non-rider disapproval

i feel that there are some people who say "What are you thinking!!!". But I feel that we (us dirt bikers) receive alot of respect from non-riders. I guess it all depends how what your idea of fun is. All I know is that the girls dig the bikes and thats sweet. A couple people have actually asked if I could teach them to ride(girls) and of course its good to know that some people are willing to try something new.

They simply do not have the ability

People who criticize MX and biking are generally the same people who are probably not real gifted athletically. For these type of people, riding a bike would be suicide, as they do not have the ability to react and do things on a bike that you take for granted and "just do". Trying to explain why you do something to these types is wasting your breath. My dad is one of these types. Put him on a bike with any real power in the dirt and he literally would get hurt IMMEDIATELY. He does not understand how this could ever be fun. Just tell people that some of us do like dangerous fun and it definitely keeps you focused. People get hurt doing lots of things. In the grand scheme of things, MX'rs are generally very well conditioned and do not get hurt nearly as often or as seriously as other sports.

You could hit a tree and die!
You could ride off a cliff and die!
You could get run over and die!

OR, You can sit your fat arse on the couch with your super sized bag of Cheetos watchin' your stupid arse TV, drink yourself into a stupper and when you go to get up to piss...you could trip over your barkalounger, and fall on your face and die!

The majority of society is really screwed up, always being afraid of what MIGHT happen. Like so many of the fine examples given in the previous posts, people show their ignorance by judging others for what they do or enjoy, and not turning the mirror on their own stupid self. Everyday we all face risks and dangers, and most of those hypocrites go through life not even thinking about how dangerous it is to drive a car. You could slip in the shower and get hurt, you could fall down the stairs and break your neck, the possibilities are endless...

You never know when your time is up, I kinda feel like that is out of our hands...I prefer to just say "F" it and go ride!!!

My family is totally against me riding motorcycles. They all think I have no sense and ride like a wild woman! That could not be further from the truth! I am extremely cautious and do not take unnecessary chances. My Mother is constantly threatening my husband that he better not call her from the hospital. She keeps telling me that I need to look at the long term future 10+ years--and that I cannot possibly be riding motorcycles when I am 40-50 years old!! I CAN'T imagine NOT riding motorcycles now that I am hooked!

Someone once told me that "People have no tolerance for other's interests"---that is true--I have no interest in sitting in my butt and watching ER or any of those other TV shows they all live for each week. Give me Speedvision, ESPN2 or Outdoor Life Network any day of the week over that crap!!

My family is totally against me riding motorcycles. They all think I have no sense and ride like a wild woman! That could not be further from the truth! I am extremely cautious and do not take unnecessary chances. My Mother is constantly threatening my husband that he better not call her from the hospital. She keeps telling me that I need to look at the long term future 10+ years--and that I cannot possibly be riding motorcycles when I am 40-50 years old!! I CAN'T imagine NOT riding motorcycles now that I am hooked!

Someone once told me that "People have no tolerance for other's interests"---that is true--I have no interest in sitting on my butt and watching ER or any of those other TV shows they all live for each week. Give me Speedvision, ESPN2 or Outdoor Life Network any day of the week over that crap!!

My parents only say one thing:

"If you come home hurt, don't b*tch and complain to us about it"

And that pretty much sums it up. My dad loves taking the bike up and down the street. Tells me its way to fast for him and that he'll never get on it again, but for some reason he always gets back on. If it wasn't for his bad back, I'd love to get him out on a 4-stroke, even a quad.

Most people get the wrong picture of dirtbiking. (mostly from our Freestyling brothers.)
You know, the ones -w- 6 noserings who flip and loop over 400' jumps.
Probably not a good picture of dirtbiking to Mr. & Mrs. America.

My memories/idea of dirtbiking:
A quiet sereen campground, green grass, trees at the far edge of a field several camper/trailers -w- barbeques going.
The younger kids are playing ball in the field, and the birds are chirping...
Suddenly the quiet is broken by the sound of roaring dirtbike engines!
Tearing down the peacefull trails at speeds of over 40 mph. (wow) :eek:
Freestylers? Biker punks?
Nah, it was just me and my friend on our new (1973) XR-75's, out having some good old fashioned fun at our favorite campgrounds.
What's funny was that back then it was a good acceptable hobby to be doing!
(at least where i lived)

Unsafe? Depends on how you ride.
If your just puttin' for fun it's about as risky as gettin whacked -w- a softball.
What about these high school football parents?
When junior comes home busted up and broken?
Guess thats acceptable. But get a bruise on a motorcycle??
eeeeeeeeeeeeee! oh my POOR BABY!!
yeah.

As was previously mentioned, there have been a lot of great replies.

To quote my Grandma Kathryn, "Don't be afraid to live." She never learned to ride, but at the age of 75 asked my brother Chris if he could give her a ride on the back of his XR200. Her response after putting around the neighborhood, "That was a FINE thing to do." I learned a lot from her.

The biggest thing is that there is a lot of joy to be had in this thing we called life. So many people are content to complain about all their problems when those problems are really insignificant if they really thought about it. Maybe I am lucky. I get a genuine kick out of just being alive and laugh out loud every day. I am not looking forward to the day I have to call it quits, but I know that whenever that day comes, I will have gotten as much out of life that I could. If I sound like Richard Simmons, it is probably because of all those bugs I swallowed and two stroke fumes I inhaled on one of them dang murdercycle rides!!

The worst people of all are the one's like my soon to be ex-sister-in-law. When she found out I rode a dirt bike, her response was, "but they're so dangerous though. Why would you want to do that?" What really irked me was adding the word "though." It implies two things. The first is that she has any first hand motorycyle experience and of course she had none. The second is that the word though makes is sound is as if she is the adult and I am a child and she is reminding me of how foolish I am. If you cold picture those words coming out of the mouth of Hilary Clinton, you have a pretty good idea of what her facial expression would have been.

Here is the kicker. She and my sister (I love my sister very much but she does some foolish things some times. You would expect more from a doctor wouldn't you?) decided to go snowmobiling NAKED last winter. This is at 12:30 a.m. after drinking a good amount of wine. You have no idea how incensed (sp?) I was to hear this story. I can't ride a motorcycle cuz its too dangerous but she can get drunk and snowmobile naked? But guess what, it was a really funny experience, because she accidently put the thing into reverse and backed over my sister's leg. Isn't that funny. Believe you me, I never have to hear from my sister again about my motorycle riding. Drunk, naked, below freezing, my mind reels. AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortuneatly/fortuneatly, my brother is divorcing that mean spirited person. On the bright side, I got my brother to commit to either a new Husaberg 470 or Husky 450 next springtime.

To get back on topic, I am reminded of a t-shirt I bought from No Fear about five years ago. It said, "Dangerous Sports: Those who know cannot explain. Those who don't cannot understand." That about sums it up for me.

Greg M

as someone said earlier, it is a matter of perspective. All kinds of sports activities are dangerous: car racing, down hill racing of any kind, boat racing, bycycle racing..... yes bycycle racing: have you seen video of the pros going 70 mph down steep mountains such as the Alps and Pyrennees? it looks suicidal! and there have been lots of casualties and some fatalities over the years.
Although "motorcycle" still carries a stigmatized image, it is not really about the bike, vehicle or whatever your "vehicle" is.... it is about training your mind and your body to the edge of your abilities so that in a race you can stay within your abilities.

Read the book by Lance Armstrong: "It's Not About The Bike" and you'll understand what it takes to be the very best you can be in your chosen profession or sport ... safely. (Lance may very well become the best bycycle racer of all time; 3 consecutive wins of the toughest race: the 26-day Tour de France.....#4 coming up next year) This guy not only trained his body hard, his mind also was trained in the "you-can-win" attitude by his mother. He overcame, against all odds, one of the toughest cancers (advanced form of testicular cancer) because he had his mind and body properly trained to deal with the ultimate test.....

Originally posted by KaTooMer
I like to use the downhill skiing parallel, because most people have done it...

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Interesting analogy. However, Mrs. Woods does not consider snow-skiing to be dangerous. She considers certain (in her opinion) "out-of-control" skiers and snowboarders to be dangerous. Also she does not consider motorsports to be dangerous, since she will ride a snowmobile. She does consider going WFO on a snowmoblie to be dangerous though. Yet she considers all motorcycling activities to be dangerous. She has never swung a leg over a bike and probably never will. This all goes back to when she was in college and one of her sorority sisters lost a leg the first time she ever rode on the back of a motorcycle. This attitude is firmly entrenched in her brain and there's nothing I can do to convince her otherwise.

A friend of mine, a couple of years ago, rear ended a car on his street bike. Actually he caused the car to roll he hit it so hard. Long story short, they both walked away with just bumps and bruises. He only had one, it ran from his chest to his knees and his 'boys' were the size of grapefruit from hitting/denting the tank. Of course he gets the usual lecture from the doc ".. bet you'll never ride again, eh?" He asks the doc if he tells patiants that cut thier fingers open with a knife, that they should never cook again?

Docs should help, not judge

When I knocked myself silly (sillier if you ask my wife) roadracing, everyone in my family was surprised and worried be cause I decided to quite. No one encourged me to or pressured me. I guess I'm lucky to have suportive family & friends.

Yes ther are will alwaysbe nay-sayers out there. But don't listen to them. They say most accidents happen at home, thats why I'm never there :D

A lot of great things said here.

YZ250-effer , I love the quote "From the Credo of Jack London,
"I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them, I shall use my time"

Anne - My wife started riding last year and even after breaking her pelvis (in two places) she is enthusiastic about riding. In fact her first words to the doctor examining her was "how soon can i get back on the bike". She is 42 (I hope she does not read this post):eek: and will be riding for many more years.

I had a friend recently get into riding - but he did not want to get his kid a bike because he thouhght that it was too dangerous. That has all changed now that my riend has been riding. Now his kid and wife both ride.

Something i heard today that i liked and seemed to be applicable to dirt riding: "Control is an illusion":) It is very true.

Saw a T-shirt one time that sums this topic up--

--"Don't back off until you see Jesus!"
:think

I think this can be summed up in the words of Robert Duvall in the movie Lonesome Dove. "Cal, its not dying im talking about, its living"!

Here's what I tell them........... Well this is a family site, so I'll not say what I tell them ;)
I just say...."Get a life".
Then I ask if they stay away from their car because with all those accidents out there, surely those cars are dangerous. :think
Then I say, "You don't go outside do you, you might get hit by lightning"
Then I say, "You don't GOLF do you, you might get hit by a ball"
Then I say, "You don't play softball do you, I hear people twist their knees a lot doing that"

Then THEY say....... "OK I GET THE IDEA, shut up already, because I certainly can't handle the truth" :D

We get it a lot with the kids, more since one has a broken leg!
I usually say" You know, these boys don't think much about hanging out somewhere getting into something they shouldn't. They come home from school, do their homework then go work on their bikes, clean them , something. Or they go out and work on the track, watch the tape of their last race, to see what they need to work on. Then comes the weekend. All they want to do is load up bikes and gear and go spend the weekend with mom and dad playing in the dirt. How can that be a bad thing?"

This is usually followed by a blank stare.

Originally posted by Old CR goat
All they want to do is load up bikes and gear and go spend the weekend with mom and dad playing in the dirt. How can that be a bad thing?"

This is usually followed by a blank stare.

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Good response :D

Old Goat......EXCELLENT post. I coppied that and will claim it to be mine in future posts ;)

btw, you missed that appointment with me :)

A few years ago--

--there was a report in Cycle News about a SoCal Law Enforcement-dirt bike riding group that was helping at risk kids to get interested in dirt bikes.

A comment that they made that stood out with me is;

"A kid that will be racing Saturday, will not be out getting in trouble Friday night." :D

Boy, this subject is outstanding, however you are all so darn young.
Yesterday I turned 66 and on Sunday, guess where I'm going? You got it. I'm going dirt bike riding. Now I'm not racing, not because I can't but I just don't have the drive. I do a lot of dual sport riding now and will continue until I croak. Started in 63 on a 80cc trail bike and 10 bikes later I have a XR400.

Here is what I tell people who ask the typical dumb question "why do you ride a motorcycle". I brought up my kids and now my grandkids riding dirt bikes. I used dirt bike riding to teach them honesty, planning, morals, pride in accomplishment, mechanical skills, health (can't ride if you are hurt), how to save money and how to take care of your belongings.
Because of all this (and a little more) my kids grew up without any problems. No drugs, no police problems, they got educated and I'm damn proud. My main ingredient was dirt bikes.

Now having said all that, it was not without some injuries. I own......errr paid for the local emergency ward, and want to pass along some technique for injury problems. When you get to the emergency ward, you fell off a golf cart. You will be an instant hero amd get immediate attention. If you tell them you got hurt on a dirt bike, they will treat you like a leper with the plague. I have used this process on occasions with much success.

Thats my story and m sticking to it.
God also gave us some help. :D

When you get to the emergency ward, you fell off a golf cart. You will be an instant hero amd get immediate attention.[/B]

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in your Moose pants? :p

Hey Cam...I'm dumb but not quite that dumb.:D