Move to Texas and you probably can; but fireworks are illegal. Doesn't make sense IMHO.
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Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Like others, I would suggest taking the rider safety class anyway. It's controlled and generally held in a place that's isolated from other traffic. Then later, when you have a place you feel safe riding, take it again. More training is always better than less training. Plus, it's riding. You will figure out whether you really like it almost immediately.
There are shops almost like this in North Carolina, called Brew-Thru
a convenience store focused mostly on booze that you literally drive through:
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
The craziest place I have ever been was Oklahoma City about 35 years ago. You couldn't buy anything with alcohol in a bar, so you had to go to the local gas station to buy beer and booze. Booze and gasoline - a fine combination.
Then you went back to the bar, handed it to the bar tender, who would then open it for you for a fee. And there was a stripper walking up and down the bar. That made it kinda tough to figure out what to look at when the girl you were attempting to talk to was at a certain angle in relation to the stripper. The stripper never stepped in anybody's drink, so I guess she had practice walking on the bar. It was a strange situation all around.
I still haven't quite figured out the moral or practical point of it all, but it was one of those surreal experiences that should be in a B movie. It also has nothing to do with motorcycles, but this is TBOT.
In Thailand they outlawed the sale of alcohol at all gas stations nationwide around 2006. It wasn't that much of a revelation to drunk driving, it's still rampant.
You can still buy beer from any roadside restaurant that doesn't care about the laws.
They also banned the sale of alcohol in supermarkets & restaurants during working hours, still not a huge effect on drunk driving.
You can still buy beer from any roadside restaurant that doesn't care about the laws.
They also banned the sale of alcohol in supermarkets & restaurants during working hours, still not a huge effect on drunk driving.
We've got one of those about two miles from my house.There are shops almost like this in North Carolina, called Brew-Thru
a convenience store focused mostly on booze that you literally drive through:
Lake Travis is also two miles from my house.
Beer and Wine, they put it into your truck or boat cooler with as much ice as you need.
As per Mister Nerve's suggestion, I read through the entire thread, and it was indeed interesting/informative.
I moved to Vancouver Island in 2004, and at least 50% of that decision was based on the fact that I wanted to learn how to SCUBA dive, and then be diving on a regular basis. Did my PADI Basic Open Water, got a number of dives under my belt, moved back to the Interior for a few years (no diving), moved back to the Island (2010/2011), got briefly back into diving, and moved back to the Interior again (quite likely permanently.)
I have $6000 worth of dive gear in my closet. If I were to move back to Vancouver Island, or anywhere else that afforded great, year-round diving opportunities, believe me when I say I'd be putting that gear to use again.
SCUBA is statistically a very safe sport/hobby. But, kinda like motorcycling, when something goes wrong, it can go really wrong - if you have a major equipment failure 60, 100 feet underwater, there's a good chance you're not gonna make it out of that situation alive. But God himself couldn't have convinced me to not at least try it back in 2004 and, again, I'd likely be diving regularly if I lived somewhere that allowed me to do it.
I still doubt I'll ever get into riding a motorcycle, but I can't in good conscience try to dissuade someone else from doing so (I don't think I had any influence here; OP made his choice before I popped into the thread anyways...)
Man, if I was in your area, I'd liquidate my SCUBA gear for a street-legal enduro bike and never look back. You are in the nirvana for backcountry motorcycling in this country. No need to ride on highways/urban areas if you don't want to. Hell, go pure dirt bike if you want to - and have a pickup to load it into. Way more fun than riding in a straight line down the highway.
Rider safety course is mandatory in my state and I am glad to be honest. I took it myself and they really drill you to the point you feel like crying. I am not kidding; like being in boot camp from what I hear about how boot camp is like. But I guarantee you if you don't finish knowing how to ride, then you shouldn't be riding at all!
I went through the Connecticut course as well. I learned the hard way (crashing my Vespa) that I shouldn't be riding at all. I just don't have the instincts and reflexes for it. The course was still valuable to me as a "cager," though, and I'm much more aware of the bikers around me.
@Joe Nerve No. No.
Usually the first thing to hit the pavement or gravel whether it is you slipping down, messing up, or being attacked by a large chunk of iron with wheels that "didn't see you".....IS YOUR HANDS.
Hands are important to bass players IMO.
Backstory on comment above:
Rode motorcycles as a sole means of transport for a number of years(1970's). Had highbeams on during the day(prior to the current interlocked kind) due to many near misses by "Din' See Em" drivers. Then one day while going through a green light at an intersection, a pickup truck driven by Din See Em turned in front of me(35 mph JC was going, the speed limit). Truck front bumper broke the lower tibia/fibia in 2 places each(wrapped around the bumper for a split second), turned bone into oatmeal(orthodoc said), shoved my femur through my pelvis via the hip socket, and then JC flew about 30 feet headfirst into the backside of a guardrail of a U-turn lane. Fortunately JC had learned to BUCKLE his helmet because it had a 1" deep guardrail gash in it......else JC would not be typing this. 3 months in traction in a hospital, rebreak surgery a year later complete with infection on the suture line(oh goody, major antibiotic shots for a year to fix that), and then one leg is shorter than the other so....you get back issues at 61.
I did buy 2 crashed bikes for parts, rebuild mine, and ride with a half-cast so as not to be afraid of the bike itself but JC will NEVER drive on the street again unless it is a life/death situation and the only means of transport. Too many blind Some Beaches out there named Din See Em or, worse yet, the drivers named Dohn Giva Crap who run over you b/c you are a small item on 2 wheels and they have 4 and are bigger than you so you get out of their way or you are hosed or dead. Dohn Giva Crap knows this. Physics proves that BIG MASS always wins against smaller mass in an inelastic collision event.
YMMV.
Usually the first thing to hit the pavement or gravel whether it is you slipping down, messing up, or being attacked by a large chunk of iron with wheels that "didn't see you".....IS YOUR HANDS.
Hands are important to bass players IMO.
Backstory on comment above:
Rode motorcycles as a sole means of transport for a number of years(1970's). Had highbeams on during the day(prior to the current interlocked kind) due to many near misses by "Din' See Em" drivers. Then one day while going through a green light at an intersection, a pickup truck driven by Din See Em turned in front of me(35 mph JC was going, the speed limit). Truck front bumper broke the lower tibia/fibia in 2 places each(wrapped around the bumper for a split second), turned bone into oatmeal(orthodoc said), shoved my femur through my pelvis via the hip socket, and then JC flew about 30 feet headfirst into the backside of a guardrail of a U-turn lane. Fortunately JC had learned to BUCKLE his helmet because it had a 1" deep guardrail gash in it......else JC would not be typing this. 3 months in traction in a hospital, rebreak surgery a year later complete with infection on the suture line(oh goody, major antibiotic shots for a year to fix that), and then one leg is shorter than the other so....you get back issues at 61.
I did buy 2 crashed bikes for parts, rebuild mine, and ride with a half-cast so as not to be afraid of the bike itself but JC will NEVER drive on the street again unless it is a life/death situation and the only means of transport. Too many blind Some Beaches out there named Din See Em or, worse yet, the drivers named Dohn Giva Crap who run over you b/c you are a small item on 2 wheels and they have 4 and are bigger than you so you get out of their way or you are hosed or dead. Dohn Giva Crap knows this. Physics proves that BIG MASS always wins against smaller mass in an inelastic collision event.
YMMV.
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Ouch. Correction, OUCH!!! Had some close calls but quit before close became contact. Kind of glad I did.
There are plenty of people who buy written off bikes (not hard these days, fairings and headlight damage = an insurance write off!) just to put race glass on them and use them as track day bikes.
No rego, no insurance costs, just oil changes and tyres mostly (buy a Honda CBR600 or Yamaha R6) and if you fall off it's a hell of a lot safer than falling on the road.
The down side is not having the freedom to just go ride, and you have to trailer your bike to the track but a good race track and a well organised ride day is motorcycling nirvana, and very, very addictive.
In short, want a safe place to ride a bike, the track is as safe as it gets, oh and no tickets either...
oh please! sure, they're dangerous, and yes, on the road the risks are higher because of careless or ignorant road users but just about everything in life carries risk.
I know i would rather live life and enjoy the time i have rather than wrap myself in cotton wool and be bored my whole existence. I would also take my chances on a bike than smoke cigarettes, take drugs or drink myself to death. Victims of their own stupidity who poison themselves don't pass through the ER unless they have a stroke or heart attack so their demise isn't as spectacular but it's worse, a slow painful death as your loved ones watch on while you fade away? no thanks!
An adrenaline rush is only a twist of the throttle. Know it quite well.
I worked for a while with a dude with a limp. Dave. He drove the van. Told me he'd been 'round the country on a Duc. Dave still rode but he was the most defensive driver you could ever imagine. Even when he was behind the wheel of a large white van, he would still baulk at everything, the slightest movement anywhere on the road ahead, like a piece of litter shifting in the wind. Or a startled pigeon. Dave gave way to everything - no trust left whatsoever. He rarely got up to legal speed and often went along at a crawl in busy areas. Poor bloke was a nervous wreck. Accidents take their toll.
You can never be too careful. People just don't see you. Dave taught me that - nice guy. So did those who went the other way. They taught me what not to do Get a bike but be careful. Defensive's the only sane approach - ultimately four wheels is the best approach, if you ask me, by a country mile, and still, you're never ever truly safe. On two wheels: sand, sludge, slime, oil, ice, gremlins, ghouls, goblins, grease, and geezers may all at one time or another be your bête noire, the bone-breaking bane of all bikers.
Hold the bus!
You can never be too careful. People just don't see you. Dave taught me that - nice guy. So did those who went the other way. They taught me what not to do
Get a bike but be careful. Defensive's the only sane approach - ultimately four wheels is the best approach, if you ask me, by a country mile, and still, you're never ever truly safe. On two wheels: sand, sludge, slime, oil, ice, gremlins, ghouls, goblins, grease, and geezers may all at one time or another be your bête noire, the bone-breaking bane of all bikers.Hold the bus!
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I recently started a new job and one of my co-workers has an on-road/off-road bike (a Suzuki of some sort.) If I were to get into motorbiking, that's the way I'd go too!
Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. My Dad was a cop. His buddy "Red" was a motorcycle cop. Red stopped by our house one day on his bike. I was four years old and I was hooked. It was a Harley, a 1949 FLH Panhead Cop bike. So I had a few bikes, Triumphs, a Yamaha, then I kinda gave up bikes for toys I could share with my family. Sailboats. Fast forward to 2003. I buy a Harley. I took the class and glad I did. Now I'm fixin' to turn 71 and still riding, well, barhopping. So, moral of the story??? Live the life you love, love the life you live. Take the class first!!!!What better place to ask than here
The short story:
When I was a kid I was obsessed with motorcycles and mini bikes. Built every motorcycle model in creation, including the working engine of a Honda 750. Rode mini bikes in the country (dirt roads and stuff), and rode little motorcycles once or twice. I've dreamed, I mean literally dreamed (not while awake), of riding my entire life. They're always great dreams, almost as good as the girlie dreams, and much like the flying ones. So why the big question mark?
When I was about 17 a cousin of mine, a very experienced long time rider, was killed on a motorcycle. My parents then did a fine job of scaring the crap out of me, and it worked. I've also been in a few car accidents that were impossible to have prevented, and that helped embed the fear. Hit a pot hole on the highway several years back also that blew out a tire and almost made me lose control - and couldn't help wondering, what if I were on a motorcycle?
So... I'd like other people's thoughts on this. Basically, I really REALLY want a motorcycle. Always did. There's a school near me that has an excellent reputation. I would of course do that. Should I pursue this and face/challenge my fears - or do those fears make me a bad candidate for happy and or safe biker? I can live happily burying this desire, but I think there's a chance I could live MORE happily if get one.
Just want to open up the discussion and get thoughts of others.
