Are you a rider or a biker?
#1871
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Lawrenceville,GA/Rome,Italy
Posts: 2,044
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82 Posts
he's so old...
his birth-certificate expired.
...he has an autographed bible.
...he recalls when the Grand Canyon was a ditch.
...when he was in school there was no history class.
actually if you're old and ya wanna still ride, ya can't be a beer drinkin' cigar smoking couch potato.
i'll be 67 this year
run 20- 25 miles a week.
typical run
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/259375596
got a crossbones, a commando, a bonnieville and a r1200r bmw. ride the **** out of all a them, too.
hey, at my age, as long as i can still walk the walk, its okay to be an obnoxious old braggart.
his birth-certificate expired.
...he has an autographed bible.
...he recalls when the Grand Canyon was a ditch.
...when he was in school there was no history class.
actually if you're old and ya wanna still ride, ya can't be a beer drinkin' cigar smoking couch potato.
i'll be 67 this year
run 20- 25 miles a week.
typical run
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/259375596
got a crossbones, a commando, a bonnieville and a r1200r bmw. ride the **** out of all a them, too.
hey, at my age, as long as i can still walk the walk, its okay to be an obnoxious old braggart.
#1872
Yup simple matter of the expansion of older riders who can afford a bike that couldn't afford one before or family commitments kept them from buying. So they get one probably haven't ridden in decades if ever and can afford a more powerful bike.
I cannot imagine at 47 after many yrs on dirt bikes as a kid and getting my first road bike at 16 that I am doing anything that puts me more at risk than the 10 young guys I saw whipping down 280 through traffic doing at least 140mph in the straights.
I have been riding a long time and have complete respect for it and my capabilities and limitations. And I sure as hell don't don't any of the crazy stuff I did when I was barefoot and pregnant, I mean- young dumb and full of c---- got my sayings mixed up
I cannot imagine at 47 after many yrs on dirt bikes as a kid and getting my first road bike at 16 that I am doing anything that puts me more at risk than the 10 young guys I saw whipping down 280 through traffic doing at least 140mph in the straights.
I have been riding a long time and have complete respect for it and my capabilities and limitations. And I sure as hell don't don't any of the crazy stuff I did when I was barefoot and pregnant, I mean- young dumb and full of c---- got my sayings mixed up
#1873
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/0...rs-beware/?hpw
If you’re over 40 and planning to hop on a motorcycle, take care. Compared with younger riders, the odds of being seriously injured are high.
That is the message of a new study, published this week in the journal Injury Prevention, which found that older bikers are three times as likely to be severely injured in a crash as younger riders.
The percentage of older bikers on the road is quickly rising, and their involvement in accidents is a growing concern. Nationwide, from 1990 to 2003, the percentage of motorcyclists over age 50 soared from roughly 1 in 10 to about 1 in 4. At the same time, the average age of riders involved in motorcycle crashes has also been climbing. Injury rates among those 65 and older jumped 145 percent from 2000 to 2006 alone.
Because of the increase in motorcycle ridership among older Americans, the researchers, led by Tracy Jackson, a graduate student in the epidemiology department at Brown University, wanted a closer look at their injury patterns. So she and her colleagues combed through a federal database of motorcycle crashes that were serious enough to require emergency medical care. That yielded about 1.5 million incidents involving motorcyclists 20 or older from 2001 to 2008.
The researchers then split them into groups: those in their 20s and 30s, another group between 40 and 59, and those 60 and older.
Over all, the study showed that injury rates for all three groups were on the rise. But the rise was steepest for the oldest riders. Compared with the youngest motorcyclists, those who were 60 and older were two and a half times as likely to end up with serious injuries, and three times as likely to be admitted to a hospital. The riders who were middle age were twice as likely as their younger counterparts to be hospitalized.
For older riders, the consequences of a collision were also especially alarming. Older and middle-aged bikers were more likely to sustain fractures and dislocations, and they had a far greater chance of ending up with injuries to internal organs, including brain damage.
The researchers speculated that it was very likely that a number of factors played a role in older riders’ higher injury rates. For one, declines in vision and reaction time may make older riders more prone to mistakes that end up in collisions. Another theory is that older riders tend to ride bigger bikes, “which may be more likely to roll or turn over,” Ms. Jackson said.
Then there is the greater fragility that comes with age. Older riders may be involved in the same types of accidents as younger riders, Ms. Jackson said, but in some cases, a collision that a 20-year-old would walk away from might send a 65-year-old to the hospital.
“Your bones become more brittle, and you lose muscle mass as you get older,” she said. “It could just be a matter of aging and the body being less durable.”
If you’re over 40 and planning to hop on a motorcycle, take care. Compared with younger riders, the odds of being seriously injured are high.
That is the message of a new study, published this week in the journal Injury Prevention, which found that older bikers are three times as likely to be severely injured in a crash as younger riders.
The percentage of older bikers on the road is quickly rising, and their involvement in accidents is a growing concern. Nationwide, from 1990 to 2003, the percentage of motorcyclists over age 50 soared from roughly 1 in 10 to about 1 in 4. At the same time, the average age of riders involved in motorcycle crashes has also been climbing. Injury rates among those 65 and older jumped 145 percent from 2000 to 2006 alone.
Because of the increase in motorcycle ridership among older Americans, the researchers, led by Tracy Jackson, a graduate student in the epidemiology department at Brown University, wanted a closer look at their injury patterns. So she and her colleagues combed through a federal database of motorcycle crashes that were serious enough to require emergency medical care. That yielded about 1.5 million incidents involving motorcyclists 20 or older from 2001 to 2008.
The researchers then split them into groups: those in their 20s and 30s, another group between 40 and 59, and those 60 and older.
Over all, the study showed that injury rates for all three groups were on the rise. But the rise was steepest for the oldest riders. Compared with the youngest motorcyclists, those who were 60 and older were two and a half times as likely to end up with serious injuries, and three times as likely to be admitted to a hospital. The riders who were middle age were twice as likely as their younger counterparts to be hospitalized.
For older riders, the consequences of a collision were also especially alarming. Older and middle-aged bikers were more likely to sustain fractures and dislocations, and they had a far greater chance of ending up with injuries to internal organs, including brain damage.
The researchers speculated that it was very likely that a number of factors played a role in older riders’ higher injury rates. For one, declines in vision and reaction time may make older riders more prone to mistakes that end up in collisions. Another theory is that older riders tend to ride bigger bikes, “which may be more likely to roll or turn over,” Ms. Jackson said.
Then there is the greater fragility that comes with age. Older riders may be involved in the same types of accidents as younger riders, Ms. Jackson said, but in some cases, a collision that a 20-year-old would walk away from might send a 65-year-old to the hospital.
“Your bones become more brittle, and you lose muscle mass as you get older,” she said. “It could just be a matter of aging and the body being less durable.”
nobody lives forever......
#1874
From quoted text: Then there is the greater fragility that comes with age. Older riders may be involved in the same types of accidents as younger riders, Ms. Jackson said, but in some cases, a collision that a 20-year-old would walk away from might send a 65-year-old to the hospital.
#1875
I believe those numbers stated in op's opening of the thread. It's no surprise really in itself, though the stats are skewed. If the study had assigned type of bike and training as a divisor you would see the numbers change in favor of the older riders. Yes we are old farts but most are safe old farts.
#1877
I agree with the comment about continuously riding giving me an edge while aging as opposed to being older and just starting out on a bike, or picking up after a long gap in riding.
Through the years, I've had my share of scrapes in cages as well as on bikes. At age 56, I have accumulated a very healthy respect for the consequences of stupidity, almost always involving pain and money, and possibly permanent injury or death.
As I grow older, I tend to better recognize dangerous situations and avoid them. This is my edge.
Through the years, I've had my share of scrapes in cages as well as on bikes. At age 56, I have accumulated a very healthy respect for the consequences of stupidity, almost always involving pain and money, and possibly permanent injury or death.
As I grow older, I tend to better recognize dangerous situations and avoid them. This is my edge.
#1878
That's it! I'm hanging up the chaps when I hit the BIG 5-0 (June).
I didn't like riding with them anyway..........
I didn't like riding with them anyway..........
#1879
I ride with a freind who is 72 and he rides pretty well for an old timer, we went on a 3200 mile ride last year a couple of 400 mile days and he was right there all day. He is a walking energizer bunny. Being only 54 I can only hope that at 72 I can still git er done. I think the big difference between the older guys and the younger is respect. The older you get the more you respect you have for living within your means to live another day.
#1880
Amazing how much these statistic gathers know.Guess I better start riding like a younger person now that I know how best to protect myself in a fall.
Tell all these people and the politicians to leave us alone been riding over 50 yrs quite certain I know what I'm doing stradling my hot rods.
Tell all these people and the politicians to leave us alone been riding over 50 yrs quite certain I know what I'm doing stradling my hot rods.