What should I do

[dapex]

OK, here's the story. I had 2K spare last spring and decided to buy myself a ZXR400 (my dream bike since I was a kid), I got a 99 plate T reg and she was so sexy.... I didnt have a license simply because I had never wanted to spend the cash to pass my test unless I had a bike to ride the day I did pass... So, got my lovely bike home and then temptation got the better of me (a few times) and I excused myself by saying there was no point in forking out £500 on a crash course (and using up a weeks leave) if i was then to scared to ride the bloody bike. Anyway, I loved the speed on a straight road but to be honest I was toad scared on bends and was slowing right down.. and this worried me.. What if i never got the bottle to ride it propely (around this time one guy from work had he leg pinned back together after coming of his bike and his mate had been killed a couple of weeks before, neither by their own fault) so I put of the test until I was more comfortable riding...

Anyway, after leaving the petrol station one day I must have opened it up to soon or something (dotn actualy remember being on the bike at all) and the next thing I knew I woke up in an ambulance on my way to hospital. no real damage which considering I was wearing jeans and t-shirt was a bloody miracle really. I have been shown where I came off and it was only a few yards down from the petrol station so I reckon I must have had fuel on my tires and tried to speed off before I was even on the straight... Biggest problem was that my wife and daughter were in the petrol station and there came running down and saw me lying in the road and so the wife tells me my daughter who was 6 at the time just stood there screaming "thats my daddy whens he going to get up"

Anyway, I was very lucky that I only got 6 points and a £500 fine (so thats 9 points in total) and the bike has pretty much just sat in the garage since... Left mirror glass smashed, and grazes on the left... (looking for a left white mirror and clutch cover if anyone has one)

So, I admit I am scared of the bike (think I always was really) coming off doesnt scare me its the effect it has on my family if somehting serious were to happen... couldnt work etc... mortgage cant be paid etc etc.. you know what I mean.. Or even worse never being able to take my daughter to the park and run around with her because my legs are pinned together or I am in a wheelchair....

So, I know have 3 choices... I am a family man and my life revolves around my family, my dad was always at work when I was a kid and we never went onholidays so I make sure I spend as much time as possible with y daughter and holidays are very important to us... SO choice number one is

I spend at least 1K on test, insurance, boots, leathers etc... and this takes a weeks leave up and woudl really mean the family cant go on holiday this year, then I get the bike MOT'd and try again (it would only ever be a fun thing on a hot sunday afternoo)

number 2
I spend time and money doing the bike up to look as new then flog it to try to get some of my cash back (so far because of the fine I ahve spent £2500 due to owning the bike)

Number 3 I ring a breakers up, let it go for whatever they offer (any idea;s what a breaker may offer) and I just call it quits..

So there you have it.... I am totally lost as to what to do, A huge part of me wants to keep it, just because the sound and the feel when you open her up is so AMAZING... But my weekends are spent with my family, in the summer we always seem to have people over for a BBQ or we are at other peoples homes etc.... so time to ride will be limted (I just feel so quilty leaving my daughter sat at home while I send a quarter of the weekend riding round aimlessly)

I know I was a prat to be out on the bike in the 1st place, and I know I was lucky to be able to leave hospitial the next and drive home,

But if anyone has any thoughts or can relate in any way shape or form then lets here those thoughts:)

Dave

[CarneyUK]

After reading your post it made me think a little aswell. I am a family man with 2 young daughters, one aged 7 and the other aged 4. The thought of leaving them behind is not a nice one and I try to spend as much time as possible with them. I agree you were a silly boy for riding the bike but hey we all do stupid things in life.

That aside I am a great beleiver that life is life and you have to live it. The fact is people look at motorcycles and say "ooohhhh dangerous, you could get killed" OK so don't ride a motorbike, but lets look at the reality's. People who get injured, killed or disabled just as much as motorcyclists from, to name a few

Driving a car, being a pedestrian, playing sports, playing sports with their kid's, getting out of bed (about 30 people a year die from this ) If you are anything like my wife (cross stiching is her thing) you will end up locking yourself in a padded cell just to stay safe. Then when you hit 60 years old and your Grandkids ask, "What did you do Grandad?"

I always look at my and wish he had done more with his life, and I am sure my kids will think the same.

I think No1. Get all the right kit, do all the training and more (advanced courses etc) ride safe and have a picture of your kids on the tank, it'll help stop you being a muppet!

This is just my 2 cents worth, at the end of the day the decision is yours.

Just to let you know, I ride a motorbike and I am a skydiver. I have the life insurance sorted if anything does happen and sods law says if you keep it safe something else will get you!!

[Davw]

Riding bikes is not for the faint hearted. It is inevitable that sooner or later you will come off. So you need to get your head round that as a starting point. The key to falling off is that it is a critical learning process - I am guessing that you leave petrol stations a bit slower now than you used to - even in the car!!!

I had my first bike when I was 17 (never forget it - yamaha DT 125 - great fun- fell off a few times but no major damage to me or bike). However when 18 and passed my test (1978 - no training and passing test invoved little more than being able to turn up on the right day and time) i spent ever last penny I had on a mint Triumph Trident 750 (T150). I realised quickly that i was way out of my depth. The bike was great (looks, sound etc etc) but it was heavy and into corners I was bricking it because my experience on the Yam and my total lack of training had not prepared me for this. Frankly it is a miracle that I managed to avoid killing myself and of course that was all in the happy go lucky days of "no kids" - various other bikes came and went. My biking training was the equivalent of the "sink or swim" method - not good

Wife and kids arrived and as a result bikes departed and I entered unknowingly a period of 10 years of no real biking. With hindsight I am not sure why this happened but with 3 kids there never seemed to be a load of time so cars made more sense (travelling in convoy bike at front and family in car behind is not recommended - tried it once and never again). My yougest is now 16 and over the past 8 years I have progressively managed to get myself back to biking. I really had forgotten in the "kiddy years" how much I enjoyed it and what a sense of freedom it provides. The catalyst to me getting back into it was my best mate convinced me that we were "not here for a long time and we better start enjoying ourselves a bit". His background was same as mine - bikes when younger - cars during the young family years. We set ourself some targets (Harley Davidson trip up Highway 1, Tour Europe in a week, get into Track days, start racing etc etc and our wives thought we were nuts and were very "anti"). We also got ourselves a couple of Hondas which came with a 2 day Honda retraining course - not sure if they still do it but at the time it was the best going

However - I very much doubt if i would have got into biking "late" if I hadnt enjoyed it as a teenager. The statistics in Aberdeenshire (and much of the rest of the country) show that new "older" bikers on direct access are prone to crashing (largely for the same reasons as you crashed - ie poor training and lack of experience and riding a bike with too much power) .

Anyway this is a ramble - what should you do? Only you can answer but here are a few thoughts:-

1) Sounds like you enjoyed riding until the crash but that you arent in a social group of riders - your coment about "riding around aimlessly" suggests you dont call a mate up on a sunday morning and say "meet you for a coffee/ cake/beer at XXXXX - see you there".
2) Sounds as though the wife isnt that keen for you to continue and will definately not be keen if it encroaches on family time.
3) If you are to continue (either now or later) you need to overcome the mental impact of the crash - ie get back on a bike soon and get some basic training - even if only in the short term to show yourself that you can do it.
4) Whatever you do - whether you continue- remember - biking is supposed to be enjoyed. If it isnt enjoyable then best to stop and if the worry of what might happen and the consequences (for the family) is in the forefront of your mind then you will be unlikely to enjoy the ride.

So -

1) Sort bike, sell it, with the funds buy the family a holiday
2) Get some training - there must be a local trainig provider who will provide a bike so you dont need one at the minute.
3) when daughter a bit older and she and her mother want to spend Sundays shopping - get another bike and get back on the road
4) Result = Wife happy at least for now, you get trained and able (if you want) to get back to biking when family commitments ease off a bit

Hope this ramble makes sense - Good luck

[dapex]

cheers for the comments, just as an aside, I used to also have 50cc when i was 16 and LOVED it, had a 125 as well and loved it...

[stug]

Why did you get points and a fine?

[Cloud Wolf]

I imagine no license and no insurance?

[Jamz]

Hard choice...

What I would advise, if you're worried about safety - if you are going to ride a bike don't be stingy on your kit. That's there to save you if you do come off - so get the absolute best that you can, and don't worry about price.

[stug]

I imagine no license and no insurance?

Thats one reason bikers get a bad name cause everybody thinks all bikers run around illegal.
Its also why insurance is so expensive.

Sell it and stay off bikes altogether.

[lewisdale]

Lol does it really matter what you think, at the end of the day its his choice whether he rides with or without a licence, get over it

[stug]

Lol does it really matter what you think, at the end of the day its his choice whether he rides with or without a licence, get over it

Exactly its what I think and I will get over it no problem.

How would you feel if he ran into you and with no licence and no insurance?
You would then have to fix your own vehicle cause who else is going to?
Possibly take him to court and get £10 a week for however long it takes?
No thanks.

[lewisdale]

well if it happens it happens, thats life and thats the chance he takes

[carlingboy]

well i think if somebody smashed into to me who is not licenced or insured to be on the road, and caused me pain and misery i would break there legs so they couldn't walk let alone ride ........
A friend of mine going back a few years was hit by a traveller who had no licence ,mot insurance blah blah blah.....
he saved for ages to get his zxr 400 which at the time was near new, he was in hospital for months and was lucky to survive ,he now has use of only 1 arm and has had to adjust his whole life style......
traveller got 12 mnth ban and fine big whoop :wanker

my mate got just under a million pound compensation but he has always said he would rather have his arm and do the things he wants to do like ride a bike and i totally agree ...........

so those who say it's ok to ride illegally are all twats in my opinion

[Gemini]

you should never have been riding that bike without a license so it serves you right for coming off, and fortunately you were the only one injured and not someone else,

getting kitted out and passing your test along with having valid insurance is the sensible thing to do and you have proved in doing none of these things that you are not,

riding a sports bike takes a certain degree of intelligence, so if i can be honest, leave the bike riding to us responsible ppl, sell the bike on ebay for whatever u can get, and count your lucky stars u are still alive to go back to your young family,

im sorry if these comes across as harsh but the whole reason i have to pay high insurance premiums is cuz of ppl like you!

gem

[Caz]

As much as I disagree with people riding without insurance, and I have very strong opinions about it. This isnt the place to debate it. lets start another thread for that

Anyhow, my 2p.

First and foremost, sell the bike. You have proved that having a working bike in the garage is too much of a temptation for you. If you dont have the cash to fix it up, sell it as a non runner on here - you'll get better money for it than from a breaker.

Now you've sold the bike, do things properly!

First and foremost, buy good kit. You can get some very reasonably priced good quality gear. If you cant find it / don't know what brands to buy ASK on here
Buy a back protector - my personal preference is a Forcefield one.
Whenever you go out on the bike wear all your gear - including the back protector. My other half came off at over 100mph last year and walked away from it, he puts this down to wearing a good back protector.
Do your test, if money is an issue, do your restricted test. If holidays are an issue, see if you can find a training school that will give you lessons at teh weekend over a period of time
get a bike and insure it!
get some biking friends and ride with them, theres a lot to be learned from more experienced riders.
do some more training - I thoroughly recommend a Rapid Road Skills day

sometimes it takes an accident to give you the reality check that you need. Just be glade that the only person you hurt was yourself.

As gem says - you stay safe on a bike by riding smartly. If you ride defensively you will go a long way towards staying safe

Caz

[Xphyral]

in answer to the Original poster.


get yourself something smaller to ride for a few months, good riding is about having confidence in yourself and your bike and not the kind of confidence that comes from being ignorant of the feedback your bike gives you. you've now proved to yourself that you cant be trusted with a sports 400 so take a step back and do it the same way we all did, all over again. a cheapy 4 stroke 250 should be more than enough to help ease yourself back into biking properly and take away a lot of the temptation to just nail it everywhere, the zxr400 is a quick bike but nothing compared to the torque outputs of more modern machines, it's probably a good thing you did this on the 400 and nothing bigger and newer. If worry about your family concerns you then maybe you can use that to keep yourself responsible and get the training and experience you needed.