Riding in your old age

[Laserman]

Still, as an American I gotta admire a greybeard rolling his bike without a cap. That's 100 IQ points higher than doing it as a young guy anyway.

Right?

 

[Dabrakeman]

I might have said it before. Here in Michigan it seems Harley riders are at least 75% without helmets and virtually none wear full face helmets. The vast majority of non-Harley riders are wearing helmets. So, there definitely seems to be a bike centered cultural influence.

There are about 0% of ride routes around me currently that I would feel comfortable without a helmet since I have to get out of town to get out of town and even out of town there is still enough population to incur numerous crossroads and a fair amount of traffic. So, I generally wear a full face helmet all the time. However, when making some tweaks on the bike I might take it a block or two up the street in my neighborhood sans helmet (since I don't want to fuss with the glasses and straps) for a quick verification of say the clutch cable adjustment. Would be really pissed if a cop just happened to come down the street and give me a ticket in such circumstance. There were also a couple short routes I used to take in NH where the setting without helmet created a feeling that was irreplaceable. I am a fan of helmets, but not helmet laws. Anyone who has ridden without a helmet also knows you cannot equate it to driving without a seatbelt.

I'm afraid I am also that old guy at the ski area still only wearing a toque (although I am more than fine with the fact that we kept our kids in helmets when they were learning and for the most part they still wear them). I don't ski fast near trees so again would be pissed if wearing a helmet were legislated. I probably honestly would not ski then.

 

[2LZ]

State to state. That's how this country was designed. I always thought it was funny when I was younger that there was no helmet law in CA, but Nevada always had one. I remember going to Reno in the back of the folks car and seeing riders with helmets. It was kind of funny looking. Good ol' Nevada. Gambling and prostitution are legal, but God forbid you get caught without a helmet.

 

[Dabrakeman]

Before the internet it was a bit more challenging while riding across state boundaries to figuring out which states had and which had not. Wish I could have "pulled up" that nice map @Laserman shared in 1986!

 

[Old Boy]

I'm 80 years old, and have had my share of medical challenges. I've been through quintuple coronary bypass, bilateral knee replacements, major lung surgery after my one and only motorcycle crash 24 years ago, and the loss of one kidney due to renal cancer. But I still ride. I think that the key to riding as one gets older, and unfortunately losses in muscle strength among other things, is to pick the right bike.

In my many decades of riding, the bikes that I have owned generally got bigger, heavier and with more creature comforts as the years went on. By the time I was in my early 70's I was riding a Honda Goldwing, which in some ways may be the ultimate in motorcycling. But at 78, an age when lots of riders have already given up, I had two tipovers in a short span of time, and both times needed help in getting the bike upright. I never even considered stopping riding. I then did two things. I traded the Goldwing in and bought a 3 wheeler, a Can Am Spyder which has even more of a comfortable ride than did the Wing. But as much as I love the Spyder (despite the fact that I steer it through turns rather than lean it), I still wanted a real motorcycle. That's when I decided that a small, light bike was the right thing at my age. I looked at a few options, but the key for me was having a bike that reminded me of why I loved riding in the first place. A short demo ride on a Hunter 350 told me that this was the answer for me.

The Hunter is not fast or powerful, but the riding experience is great. I can still do 70 mph or even a bit faster, but mostly my riding of this bike is in the 45 to 60 mph range. I am hopeful that with this little one cylinder bike that only weighs 400 pounds I can be riding at least until 85, an age that I thought of as the ultimate goal when I was half my current age but met an 85 year old at a rally. And if and when even the Hunter is too much for this old man, I hope I can keep my face in the wind on the Spyder until I am put in the ground.

So choose the right bike. I meet so many former riders who were riding 800 pound Harleys or 900 pound Goldwings or Indians, and when that was no longer working, just gave up on motorcycles altogether. I think I made a much better choice. I really believe that riding is what keeps me from letting the old man get into me, so as long as I can I will try to keep the old man out.

Hi there, my story is similar to yourself ( I am 72) but as luck would have it I only had one bad accident, T boning a car not my fault. My last bike was a HD Electraglide Ultra Classic but as I managed to topple sideways when stationary twice and the struggle to get it upright, I decided to downsize to a Himalayan. its great fun to ride, I do a little green lining when I visit my brother in Devon, get all my camping gear on the bike, do my own servicing and get 70 ish MPG on most runs. My wife said to me what happens if you cant manage the Himmi? quick as a flash I said I will get a sidecar. All she said was that she wasn't going to be a Milldred and sit in it. No problem was my reply and then she gave me the side eye. Time will tell.

 

[Mrbates1]

Hi there, my story is similar to yourself ( I am 72) but as luck would have it I only had one bad accident, T boning a car not my fault. My last bike was a HD Electraglide Ultra Classic but as I managed to topple sideways when stationary twice and the struggle to get it upright, I decided to downsize to a Himalayan. its great fun to ride, I do a little green lining when I visit my brother in Devon, get all my camping gear on the bike, do my own servicing and get 70 ish MPG on most runs. My wife said to me what happens if you cant manage the Himmi? quick as a flash I said I will get a sidecar. All she said was that she wasn't going to be a Milldred and sit in it. No problem was my reply and then she gave me the side eye. Time will tell.

Following "the accident" and now with heart issues I decided to get back on two wheels after a 30 year gap. I went to a beautiful bike dealer, the shop not the sales girl (mind you....) that had an upstairs. I got up okay ish but had a problem coming down. I got a little round of applause which was fine as I like a bit of attention.
My garage now has a Chinesium 125, FJ1200, Honda Deauville, St1300, RE 350 Classic and today I should be having a Valkyrie delivered. But! I've had a winch installed in my barn and a turntable coming. The bigger bikes I need to plan ahead and park in such a way that I can move off easily. So not nose down outside a pub.