something:
a lot of you are really LOUD. How do I know when the guy five streets over
has decided to go riding? Because I have ears.

The next time some motorist behaves rudely or callously towards
you--behavior which I certainly do not condone, by the way--consider that
their nerves may be on edge from lack of sleep, or having the peace of a
Sunday morning shattered. As I just did in the middle of typing this.

I agree. People, mostly Harley riders, who run loud pipes are just
inconsiderate slobs. There is simply no excuse for it.

Matt

"Philip S." wrote

I've had a number of friends who rode, I've been a passenger a few times,
and generally enjoyed the experience.

Yep, and riding is also a skill, also.

I was riding passenger with a friend, while in college. We would go out in
the late night, and just start driving on back roads, no map, and not paying
too much attention to where we were going; toss a coin to decide which way
to turn at an intersection. The goal was to get lost, and then try to
figure out how to get back home.

One night while driving serenely along on a country road, not going
particularly fast, when we went up over a small rise, and before we knew it,
the road disappeared. When it quickly re-appeared, it had taken a pretty
sharp left hand turn. Oh SH^T!!!

There was no time to get slowed enough to make the turn, and we both knew
it. There was no ditch, and a nice smooth looking yard, (with plenty of
dew) so we straightened up, and went out through the yard. I knew that if
we had a chance of not taking a spill, I had better not squirm around and
upset the balance. I sat still like a rock (I was holding on grab bars, and
not onto the driver) and out across the yard we went, slowing as fast as was
possible, until we were slow enough to get back onto the road.

We knew where we were by then (pretty much) so we continued back home,
neither of us saying a word, but knowing what bullet we had both dodged.
Once we got home, and shut off the engine and dismounted., the driver said,
"Jim, I want to thank you for being the perfect rider. If you would have
panicked back there, I would not have been able to control the bike, and we
would be in the hospital, right now."

"Thanks," I said. "I knew what I had to do, even though I thought we were
going down, for sure."

Another lesson or two learned. One, brief your riders on the importance of
being a "still" rider, and two, if you can not see the direction of the
road, slow down before you get to where the road disappears. g
--
Jim in NC

snip
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"

I am a near pilot, working on the checkride. Have never owned a motorcycle,
but have ridden off-road and street bikes many times.

I was going to buy my first bike this summer, a Yamaha FZ6, but the
insurance cost kept me from making the purchase. I am in the processes of
looking at different bikes and trying to decide if I still want to buy a
bike, or use the money to buy a boat...

John

Jay Honeck wrote:



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?

Nope. In this house the boys have known since day one that any road
vehicle they are interested has a four wheel minimum. Motorcycle?
Don't even ask. Same goes for tattoos and earrings.

"Newps" wrote

Nope. In this house the boys have known since day one that any road
vehicle they are interested has a four wheel minimum. Motorcycle? Don't
even ask. Same goes for tattoos and earrings.

You may someday learn that parenting sometimes has to pick and choose which
battles to fight. One of those may not be worth fighting, someday.
--
Jim in NC