• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

When should we stop riding? -- perspectives of an older rider

Recent health related events made me think about this. At first I thought I might not be riding soon. It turned out that riding-- and looking forward to it--- is a big part of my overall picture of well-being.

Adapting is the key now. Time is not on our side, let's face it. But as we get older we find ways to enjoy the sport that we never thought about when we began riding.
 
Forty-nine and still fly'n!! Yep! Those skills are truly deminished now, but I know I feel alive when I ride. I just ride about once a month now and its good enough for me, still own three bikes and can't see selling any of them!! I just take my time and enjoy the roads!
 
PutPut said:
I'm thinking that the motorcycle riding is probably keeping you young. Sure there's risk but, that's life and it's your decision. If you feel you can still ride then ride...

I'm not stoppin' till I drop, thank you very much...:x
Click to expand...

this is how i exactly feel, it keeps me at leasdt a few years younger......
 
Let's see. Last year Fred Willink won the Thruxton Cup on his Triumph, he's older than me. And beat some really good riders. Reggie Pridmore still hauls ass on the track and he's in his seventies now. ( If you think not, go ride with him.) There are quite a few older guys out there still riding and often riding well. Based on my experience, there is a gradual decline in several areas that can be dealt with, to a point, by changing styles. You learn to anticipate and plan ahead much further. I try to know exactly where I am going at all times on the track. I also recognize that gradual slowing will happen. I'm still dropping lap times, but it's not easy.
 
I'm 65 this year and don't figure to give up riding in the foreseeable future.

I ride extremely defensively, as we all should.

For the rest of you with doubts, Harley makes trikes!:rolleyes
 
I will keep riding legally till they take my licence away ... then I will just ride dirty till I die ....
 
mrmarklin said:
I'm 65 this year and don't figure to give up riding in the foreseeable future.

For the rest of you with doubts, Harley makes trikes!:rolleyes
Click to expand...


When I bought my H-D RoadKing, I was anticipating the day when I would finally be too old and decrepit to keep a m/c up on 2 wheels. At that point, I'd put a sidecar on the Harley...... and keep riding.:ride

BTW, the RoadKing comes sidecar ready right from the factory. Even the engine oil dipstick has markings for when the bike is leaned over on it's kick stand or when it's straight up and down (as when it's attached to a sidecar).

For those of you who have actually ridden/driven a sidecar rig, you know that you can still get your m/c thrills.....but at a much lower speed. Cornering on a side hack will get your attention and make your eyeballs pop out of their sockets. Go ahead, ask me how I know this.....:laughing
 
Malcolm Forbes rode into his seventies. Don't sell yourself short.

I am now 42, and have been riding long enough to lose more than a handful of friends to motorcycle accidents. Each time I reevaluate my riding style and the risks I am taking. I no longer ride like the scooter trash in "Mad Max", but I don't ride like a tenuous newbie. I've had the pleasure of riding everything from race replica sportbikes to cruisers to classics and dual sports.

As I impied, my riding has changed from all around rickey racer to backroad rickey racer to backroad tourist as time has gone by. I dabbled in racing when I was younger, and had a trackday bike until recently. Now I focus more on destination trackdays, renting a bike from the provider while my family enjoys local attactions for the day. Sure I don't put my bike and body on the line at the track like I used to, but I still get a kick out of it, and I try do it enough to keep the skills sharp. But I go through my trackday prep workbook before each date, partially as a reality check to remind myself how long it's been. My backroad bike is a classic bike I bought from my Dad, so when riding it I have the "don't dump dad's bike" mindset, even though I pay all the bills :toothless

I absolutely love riding. I am unhappy when I go too long without riding something. Motos, bicycles, my wife, whatever. But I understand about the entropy of the human body and its systems. It's part of the deal of being human. I tell myself that I will listen to not only myself, but the the judgment of my loved ones regarding riding and when it might be time to quit. But I'll fight it to the end. I'll get one of those three wheeled Piaggio scooters, if I have to.
 
I guess I am the odd man out, as I do not know any who have died on a moto, but then I do not know that many that ride.
but as for health reasons mine has improved due to getting back on a bike, as it relives stress, and got my bp down. (like 60+ points high). so now my bp is back under 130/75.

so I say ride long and live long,

but yes 30 years back I was a hairs breath from being six feet under, got the leg and scars to show for it.

.
 
When should we stop riding? -- perspectives of an older rider

When the coffin lid closes
 
Well, i'm very young so take my words for however you may but I've wondered the same question since my recent accident. I read some statistic that the average rider rides for 3 years. I suppose this takes into account both edge cases, those that try it and realize it's not for them.. and also the life long riders like yourself and some others here.

At some point, a rider may wonder if it's time to park it for good and I believe this choice is very personal as riding itself is a very personal experience. Some may hang it up at 30 and some at 80. I don't think anyone on this board can make that decision for you, but what I do know with certainty at my young age is that no matter where you fall in between, a rider will always be a rider, and those that arent, arent
 
You old guys need to take up knitting and TV. Leave the riding to us young guys.
 
When You should Stop Riding

Hey Old Ape Man,

You have already out lived many of the Cocky, A-Hole, Young Riders that think they are Hot Shit :laughing

Good For You, Good on You Mate !

So

Get your Self one of those Three Wheel Motorcycles that are available and keep Riding until, well , just keep riding !

:ride
 
When to stop Riding

BTW

Harley and Honda are not the only 3 Wheeler's, on the market.

Look at The Can Am Spyder, and look up the Aptera ( if you have allot of $ ) made in Southern California, there are a couple of others as well.

Keep Riding :ride
 
As most have said in general, age doesn't matter. I would just add that sometimes WHERE (location) you ride can sometimes depict HOW you ride. Most folks on here are in the bay area, so that means the riding style may be a bit more aggressive, tedious, and requires a bit more concentration just because of a more traffic laden environment. Plus the "near miss" situations could be a bit higher as well. Up here in Sacto it's a lot more relaxed, even during the heaviest traffic. Plus the backroads & twisties are almost literally in our backyard so it doesn't much effort riding wise to get away from traffic. Case in point, could it be that perhaps you're not too old to but perhaps simply need a more relaxed area to ride?
 
Many good points here. I finally realized I'm an old dude but resist it as long as I can keep moving. One poster mentioned the people he has known who have been killed riding motorcycles, I share that and that is indeed the depressing side of this "sport". I almost bit the farm in 05 and came very close to six feet under, but the doctors said I probably wouldn't have made it if I wasn't in as good as shape as I was in at that time. I've lifted weights off and on for years and it was during that period I was working out pretty heavy. However, since then I'm probably in the worst shape. It took me four years before I could swing my leg over a bike again and ride, three of those years was taken up with physical therapy and operations. With the combination of a permanent injury and age, I decided to finally get a cruising bike and I did, a Road King. I still have a Ducati in the garage, but the point is a combination of things catch up to you besides the mental things that cause you to hang up your keys. I know many that have and there are many reasons for it, a primary reason is wanting to stay alive. Yeah, I hear and read all the talk about never getting off the bike, but just like dying, it will happen some day and hopefully not in a fatal accident. So I try to enjoy it as much as I can and in my case it will likely happen when its no longer safe to continue. What I mean is can I physically handle the bike anymore or my reactions are too slow to be safe. If the fun factor fades then thats another reason to quit. I am a little bored with the same tracks around here, meaning the same roads. That is one of the reasons why I bought the Harley, so I can take some decent road trips, explore that part of motorcycling.
 
Here's a story....
I learned how to ride when I was 45 (2000). I've had a motomonogomous :teeth relationship with a Sportster for 11 years. In 2005, my 83 year old dad in Seattle was so envious of my riding (he drooled at Indians way back when he was a youngster) that he decided to take a mc class to re-learn how to ride. Unfortunately he couldn't fit on any of the bikes in the class (overweight) and they sent him home with the name of an instructor. He ended up driving by a local dealership and seeing a beautiful used Honda 1500 in the window, went in and purchased the bike. Drove it home (he had SOME experience). When he finally realized that what he was attempting to do might be a little more than he could handle, he took the bike back to the dealer. On the way, he dropped it in the middle of an intersection. Fortunately, there wasn't a lot of damage to either him or the bike, just to his pride. The end.... :)
 
OP here.

I am always surprised and pleased that this old thread gets resurrected from time-to-time. I am still riding regularly (now aged 63), both on one of my KZ750s, plus I bought a new (to me) Kawasaki Concours ZG1000 sport touring bike about six months ago, and hope to use it for something more long distance than my commute from Berkeley into SF. My 27 year old son (who rides one of my KZ750s) and I hope to get in a decent camping trip before he heads off to the Army.

I am have found that I am a better rider with each passing year. Not faster, but better. I am hyper aware of my surroundings, can always maneuver the bike the way I want it to move, and have found a way to be both calm and alert, even during commute traffic across the Bay Bridge. I avoid unreasonably risky situations, and ride "big" (assertive and in control).

I now have no plans to stop riding anytime in the near future, and intend to continue to ride so long as my health and eyesight remain good.

One of these days I might drag myself out to a BARF event, or a group ride.

Keep posting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top