Give up road riding?

I'm troubled.

Went out last night, thanks to the weather it has been first chance at a pure "fun" ride rather than a trudge through monsoon ride in quite a while. Perhaps that's why it all went a bit wrong.

First off, I love bikes for two reasons. Reason 1 is corners. Reason 2 is to never ever worry about traffic jams.

The 2nd reason, looked at objectively, isn't all that positive, yep I can somedays save 30 minutes on my commute, but then I'll probably spend at least ten minutes at each end getting kitted up/getting kit off, and (un)securing the bike.

The first reason is where it all starts to go wrong. Typical safe riding, staying within or sensibly near the speed limit requires only 20% or so riding ability. Note that's 20% of ability, not 20% concentration which is always pegged far higher. 20% of your ability is taken to get your bike round a sweeping A-road corner at 60 ish mph, the other 80% ability is kept in reserve for "is that car going to turn, is that mud on the road, did that hedge just rustle - pheasant inbound?" etc. I've found A-roads where one can go at double the advised speed (for legal reasons, note advised speed, ie. triangle, not mandated speed, ie. circle) and still not even remotely bother the chicken strips. B roads typically have tighter corners so one can play at a lower speed (often still well within the mandated limit) but are generally also narrower, with more variable surface, and even more rural (read pheasants/sheep/mud/farmers) so you need to drop your speed such that you're using even less ability to get round the corner and keep even more in reserve.

And therein lies the problem. Last night I had a fantastic little ride out, front wheel was squirming into corners, back wheel squirming on the way out and came a little too close to losing it on Fish Hill again (I think that stretch of road is potentially more technical than any track I've visited). I got home (in one piece) and realised that for much of the ride I was using near enough 100% of my ability and leaving next to none in reserve for "what if the exit has a patch of gravel?" - "steer round it?" - "nope, can't do that, I'm balancing friction on a knife edge as it is so can't go tighter, can't go wider as there's the other lane to consider". In other words, I was an accident waiting to happen.

So I'm not sure what to do. A very big part of me wants to minitwin the SV and take it racing (although the season's half over now) and give up road riding altogether. Although I know as soon as do that I'll miss it so much, and finances can't really run to both. I'm not too bad at racing, in the lower power classes (which just about covers minitwins) my lack of weight hides a lack of skill and I turn in respectable results (though nothing spectacular).

The only solution I can think of besides giving up road riding is to chop the SV in for something completely uninvolving that just wouldn't lend itself to being pushed, like a Virago or something similarly grim.

Sorry folks, guess this in't really a question as such, more an idle ramble. I'm beginning to think I was perhaps a little untruthful on Blue_SVs recent "bottom clencher" poll. Worryingly (gulp!) I may have something in common with Blue

For the record, I'm not a boy racer or a complete lunatic - I'm 32 now and getting more sensible by the day, aside from an act of monumental stupidity as a teenager I've always had a completely clean licence and for the last ten years I've driven/ridden between 25K and 50K miles a year every year without incident (that is, only one car crash - again, as a teenager, being this time monumentally sleepy, didn't get points for that, although in hindsight I should have), and bike crashes, whilst it has to be said have been more frequent, have been down to inexperience or other driver, think I've only had one "loon" bike crash on the road (again, as a teenager).

There comes a moment in every bikers life where you ask yourself "Do I want to continue?"

I personally think this is because of the risks we all see day to day, and gradually this wears down determination to stay on two wheels - for example, those that care about us.

I won't tell you what to do, but I'll tell you why I'm not giving up the bike.

My daughter (6year old) has before now been in absolute floods of tears, I remember the moment very clearly. When I finally calmed her down, she was crying because she'd heard me talking about my commute that day, and in her words "I don't want you to die on your motorbike daddy." Words that will never leave me. That's a very powerful justification for hanging up the keys & selling up shop.

However, if I didn't go out on the bike, I wouldn't have that certain release that the bike gives me. I'd be in a worse mood when I got to the office (because of commuting in a car in traffic), and a worse mood when I got home. I know family life would suffer, because I know I need that escape. Only the bike currently brings that escape. It's somewhere I can't be bothered by anyone (with the exception of emergencies, which I've been forced to cater for).

I've talked about it all properly with my little girl, and I hope that she understands the risks a little more clearly now. Jen certainly didn't appreciate the risks, and my approach to them when I'm on the bike until she'd gone as a pillion. Maybe I'll have to do that one day with my daughter, but we'll see about that.

So for me, the bike is the only escape I have that keeps me sane. Without it, life would be seriously difficult. Both for me, and for those around me.

Whatever you decide to do, take your time, and make sure you're making the right decision for you & those that care about you. Once that's done, everything else is irrelevant.

[rictus01]

Having had the possibility of loosing my ability to ride a bike become very real to me of late and indeed come around once again in the next 6 months, I've also considered what to do instead, my problem will be scar tissue and pain, your I believe is experiance, better observation and more controlled application give greater margins, bikes today are far more capable than most riders, perhaps a IAM/ROSPA course would help as they do give you a different way of looking at the road and how you ride, I've know people who have been riding years pickup valueble pointers they had no idea about from these courses.

Worth a try anyway.

Cheers Mark.

Isn't it true that the only way your abilities will grow and expand is by pushing your limits?

You don't know if you have any ability in reserve until you need to use it. If you do have it there ready, you'll have a little wobble and a dry cleaning bill when you get home. If you don't then down you go.

These things happen. You can't plan your use of your abilities from corner to corner. If your in the mood for a gentle cruise then you won't be using all your abilities, but if your thrashing it then you will. Thats how I see it.

Originally Posted by rictus01

Having had the possibility of loosing my ability to ride a bike become very real to me of late and indeed come around once again in the next 6 months, I've also considered what to do instead, my problem will be scar tissue and pain, your I believe is experiance, better observation and more controlled application give greater margins, bikes today are far more capable than most riders, perhaps a IAM/ROSPA course would help as they do give you a different way of looking at the road and how you ride, I've know people who have been riding years pickup valueble pointers they had no idea about from these courses.

Worth a try anyway.

Cheers Mark.

Good point, the prospect of a choice being made for you through injury is something I certainly couldn't handle and I think everyone is somewhat in awe of the way you've come / are coming through that. That's a case of the body saying "no" and the mind saying "screw that, I'm in charge here" which is admirable. I remember seeing you hobble off your couple of hundredweight pig iron CB at Foxes and thinking "how the hell?"

IAM/Rospa I've been thinking more about lately; I'll admit I've always been put off by their (doubtless unfair I might add) reputation. That and my last remnants of youthful "no-one can teach me anything new, I know everything" attitude. Experience in general, I'm not too bad, 15 years of road bikes, 2 full seasons racing; experience on the SV - definitely in need of upgrade, I'm still learning characteristics on that, like ideal revs for given corners, at what stage pre corner I need to be at those revs to avoid unsettling, just how the rear unloads on a too vicious down shift, what that feels like and what are the limits at the front when it happens - things like that which are unique for each bike and require rewiring of the brain.

Observation could certainly do with an upgrade, that's not to say it's bad, just that of all skills I think that's the one that can always be improved upon no matter how good you are. I suppose the worry is that observation really teaches you when it's safe to take things to the edge; and on the road it's really never safe to take it to the edge, you always need to leave some room for randomness. And if the edge is where the "fun centre" of my brain wants to be, then that should never be on the road.

Originally Posted by silver surfer

Isn't it true that the only way your abilities will grow and expand is by pushing your limits?

You don't know if you have any ability in reserve until you need to use it. If you do have it there ready, you'll have a little wobble and a dry cleaning bill when you get home. If you don't then down you go.

These things happen. You can't plan your use of your abilities from corner to corner. If your in the mood for a gentle cruise then you won't be using all your abilities, but if your thrashing it then you will. Thats how I see it.

Yeah, I think there's a lot of truth in that. I'm just thinking that pushing abilities to the edge is not something to do on the road. I saw a very friendly, genuine, helpful, talented and fun man die at Pembrey (RIP Milo), he died doing something he dearly loved. If he'd have died pushing his limits on the road, overcooked it and slid under a truck I'd have probably thought less of him. And if he'd have died at the hands of a SMIDSY Volvo I'd have thought it such a waste.

Just to underpin something that Mark said, I honestly believe that even a few observed rides with a local IAM group is worth the money. Yes they can be a little "pompous" and they may seem a bit on the cautious side, but my experience is that they can actually ride very well.

I joined an IAM group a few years ago and spent a complete Spring/Summer doing one observed ride per month. I never bothered with the test, I was doing it to learn not get a certificate, but that's just my opinion.

However, I did learn a great deal, from different observers and to this day I don't think I have ever put myself in one of those "Oh *hit" moments unless I was being careless.

Another point is that you can't ride your bike at all from a hospital bed, so calm down a little, practice doing things properly but slower, and then as they become 2nd nature you will find that you're riding faster.

Remember, to ride fast, you first have to be able to do things slowly.

.

Hey Matt

I found this written in 1999. Remember its all meant to be fun, or else whats the point.

A Motorcycle Engineered For Fun
Suzuki SV650Spec's. A Motorcycle Engineered for Fun
Fun.
Such a simple word. And sometimes such a foreign concept in the modern world.
Remember why you started riding motorcycles?

Fun.
Imagine warm sunshine. Blue sky. The caress of the wind. The blur of the open road beneath your wheels. The feel of freedom. The excitement of being alive.
Imagine the uneven gait of a torquey V-Twin engine. The excitement of instant throttle response. A broad rush of power from low rpm. Light handling. All-day comfort.
Fun.
Imagine turning the workday commute into a liberating experience. An everyday ride into something to look forward to.
Imagine a weekend jaunt, or a week-long cruise. A run across town, or across borders. Down to the store, or up to the hills.

Fun.
It almost sounds like a dream, a trick of the imagination. But this dream is real.
It is a sporting V-Twin combining classic displacement with modern performance technology. Long-term reliability with easy serviceability. Nimble handling with real-world performance and rider comfort.

cant you just do a few track days and get your thrills that way. maybe you will be happier riding more cautiously on the road.

Now I'm not trying to put you off..............road riding can be very dangerous. Sometimes I find it more dangerous just commuting to work rather than on a rideout. But I will never give it up while I'm able to do it. I've ridden through thunderstorms, rain, hail, sleet, snow and even some sunshine occasionally! It's in my blood and I couldn't give it up. It's a passion that will never leave me while my lungs draw breath. Yes there are dangers as with any activity but some IAM training or ROSPA will increase your chances of seeing these hazards before they become a problem to you. Other than that there isn't much else we can do, I accepted long ago that there are things you just cannot plan for at times. This is true of life in general, I say don't let your fears dictate what you can or can't do. Never give up!