Vews anyone please....?

This isn’t a rant, more of a plea for advise/guidance/opinions

You may or may not know that I crashed my bike, rather spectacularly and wrote it off. Short story is I came round a bend to find a car half on my side of the road so I lent into the corner in an attempt to avoid him, but my tires were cold and the front didn’t stick. I came off and my poor baron got run over.

I understand that people worry about you when things like this happen, and that is fair enough, I would if it was my family or friend. But I have taken a huge amount of stick from friends (some who are bikers) and family. I feel like I am getting pressured to give up riding. Do they honestly believe I don’t understand the risks? I consider myself a safe biker, yes I have a lot to learn, but I don’t do stupid things. And I am doing things to improve my riding ability.

I just don’t get it. Why am I getting so much stick? Not meaning to sound all feminist , but when a male friend of mine had a crash that was his fault, people just told him he was a prat and got on with things. Nobody expected him to give up riding

Any one got any views?

It's your life and you should carry if you want to. If you aren't already, take some advanced training you will arm yourself with some skills that will give you more confidence and make you safer.

You say the driver was on your side of the road - if you'd been in a car you'd have had a head on which as we all know can still be disastrous!

hth

[Biker Biggles]

Nah blokes get the same pressure too.
Bad luck on the prang.What you going to get next?

You should have seen the stick I got last month, its not just you.

[Luckypants]

I suspect an awful lot of the stick is coming from female friends? This seems to be par for the course when a female rider has an off, their fault or not. Best advice is to ignore them or tell them to take a running jump!

There have been several ladies on here complaining of exactly this double standard and will no doubt be along soon to give the benefit of their experience first hand.

Originally Posted by Grinch

You should have seen the stick I got last month, its not just you.

And I got clipped by a truck when I wasn't moving after mistakenly moving into a gap I shouldn't have.

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by Rai86

Any one got any views?

but seriously...

it probably boils down to the "poor dear, trying to ride that big man's motorbike and she's only a little girl" view, just ignore it and carry on riding for yourself, you're not doing it to impress them

I am just getting fed up with it all. It really demoralising me grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by Rai86

I am just getting fed up with it all. It really demoralising me grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Try K's answer... "hit it with a hammer!" (or them if you prefer) Perhaps K can recommend precisely which type of hammer would be perfect for this situation?

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

That's scarily similar to the view out of the office window!! Anyway..

As other's have said, generally all bikers get it. I've had earache in the past over mistakes I've made, but then, the same people have since been out as a pillion with me and have been amazed by how much detail I see/anticipate, so they now know I'm careful.

My kids have seen me after a low speed off as well, and I wasn't in a pretty state. Randomly, months later, my daughter turned to me, on the brink of tears... "Daddy, I don't want you to get hurt riding your motorbike again." I have two other kids (both boys), both who love being on the bike. My daughter is the only person in the world who could talk me into seriously thinking about giving it up.

Everyone else can take a running jump off a very short pier, into shark infested water.

Should your "friends" keep giving you grief, remind them that friends are there to be supportive, and you have the ability to pick your friends unlike family. If that fails, send them graphic pictures of what happens in a car crash (people trapped inside etc), and ask them to stop driving because you're scared the same will happen to them.