I am finding it difficult to understand just what is going on in our brains.......

I was watching a programme the other day to do with NABBED(a disabled riders group, not sure what the initials stand for, but im sure someone will put me straight)

What I find amazing is how far a biker will push the boundaries in order to get back on another bike. Many of them were disabled from bike accidents. I sat with incredulous admiration for them, then reminded myself that it is only a mere 5 months since I had a massive accident on my VFR400..........I too cannot wait to get in the saddle...What is wrong with me???

I have my family and friends burning my ear not to get another bike, yet I have this yearning that Im unable to tame despite a near death experience.

Have I lost the plot??
I hope not, but it harkens me to ask the question.....Why do we put ourselves at risk from all of the effing idiots on the road and other anomolies??

For me its the, fraternity, friendship and freedom.

Deep I know but I am truly interested in your thoughts.

PS.. DP Thanks for a great ride, it meant a lot, shame the leathers were loose, your butt must be bigger than it looks having you between my legs made up for it tho

I haven't fallen off in a good few years but I did plenty of times in my teens. I can't remember once thinking of chucking it and hanging up my leathers. I don't know what it is but it's like an addiction. Once you've had the hit, its very hard to give it up, no matter what depths it takes you to. I suppose that none of us think its going to happen to us, so the risks seem minimal.

I have heard of folks stopping riding after a big accident but that is mainly due to pressure from their families. I think they always regret it. After all, life is too short, so why not make the most of it, while you can.

Maybe bikers are a bit crazy but they're happy, which is better than being sane and miserable.

Yes... we are an oppressed minoirity, with our own cultural heritage, social rules and an inherent bunch of psycological dissorders.... so how come we dont get a govenrment grant!?



oh and .... NABD website

no worries baby, it was a pleasure-next time we'll take the bike tho...........

On a more serious note, i count myself lucky that i had only one accident in 28 years(so far) of riding, i was a bit shaky for about 6 months after, riding pillion on my mates Z1B, everytime we came to a junction with a car turning right.
but i got over it, as do many others.
i'm not eloquent enough to explain why we do it, but we do.
i can remember the heady days of my teen years, most of my peers were experimenting with drink/drugs-me, i took the Honda 750 out to the lakes-used to be on a high for days after. it stays with you for ever Gislaine, i admire you tremendously for the courage you've shown these last 5 months, you dont need me to tell you-lifes too short, if you want another bike then go for it, your girls will understand in time, would you want to end up resenting them in later years if you didnt follow your heart now?

whoa, pretty deep, must have a lie down.........................................

Oi admin, give these two a room of their own will you.

As to the more serious side of the question as I've said before some people just get it some people don't and those that don't will never come close to understanding why, even we don't understand why sometimes, it just is.

I'm not from your typical background. Some perhaps many of the people on here have a history of growing up with bikes, had friends who had bikes when they were young or work with bikes. I didn't have any friends with bikes none of my family have ever been on a bike let alone owned one and I don't and never have worked with them. Yet if pushed I would do without the car first in favour of the bike. I'm lucky in that I have a choice so when the weather is not favourable or I need to carry more than I can fit on the bike I take the car. But I never just go for a drive in the car as I would go for a ride on the bike, I would never dream of going touring in the car as I would and have done on the bike and I would never meet any of the people I have as a result of having the bike. Yes I'm proud of my car, I've worked hard to get it but at the end of the day its not mine it is a tool/perk of my job and in two years time it will be changed for a new one and someone I've never met will decide what will be available for me to choose from. I've never spent a penny on its maintenance or on any car for that matter as that is all taken care of I only pay for petrol. I only passed my car test because my employer wanted to give me a car, I had no interest in owning a car and probably wouldn't have done otherwise. But my money goes into the bike, I make every choice relating to what I do to it or spend on it to make it mine. My blood, sweat and sometimes tears go into my bike, its part of me, of who I am.

Some people (those that don't get it) often ask me don't you get bored riding on your own. My answer is always no because I'm not on my own. Anywhere I stop there is generally someone passing by that will wave or even stop themselves for a natter. Yes there are some pratts out there too but it's their loss if they choose to ignore me because I'm not in a one piece race suit or on a Fireplace or R1 and I know they don't really get it although they think they do. Some of the best and most relaxing days I've had have been when its just been me, the bike and the road and together we just keep going until one of us runs out and then we turn round and do it all again. There is no amount of words that can explain why this is so, it just has to be experienced for anyone to have any chance of understanding. And when youhave that experience and you are one of those that truly get it, you will always yearn to get back on and ride.

I've been on and off bikes for the past 21 years with a massive break in the middle.
i first got hooked when i was about 19 rode a bike for about 6 or 7 years then took a big break when i met and married suki, she was dead against bikes when we first met and is still very tentative around them.
At first i wasn't bothered about not having one, then i bought the gs when i got back on i was real scared of it for about oooh ½ a mile at least then i started to get the feel of it again by the time i got home i was really chucking the thing into bends and thoroughly enjoying myself.
Swapped the engine for a bigger one and got the feel for spanner twirling again then it was nicked from outside my house.
What can i say as anyone on here will tell you i was utterly gutted they could have cut a chunk out of me and it wouldn't have hurt as bad.

so now i'm waiting for the cb900 won't be long now i'm starting to get butterflys just thinking about it.

why do i do it?

I just love it, it's when you thumb the starter and the engine kicks into life and then settles down, the smells, the feeling of freedom. what really does it for me is leaning into a bend and then winding on the throttle and feeling the bike respond and pull through.

doesn't really matter what i'm riding although i kinda draw the line at step throughs.

mmm are bikers nuts

yep ... well i know i am


NABD national assoiciation for bikers with a disability ( was london rep 92-95 )

Why do we do it that is easy to answer but then as i always say

it's a bike thing if i have to explain you would never understand

[QUOTE]



I have five brothers all of whom had bikes, so I kinda grew up on bikes. My ex Husband had bikes ranging from rd250,
Kwak z650 through to a Z1R. He had a honda 90.ugly thing, but he only used it for work..it got badly scratched one day when he was on night shift....took me a few years to tell him it was me

I can understand after an accident not getting on another bike and I do think its peer pressure if you dont..I have never succumbed to peer pressure, so when my hubby tells me he'll divorce me if I do......so be it (talk to the hand, or rather shout at the LCB as it rides away from the house)

Ian...have they got any spare rooms here??

How bad have I got it?

I often read these type of threads because it makes me wonder at times why every one admitts they had a break from biking and later on in life wether it be after a short or long break they return to biking with with a reasonable amount of riding experiance but are then subjected to riddicule by some possibly new'ish riders and see BORN AGAIN BIKERS as a pain in the ass as they go aledgedly killing themselves on fast machines but why are we regarded as BORN AGAIN BIKERS??just cos we or some had a break..

Surely at some time in our lives some have a break due to home life commitments then wish to return to our most memorable life time experiances of riding bikes that we enjoyed before a enforced break in motorcycling.

I do some times think these people who regard born again bikers being a pain do in all honesty forget that they too "will be "or "could be" one of the born again bikers in future years.

This all came to light as I was having a coffee at a local bike shop and listerning to a couple of lads discussing a very close to subject including born again bikers and other dribble as you do at that age and what they would like to do if if they ruled the world regarding biking..

I do realise that as Im getting older I tend to see things in a different light but I do try to keeep up with modern technoligy along with bikes n' pc's altho I do admitt to failing at the later of the two..

I in now way direct this to any individual but just my view as an older rider and looking over how things change..

Just some thing to help fill up the posts as were a might slow these days..

you can have this one on me lol

in aswer to your question you have got it bad

which is never really a bad thing.


plug just read your answer

So how long do you think you have to be away from bikes before you can be classed as a born again biker.
I was off bikes for 3 n half years because off my accident, I wanted to get back on a bike but my leg was not strong enough.

So do you think i am a BAB well not you but others

errr.... are bikers nuts what? rusty... skanky... slightly shaken

I know what you mean plug, I think most of us go through that stage at some point. I've been in the situation of not having any dosh and having better things to do with the little money that I did have. I don't envy anybody in that situation. I'm not loaded these days but I get by and can scrape together enough to run the viffer.

I never thought born again riders were a problem when I started off, so it must be a new thing but there is definitely a stigma attached to coming back. I can't think of a Born againer on here, who has shown anything but good sense, when returning to biking. There are loads who still buy R1 and fireplaces but I'd like to think they are the minority.

I know I've just been riding for 18 months (and didn't ride a lot when in my teens, to be honest) but I hardly think I'm a "born again" anything...

I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles in all sorts of vehicles, fastly and slowly, and only had one accident of any note - caused by alchohol I have to admit - and the getting of the bike was more a "I want to do this" thought than anything else although I admit being egged on by the illustrious (and now missing?) Hilts that is.

Why didn't I buy an R1? Couldn't bloody afford it... I don't care what other riders think (and I've been passed by a few power ranges I can tell ee ) as long as I feel reasonably safe and am enjoying the riding... I don't have to use the bike to go anywhere, I don't run it on a shoestring and it's probably the best toy I've ever owne to be honest

Womble me o'l mucker

I do not believe in the term BORN again you ride a bike its with you for ever, what I was tying to get across was we were all young once and the way if you like the new type of biker see's it regarding older riders returning to bikes for what ever reason as everyones got different reasons for not contining ..

......IN A NUTSHELL....

Blandy yer rate a agin, if ya follow my lingo

I know you was not having a go Plug

i would never had stopped riding if it had not been for that fated meeting with the transit luton in 2000.

but some good things come out of it.

I met my wife
another son
it got me out of dispatching
& i moved back home to essex ( which i porobably would not have done )

so all in all
yes i had to take some time out off riding
& yes i am in constant pain from this bloody leg
but the above more than makes up for it.