Midlife Motorcycle Crisis

My mother, who is a family counselor, calls the 40's the screaming 40's. That would accurately describe my life stage on many days. In the 40's you have plenty of responsibility, realize you are physically on the downhill side of life, and that you will probably never achieve what you thought you would.

For the past several years I have had an increasing desire for a motorcycle. I had four motorcycles as a kid and sold the last one when I was about 19. I even took a 3,000 mile trip once.

On the trip I learned the following:

• Big trucks blow motorcycles around and more trucks are out at night
• A late 70's model Honda 500 rides like a split rail fence after a few days
• Even a concrete picnic bench can give you a good nights sleep if you are tired enough
• Puncture vine is bad on air mattresses
• 100+ degree temperature will decrease the life of a motorcycle tire.
• 100+ degree temperatures feels like riding through an oven
  
• No matter how hot it is on the desert floor it is cold at night on a mountain.
• Long sleeved shirts avoid sunburn
• A cheap helmet can make you temporarily deaf
• Don't put luggage where it blocks airflow to an air cooled engine
  
• Some motels have bed bugs
  
• There is no experience like a long trip on a motorcycle. Nothing else comes close.
  

Anyone who has not owned and ridden a motorcycle could not really understand the seductive draw of a motorcycle. Their first reaction is "You are crazy! They are dangerous! I know so and so and he was killed on a motorcycle."

As I said, non-cyclists won't understand and no amount of talking will change their minds. No experience matches that of riding a motorcycle.

I've spent hours of precious CPA study time researching motorcycles. The following four bikes are the contenders:

1. 2009 or newer Kawasaki KLX 250S
2. Yamaha XT 250
3. 2008 or newer Kawasaki KLR 650
4. Suzuki DR 650

KLX 250S:

• Top speed around 90 mph. Fast enough for a short freeway trip but can't sustain the speed.
• Light enough to easily handle.
• No temptation to take a long trip.
• Best rated and most advanced of the current 250's offered.

XT 250 - A close runner up to the KLX but for a bit more money the KLX outshines it in every department.

KLR 650:

Weighs over 400 pounds and is a bit tall for me. It would be a beast on any real trail. It is really more of a sport/adventure bike like the more expensive BMW' and it begs to be taken on a long cruise.

DR650:

Lighter and shorter than the KLR but still around 400 pounds.
An air cooled engine means one less thing to break.
Fast enough to ride down the freeway all day but nimble enough to tackle a mild trail.

Why not just a dirt bike? Because I do not want to hassle with loading the thing up on a truck or trailer.


Data driven decisions are usually the best as long as the data and analysis are good and the data from NHTSA.gov says that.... drum roll please...

MOTORCYCLES ARE DANGEROUS!

Most folks could tell you that at first glance but how dangerous are they?


Motorcycle deaths have risen for the past 10 years while auto deaths have declined. Air bags, seat belts, and crumple zones are not available on motorcycles. ABS systems are becoming available but motorcycles already stop faster than cars anyway.

If you look at the government statistics on motorcycle accidents you are 35 times more likely to die on a bike than in a car if you are in an accident and you are eight times more likely to get in an accident.

A review of statistics for 2007 shows that risk can be mitigated though by the following:

• Don't ride drunk. Over 30% of fatalities were drunk.
  
• Don't ride fast. About half of the fatal accidents were single vehicle accidents
  
• Stay off of super sport motorcycles (aka crotch rockets)
• Get training & licences (26% were not licenced & 50% of fatalities were singe vehicle crashes)
  
• Wear bright colored gear including a full face helmet, armored jacket, boots, and armored pants. This would save many trips to the hospital and the morgue. (Helmets are 37% effective in preventing death. That number would probably go up if the helmets were all full face helmets. 78% of the the motorcycles in two vehicle accidents were struck in the front and 5% were struck in the rear)
• Since 78% of the bikes were struck in the front that means that the bike hit the car. Get training & be very able to handle the bike to its cornering limits.
  
• Don't ride at night
• Approach intersections with extreme caution & wear bright colored clothes. (Fifty percent or more of all two-vehicle crashes involving a motorcycle and a passenger vehicle in which the motorcycle rider died were intersection crashes.)
• Ride on the freeway when you can. (Over, 90 percent of all two-vehicle crashes involving a motorcycle and a passenger vehicle in which the motorcycle rider died occurred on non-interstate roadways.)
• Ditto above for visible clothing. (In 2007, there were 2,332 two-vehicle fatal crashes involving a motorcycle and another type of vehicle. In 40 percent of these crashes, the other vehicle was turning left while the motorcycle was going straight, passing, or overtaking the vehicle.)

Most of the fatalities were not the young, "immortal", and testosterone filled 16 to 30 year olds but were the mid lifers like me. The bikes we rode 20+ years ago generally were slower than the bikes on the market now and so are we. Some of the bikes today will go 180 mph. For around $10,000 you can get a machine that will go 180 mph. That is faster than your guardian angel can fly.

Statistics never tell the whole story. The deaths do not include all of the amputated legs, wretched backs, brain damaged bodies, broken bones, severed spinal cords, and so forth from accidents where the rider survived but has not much of a life.

Modern medical technology can bring about results that make the Spanish inquisition look like a picnic. At least in the middle ages you would probably die mercifully soon from an infection or starvation. Our technology and over zealous emergency room personnel can keep you alive for years when you should have died on the scene.

Motorcycle riders blame the car drivers and much of that is justified. However, you are not likely to change human behavior quickly. People are no more or less stupid now than they were 10 years ago. Seat belt use has increased mainly due to laws requiring them but so has cell phone use, texting, ipods, etc.

You can't do much to improve the crash worthiness of a motorcycle. The brakes are already better and bikes are beginning to come with ABS. The bikes are much better at griping the road and are smoother than they were years ago. The cars on the other hand are far better than they were 10 years ago and are getting more idiot proof all the time.

Safety gear can save you from road rash and much of the time can keep your brain intact but a few inches of protective gear is no match for a two ton SUV. The rider has to prevent the crash in the first place.

As for my personal observations, in the several years that I've been thinking about a motorcycle I've seen first hand two mangled bikes with paramedics working on the cyclist. One appeared to be a farm bike and a medical helicopter was in the field across the street.

I've also known numerous people who died in car accidents, from heart attacks, from cancer, from guns, and from other things. Life is dangerous and nobody gets out of life alive. We have a 100% chance of dying.

That said, I have no desire for a ride on a life flight helicopter or a permanent seat in a wheelchair. I do not wish to leave my wife to fend for herself or my children to be raised by somebody else and I'm not sure I'm quite prepared to meet my maker just yet.

Now I have established that motorcycles are dangerous but that the rider can tilt the odds somewhat better in his favor it is on to the decision.


I want the motorcycle for the following reasons:

• To enjoy putting along on the plentiful back country trails and forest service roads near where I live.
• I want to live before I die. I can die falling in the shower or in an auto accident. Big Macs and the like kill far more people than motorcycles.
  
• For last resort emergency transportation if gas reaches $10 a gallon and is scarce (OK that one is a stretch).

As the old aviation saying goes, "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots." Good pilots tend to live a long time and they enjoy flying. Yes, flying is dangerous but they mitigate the risk by being good at what they do.

I believe I can mitigate the risk sufficiently that it is an acceptable one. I do not desire to ride much on the street. The odds are against you but a few fair weather commutes to work could be good for the mind.

The trails I can greatly control by putting along at a reasonable speed. The highways are a combat zone and I have only so much control over that risk. I have no desire to go into combat one bit less protected than I have to. The bike needs to be street legal to get to the trails or from one trail to another but the street is no place to hang out on two wheels for this middle aged body.

And the decision is......

I want a motorcycle. I've signed up for the motorcycle safety course...

But...

The safety course is as far as I am going for now but not for the reasons that you might think.

First, I have about 10 lofty goals that must be achieved before I will allow myself to buy a motorcycle.

The decision comes down to time and money. Children, wife, educational pursuits, church, and work ensure that I have no time for riding the trails and no money to spend on a motorcycle anytime soon.

I will just ride the trails in my mind for now while I work on my goals. My heart tells me that the time will come that I'll be happily putting along and enjoying the outdoors on my bike but not in the very near future.