When do you call it quits?

Get a lawyer (No, I am not one). He will go after her assets (if she has any), then he will go to your insurance company for the rest. You need to be made whole financially (including lost wages, money for your pain and suffering). Do this, you are paying for it anyway in other ways. Get yourself in good shape to do what you want when you have recovered. This is a part of why you as a good citizen pay your insurance.

Namaste'
Doug from Kentucky

Explain me the mechanism he can get any shortfalls from his own insurance unless his policy has that provision in which case he hardly needs a lawyer.

I've got a 19 month old who is my life. I really only get to commute 41 mile round trip most days as my main riding now. I did get to a state rally and some weekend rides last year, but have slowed and make sue to have ATGATT.

I recently added a GSA to learn to ride off road as well. My thought is to open up my opportunities and also slow down a touch. I also see the future when my son wants to go with me. Momma won't let that happen, so I told her at that point we'd get him a little dirt bike and the appropriate gear to learn in a safe environment. I will then have the knowledge to help him learn safely and in a controlled environment. Seems like the most responsible way to introduce him if he wants it. I will not push it on him at all.

I'm a lost cause and feel my enjoyment outweighs the risks (for me, yes it's selfish). I try to minimize the risks with my gear choices and choice of riding well within my limits. I never want to be in a position not to be able to play ball with my son while he grows!

At 48 I finally feel that I've met my commitments well enough to finally take on something that I've always wanted to do. It feels right to start, although I may only get 5 to 10 years out of it.

I've been a rider since I was 16. When I was 25 or so I had an epiphany while riding to work one day on my BSA. I thought of the 2 very young kids who were depending on Dad to come home every day and decided I needed to be responsible to them, so I quit riding. I guess riding never left my blood though. I had a couple classic BMWs over the ensuing years, which I rode only occasionally.
When my youngest son bought himself a new Triumph I decided it was ok to get back in the saddle. I've been back riding now for 12 years and my rides have gotten shorter, but I still look forward to any time I can climb aboard and go for a spin. I will say that traffic is heavier, and alot less attentive than it was back in the 70's but after watching my Dad die of Alzheimers and my Mom die of cancer, I've recognized that life is too short..

As somebody that can say exactly the same thing...Amen brother.

Live every day like the special gift it is to have, and go out and live life instead of sitting around watching TV the rest of the days.

Started riding dirt bikes when I was 12 and have not stopped riding since, I am now 57. In 1992 had heart valve replacement and the doc told me I needed to give up motorbikes. My choice, I said, don't think so. I did give up Vintage MX but still riding trails and alot of sport touring. I also commute about 30 miles RT each day. Next week having Total Hip Replacement, doc told me, "you can ride just don't fall off". Thats my plan everytime I leave the garage, so no change there. Just gotta live life like you want to live it, you only get one ticket for the life ride. Plan to ride until I can no longer get on or drop dead.

I started racing SoCal Desert (Dist 37) in 1965 when I was 23. I did that until I moved to Washington State in 1971. I started street riding when I moved here and have never quit, riding every year, everyday, except for snow days. Oh yeah, I returned to off road riding (forest roads and some 2 track) 4 years ago. I have a nice DRZ 400 for 2 track and KTM 990 for highway and forest road stuff. I ride a K1200RS and a Ducati 900SS/SP for pavement work.

I just returned yesterday from a 2 day run down the Oregon Coast to Newport and back on my K1200RS for a nice 600 mile ride. The only thing I do different, whether off road or on the highway is to ride a little slower then I used to and remind myself that I am getting up in years and don't have the reaction time of my youth and that I also will break easier.

I spend 1 1/2 hours Monday through Friday working out, something I have been doing for 20 years. I figure that it is time well spent because it keeps me in shape to pursue the sport I have loved for 49 years.

Here's what i do when those feelings creep up on me, park and rest, and breathe...nothing worse than getting into all those mind traps and noticing that you're not breathing...thanks for all the good advice here and the honesty. All new riders should read this thread.

...there's some good books out there and some good authorities who are all about having you think about strategies to keep safe. I find the best strategy for me while riding is to constantly keep making choices that reduce or eliminate the risks and still be able to have fun. Planning a route that has the least risks I find has its rewards and I like making a lot of stops in places that are interesting. I've just started to ride and I'm 62! Cheers!

I tell anyone I can that it is important to live a life worth living. That is the most important thing we can do while we are on this earth. That influences everything I do. It makes me try to live a life that is moral and doesn't cause others pain. It is also why I choose to ride. Riding motorcycles truly is the most fun I have been able to have with my clothes on. When it isn't fun anymore, I will stop. Even though I am 62 and have significant health problems, as long as I can ride and enjoy it I will continue to do it.

Namaste'
Doug from Kentucky

agreed. Well worth reading.

Damn good advice, I didn't ride for about 9 yrs. after a school bus pulled out in front of me... 3 days before my 21st birthday. Talk about wrecking MY plans!

Once I was ready I did get back on that horse though, like he said, if it feels right you'll ride again. Either way, stay safe.

Do we trust experience? That is a hard question.

I think my day for doing harder stuff has come to a close. I just don't have the timing down nor the reflexes I used to.

The tumble that has me rethinking my need for the adrenaline rush.

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Happy trails y'all!

You don't say how old you are, but I think anybody who is 40 or over and still riding dirt is insane and asking to be crippled for life.

I'm pushing 50. And I walked away from that tumble easier than a 20 year old who dumped his bike on a 1st gear turn in the sand about 20 minutes earlier on the trip.

It's my reaction timing to stuff like this is getting a bit off, plus I have not ridden since the snow started to fall. I suppose that it's not just like riding a bike anymore, requiring a bit of relearning of the muscles.

How's the video game thumb healing up?

Video thumb?

I thought that if you think that over 40 is too old to enjoy life and ride a dirt bike, you probably have a favorite game that gives you blisters on your thumb and still live with your parent's.

We old timer's have reasoning abilities.

Ha ha I'm kind of busted. I do play video games but on a PC not a video console.

It's all good, we old timers can show you how to change a tire by yourself on a trail, get a drowned bike running, and maybe show ya some trails that inspire us.