How to deal with Rider "Phobia"?

So im sitting here in my room, letting my 2 Spicy Chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-a grow cold. There is something thats been bothering me and today i felt like i just have to share.

I love motorcycles. I love riding. It makes a bad day go away. Its fun. I bought orange disc cones so that i can do the parking lot drills in "Total Control". I just got my leather racing pants and will be getting shoes to be completely race ready hopefully next paycheck. My copy of "Proficient Motorcycles" arrives tomorrow from Amazon. Ive been down once already in 2 weeks (lowside) and the next day with a sore knee i went to ride up the calavares mountains again. Its safe to say, i enjoy riding a lot.

But there is this fear that has been at the back of my mind the whole time. Throughout the whole process of me getting a bike, my family was against it. I have two doctors in the family who swore to disown me and told me all sorts of stories about riders essentially becoming crippled etc.

My coworker who has been riding for 40+ years jokingly said "Oh you survived the weekend! I lost my bet" the week after i got the bike.

Another coworker(he left riding because it finally got to him) said "Ive been riding for 4 years and only have been down once, you have been riding only 2 weeks and you have gone down once. Thats not a very good record. Whats gonna happen in the next two weeks?"

I got so much shit from the people around me that im embaressed to say that i even had a dream of random people who ive known in my life (dont even talk to them) telling me not to buy my GSXR the day before i bought it.

I can handle this social pressure, its irritating and in someways i welcome it because it keeps me aware of what could go wrong. But then there are the stories of riders dying. Recently a fellow rider died on the same day i low sided. He was on 9 and i was going to be heading there if i hadnt low sided. I am sorry for his families loss. Then today i found out that my friends cousin died in a motorcycle accident in India in the most gruesome way i can think of (My worst nightmare). Im not going to share the details, but the way he died is my biggest fear of happening to me on a bike.

All of this has scared me to an extent. I do not want to quit. I do not want to let this get to me. Am i being overly paranoid? Im new at this and maybe some of you went through this when you were starting out. Heck maybe some of you go through this everyday.

How did you deal with it?

Stop caring what others think and do what you love.

For starters, you're gixxer is not the right bike for you to be on.

But that fear is part of the lifestyle. You have to know that every time you saddle up you are doing something pretty dangerous that could end you.

Doing parking lot drills and reading all the books is great. It's good to hear that you are practicing. You just need to be proactive and always expect something to go down, so when it does, you will be ready.

But sometimes there is no amount of training or skill that can help you. There was a garbage truck or something that ran down a whole pack of riders a few years back. Hit them all from behind and a couple didn't make it.

You have to ask yourself if it's worth it to you before you get on that bike.

Simple: Grow a pair and ride.

/thread

the 40+ year rider sounds cool, other guy sounds like a putz.

it's just something you have to reconcile with yourself dragon dood. it's like the old saying there are two kinds of riders, those that have crashed and those that will crash. you got yours outta the way for a while is how i would look at that one, but don't go riding because a moron online like myself told you to...you just gotta be ok with dying on a bike if that's how your hand gets played out. i'm more scared riding my 12 speed personally and fyi i've been riding for about 20 years and i have crashed on the road. once. rather not do it again, thanks, but...

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do." - Mark Twain

Dude . . . seriously? GSXR 600? Two weeks riding? One lowside? Only just got boots? People dying around you?

You should be scared.

RossF4i said:

For starters, you're gixxer is not the right bike for you to be on.

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+1

sportbikes are for the track

I don't know. If you got all these bad signs and your gut is turning. Then take off riding for a little bit. The paranoia could mess with you mind. When you get that dying itch to get back on the saddle then you know you are ready. We all would be lying to ourselves if we say that riding motorcycle is not dangerous, because it is, but it's the risk we all take.

monstermonster said:

Dude . . . seriously? GSXR 600? Two weeks riding? One lowside? Only just got boots? People dying around you?

You should be scared.

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I have a set of harley davidson riding boots. I meant for the track im getting dianese boots to go with the leather pants and jacket.

GSXR 600 since i am a pretty tall dude and i didnt feel comfy on the 250. Its still no excuse but yeah.

You need a hands' on class. Like say, the MSF class. Then the books.

http://online2.msf-usa.org/msf/Default.aspx

silenthavoc said:

I don't know. If you got all these bad signs and your gut is turning. Then take off riding for a little bit. The paranoia could mess with you mind. When you get that dying itch to get back on the saddle then you know you are ready.

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I get it everyday lol. I went riding today as well. Yesterday i commuted to work in my car. Came home and popped an Aleve for the knee and went riding up the calavaras mountains again. I was gone for 2 hours. Its like crack. I do get the fear, but most of the time the thrill of the ride gets the better of me.

boney said:

You need a hands' on class. Like say, the MSF class. Then the books.

http://online2.msf-usa.org/msf/Default.aspx

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I took the MSF course. Im going to enroll in the Experienced Riders Course in 2 weeks.

i don't think it is so much about the riding as it is about the attitude of those that influence you the most. if your biggest critic is the person you love and respect the most, then you have to be ready to break their heart...if riding is what YOU love! if your biggest critic is that ass of a co-worker you mentioned then you really are just paying attention to the wrong people!!
I was so close to joining the military outta high school and was told not to by so many loved ones not to, that it actually bothered me a bit. i was not allowed in because of a knee injury in a football game that was actually in their medical book. (ACL-completley ripped) right now i could be dead because my 4 years would not have been up when 9/11 happened!

bottom line is-Don't over think anything that isn't from your own mind and even then learn that all things are going to happen, good or bad...the way YOU see them is what matters!!

How do I rationalize it?

I spend waking hours either banging on keyboard or sitting in one kind of bullshit meeting or another. I sleep in a 2-bedroom, 2-bath home-owner-associated suburban monument to averageness. Without the ride between the two, I'm already dead.

assmodeus said:

+1

sportbikes are for the track

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Not even. They are for the experienced rider.

I started on a plated dirt bike, then a Ninja 250, then an old Honda 450.. Then a Mutard.. And after 4 years of riding with only one very minor accident and a lot more confidence I stepped up to my F4i. And that is one of the less potent inline 4 sport bikes. And after riding that for 3 months I still don't feel like I can handle 100% of it's power.

You have to work up to these bikes to really respect them. Because I can tell you, if I hadn't learned control and instinct on the slower bikes, I would have died on my F4i by now. I truly mean that. My idiot 20 year old brain has allowed me to do some stupid shit that got me into some tight spots, but I have that instinct that takes over.

I'm not naive enough to think that I am invincible, far from it. In fact, my favorite uncle suffered severe brain damage and will forever be in a home from a motorcycle accident.

I know it could kill me every time I get on my bike, but I have confidence in my abilities, my gear (Boots, Leathers, Gloves, Helmet.) and my situational awareness.

And to me, I think the risk is worth it.

elmerfud said:

How do I rationalize it?

I spend waking hours either banging on keyboard or sitting in one kind of bullshit meeting or another. I sleep in a 2-bedroom, 2-bath home-owner-associated suburban monument to averageness. Without the ride between the two, I'm already dead.

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Troof.

elmerfud said:

How do I rationalize it?

I spend waking hours either banging on keyboard or sitting in one kind of bullshit meeting or another. I sleep in a 2-bedroom, 2-bath home-owner-associated suburban monument to averageness. Without the ride between the two, I'm already dead.

Click to expand...

Troof +2

Loki1000R said:

i don't think it is so much about the riding as it is about the attitude of those that influence you the most. if your biggest critic is the person you love and respect the most, then you have to be ready to break their heart...if riding is what YOU love! if your biggest critic is that ass of a co-worker you mentioned then you really are just paying attention to the wrong people!!
I was so close to joining the military outta high school and was told not to by so many loved ones not to, that it actually bothered me a bit. i was not allowed in because of a knee injury in a football game that was actually in their medical book. (ACL-completley ripped) right now i could be dead because my 4 years would not have been up when 9/11 happened!

bottom line is-Don't over think anything that isn't from your own mind and even then learn that all things are going to happen, good or bad...the way YOU see them is what matters!!

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Exactly! Part of why i guess i feel it is because it freaks my mom and dad out a lot. They are both 70+ and i take care of them and they stay with me. My dad came to me when i was working on the bike (cleaning chain) and he was on the verge of tears and asked me to tell him what he can do that i sell the bike. Telling him that he couldnt do anything to convince me to sell it was pretty tough.

elmerfud said:

How do I rationalize it?

I spend waking hours either banging on keyboard or sitting in one kind of bullshit meeting or another. I sleep in a 2-bedroom, 2-bath home-owner-associated suburban monument to averageness. Without the ride between the two, I'm already dead.

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Haha. Love it! That hit the spot.

2wheeldragon said:

I took the MSF course. Im going to enroll in the Experienced Riders Course in 2 weeks.

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i hope you got sliders on your bike. youve been riding how long and are taking the experienced riders course?

ive dealt with the family thing and everybody else that tells me that riding a motorcycle isnt safe by asking them what the definition of safe is, then what do they do in their life that is safe?

i also have seen enough "humanity" that if by riding a moto it speeds up my ending with it, then so be it. just dont say i died doing something i love cause i hate crashing.

gl