It's a rough situation. I only got into motorcycling a few years ago. It was about 3 years after my father almost died on a motorcycle that the rest of the family didn't even know he had (My parents moved out of state, bought bikes, rented a storage garage, and hid them every time we would come visit. Some 80+ year old jackass in a motorhome with a trailer turned left in front of him against the light.) Not long after that one of my brother's friends died on his bike.
I started with a wife who thought I was absolutely nuts to even consider riding a motorcycle. If it were up to her, I wouldn't even have one bike. Now I've got two and a half (work in progress), I work two half days a week at a vintage Triumph shop, I'm doing my first track day in September, and I'm leaving this afternoon to go up to the Moto GP races in Monterey. In April I did a 1000 mile road trip up the coast and through Death Valley.
Now, I don't commute. She has an irrational fear of motorcycling on the freeways (maybe not so irrational here in Los Angeles), so I don't ride on them. I promised her and I keep my promises, no matter how stupid I think it is. It takes a really long time to get out to Angeles Crest when you have to cross the whole SF valley on surface streets... Anyway, thanks to her I have become a bit of a safety freak. I don't get on my bike without full gear. Period. There have been compromises, but that's the name of the game.
We're currently trying for our first child. She has accepted that I'll keep my bikes and keep riding. I'm sure I'll be riding less, and more of my riding time will be in 'safer' environments such as track days, but I don't want her dreading a call from the hospital or worse all day every weekend. She really is a nervous miserable wreck every single time I go riding. I do everything I can to be as safe as possible for her and to reassure her about it. I can't imagine her doing something for fun that I *knew* was going to kill or maim her sooner or later.
Jeez, I sound old.
I started with a wife who thought I was absolutely nuts to even consider riding a motorcycle. If it were up to her, I wouldn't even have one bike. Now I've got two and a half (work in progress), I work two half days a week at a vintage Triumph shop, I'm doing my first track day in September, and I'm leaving this afternoon to go up to the Moto GP races in Monterey. In April I did a 1000 mile road trip up the coast and through Death Valley.
Now, I don't commute. She has an irrational fear of motorcycling on the freeways (maybe not so irrational here in Los Angeles), so I don't ride on them. I promised her and I keep my promises, no matter how stupid I think it is. It takes a really long time to get out to Angeles Crest when you have to cross the whole SF valley on surface streets... Anyway, thanks to her I have become a bit of a safety freak. I don't get on my bike without full gear. Period. There have been compromises, but that's the name of the game.
We're currently trying for our first child. She has accepted that I'll keep my bikes and keep riding. I'm sure I'll be riding less, and more of my riding time will be in 'safer' environments such as track days, but I don't want her dreading a call from the hospital or worse all day every weekend. She really is a nervous miserable wreck every single time I go riding. I do everything I can to be as safe as possible for her and to reassure her about it. I can't imagine her doing something for fun that I *knew* was going to kill or maim her sooner or later.
Jeez, I sound old.
