Acceptable Levels Of Risk

You've most likely encountered people (non-riders) who wonder why you ride motorcycles when they are "so dangerous". And sure, they can be, but so can crossing the street in a busy city or walking down a flight of stairs after a few too many drinks. Is it something to do with you being willing to take on a certain level of "risk" to do something you love? I'd much rather break my arm riding a motorcycle than doing so slipping on some ice in the winter.

I was talking with a friend of mine about an impromptu meeting my face had with a downed tree while out dirt biking earlier in the day. (luckily I came away from the incident pretty much ok). I was describing to him what it's like to blast through forest single track on a dirt bike, with trees on either side of you ready to punish you for any errors you make. The scraped up hand guards on my KTM and streaks of worn out paint on my helmet are a testiment to just how close things often get.

But, to me I don't feel in danger. I feel exhilerated and challenged and alive. When you get in that rhythm and your hands seem truly connected to the throttle and levers and you know exactly how to shift your weight around on the bike to influence it's every movement. When you make it up a steep technical hill climb without dabbing. When you go faster than you've ever gone before. When you finish a day of riding completely exhausted but grinning from ear to ear and ready to go right back out and do it again. It's moments like these that remind you why you do it. There's nothing else like it and you wonder, how could you not want to be doing this?

It's always good though to keep what you're doing in perspective and respect the machine you're on for it's potential to get you into serious trouble if you don't treat it right. Sometimes you'll get an unwelcome reminder in the form of a crash, but for all the good times, it's definitely worth the risk.