Fellow that is new to motorcycles.

[argonsagas]

I have to agree with that. At that age with zero experience, it will be an uphill quest against the odds to ride daily without having a serious accident for the approximate three years it takes to develop required survival skills. If anything goes wrong before that, you're cannon fodder. There are a thousand insane ways the cagers can get you.

Those are good points.

Connected to that is this: even if you have years of experience but take a year or two away from riding, it can come as a huge surprise to find out how much your riding skills....and your mindset..... diminished in that time.

[GS1150Pilot]

Sounding like a geezer convention in here ...

[Grimly]

Connected to that is this: even if you have years of experience but take a year or two away from riding, it can come as a huge surprise to find out how much your riding skills....and your mindset..... diminished in that time.

I had a ten year break and it took a few weeks to get my reactions sharp again. Amazing how sloppy I'd got on four.

[argonsagas]

Sounding like a geezer convention in here ...

Hopefully the "geezers" will be listened to, and their advice followed.

I went through the phase I mentioned above. Seeing first hand how much I had actually lost was a BIG surprise.
Fortunately, I got back into riding with a smaller bike, a CM450. I took a year to learn again, and stayed local, before buying the 1100G and later the GK that gave me a most enjoyable iron butt ride..

That said, I never went back to some of the things that I was comfortable with doing in the earlier years.
Maybe it was a bit of "geezer" coming out....

[earlfor]

Sounding like a geezer convention in here ...

I started riding daily on the street in 65. I was 22. By 1974, I knew everything. I had three major crashes, one every 6 months. It was 6 months on my back, back onto the road, then another crash, 6 months recoup, back on the road, 6 more months in bed. I had to change my life, because even young, wild and crazy, I knew I was not going to survive like that. That day, motorcycling stopped being a carefree hobby and listening to the birds sing. It became a daily combat mission. There is no 2nd place. I'm a competent rider, but my handling skills are not world class grand prix. I'll never be good enough to out ride any possible confrontation. But, I am capable enough to out think and out plan almost any type of confrontation. My goal was to develop a matrix of possibilities and probabilities with reflex responses for any situation that would prevent me from being anyplace something is going to occur. In short, learn to predict confrontations with as high as possible accuracy and don't be there. I haven't crashed a bike since mid 1975. You can call me anything you wish, but you can't call me dead and it's been pleasant not having broken bones this past 46 years.

[rphillips]

No doubt, when becoming an old geezer you do see things differently. I'm seeing that as a positive step.

[GS1150Pilot]

Yeah, yeah, yeah ...

Been riding since I was 12, but that doesn't mean I go all grim reaper on folks who are getting into riding now. My brother started riding in the early 70's on a Honda 50, and rode until he had his first son, who is now 32. He just got another bike (a KLR 650) last year and said he was sorry he had waited so long.

Point is, getting into anything can have its risks, but it might be good to focus on the positives a bit first. This fellow seems to have taken a good approach to getting into it, and I doubt he did so without his wife knowing. It sounds like he is gainfully employed, would have insurance, and is doing something to add value to his life. Having a bunch of old dudes standing around talking about funeral expenses and what-not is so geezerish.

[ptegsotic]

Connected to that is this: even if you have years of experience but take a year or two away from riding, it can come as a huge surprise to find out how much your riding skills....and your mindset..... diminished in that time.

nonsense
people at this stage should stay on the dirt

[earlfor]

Yeah, yeah, yeah ...

Been riding since I was 12, but that doesn't mean I go all grim reaper on folks who are getting into riding now. My brother started riding in the early 70's on a Honda 50, and rode until he had his first son, who is now 32. He just got another bike (a KLR 650) last year and said he was sorry he had waited so long.

Point is, getting into anything can have its risks, but it might be good to focus on the positives a bit first. This fellow seems to have taken a good approach to getting into it, and I doubt he did so without his wife knowing. It sounds like he is gainfully employed, would have insurance, and is doing something to add value to his life. Having a bunch of old dudes standing around talking about funeral expenses and what-not is so geezerish.

I'm going to be generous and say you're right about half the time and the rest, not so much. heh Carry on.

[storm 64]

Yeah, yeah, yeah ...

Been riding since I was 12, but that doesn't mean I go all grim reaper on folks who are getting into riding now. My brother started riding in the early 70's on a Honda 50, and rode until he had his first son, who is now 32. He just got another bike (a KLR 650) last year and said he was sorry he had waited so long.

Point is, getting into anything can have its risks, but it might be good to focus on the positives a bit first. This fellow seems to have taken a good approach to getting into it, and I doubt he did so without his wife knowing. It sounds like he is gainfully employed, would have insurance, and is doing something to add value to his life. Having a bunch of old dudes standing around talking about funeral expenses and what-not is so geezerish.

Thumbs up to this reply. 👍
Yes, Josh is very responsible individual. He wouldn't take any unnecessary risks, or ride like a hooligan. He's just a middle age guy wanting to ride. And with the Honda 750, I think it's a perfect beginners motorcycle for him. Not to small that he'd grow out of. Not to big where it would get away from him. He's a bigger guy, able to flat foot it... I asked him if he had it out on the open road yet? He said he hasn't even had it out of his neighborhood yet!

[Redman]

Norm, Your buddy John seems like a reasonable guy.

For you being a good mentor, I would suggest when talking to him ask him "You tell me, what do you, when going down the road, what do you do to turn the bike into a right turn . . ?" See what he says.

[GS1150Pilot]

I'm going to be generous and say you're right about half the time and the rest, not so much. heh Carry on.

LoL. Geezer parade.

[GS1150Pilot]

Thumbs up to this reply. 
Yes, Josh is very responsible individual. He wouldn't take any unnecessary risks, or ride like a hooligan. He's just a middle age guy wanting to ride. And with the Honda 750, I think it's a perfect beginners motorcycle for him. Not to small that he'd grow out of. Not to big where it would get away from him. He's a bigger guy, able to flat foot it... I asked him if he had it out on the open road yet? He said he hasn't even had it out of his neighborhood yet!

Cheers, Norm. After nearly two years of COVID, the last thing I think anyone needs is a bunch of doom and gloomers raining on someone finding his way into motorcycling, which has given so many of us decades of joy.

[earlfor]

LoL. Geezer parade.

Hear what you want to hear. That's fine.

[GS1150Pilot]

This article is aimed at women, but it captures exactly what matters in this thread:

Just six months before Marjorie White bought her first motorcycle, her 25-year-old son, Tom, was tragically killed on his bike by a driver making a U-turn.

Looking for a way to cope with her son’s death, White went out and bought a bright green Yamaha 100, a street and dirt bike. It was 2014, and she was 58.

“I needed something for me — some way to move past the pain that had me frozen in place,” White says. “I could not have known how valuable riding motorcycles would become for my mental health.”

Her son’s death on a motorcycle didn’t stop her. For White, getting on a bike was like rising from the ashes like a phoenix.

“Riding helped me feel alive, to find joy again. It’s meditative, confidence-building, and inspiring. I feel at one with the universe — in sync, if you will.”

https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/women-riding-motorcycles-pandemic