11 Comments

I don’t mean to be morbid (well maybe morbidly funny) but this could prove to be the solution to many problems.

Encourage Bike use amongst boomers (through tax breaks). It would lower pollution and make the highways seem less crowded. It would lower social security costs since each boomer who becomes a traffic statistic is another boomer not collecting social security (ride a bike, it’s for the future of our children!). And best of all seeing all those oldsters riding bikes would greatly curtail the appeal of riding motorcycles to reckless youths (Buy me a bike, no way dad, I want an Xb for graduation instead)

It would be interesting to know how many of them bought and road their first bikes in their “mature” years. Pseudo youthful exuberance mixed with inexperience and fatwallet horsepower may be the culprit. Slower reflexes and bi-focals come with age but an experienced rider knows how to handle himself in traffic (always assume car drivers don’t see you, etc) and he knows can’t do what he did at 25.

Sounds like the beginnings of a campaign to quintuple their insurance premiums and get them off their bikes once and for all.

The young are also dangerous, so soon the only people that will be considered worthy of a motorcycle license will be between 27 and 32 years old; and those only if their employer approves…

Well, it’s a bit late for these fellas to die young and make beautiful corpses, but my worry is still directed at the increasing number of senile half-blind senior citizens driving on our roadways in large automobiles. I’ve been rear-ended twice in the last five years by two such individuals. At least a motorcyclist risks his own life, for the most part.

As if testosterone-crazed kids in hot rods aren’t bad enough, the aged in automobiles is becoming a positive threat to us all. This is cruel, but perhaps after the age of eighty-five you should be required to ride a motorcycle if you’re going to drive yourself at all.

Re: motorcyclists 40 older in accidents,

Liam Neeson spent months in physical therapy after one of those.

Most of these guys go straight to a Harley or a Gold Wing when they should still be on a starter bike. There are plenty of good smaller bikes out there, such as the classic Royal Enfield Bullet, not to mention the many fine Japanese bikes with 500 cc displacement or less.

It’s kind of a shame these people are often too old to be good candidates for organ donation.

[You're not talking about yourself, are you?-ed. Moi?]

Actually, Roger, I don’t think that you are talking about yourself. The standard definition of a baby boomer is somebody born in the United States between 1946 and 1964, inclusive. Weren’t you born before 1946?

I’m a Boomer, but I gave up riding motorcycles when I was in my mid-twenties. I just got too tired of people in cars trying to kill me. The multitude of stupid things people in cars do when confronted with a motorcycle are too numerous to list, but I have to say that one of the worst feelings is to be driving at 60mph and have a car tailgating you at a distance of about 3 feet.

I gave up the fantasy of getting a hog years ago when I realized that all of my buddies who had them had gone down at least once and some more than once. Mountain biking in the desert (with a helmet) is about as adventurous as I get.

I think that if you look it up you will find that the majority of motorcycle owners are older than 30 years of age and therefore would represent a larger percentage of fatalities by virtue of their numbers. Here is a survey from N.C. with information regarding people with motorcycle endorsements on their licenses that seems to bear this out.

http://www.hsrc.unc.edu/documents/2004%20Motorcycling%20in%20North%20Carolina%20%20Survey%20Results%2004-28-05.pdf

Another bit of information from an unlikely source;

http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/archives/2005/01/on_a_roll_motor.html?WT.mc_t=imt&WT.mc_n=site_entry

I’m not a mathematician but it seems to me to be entirely logical that if the largest ownership age group is 40 and over then the largest group susceptible to “death by motorcycle” is the age group 40 and over.

Thirdfinger

MASTER of the OBVIOUS

Well, I’m a little young to be a boomer, but at 41, just got my m/c license, and with my wife purchasing a very used 72 Suzuki T500 for my b-day. Hmmm… wonder if she’s been reading these reports???

I took the safety course, long before I got my learners permit, and have been keeping myself to safe, and uncrowded roads. The biggest mistake I’ve made was joining a huge group ride (2-300 bikes.)

All it took was a split second of not recognizing the danger, and I went down. As I always wear all my gear, the damage to myself was very minor. Anyone who takes up this sport/hobby, needs to realize the risks involved, and prepare themselves accordingly…

http://www.geocities.com/keithm_home/my_ride_with_mitch.htm