Thinking of giving up road riding

[mister c]

Well, after my track day on Wednesday & going off the circuit at Druids at Oulton & staying upright & healthy, it has put doubt into my mind about riding on the road.
A lot of you know that I had a serious off in January which has left my pelvis held together with a metal plate. I lost control on the road & in an instant I hit a fence & nearly died. I made a mistake on track & pushed the bike out of the gravel trap & continued on my way.
It has just made me think more about the dangers of riding on the road & has put doubts in my mind.
I wanted to race this year, but the crash put paid to that, so it set me back 12 months. I am going to race next year with an FZR400 & I must admit that I feel a lot safer on a race track & seem to have more fun on track.
That is one thing that is lacking in the road riding - FUN. I never thought i would see myself thinking this, as I've been riding since I was 17 & have always been a massive supporter of bikes, but I think it's getting time to hang my road boots up.

Colin .... Noooooooooooooooooooooo

If it's any consolation I'm right behind you on this one, Colin. For about a year i've been thinking exactly the same thing after 30 years of road riding. A lot of the enjoyment I used to have on the road has gone. The condition of road surfaces has deteriorated so much that I don't have the confidence I used to have, and then there's the ever present danger of losing your licence on the few occaasions you can use a bike properly.

On track I feel secure in the knowledge that there's no blind car driver around the corner backing out of a driveway, and even if it does go pear shaped there's a St John Ambulance crew waiting just for me to crash. Track tarmac may sometimes get a slating from some top class racers, but it's always 100 times better than your average A road.

Only last week I was considering flogging my car, my SV and my CBR and buying a GSXR600 and a decent van to transport it to trackdays in. I'd keep my little 250 for those times when I want to commute to work by bike to beat the traffic.

Tracks are where the fun is at nowadays - I say it's not a daft idea at all.

Both of you, stop being a fanny

I can see you problem, Winter Blues. Good Obs generally will deal with any cager and i'm with you on a 250 for work and back which is why i now walk as it's a lot cheap than a 250.

It's bad weather out there which doesn't help either. Stay careful and the roads will look after you.

It's not winter blues, I've had this feeling all year. The roads around our way are shocking and there's no pleasure to be had from them. Tracks are much more fun

[ixlr8]

I still really enjoy roadriding, but what you're saying has real validity. Don't stop riding, take to the track, see how you feel about it all. You could be right.

I was going to say track riding would be far more expensive, but that's probably not the case. You're not paying for tax and insurance so that leaves a fair sized budget for track days. I agree with Lozzo, good roads around here are few and far between

Originally Posted by Sean_C

You're not paying for tax and insurance so that leaves a fair sized budget for track days

My road tax and insurance combined would only just cover 1 day at Oulton, possibly 2 at cheaper tracks.

I still enjoy road riding, to be honest its what keeps me going I guess. I can see Lozzo's and Mister C's point, the roads are now getting into a terrible state, more cars are on the road and more of them are poorly trained/experienced and have no 'look for bike' logic anymore. The Police are failing to catch the dangerous road criminals, how can a Gatso spot and evaluate a drunk/drugged driver? I have a track day blast at least once a year, it is more fun and you can push the bike and yourself closer to the limits and at corners you see once every 1-2 minutes and not every 1-2 days so not much changes.

The decision is yours guys, no one elses....