Sorry about your friend and to see you go. It's a personal decision we all need to make. God bless and keep you.

 

It'll always have a higher degree of danger than riding in a cage. I stopped riding for awhile just because I was getting scared everytime I rode the bike. Gotta respect your opinion and feelings.

And for anyone that thinks when it's your time there's nothing you can do to change it, try standing in front of a train and see if you can change your time. The choices you make can have a large bearing on whether you live or die. Even the Bible says that "time and unforseen occurance befall us all."

 

I hear a lot of folks say "you'll die when it's your time...doesn't matter if you're on a bike or not"..... but.....don't you think motorcycling INCREASES your chance of dying or being seriously injured as opposed to being in a car? Sideswiped in a car = minor injuries.....sideswiped on a bike= say goodbye to your leg or meet the reaper.

 

If by chance you're still lurking and reading, do yourself a favor and don't make a rash decision now. Give it some time. For every rider that has been killed, hundreds, if not thousands, of others have not been. Many have never even come close. Take it from someone that gave up riding years ago for family reasons, you'll regret it later. And it may take many years to get back on.

Think about it for a bit. Bike doesn't have to be sold any time soon.

 

It's personal choice for each and everyone of us who ride will make at some point in our lives and anyone who says " I'll never ..." is letting the ego speak or too stupid to know better yet . I respect what you feel man , you park the bike but you don't have to give up the lifestyle , your going to go through a few changes and some serious self examination but you'll still be who you are in the end . I was the guy who was never without his bike rain , shine , snow take a man pill deal with it raising hell all the way . Woke one day and had that " feeling " as you had it was the creepiest thing I've ever felt and I was to be out with my best friend on a Sunday run just the 2 of us , I didn't go and he didn't come back . I parked the bike for over a year and still can't tell you why , I'd lost fiends before and been with a few when it happened . Never hammered me like that before , follow your own heart and live well my friend .

 

A cousin of mine, a true biker in his day, bought a FatBoy the first year they came out (1990?). It was his first and only "new" bike. Seldom rode it as he was saving it for his retirement this summer (2010).

Single all his life, he also started working overtime every chance he had from about the same time frame. Didn't have much of a life the last twenty years. Just work, watching his investments, polishing the Fatboy, and looking forward to his retirement this summer. Always talked about the rides he had planned.

Last Fall (2009) he had a couple of dizzy spells and they found he had a brain tumor. Never rode a bike again. He passed away in January in less than 6 months. One brother got the old school chopper, the other the Fatboy. Neither brother ever rode much. The whole works is tied up in probate as he left behind quite a bit of money.

It seems no matter how much we plan or shelter ourselves, there are no guaranteed outcomes. (Well, maybe there is one sure outcome, we just don't know the schedule.)

If the ride is no longer enjoyable, then I can understand stopping. But that's the only reason I would. I feel when it's your day, it's your day.

-stef

 

maybe you can give the OP a good offer on his bike if he decides to sell

 

Hey it's a decision that everyone has to make on his own and no one should try and make you change your mind or give you grief over it. If you ever change your mind you can always come back. Good luck and godspeed in your future endeavors. By the way, I have it on good authority it's okay to "lurk" on the site too. ;-)

 

Wait 1 year before you sell your bike. If you been riding for 25 years you will not give up riding that easy.

 

Respect your decision but what has changed. You are not going to ride to be safer and presumably happier, and you'll stare at every bike you see for the rest of your life missing the ride and be miserable.

Keep the bike for a year, strip it down, clean it up do some mods (this will make you stay off it) and see how you feel next summer.