I am so pissed at myself because I did not save [and have been unable to find] an article I read several years ago comparing the numbers of tasks per minute one must process: 1) driving a car; 2) riding a motorcycle; and 3) flying a plane. As best I recall, riding the motorcycle was 4x and flying a plane was somewhere around 8-10x the tasks of driving. So yes, I believe riding keeps us sharp [of course, some of us started with a duller wit than others ]

 

My message was it doesn't pay to let your m mind wonder on a bike let alone in a car. I did fly small aircraft and I tell you this every time I took off and landed I was breathing heavy because in a plane if ONE thing weather be a pilot brain fart or a mechanical or instrument issue you only have a couple seconds to get your act together because 1 thing turns into 2 then 3 and even at 2 things becoming mistakes or failures it is likely it will be too late to recover especially on landing and take off. That's when the majority of issues pop up ! I loved flying but I always had to talk myself getting into the plane and forcing mself to request taxie or holding short of the runway, than once I departed well I had no choice but to relax !

 

Riding where I do everyday is an A game day, you bring any less and it will hurt or worse, so yeah it helps keep the synapses firing correctly.

 

Good Buddy of mine was learning to fly.
Said the instructor told him there were three basic rules to a successful flight:

#1. If you get disoriented and don't know where you are; you have to 'fly' the plane
#2. If you misjudge the weather; you have to 'fly' the plane
#3. If things don't go the way you planned (dark or distance); you have to 'fly' the plane

 

I credit my 62 years of riding to being a hard line defensive driver and winter riding where factors like surface conditions, following distance, careful maneuvering among other things is more critical and helps keep the skills up.

At 78 I am beginning to question my long distance riding in remote areas alone. I have slowed down since mid July but only because I acquired a bigger building to house the collection and am rehabbing it myself which is taking much longer than I planned and even skipping Sturgis.

I am considering less touring next season. We will see.

So my answer to the question is staying active does keep performance up at a level of much younger riders is yes.. I still had at least a dozen rides of seven to eight hundred mile days. Six of them were on my 6 day 4,200 mile ride to Laughlin River Run at the start of the season this year. I was caught in two major thunderstorms one in Missouri and one in Kansas during that ride.

 

Fact - medical studies have proven any "puzzle" solving is good for physical brain health, especially as one has aged.

In the case of motorcycle riding, could one deduce the puzzle of watching traffic and the need to coordinate one's
limbs to shift gears be healthy?

I'd answer yes to the OP question.

Speculate - fear, excitement, fun etc the emotions...I could find no reference toward physical brain health. Only mental health.

All FWIW.

 

my dad is 95, still takes short rides, has ridden since 1940, his mind still as sharp as when was 30 so I say yes it does.

 

I prefer to think that watching naked dancing girls keeps me young. I just ride my bike to get to them.

 

59 years old and yes I feel younger when I am on the bike. Love it!