Love - Hate Relationship

[vzshadow]

Love, no hate. I'm an old guy and I was old when I started riding. Nothing to prove. I use the bike to go to work, shopping, out to eat, on trips, fun rides in the country.
I'm a boring rider. I rarely go real fast, I'm cautious in traffic.
I respect the bike, and don't trust anyone out there on the road, not even other bikers. I tend to avoid high traffic areas unless I need to go there.
Winter hell is about to break out in Maine, and I will soon long for dry, salt and sand free roads, and temps above 40. The good news is that will arrive in May! Ha!

[Dingo.]

Let me start off by saying, i just started riding this year a few months before my 40th birthday. I wanted a bike when I got back from the sandbox, the wife wanted hard wood floors...the floors just weren't as fun. So, a few years later my wife enrolled me in the motorcycle course as a present. I was so happy I went and looked at bikes and eventually bought a 2010 shadow Phantom with less that 5K on it (don't they say to buy after you do the course). Took it out twice before the course. The first time was just around the block (I live in a quiet rural subdivision). Took my first right turn WAY too wide (like all the way over to the opposite curb). Then I parked it. A week before the course I took it out a second time-twice around the block and the turns went way better. Then I went to park it in the driveway. Hand slipped off the brake and rolllllllllled over the throttle. I was then propelled at a high rate of speed right into the wife's SUV. $2000.00 damage to her truck (paid for by insurance-thank god). $1300 damage to the bike (paid for by me). And before I even left the wife said "I don't want you riding that thing until after your course." To which I had replied "it can't just sit in the garage." So bike went off to the shop and the next week I went on my previously scheduled course. I passed the course and a month and a half later the bike was ready to be picked up. I went over and picked it up with a trailer. Then it sat in the garage for another three weeks while i debated if I should just take a loss and sell it. Finally I decided-I'm going out on this thing and if I die then it's meant to be (the same philosophy that got me through the 'Stan). I went out that weekend and rode it every day until winter hit. I love it now, and can't wait for summer to arrive so that I can go back out. I have also started customizing my bike and of course joined the Honda Shadow forum.
So, hated it but now love it.


Doug

[coreenleann]

Originally Posted by maddock

i can't say i've ever hated anything about riding thus far... but i agree that sometimes for whatever reason I don't feel as sharp. sometimes i can shake it off and othertimes I just go back home and take the car!

I've done that. Good to know I'm not alone.


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[John Hopkins]

I've been reading this and I suddenly realized something about the way I ride that might be different to the way some of you ride..I treat every vehicle coming towards me as a bullet to be avoided probably because the combined speed of my bike and the approaching vehicle is very fast..And I treat every vehicle going the same way as me as a wall to be ridden round or stopped at because if they stop suddenly that's what they are, I probably ride further back than some of you..

Unfortunately when it is dark, and I am freezing, and the rain is soaking right through to the skin, I stop thinking and tread the road as a conveyor belt..

I reckon one day I'll die in the rain..

John.

[hiteck]

Originally Posted by John Hopkins

I've been reading this and I suddenly realized something about the way I ride that might be different to the way some of you ride..I treat every vehicle coming towards me as a bullet to be avoided probably because the combined speed of my bike and the approaching vehicle is very fast..And I treat every vehicle going the same way as me as a wall to be ridden round or stopped at because if they stop suddenly that's what they are, I probably ride further back than some of you..

Never thought of it in those words, but since you've said it that's pretty much how I ride as well. I've only been riding for a few months and have no intentions of becoming too comfortable riding that I'm not paying attention.

Don't get me wrong I don't ride in fear... I ride alert and prepared.

[We trudge on]

We went down hard last June. Fortunatley only a cracked rib and dislocated collar bone. But the experience is still with us, and we are still not fully mentally recovered. Still, riding is just plain fun and we have no plans to stop any time soon. We are definitely more careful these days, however. And there is little (verily no) chance that we will be riding without protective gear in the future, as we are convinced that the gear saved us considerably more damage.
We trudge on.

[Wingnut74]

Still to this day i worry about riding and what could happen and how it would effect those around me. It gets to that i wont ride for a few months, but when i happen to pull it out and start it up, I always enjoy the openness and freedom feeling that comes over me. My confidence level starts to climb and i end up riding for the next few days or so. After a bit, I retire back into the truck due to weather or needing to run around with the kids in tow and it takes a while for me to get back into feeling like i need to ride once again. It often crosses my mind that i should just sell the bike and put the money towards a Jeep that i can drive around with the family, But i cant just bring myself to selling the one place where i can feel the wind blow across me and the sound of my pipes as i lay into the throttle. Id say its a Love Hate relationship most definately.

[seanie]

I love riding and practically live on my bike. I'm definitely not an ATGATT and I'm hit or miss on my helmet depending on my mood. I've had a few close calls, but no accidents, knock on wood. I occasionally have the thought process "*****, if I go down now, I'm going to ******** die." but I've never let that deter me from riding.

[John Hopkins]

Originally Posted by Minduke

I was just reading the thread on pre-ride rituals and it amazed me how many people concern themselves about the fact that their ride could be their last

Of course the sort of people that really consider this as a fact must also be the sort of people who check their shoelaces before they cross a road, It must be really dissapointing for them when they arrive safely and have to do it all over again next time.

John.

[dfshank]

Originally Posted by hiteck

Never thought of it in those words, but since you've said it that's pretty much how I ride as well. I've only been riding for a few months and have no intentions of becoming too comfortable riding that I'm not paying attention.

Don't get me wrong I don't ride in fear... I ride alert and prepared.

So the hearse in the background of your picture is there just in case?