Bill,
I, too, have competed in many (measured in hundreds) motorcycle races. And,
yes, I ride my old Triumph Trident 750 back and forth to the vintage races.
But there is no way in the world that I would support any of my three
progeny riding a motorcycle on the street. Race motorcycles? Absolutely.
Everybody is going in the same direction and the level of predictability is
high. I raced motorcycles with my son from the time he was 14 until a
couple of years ago when those other hormones kicked in and his needs
changed from speed to whatever it is that makes you really reckless (albeit,
sometimes really happy).
To me motorcycle riding is a lot like soaring. It's glorious fun but it
takes a huge amount of concentration. In a glider when you lapse into the
pleasure mode of enjoying what you're doing, you may lose a little bit of
that hard earned altitude. On a bike, when you start daydreaming about the
sensation of the gyroscopic action of your wheels as they transfer the
vector force to the limit of adhesion on the pavement, the loss of altitude
can hurt. Or worse, you gain altitude as you high-side, and then it really
hurts. And worse yet, there's that guy who pulled out in front of you from a
side road because he could not judge the distance and speed of a single
headlight approaching him.
You are absolutely right about the schools and safety gear, except I start
and end with as firm a "no" as my ever-dwindling authority can muster. And
when it is all gone, I'll sing your song, and, like you, cross my fingers.
Richard the Motorcycle Curmudgeon
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-fot@autox.team.net] On Behalf
Of Bill Babcock
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 7:42 PM
To: 'rob'; FOT
Subject: RE: no lbc young drivers
Money well spent, and don't tell him.
I used to follow my daughter when she rode a motorcycle. Finally got busted
when the damned thing broke down and I had to stop and help her. As a guy
who started driving Motorcycles when he was fifteen and never quit I have a
few things to say to people who buy road motorcycles for their kids: Driver
safety class; very good helmet, good jacket and pants (preferably leather
but Kevlar-reinforced ballistic cloth is okay), very good gloves, back
armor, advanced driving class. If you're not willing to do all that, then
don't get them a bike.
First time you catch them not using all the gear, take the bike away.
If I had my way they'd be wearing a helmet in the car too, but I'm just
chicken when it comes to my daughters. They scare the crap out of me, and
they've never done a fraction of the lunatic things I did. But then again,
many of my old motorcycle buddies are dead.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-fot@autox.team.net] On Behalf
Of rob
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 4:27 PM
To: FOT
Subject: no lbc young drivers
Hi Folks just thought i would throw this out . My kid will be driving to
school next fall,and i anixous as heck about it We all know there brains
arn't developed yet I am hopping he will understand just how hard it can be
to get a car back under control after you have lost it
Any way for a 100 bucks Davis instruments sells a chip to plug into the
cars
OBD11 port and records up to 300 hours of data >>throitle postison hard
breaking hard excelleration, speed every 5 seconds Its all layed out on
graphs We live just south of Boston and many of the roads are twisty narrow
hilly
and lined with stone walls I am just hopping he is lucky as i was but now
I
will be able see just how hes doing He can't unplug it but with me finding
out now i have to decide if i tellem about it or not ethics terrific
subject rob
|