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The Real Reason Why Crash Victims Quit Riding

by Steve
Thursday, March 15, 2007

There an old saying among the hardcore biker brethren...

"There are riders who've crashed their bikes, and there are riders who WILL crash their bikes".
If you consider yourself someone who rides a lot, whether on your motorcycle or scooter, face it, YOU WILL crash.

I bring this up after having read a couple of blog posts on the subject of riders crashing their bikes and either not wanting to ride again, or not wanting to ride the twisties:

My observation is that anyone who wants to give up riding after a traumatic experience, never really had a big interest in riding to begin with. If they don't want to ride the twisties anymore, it's because they were always afraid of it. The reason why they quit is because they either lacked interest, or they lacked confidence from the very start.

I'm not sure that more experience on a bike is what people need to overcome fear. If that fear dominated their conscience from the very start, that fear will control them throughout. But if you start out with the attitude of, "I wanna learn how to ride a bike, and I want to conquer the road", that's the attitude you'll have after taking your first fall.

I've crashed bikes on the asphalt a few times, all moving between 40-60mph. This shit hurts! But I get back on, I learn from it, and I ride harder than before.

People who say, "Riding is fun, but the danger just isn't worth it", never really wanted to ride to begin with. They may have wanted to buy a bike, and learned how to ride, but they weren't interested in the love of riding.

Here are the kinds of people who take on this attitude...

  • Wannabees - The person who wants to be seen, admired, and feared. You can spot these people, because despite how hard they try, they never look or act like hardcore riders


  • Partiers - These people are after sex. They want naked girls, getting trashy, and making egg drop soup in the hot tub. They see the party photos in V-Twin magazine, and think, "Yeah, that's what I want". They buy a Harley because it's their ticket into the rallies and parties. Look at the people who trailer their bikes to rallies, nuff said.


  • Social Environmentalists - These are the people who buy scooters because they want to do their part to reduce green house gas emissions. They don't love riding, they hate having to wear cold weather gear, but they want to do their part for Al Gore (up until they fall off the scooter)


  • Opportunists - These are professionals who claim that they love to ride, and show up to all the biker rallies, but are really just there to grab some market share for their business. These could be lawyers, magazine editors, motorcycle dealers, to name a few.
If you're a "rider", someone who's addicted to the thrill of hitting the twisties, basking in the wind, and achieving spiritual harmony with pristine countryside, you won't let a crash keep you down. Otherwise, you might still be someone with a motorcycle license, you might even be someone who owns a Harley, but you're not a rider.

Labels:

7 Comments:

  • "Egg drop soup"???

    lol

    By Anonymous James - WhyBike.com, at 3/16/2007 08:06:00 AM  

  • It ain't the "real reason why" but the real "reason that." It's redundant, don't you know? Ah, hell, find me just one blogger who doesn't make that rookie mistake and I'll show you a person who paid attention in English class. Hey, I'm not going to get started on all the other literacy screw ups here.

    By Blogger Jared, at 3/17/2007 10:14:00 AM  

  • Hey Jared, if you wanted to read grammatically correct banter, why did you come to a biker blog?

    By Blogger Steve, at 3/22/2007 11:17:00 PM  

  • It seems you fall into that "other" category. You see, "SIR", simple bumps and bruises are one thing, try a severe accident. Thing about the ones that spend months, years in the the hospital after a crash. Yes, the "true bikers" that have been riding for 40+ years. If they choose not to ride again after a severe crash, it doesn't mean they aren't true bikers, it only means that they have experienced all they want to experience of the rides themselves. They can still go to rallies, it's their right. Hell, they've been riding for 40 years, why not? Are you gonna walk up to a "Hell's Angel" who is 80 and can't ride anymore and tell him he's not a true biker? You may, but you might not walk away from it. Sounds to me you are prejudiced and that, in itself, is a problem.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/27/2007 06:55:00 AM  

  • Hey Anonymous, just to keep things in perspective, I wrote this article in response to the two previous articles which I named and linked at the top.

    Maybe you didn't read those articles.

    Those two articles described bikers who either witnessed deaths, and decided to chicken-out, or bikers who were injured and recovered easily, and still chickened out.

    Yeah, I know someone who took such a really nasty spill on a bike, that he cannot physicially get on a bike anymore. I'm not calling him a pussy.

    By Blogger Steve, at 3/27/2007 09:36:00 AM  

  • I bought my first Harley in 1972...a '48 Panhead. Chopped it and rode it until an accident claimed my right leg below the knee. I still ride, still go out and enjoy the sounds and smells you can only experience on a motorcycle. I have had many different brands of bikes, Triumphs, Kaws, Hondas, but my first love was a Harley and I have an '06 Ultra Classic now. I love the road and the ride.
    From your article, I guess I'm a biker, but whatever the tag, whatever you ride, the love for the open road (and a good woman)is all that matters.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7/27/2007 02:41:00 AM  

  • Dude,

    I do not totally agree with your statement in this little article of yours.
    I agree to the fact that you should conquer your fears and that you will have to get yourself back up and riding again. But, for sake of it all and to make things a hell of a lot shorter: I had quit as well.

    I think that in a indirect line, you have opened yourself to be a hypocrite, as one of your younger articles about the 'left turning 19 year lady', is showing that at the majority of most riders accidents is always in conjunction with a ill-tempered/uncarefull cage driver.

    I myself had multiple cases in which I had wrecked my bike, and almost myself. And I do love to take the twisties, and to feel the open road. As a matter of fact, I had been a 125cc (do not laugh about these! They were mean 2 stroke mosters... and I was 16 for sake (things are different here in europe, rest assured of that *lol*)) rider, in 125cc competitions.

    My motorcycle driver's license, was the first one to get. The Cage followed almost 3 years after that.


    To get to my point, and why I am writing this to you:

    Streets and roads, in some of the parts of europe (I live in holland), are pretty crowded. Grid-lock and jams are not only common... we are all dealing with them as being 'part of any commute'. Therefor, more idiot drivers, more a-social riders (mostly cagers), and even worse 'Public Transportation'. Are met on every trip you make.

    I didn't stop riding, just due to the fact that I had dropped my bike, and shattered bones or ripped my skin to pieces... that happened plenty of times on the track.

    No, it is the fear of the men/woman in front, next or in the back. The one driving that big-ass BMW or Porsche SUV, thinking they are the sole kings of the road. The bastards who ride a small Fiat Punto, who dare to cut you off, just to get a couple of seconds in t h e i r advantage, and do absolutely not care if they just 'barely' didn't kill you or not.

    Anyways.

    Now after a couple of years, I think 4-5, I am planning to get back up and riding again... I am already hunting down rat-bikes on the net..

    It was, serious, purely ignorant to portrait people who have quit riding due to a (suvere) accident, as being moronic spineless chickens. Who are 'not worthy' to be seen on a motorcycle, aside taling about them.
    This makes me think, that you in person, have never experienced any kind of traffic accident in which you were completely utterly lost, and hadn't a single chance to save yourself... due to someone else's stupidity!

    It is easy to say these words. It had been lot more difficult for me to get back on, and go riding again.


    With these words said

    I still like your site, your articles rock!

    By Anonymous DutchInvader, at 9/26/2007 12:32:00 PM  

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