For a more experienced rider, no problem.

Appreciations & Dirt bike training recommendations
 

Thank you all very much for your wisdom and support! I've decided to take your advice and get some dirt bike training. Can anyone recommend a dirt bike course in S. CA? I'll be in the San Diego area on Jan. 12th. I'll need to rent the bike as well.

Thanks!

Sig

Here's one and they have bikes.
http://www.admo-tours.com/

is the only one I see that mentions training.

ideas
 

The dirt riding classes sound like a great idea. Here's a fews other random thoughts.

Ted Simon was 69 when he began going rtw for the second time. He suffered two accidents in the four (?) years. One on the Ethiopia/Kenya border and one in South America. There's always someone around to help in developing countries.

On a completely different track, if you want to go rtw, what about in a four wheel vehicle, and making side ventures on a bike? You'd always have a bike PERFECTLY adapted to that country. And you wouldn't have to do any maintenance. ;-)

What'll be interesting, is to see how you feel about this suggestion....

Lorraine

weather forecasting
 

And one little benifit of multiple broken bones is I have developed a built in weather forecasting ability. The knee is for rain, the thigh for thunderstorm and the clavicle for high wind.

You've had a big crash ... that makes you a better safer and more clued up rider..

Experience makes you more cautious and now you have some !

I rode like a plonker before I had a big smash and now im 10X better than I was.

It shakes you up and bursts the invincibility bubble many riders have.

Sadly some people pay the ultimate price but you walked away (eventually)

If you dont live you life , your life aint worth living.

older riders
 

I am 61 and have just done 70,000km from Spain to Oz through Asia on my 650 suzuki.
I fell off loads of times as the bike is top heavy, especially with the luggage, but luckily I wasn't hurt.
It would have been advantages for me to have done a dirt road riding course which would have given me more confidence. However in Asia you have to ride slowly because of the traffic and I like to look at things anyway, so I think you just have to take it easy.
I really hope you regain the confidence and get out there and do it. I dont know how big you are but get a bike you can handle easily when it is loaded. I am going to downsize to a 250 next.
If you have time check my website

www.haefale.de/linda/index.html

I wrote a song about falling off which you can hear on it.

Good luck
Linda

Funny, I never got the weather forcasting feature, but after my accident back in the early sixties my left ankle always hurt like hell whenever I started pushing my luck. As soon as I started riding sensibly, the pain would stop....

My advice, get a bike light enough for you to be its master, and pick up alone. Ensure also you can flat foot it at rest. This will help you to help it before the lean angle gets too critical. Never be bullied into riding faster than you are comfortable...

deer hunting with my bike
 

Hey there Sig,
Life is for the living my friend. I understand your worries having hit a deer doing 60 mph I'm lucky to be alive. Tried to stay off the bike but I just couldn't. At the time I was riding a v-star 1100. I switched to an enduro cause at least if I'm semi off road i don't have to worry about all the ass hole motorists out there. Get back on the bike Sig. I spent my time off the bike watching guys (and Gals) ride by wishing i was back on the bike. After sliding 150 feet from the impact (we measured!) I guessed i started believing that when its your time then its your time whether you are a skydiver or an accountant. See you in Colorado at the HU meet.

have a good one
Wayne

A non biker friend of mine met you at the National Park here in Malaysia recently and was really amazed by your achievements.

You are one source of inspiration!

Keep on riding, girl!

Back on a Beemer after 24 years...
 

Hi Sig,
I bought an F650 GS in November after some introspection that examined what I haven't done with my life that I've always wanted to do. South America jumped to the forefront... as I lived in Brazil as a kid and have always wanted to go back to South America.

I first looked into fixing up my van, but the cost of mods, gas expenses during the trip and the Carnet de Passage made me reconsider. I also knew I'd be tempted to take more than I needed and would worry about the vehicle while it was parked. Motorcycles were the next consideration.

I thought about going with a twin like the R75 I used to have... but after reading about the quantum improvements in motorcycle handling since the mid 70's, I decided to go with the F650GS. I read so many positive things about this ride on the F650.com website that it was a no brainer. I simply needed to find a suitable ride.

Eventually that ride appeared, a 2006 F650 GS with 610 miles on the OD. It was the most beautiful motorcycle I'd ever seen, so I bought it and spent the next few days in Santa Barbara learning how to ride after a 26 year hiatus.

I was scared to death for the first few rides as I went down at 60 mph on my last ride, a '64 R69S, back in 1981. Like the post traumatic shock one experiences during a tremor after having been through several large earthquakes, I relived the crash each time I leaned into a turn and rolled on the throttle. 60 mph on empty highways above S Barbara scared the bejesus out of me, but I got over it with more time in the saddle.

I'm up near Bodega Bay and the roads here are God's gift to motorcycles. I've read any number of books on performance riding and take the 650 out as often as I can. The confidence has come back slowly... and I think I'm now a better, more cautious, more aware rider than I ever was in my 20's. In a few months, after taking a dirt course or two, I'll be ready for the big ride through Central and South America. The 650 is light enough that I can lift it, fully loaded, if it goes down... and the fuel economy on the dual spark, FI single is second to none. Can't wait to begin the trip.

You're cautious and that's a good thing. Just take those dirt courses and take it slow. The confidence will come back... and you'll be glad you got back in the saddle. I am.

Best of luck to you.

Lawrence

Good post, Sig.
 

This is the sort of thread that makes this website truly valuable. Sig, you courageously posed a question, to which it would otherwise be extremely difficult to find such considered advice. There is a wealth of excellent suggestions in all the preceding posts, offered with a solid foundation of experience and a genuine regard to help and reassure a comrade. I'm glad that it's spurred you on.
I'm grateful that I've never had a serious crash, but even the few scares that I have had sometimes make me apprehensive about riding motorcycles. I know that somewhere out there, there is an accident waiting for me to ride into. My thoughts often turn to what it would mean for my life (and those around me) if I had a serious motorcycle accident. But most of the time these thoughts are put away at the back of my mind.
We all realise that motorcycling has its risks; everything has, but motorcycling in particular seems to have more serious consequences, should something go wrong. No-one who motorcycles wants that accident that brings down the curtain. There are many things that could cause such an accident; some we can control, some we can't.
Many of the things we can do to stave off that crash ever actually happening to us are mentioned in this thread: take training to improve your skills and confidence; always wear the protective gear; ride in manner you are comfortable with, and so on.
The things that we can't control, well they're simply a roll of the dice. We take risks every day without ever thinking, and without ever realising. I you are a motorcyclist, motorcycling is just another one added to the mix.
Be aware of these risks, take positive steps to reduce those you can control, accept there are ones you can't control, ride, and enjoy what motorcycling undeniably offers.
It's far better to live life, than cower from the curtain.

Ken.

Keep going
 

Hey Sig Have faith. I broke both arms, both compound fractures and right leg in an accident in 1991, lost most of my teeth even with a full face on.

I have just bought a Suzuki 800 Intruder and cannot wait for the summer to get to Denmark.

Go and do it or you will always regret it.

We are only young once.

Steve ...aged 48 years of experience.:thumbup1:

Just do it!
 

G'day Sig.

I'm an "Oldie" at 58, and having survived a crash (on dirt) on my R1200GS in outback Australia last August in which I got a broken neck, back, clavicle and several broken ribs, I'm all fired up to leave in May, on my 4+ year RTW trip on my new F650GS.

I've a lot of living still to do, so I'm gonna go do it, while I'm still alive! :clap:

Go on, get out there and enjoy life while you can.

Cheers
Margaret