First off, thank you all for your perceptive comments. All of them were helpful.

I thought I would share with you all my compromises made with my wife about this motorcycle issue.

I have a Honda Rebel. It stays, and I ride around town. No freeway.

I bought a Can Am Spyder trike. It has a 990cc Vortax engine, and accelerates like a sport bike, but safer. What fun to ride!!!

I will not buy a large cruiser.

My scuba diving in the Central Visayas in the Philippines is unchanged. If my regulator clogs up, I die.

What caused me to change my mind was when my wife reminded me that my life is not my own. I am a nurse and am caring for my 92 year old mother. I also am caregiver for everyone in my family because of my 30 year career in medicine. Against this argument, I have no answer.

Comments?

Sounds good to me.

I think there should always be a balance. You need your passions, but you also need to be there for your family. Nothing wrong with compromises.

Well, if you're not going to live 24 hours a day in your Safe Room/Panic Room, everything is a risk!

Get life insurance if people depend on you. Then live your life.

Living your life is one thing, but I wouldn't tell my teen cousins "just drink and drive, it's no big deal!" Live your life! Have tons of unprotected sex, it's fun! Of course it's fun, of course it would feel awesome. But would it be worth it if the worst happened? And of course conversely, it's not worth it to live entirely for others and have zero pleasures.

I think there's a time and a place for calculated, reasonable risks. Especially if one has kids, parents to care for, or a spouse. You chose to take them on, after all.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2016 05:09PM by woodsmoke.

You have taken steps that will likely improve your odds. But it still will not help you in a crash. I was once in a low speed crash (maybe 30 mph.) The car in front of me stopped suddenly and I rammed into it. The entire front part of my car was crunched up like an accordion. My engineer brother looked at my intact passenger compartment, and noted, "the car did what it was designed to do" -- protect the occupant in a survivable crash. What will protect you? That is the question. It was only later, when I overheard him talking to someone else about my crash, did I realize how much it distressed him.

Woodsmoke,

Excellent points. I am trying to control risks, have fun, and deal with my adrenaline junkie aspect of my personality.

I like to live on the edge, but I do have responsibilities.

I think my wife has been incredibly cool about all of this

Thanks, Brian

Summer,

You are right. Even a little Honda can be hit by a car.

I'm really glad you and your wife found a solution. :)

Hey, Brian. Just be true to yourself. Really. Wives and family love you for totally selfish reasons. But they love you. It could be worse. Right.

Used to ride a Harley. Loved my bike. Winter, spring, summer, fall. Pacific NW. Great rides through beauty.

Wrecked three times. None of them were my fault. Gave it up. Be safe. Be well. If only I could ride and there were no cars.... ;)

From one motorcyclist to another, the intersections around town are far more deadly than the freeway. Limiting your rides to just around town enhances your risk by far. The lowest risk way to ride is to get off of the suface streets as soon as possible, and into the countryside, preferably onto a low traffic country road. (Actually, an even lower risk way to ride is to sign up for track days. Nothing but bikes on the track, and you can take it as easy as you need to.)

Humberto,

The point you make is excellent. I've been thinking of using my Honda for dirt only.

Cars and the morons that drive them are scary!!!

I have a relevant story although one without a clear morale.

A close relative used to be a thrill-seeker. Extreme skiing (before it was called extreme), skydiving, hang gliding, rock and ice climbing, open scuba diving. When he got married and started a family, he eliminated almost everything of this sort lest he get hurt or die and not be able to provide the financial and emotional support his family needed.

Ultimately things went bad for him. He simultaneously lost his job, his marriage, and his religion. (You know how apparently disparate things sometimes turn out to be closely related.) Then he suffered some serious health setbacks that curtailed what he was able to do.

With hindsight, I respect his decision to reduce the risks he was living with. That was responsible. But I think he went too far. If he'd kept some of his risky hobbies, he'd probably have been a happier guy during the tough years and perhaps the outcomes might have been a bit better.

I'm not sure which way this militates: perhaps towards the happy medium. I wish my relative had negotiated deals like yours since extreme caution can be dangerous too. I suspect one of the reasons your wife and family love you is your free spirit, so perhaps if they saw the connections between your various personality traits they'd think twice before demanding that you live too sedentary a life.

I really can't see an advantage of a Spyder over a cruiser, you are just as vulnerable. You may be a bit easier to see tho, I can't imagine them being as maneuverable, maybe when I can longer get a leg over the bike or hold it in an intersection it may be something to consider.

Is your Rebel a 250 or 500?

Oh yeah, the track idea sounds good. I also agree that city driving is more scary than motorway, no traffic lights for people to go through red lights, stop signs, or coming from a side street.
Driving through the open country is nice slso, or riding in a group, like a bike club

Those trikes are a lot of fun to ride.
Better than regular motor cycles,imho.
Enjoy.