Psychological Warfare and the GS500.

[bombsquad83]

Before: Say a prayer

During: Enjoy the ride

After: Give thanks

Now that sounds like a plan

+1 to that and to Mary's post. 

Right along those lines...if you are afraid of dying, then consider what it is exactly you are afraid of.  We will all meet out maker one day.  This is the only gaurentee in life.

[ninjeff]

I hope the OP does get a bike.

Good for him. At least he is thinking about it the right way. Not in reverse like most squidlys do.

[Cosimo_Zaretti]

First up riding a motorcycle may kill you.  You make your decision on that one before you get on the thing.  It's not the stupidest lifestyle choice you can make but it's not brilliant either.  I have made my choice and put myself out there on the bike, so there's no point worrying, it just distracts me from the task at hand.  I've got myself out of a few situations that are really scary in the retelling, but at the time were strangely calm.

[adidasguy]

One way to prepare and rid yourself of excessive fear is to ride a bicycle. That will get you into traffic on 2 wheels. That will get you used to 2 wheels and paying attention to traffic.

[slipperymongoose]

Should get mister onto foxtrot, mister is a big 919 (hornet) fan.

[xunedeinx]

So....
1. I am on a bike and no one can see me
2. Cagers can't see me and are known for road rage or just being pushy in their driving
3. I will be submissive. If they want intpo my lane - OK. You can have it.  \
4. The way cagers drive, I know they will have an accident or get a ticket. They will NOT have an accident with me.
5. I will stay clear of these squidly cagers.
6. I will NOT i.e. NEVER drive like a squid. I can watch True TV Worlds Dumbest and see what will happen if I drive like a squid.

May I add a line?
7. BE Invisible. High vis mil spec jackets and reflectors and other flashy bits are great, but unless its required by law, im dressing in all drab black. Only think colourful is my white tourmaster logo.

You should drive like your invisible, and people act like MORONS when they know your there, so making yourself as unseen as possible wont hurt.

Heres some philosophy.

Car drives like idiot - given
car sees motorcyclist and changes driving behavior - given
motorcyclist makes themselves visible to be seen to cars - given
THEREFORE: If your on a motorcycle and your highly visible, when the car notices you, he will not only drive like an idiot, but his behaviour will be erratic.

Heres the same scenario if your dressing like a ghost:

Car drives like idiot - given
car sees motorcyclist and changes driving behavior - given
Motorcyclist dressing to NOT be seen - given
THEREFORE: If your on your motorcycle and your a ghost, the car won't notice you, and will continue driving like an idiot, but not an erratic idiot.

[Toogoofy317]

At least someones willing to hug

I'll hug Adidasguy anytime.  Wait I already have last year! hopefully again in March!

BTW even my cat facepalmed this thread!

[xunedeinx]

BLAH BLAH BLAH, INSULTS I did not start insulting none of you, only the OP.

You all started insulting me? Over what? I don't know. Maybe your intelligence level is truly lower than you think if you have to get your point across to someone by using vulgar statements to belittle them. Also Yes, I do type shaZam! that pops into my head. I also say what comes into my head. Sorry. I speak my mind. seems like a dying breed now days. I'm not gonna kiss any ones asses, if the f%$king President of the united states came up to me. I'd tell him off. what makes any of you so special? I will treat everyone the same. as I treat everyone else. Show me respect and I'll do the same for you. Simple 1st grade logic.

I enjoy you all. Its entertaining to me.

See, typically there is kinda of a mutual respect on this board until you blow it. I've held my tongue when you've insulted me but your talking and saying whatever pops into your head is a huge turn off. With the attitude you currently have you won't get very far in life.
BTW I observed in one of your for sale/trade post that you wanted stuff delivered to 34747 which means you live on the mean streets of Celebration Florida!  The scariest thing you encounter there are poor little me teenagers  that think they have a hard life because mommy and daddy don't buy them what they want. It's also the town that Mickey built! I about died from laughter when I found that is where you live. Because of the posts you put up about our community how you can't sleep at night. It must be you because I sure don't have a problem after work and full-time school. I mean come on at least make it good and say you lived off of Parramore or Silverstar shoot even OBT would've been better than Celebration!

You've got a lot of growing up to do! Hopefully it is not on the bike because you certainly don't have the maturity level required to live long on one!
May your day be as pleasant as you are!
Mary

Bless your heart mary. I hope one day to ride with you, you seem like a cool cat.

[Toogoofy317]

Xune you in Central Fl? If so absolutely! I'll ride with anyone until they show me they are a squid or an a$$ i.e. endangering others in the ride! Shoot me a PM and we will ride. Weather is getting great around here today was OMG perfect took Flick out on I-4 toward Tampa and since I'm done with the break in got to WOT a little. It took hours to wipe the grin off my face. Oh how I love where I live!

Mary

[bombsquad83]

Xune you in Central Fl? If so absolutely! I'll ride with anyone until they show me they are a squid or an a$$ i.e. endangering others in the ride! Shoot me a PM and we will ride. Weather is getting great around here today was OMG perfect took Flick out on I-4 toward Tampa and since I'm done with the break in got to WOT a little. It took hours to wipe the grin off my face. Oh how I love where I live!

Mary

I was in Orlando for business all week.  Just got back to Illinois today.  I'm definitely jealous of your weather right now.

[xunedeinx]

Xune you in Central Fl? If so absolutely! I'll ride with anyone until they show me they are a squid or an a$$ i.e. endangering others in the ride! Shoot me a PM and we will ride. Weather is getting great around here today was OMG perfect took Flick out on I-4 toward Tampa and since I'm done with the break in got to WOT a little. It took hours to wipe the grin off my face. Oh how I love where I live!

Mary

pm sent!

[Toogoofy317]

I was in Orlando for business all week.  Just got back to Illinois today.  I'm definitely jealous of your weather right now.

Oh sucks to be you well at least you got Manning oh wait you might not even have that! Bomb I will think about you when I ride! 

Mary

[ninjeff]

Xune you in Central Fl? If so absolutely! I'll ride with anyone until they show me they are a squid or an a$$ i.e. endangering others in the ride! Shoot me a PM and we will ride. Weather is getting great around here today was OMG perfect took Flick out on I-4 toward Tampa and since I'm done with the break in got to WOT a little. It took hours to wipe the grin off my face. Oh how I love where I live!

Mary

I was in Orlando for business all week.  Just got back to Illinois today.  I'm definitely jealous of your weather right now.

HA! welcome back sucker.

I feel the same way every time i go back to my hometown of Houston.
Why do i live here again? LOL.


On the plus, it should be in the 50s this weekend. Good weather to at least fire up the bike for a quick trip.


Anyway, i think the OP seems like an ok guy. I took the "....and i'm not here." quote as a tongue in cheek joke because his over protective parents would slay him for even THINKING about a motorcycle.

:: shrugs ::

[xunedeinx]

So, im debating, slowly swinging this thread into the tardfarm by force, or letting it play out to see where it leads?

[Kijona]

Am I the only one that has realized there is no longer a tard farm area? I keep hearing people talk about "tard farm" and I wonder to myself if anybody has looked at the board index recently.

[xunedeinx]

Its under the other section, other test area

[Kijona]

Its under the other section, other test area

Well, now I feel dumb. For some reason, the "Other" section had been collapsed. Maybe it happened when the site was down?

[xunedeinx]

No, just when your down under, the sectons on the bottom are actually on the top, you know, different hemispheres, toilet flushing in reverse, and stuff... 

[Kijona]

No, just when your down under, the sectons on the bottom are actually on the top, you know, different hemispheres, toilet flushing in reverse, and stuff... 

...LOL

I mean, it's not like I was missing anything anyway...there's nothing of value under "other".

[Adfalchius]

FT, I enjoyed reading your prose.  It was refreshing to hear an honest account of your initial interest, thought process and concerns over riding.  Some of those thoughts reflected mine- and I'm sure many other readers share them as well.

You're the only one who can judge if the risk of what's "entirely beyond your control" overwhelms your desire to ride.  It seems that, despite what you feel, you've already chosen the steps to prepare yourself: MSF (+1000), gear (+100), GS500 (+1).

In my own experience, I also had a considerable amount of fear when I first decided to ride, and the negative (but but not illogical) "what if?" thoughts were perseverative in my mind.  Those feelings changed over time (to caution, confidence, etc) when I gained basic experience in the parking lot and took the MSF (not to mention having received lots of advice and support from friends).  Do I still have fear?  Certainly!  But it plays its part in a much smaller way for me, and my enjoyment of the sport has the upper hand.  If your interest has led you this far, then I've no doubt that you'll take your next steps.  Besides, there's nothing that says you can't turn back, right?  There's no shame in that.