"Why do you drive one of those things?" Mom asks...

[jaxthedog]

My ninety-year-old mother never ceases to express displeasure when I ride 85 miles north on the bike for a visit. "Why do you drive one of those damned things?" she asks. My little explanation is posted at:

http://thechurchoftheopenroad.blogsp...-everyday.html

[1074]

Back in 79, I was at a friend's house when he got a "help" call from the Anonymous book. So we went down to get this fellow's bike running. As it turned out, he was, I believe, 68 years old and this BMW was his first bike. He had been a bicycle rider before that. Well, naturally, we asked him why it took him so long to get a motorcycle. He responded that his mother wouldn't allow it! She had passed on a year earlier.

[88bmwjeff]

FWIW, I can't see anything on your blog except the title.

[jaxthedog]

Jeff -

Sorry about this, but I've been told that Internet Explorer is spotty in connecting with Google's Blogging program. Folks using Firefox, Chrome (of course, because it's Google) or Safari are not having the issue.

- Dave

[Gadgetech]

Typical for Google to have issues (these days) with MS, I can't see it either.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Board Express

[markaz]

My 85 yr old mother, a nurse, just shakes her head whenever she sees the bike and says 'That's a sure trip to the ER.'

[35634]

Took my 70ish mother in law for a ride on my /2 shortly after getting married. Her idea of adventure is cracking the window open on their Grand Caravan, but she's never questioned my riding a bike since.

[jeepinbanditrider]

My mom rides so it's not such a big deal around my parents. My dad does lots of miles my mom not so much but at least she rides.

[brownie]

My late Mom...never questioned my riding, starting at age17 ......nor my ultra conservative engineer Dad......my Mom was quite the wild/adventurous type in her early years....I think both parents were quite supportive of my new sport...as long as I didn't become a "wild one"!!!!!

Fast forward 4 or 5 decades......I work with the trauma community daily.......THEY are the ones that question motorcycling.......unfortunately because they/we are responding 3-5 times a week to those that are behaving badly/extremely aggressive/no or poor protective gear.....pick one.....

The ER environment rarely deals with serious riders....... my $0.02!!!!

[EMSimon]

I heard a woman say once: "As a parent, you have to learn to let go of your kids." Wise words. For some of you guys, I have to add: "You need to cut the umbilical cord, give up breast-feeding and stop listening to your mother when you are ....uhh 18 !?!

[clowry]

When I was a teenager and started dating my husband he rode a motorcycle. I told my Mother I wanted to ride one too. She said "Over my dead body." So I left it. A few years later I moved out, and my parents bought a matched set of Honda 750's, joined a riding club and started touring. It didn't take too long after that for me to get one, too. It's one of the joys in my life, and something I hope to be doing for a long time yet!

I heard a woman say once: "As a parent, you have to learn to let go of your kids." Wise words. For some of you guys, I have to add: "You need to cut the umbilical cord, give up breast-feeding and stop listening to your mother when you are ....uhh 18 !?!

Yes, we do have to learn to let go. It's not always easy, especially if they won't leave! As for the rest, as long as you're living under Mom and Dad's roof, you'd BEST listen to what they have to say unless you're keen to make other living arrangements.

[Cyclepilot]

My 85 yr old mother, a nurse, just shakes her head whenever she sees the bike and says 'That's a sure trip to the ER.'

So, just how many "sure trips to the er" have you had?

This was posted by a friend of mine in another forum and I've always had it in the front of my mind:

"Everyone has a unique risk threshold. Mine is high enough to permit me to ride, and low enough to insure that I gear up, train regularly, and read about equipment and technique often. These three things mitigate the risk of riding substantially. I will never judge you because you do not takes the same risks I do, and please understand that I would prefer that you do not judge me."

[markaz]

So, just how many "sure trips to the er" have you had?

None yet.

And I remind her of it every time she says that.

[coon]

As a teenager I was told if I want'd to put my feet under the dining room table I would always have a haircut and not get a motorcycle.
Mom was raised in the south and could she cook. She didn't know about the Hodaka Super Rat I borrowed, the Honda 305 Dream,the Ossa Stileto, the HD Sportster, the Triumph Daytona, the Bridgestone Trail 90. I guess I was very fortunate with friends. In 79 got the Honda 78 750f, then the 900f, then the 78 R100s I still have and now in 99 added the R1100s. She never wanted to go for a ride.

[Voni]

"Everyone has a unique risk threshold. Mine is high enough to permit me to ride, and low enough to insure that I gear up, train regularly, and read about equipment and technique often. These three things mitigate the risk of riding substantially. I will never judge you because you do not takes the same risks I do, and please understand that I would prefer that you do not judge me."

My feeling exactly! That bears repeating early and often.

Voni
sMiling