My scooter looks something like this:

 

Mine looks exactly like this.

 

...
Been scootin' for near 40 years now.

That's not a motorcycle, it's a big red truck with some of the wheels removed!

 

Excellent point. I admit, I hadn't thought of it that way, but now that I have, I'm still not convinced it's not stupid. You're talking of risk vs. Reward, and I agree not all risk is stupid, especially in cases where the potential reward outweighs the risk. If I categorize things in terms of risk/reward ratio, I still lump riding motorcycles in the "stupid" category, right below smoking crack and playing russian roulette. It's probably one of the riskiest things that otherwise average people regularly engage in, and the only reward is a nice drive without a winshield to dampen the sensory involvement of the experience. Wouldn't it be better to just roll your windows down and smash out your windshield?
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Not by a long shot. If you don't understand the fun of driving a two-wheeled vehicle as opposed to a four-wheeled one than no explanation is likely to help. It's a lot more than just the wind in your face (I actually prefer driving with a windshield on my cycle). I once told my brother, who was an Air Force pilot and also rides a motorcycle, that riding a motorcycle is as close as you can come to flying in an open-cockpit without leaving the ground. After a moment's thought he said that was a good description.

So you've never done anything that was a little risky just for fun? How do you determine what has an acceptable risk/reward ratio?

 

That's not a motorcycle, it's a big red truck with some of the wheels removed!

Good to have some comfort on the highway. It's made for long distance touring.

 

My motor scooters! I get a kick out of telling people I am going to ride my "motor
scooter" today Don't know why lol

Old Bike that got stolen ;(

Current motor scooters

 

Not by a long shot. If you don't understand the fun of driving a two-wheeled vehicle as opposed to a four-wheeled one than no explanation is likely to help. It's a lot more than just the wind in your face (I actually prefer driving with a windshield on my cycle). I once told my brother, who was an Air Force pilot and also rides a motorcycle, that riding a motorcycle is as close as you can come to flying in an open-cockpit without leaving the ground. After a moment's thought he said that was a good description.

So you've never done anything that was a little risky just for fun? How do you determine what has an acceptable risk/reward ratio?

I did own a motorcycle as I said in post #1. It was fun and I did enjoy it until someone tried to kill me. Before my accident and I was single, I didn't consciously consider any risk/reward ratio. If I did, it would probably look like this: "awesome bike, awesome fun, and I'll look awesome riding it, vs. bah humbug mommy said it isn't safe." Now that I have people who love and depend on me and I've experienced that "oh ****, the danger is real and the consequence is my life" moment, the evaluation looks like "fun ride but I can't take the kids, chicks dig it but I'm already married, gas milage is good but my prius gets better, vs. It's not in the budget, it would give my wife an anxiety attack, I'd never get a chance to ride it, and if I did, there is a very real possibilty that I would DIE."

I was also nearly done with my AFF course to get my USPA (skydiving) license when I had a mishap that very nearly ended both my life and that of my skydiving instructor. I don't skydive anymore.

I had my PADI scuba license as well, but sold off all my scuba gear to pay the hospital bills when my second child was born. I dont scuba anymore.

I used to have a 540hp trans am that I onced raced against a Ferrari f430 through Virgina Beach and won. I sold that and sometime later bought a prius.

Maybe im just bitter because all my fun is gone. Feeling domesticated.

 

I am in the exact same predicament you are in. Wife, two kids, a stepson, etc. etc. I have been told by numerous family members and friends, "You need to sell those bikes; you have kids now" blah blah blah. Well its what I enjoy doing and is my out when I'm depressed, get in fights with wife, etc. It is my get away and no matter what happens negatively I will not let it ruin what I enjoy doing. I don't let the mishaps end my fun. So, if you got divorced would you ever get married again just because that one time it didn't work out? That's how I look at things. Ya, there are chances and odds with everything in life, I just chose to not let those bad chances ruin my fun.

 

Maybe im just bitter because all my fun is gone. Feeling domesticated.

Ok, you can call it "domesticated" but my 55-year-old wife seems to be having more fun than you.

We took our pause while the kids were young - I stopped riding for 12 years. As soon as the kids hit the teenage years and made it clear that they thought they could survive without us, we took that as a green light to have fun again.

 

My nephew keeps trying to get me on a bike again. I just tell him, "You only have to turn one of my legs into custard to convince me I'm doing something wrong." I just can't take another hit like that. Even if I survived, I wouldn't like what was left of me.

So, y'all have fun. I'm don't have enough working parts left to risk them.

 

i-Road

Will you?

 

Ugh. "Toyota Motorcycle"... That's an oxymoron.

 

I owned street bikes for about 20 years, and in that time had only one, what I would term serious, accident. Mind you, I have had a far more serious accident in a car, so I'll not blame the motorcycle! And yes, I was hit by a car (pickup truck actually) on my bike. I was not badly hurt (broken collar bone) but the bike was totaled.

I gave up riding on the street after that for economic reasons and never went back. When my economics improved I did go back to motorcycling, but off-road and have not had the desire to get back on the street. Here's what my driveway looks like these days (well, summer, that is). The #657 is my race bike (a KTM 450 EXC). No, I'm not very fast.

Here is a picture of my son's race bike for the 2009 racing season. That was his pro-rookie season. Note his number.

 

Have enough bikes?

 

Have enough bikes?

Not nearly, pffttt...! DO you have enough electronics parts?

That picture does not even have my son's trials bike in it. If it did not mean divorce, there would be many more.

 

Bill, I have too many electronic parts, just as you appear to have too many bikes. I will be glad to take one of them off of your hands for you hehe

 

My motor scooters! I get a kick out of telling people I am going to ride my "motor
scooter" today Don't know why lol
........................

Well they do have a motor and they certainly scoot.

 

Doesn't the old biker saying of "if you have to ask, you won't understand", sum up the whole motorcycle question?