Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > Is it in the blood?

[John W]

definitely in the blood, for me anyway.

My dad has had bikes since he was old enough to afford one. He used to race them, again when he could afford to.

All of my mum's brothers also raced bikes, and that's how my mum & dad met (its how all my aunts & uncles met too).

I had my first bike when I was 10, and never been without one since, although for a lot of the time it was mainly off-roaders.
The parents even brought my first off-road bikes, and my first moped.

I decided after some time ago that the off-road crashes were getting more frequent and hurting too much (I was clearly not fit enough to be competitive any more), so brought a new road bike.

Managed to persuade the wife to have a go on the back, and now we spend a couple of weeks a year touring with other bikers. She has no interest in riding herself, but likes the social side, and she actually picks the trips we go on.

For me road riding allows me to take the wife so is less antisocial than racing, where she wouldn't go as it was 'boring' apparently

I've known people killed both on & off road, and have witnessed some pretty nasty crashes, but it still doesn't put me off. I know it is a risk, but so is getting on a plane to go on holiday, or getting on the train. Simple fact is you assess the risk and decide if it is worth taking or not.

A friend of mine had a stroke a couple of years back at 39. The determination to get back on a bike is what drove him on to get better, and now, even though he is partially disabled, he is back on a trike.
His wife decided some time before that that she would no longer go on the back of his bike as to use her words 'one of them had to be sensible', meaning it limited the likelihood of both of them getting injured together.

I think bikes become a passion for whatever reason. Maybe its the company, or the thrill of the speed, or the freedom, or the sense of pride you ge from owning/riding a particular bike.

Who knows, cos I don't. I just enjoy them any way I can

Good topic though

[skidlids]

It may be in my blood, but it certainly isn't in my parents or my brothers. My parents didn't mind to much when in 1974 me and a mate pooled our pocket money to buy a old Honda S50 as a field bike, probably thought it was just a phase that I would grow out of, before long I was buying MCN, Motorcycle Weekly, Motorcycle Mechanics, I even purchased the edition 1 of New Motorcycleing Monthly. Dec 1976 I turned 16 and could get a moped Licence, there was no way I could afford a Moped and my parents were unwilling to help. By the time I had saved enough money to buy a moped and insure it, I was nearly 17 so I decide to buy a 125 and have never looked back, 27 years of continuous biking and over 40 bikes later dispite a few broken bones and hospital visits.
There have been a few unpleasent moments in those years but far out weighed by the good moments and the excellent friends I have made along the route.
and Fordie its not so much the right wrist as the Grey matter controling it.

[uncle porry]

when i was a kid i used to run like hell after school to meet my dad on his way home from work, he rode a bsa and i used to jump on the back (no helmets in them days) and he`d take me the rest of the way home......it was such a fantastic feeling to be whizzing along in the air..and that has stuck with me since...no matter how stressed out i get at work or whatever, as soon as i am on my bike it seems like i don`t have a care in the world.....as long as i am physically able to, i will allways have a bike..its a major part of my life.

[Henners]

There's is a wonderful synergie in what everyone is saying which also does it for me - once you have been seduced by a motorcycle you can never live without them.

Thanks for the reminder Chris - hope to celebrate with you all at the Surrey dyno run on 27th. My birthday present will be there with me

[psychlist]

Started when I was a teenager and wanted a bit of freedom. Growing up as a teenager in a small town miles away from anything meant I had to get transport of my own. Couldnt afford to buy a car (dad was never gonna buy one for me!) and having a Maths schoolteacher who rode an S3C (I'm sure the experts can tell me what the for-runner of the almighty Jota was called) and an English teacher who ran one of the first seventiess 900SS' got me on the way.
Sure i've lost biking friends but what really brought things "home" to me was when in the 6th form one Xmas some mates and I went to Asda'a and the car park was iced ovr. An old boy in a Maxi in front of us couldnt get the car going so we all got out to give him a push. When Simon fell flat on his face it was a great laugh, until we tried to drag the poor guy up onto hisd feet. Apparently he had a "hole in the heart " (dunno what the techie term is) and the strain of pushing this guys car did him in, at 19!
His mum nailed life for me by getting us to promise to enjoy life while you can, no matter what restrictions other people try to impose. So sorry mum, I will be back enjoying the bike this summer, and thank you Mrs Psy for understanding just how much biking, and all the people I've met through it, means to me.
Ride safe, keep it upright, but above all, RIDE!

[paulmort]

My Dad had a BSA 250 scooter. I ran into the back of a parked car, didnt see it, no goggles blah dee blah
First REAL bike was a 350 long stroke AJS
One every lamp post...............
havent had m8s end their life on bikes, but maybe Ive just been very fortunate or had careful m8s????????
I dont take chances on roads, remember there's always a tractor round the next bend.
Now what keeps me into biking?
The comarderie of bikers the world over
The friendship of biking that has long endured the test of time
The adrenalin on the track
and best of all, all the people I continue to meet, thats what keeps me to biking
rgds
mort

[uncle porry]

well said mort, the cameraderie between bikers is unsurpassed in the motoring world..i broke down a few years ago and a biker pulled up to ask what the problem was, he helped me for over an hour to get my bike started, but we could not get it going, so he rides home, borrows his mates van, comes back and we put my bike in the van and he took me the twenty miles home...he would not accept any money for fuel/time, all he wanted was a cup of tea! and i had never met the guy before in my life !!

Mort you are the only member I can think of that has earlier memories than Fordie .. you werent so much the black n white TV generation, more Pre TV ....

lol, glad you can remember that far back though, bodes well for your mental state ...

[nathanhu]

My dad had a RD 250, am i realy that young !!! Whats a Bsa ?

i also lived in the sticks and just had to get out of the house and bought a RD 50 , i can still remember that feeling of riding away from the house for the first time with Large smile on my face, unforgetable...
i moved out to Germany in 1991 and bought my first big bike ( an jap 750!!) and rode on until i got married in 1996 BIG MISTAKE......... bike hater female......does this ring any bells-----
Your allways out on your bike.
i never see you at the weekends.
you think more of your bike than me.
how much for those tyres/brake hoses/insert as ness
etc etc etc
needless to say devorce followed, I must admit it was the worst time ive ever had ,every time i saw a bike i wished i hadnt sold mine to keep her indoors happy and i found myself stood still in the street looking at dog old gsx´s and Fzr´s and wondering if i was comming down with something ........
i bought a fireblade in 1997 and havent looked back i was fooled into having a go on a mate´s 996 and as he said ha wanted a go on my blade (im sure he was in kahoots with the Ducati dealer) and that was it i swapped it for a 2000 996 and promtly wrote it off after 2months on the Nurburgring and and put myself in hospital for 8 weeks with the resultant injurys of running into armco at 120mph ouch... broken pelvis, blood clots in leg loss of feelling below the waist etc. all i was thinking about was hmmm bike bike bike. new pipes errr carbon tank and and and so on . after 8 months on sick leave i finaly got my bike fixed and back on the road and life goes on , im married again now (twice married before 30 isnt bad going eh but we live n learn ) and my wife now also rides , a ducati , a 748 ,with loud pipes ,te he lifes good shes also got the bug she even comes on track days with me , shes not the fastest but not the slowest, and most of all our daughter sees mum n dad talking and reading bikes bikes bikes so there is hope for the future. what is funny is my dad is constantly telling me to grow up and sell those dangerious bike things as i shoule have grown out of it by now (im only 32 for gods sake) and he started it with the old RD , but the best is the wife has bought me a prezzy, a 2003 fila 999r ,so at least i know shes on my side !!

[Redsps]

yep, have to agree.
It's in the blood, I got into bikes at around 7 years old, starting riding soon after and the bug has never left me.
used to go over the local coomon on a beat up old lambretta with my best mate, at 10 years old, great times were had.
My best mate was killed on his brand new RD LC250, but that did'nt really discourage me. Had a couple of serious prangs round 15 years ago, but still kept the faith.
Had a few small gaps along the way, but never lost that yearning for two wheels.
several of my relatives also had the biking bugs in years past.
I will still be riding when I am old and grey( not to long there then )

cheers
Red...