This is what I wrote:
Let's not get too excited and miss-interpret what I was told. It came from someone who has had his knees in the wind a decade before I was born (and that was a few decades ago). The point he was making is that there are lots of people who fancy themselves motorcyclists (on a nice afternoon), until the first time they put a bike down. And many of those people will sell their bike and gear, and never ride again out of fear. In his opinion, a motorcyclist is the person who get's back on and rides after having put their bike down. He made no qualifications about speed or anything else.
As far as I can tell, his point is that a "real biker" is the same as an equestrian who gets back on a horse after being thrown. Their ability to conquer the fear and keep riding. It's about riding for the enjoyment it brings, and accepting the associated challenges and dangers in stride, rain or shine. It isn't the jacket that one wears, or how the chrome and paint shines on a sunny Sunday afternoon...
My conversation with him came about because I was riding in crappy weather, when most people would have left their bike at home and taken the car. He was impressed that I was riding when most wouldn't have been. As was he.
I've been told that you aren't truly a rider until you have laid a bike down and then gotten back on to ride again.
... but someone said something about not being a real biker till you've been down on a bike. I think a minor going down is an inevitability, but as far as not being a "real biker" because you've never had a bad scare at high speed I say BS!
Let's not get too excited and miss-interpret what I was told. It came from someone who has had his knees in the wind a decade before I was born (and that was a few decades ago). The point he was making is that there are lots of people who fancy themselves motorcyclists (on a nice afternoon), until the first time they put a bike down. And many of those people will sell their bike and gear, and never ride again out of fear. In his opinion, a motorcyclist is the person who get's back on and rides after having put their bike down. He made no qualifications about speed or anything else.
As far as I can tell, his point is that a "real biker" is the same as an equestrian who gets back on a horse after being thrown. Their ability to conquer the fear and keep riding. It's about riding for the enjoyment it brings, and accepting the associated challenges and dangers in stride, rain or shine. It isn't the jacket that one wears, or how the chrome and paint shines on a sunny Sunday afternoon...
My conversation with him came about because I was riding in crappy weather, when most people would have left their bike at home and taken the car. He was impressed that I was riding when most wouldn't have been. As was he.