Best of luck to you in whatever you do. Kind of reminds me of the scene in top gun where Cougar has lost the edge, holding on too tight. If you didn't feel confident riding, you would not have been a safe rider.

You can still get that wind in your face and hair by buying a convertible car. I applaud your decision and your willingness to share it. Signs of a man.

Steve

 

It's best to have ridden and stopped......then to not have ridden at all!!

Good luck to you!

 

EDIT: I was just thinking about all the nice "respect your choice" and such comments - if a man tells me he's too scared to do something that men, women and children do by the millions daily, I honestly don't respect that and I'm not sure why I am supposed to say that I do. Anybody have an idea why we're supposed to say we respect his decision and other nice things?[/quote]

IMHO Why shouldn't we respect the decision? Each one of us are different and need to do things that makes us individuals. I can't lose respect for someone because they now choose to no longer ride.

 

Thanks for the response and here is your answer from somebody who actually knows from experience...

I don't want to bring those tubeless spoked wheels that some metric bikes have (BMW's) because they are pretty rare. So...

There are basically 2 types of motorcycle wheels
Cast
Spoked

There are basically 2 types of motorcycle tires
Tubed
Tubeless

A cast wheel takes a tubeless tire. Its the same thing that a car has.
When you get a blow out from picking up a nail or a screw or something the tire almost all the time loses its air slowly allowing you enough time to pull over safely. You will start to feel your tire lose pressure and you can pull over. Because a tubeless tire has a clincher type bead around it (it kind of hooks around the rim) it rarely will separate from the wheel unless you are driving on it flat.
If you get a flat with a tubeless tire you can repair it almost everytime on the road. All you need is a plug kit and a way to get air into the tire.

A spoked wheel takes a tube in the tire. This is the same thing a bicycle has.
Have you ever got a flat on your bicycle? PSSSSSST... the air is gone just about instantly and if you are riding on the flat the tire will separate from the wheel. There is little to no time to pull over. The air escapes VERY quickly. Also, you need the number for the flat bed because there is no way to repair it. Slime or fix a flat rarely if ever works. It might get you a few miles but thats about it.

Regarding my rear spoked wheel and tire, it was a fairly new Metzler Marathon with the proper air pressure in it. I picked up a little screw that worked its way in while I was on the highway. When it pierced the tube in my tire the air escaped immediately. I had a fishtailing bike doing 70 mph in the middle lane of I95 with a JB Hunt truck on my right as my bike was drifiting to the right. By Gods grace I made it to the shoulder but it was a handful and the scariest crap I was ever on. My bike was all over the road and almost uncontrollable in a matter of a few seconds after I felt the initial wiggle from the back.

I think that this is precisely the reason that Harley rarely offers spoked wheels on their touring bikes. Its sad but true but most riders who have spoked wheels don't even know that they have a tube in their tires. I have seen many of them carrying plug kits or fix a flat. They also don't know what happens when they get a flat with a tubed tire traveling at highway speeds.
They should teach that crap at the MSF courses.

 

I know it's your choice, but did you think about upgrading to a trike?

 

IMHO Why shouldn't we respect the decision? Each one of us are different and need to do things that makes us individuals. I can't lose respect for someone because they now choose to no longer ride.[/QUOTE]

I wasn't looking for any respect. I wanted to let the forum members know because I have been an active member for a number of years now. This is a great forum and I just didn't want to fade away after making my decision.
Maybe I can clarify.
I sold my Harley and am no longer riding because there are too many distracted cagers in my geographical location who are willfully and knowingly trying to kill me and my wife by not paying attention while they are behind the wheel. I didn't give up riding due to lack of riding skill.

 

Hell I have been run into more in my Cars and Trucks. For a few years asses kept running into me. Not my fault. Went down once on my bike. I understand your feelings and respect them. ***** can happen anywhere anytime on or in anything. Cars/Trucks get hit. Boats crash and people drown. Airplane crash. You are never really safe from it. I try to stay away from traffic and be defensive. No doubt about it, Bikes are dangerous. What ever you do have fun and enjoy it.

 

If you're comfortable with your decision to stop riding, then that's your choice. I would hope no one will bust your chops about it. But with the number of new (distracted) drivers and vehicles on the road increasing every year, your chances of getting in an accident involving injury or death, whether driving a car or riding is probably a wash (even steven).
Just doing a quick search, I found this;

"In the US, the average is around 6.5 million accidents per year, with a 46% injury rate. This translates to around one crash every 4.8 seconds."


Now, I have no idea when this was quoted. But odds are if its a couple of years ago, the percentage has probably gone up.

Like I said, if you're comfortable 4 wheeling it, more power to ya.

 

Mainly because it's his life, his decision, and his choice.

Even if he DID say he was "scared". But I'm not sure he did.

I got hit about four months ago. While I never thought about quitting, I did occasionally think about reducing my exposure time by driving 4-wheeled vehicle at times. But I can already do that, and I tears me up inside when I deprive myself of a motorcycle ride on days when my wife thinks it is going to rain and asks me to drive instead of ride and it stays dry.

When it gets to the point where it's not fun anymore, I can understand not doing something. Especially if my family doesn't want me to do it.

But right now, it's just too enjoyable for me to give up. I just realized I may have been riding for forty years, usually over 20,000 miles a year, and I'm not tired of it yet. In fact, I just went for three months without a motorcycle, and it was killing me. And I STILL was amazed at how much more enjoyable riding was than I remembered it while I was missing it.

But I certainly know enough about riding to understand that there are downsides that go with the upsides, and I respect every rider's personal choices that don't affect me.

 

I respect your decision. Everytime I pull the bike from the garage (I have been riding 20 years) I think about what can happen out there in a big city. It keeps me on my toes.