A bunch of guys from work went to our local BMW dearlershp to test drive the new BMW K1200S......I'm in love....talk about flying without leaving the ground.
I think I may have a new ride.
I think I may have a new ride.
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Bmw K1200s
Started by militarymd
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militarymd said:
Yeah dude, nice bike. IMHO, can't touch the ricers though. Strap yourself on a GSX 1000R or a GSX-1300R Hayabusa for the ultimate two-wheel experience, and you'll get used to passing low flying planes.
zx6r said:
I of the guys I was with yesteday test drove the Buell, and he did not like it at all....he said he couldn't get the darn thing to lean into a turn....and very unwieldy at parking lot speeds.
militarymd said:
I prefer four wheel transportation, but that bike is freakin' AMAZING! 😱
any of you Anesthesiologists wanta lend a budding one a hand on getting one..lol
Seems like a lot of bikers out there... I used to ride until my buddy got into a nasty accident and stayed in the ICU for a month with a head injury. Says he feels a bit slower in the thinking department now. Sold my bike a month later.
but still, almost everyday, i feel the craving to go out riding again. Actually went to the bike shop the other day and almost bought another bike. now i gotta ask you guys, is riding really worth the risk? i just don't know... definitely don't need to be slower in the thinking, cause i'm already slow as it is...
but still, almost everyday, i feel the craving to go out riding again. Actually went to the bike shop the other day and almost bought another bike. now i gotta ask you guys, is riding really worth the risk? i just don't know... definitely don't need to be slower in the thinking, cause i'm already slow as it is...
beezar said:
I feel ya....sold my Hayabuse for the same kinda reasons...sure miss it, though. 🙁
jetproppilot said:
Every spring, when the weather starts to get nice, I get the craving for a MC. My wife's usual response is that it's my money to spend as I wish, but she'll worry about me the entire time I'm out riding. Talk about mind games.
I still have the scars from an MC accident in 1976. I was riding down Lakeshore Drive in New Orleans on a beautiful Sunday afternoon when a little old lady in a battleship Cadillac ignored a stop sign and head for me from the perpendicular. I had 0.01 milliseconds to think: hmm, take a Cadillac broadside or lay the bike down? All I had on was jeans and a T-shirt. I left about 10 pounds of meat on the street as I slid.
That was the first and only time I've been on the receiving end of patient care in Charity Hospital's ER. What a trip. 😱
trinityalumnus said:
GEEEZZZZZ TRINITY.......ROOM FOUR!!! Interns stickin' your groin with an 18" for labs, NGT, rectal exam, AC 14"s....surprised you don't have PTSD from that....
Trin, remember Kyle the CRNA? Permanent lower extremity damage from a motorcycle accident....Mark G. the CRNA used to call him "catch-a-step" because of his foot drop (grin)....dude was riding a dirt bike on the trails, came around a turn gettin' on it, went over a jump....only problem it wasnt really a jump because on the other side was a highway... 😱 .....landed in the highway and got hit by a car!!!!...kinda hilarious in retrospect since he lived through to tell the story but he woke up from a coma 9 days later...didnt know WTF was going on...he was like "where am I??"...didnt remember a thing. Except the last part of the jump.
Man, I love motorcycles...just dont have the cajones to face my wife after I purchase another one....any suggestions?
Last August I ebay'd my Kawi to some teenager in Kansas. I figured that once I got married, my consequences would affect my husband as well as any potential children we might have in the future. I hope they never find out I had one, or they will probably want one even more. The rocket was fun, although hearing brakes squealing from behind, getting cut off on the interstate, and wondering if the drivers saw me at oncoming intersections were a bit stressfull at times. Definitely be safe if you do get the BMW or any bike for that matter.
jetproppilot said:Man, I love motorcycles...just dont have the cajones to face my wife after I purchase another one....any suggestions?
Why don't you buy one, and I can keep it for you....I promise to run it everyday hard so that it doesn't get stale or rusty. 🙂
While I do know that the decision to abandon this hobby is a pretty tough one, I've personally also come to the conclusion that it's probably way safer to simply drop it altogether, regardless of all its fun.
So, just to support some of you, who finally managed to get rid of this 'addiction' or also in order to try to help others who are still fighting with that very decision, here's a short *true* anecdote:
About two years ago, an emergency physician who -until then- used to staff the local HEMS helicopter had an accident with his motorbike on the way back home from work to his family. During the time he served on that helicopter, he literally saved thousands of lives, often the fatalities were MVA victims.
So, even though it was practically his daily routine to deal with motorbike accidents and -fatalities, that physician didn't drop that hobby (Probably, also because he was not only a pretty experienced physician but also an experienced biker).
Ironically, when that very accident was reported to the emergency services, 'his' helicopter and crew were dispatched to the scene, the crew was understandably shocked to see 'their' doctor being 'the MVA victim', unfortunately the doc's replacement on that flight couldn't help him anymore, he deceased at the scene.
This, in his mid thirties with a family of a wife and two very young children waiting at home.
Personally, my interest in motorbikes decreased significantly since then, regardless of how tempting it may be in the end. Besides, this is actually also an impressive example of how even professionals can ignore their daily work and impressions to a -finally- unhealthy extent.
Maybe, that way, his unfortunate faith will even serve as a reminder and save other lives.
Anyway, good luck to anybody who's still willing to take the risk - you may need it ...
So, just to support some of you, who finally managed to get rid of this 'addiction' or also in order to try to help others who are still fighting with that very decision, here's a short *true* anecdote:
About two years ago, an emergency physician who -until then- used to staff the local HEMS helicopter had an accident with his motorbike on the way back home from work to his family. During the time he served on that helicopter, he literally saved thousands of lives, often the fatalities were MVA victims.
So, even though it was practically his daily routine to deal with motorbike accidents and -fatalities, that physician didn't drop that hobby (Probably, also because he was not only a pretty experienced physician but also an experienced biker).
Ironically, when that very accident was reported to the emergency services, 'his' helicopter and crew were dispatched to the scene, the crew was understandably shocked to see 'their' doctor being 'the MVA victim', unfortunately the doc's replacement on that flight couldn't help him anymore, he deceased at the scene.
This, in his mid thirties with a family of a wife and two very young children waiting at home.
Personally, my interest in motorbikes decreased significantly since then, regardless of how tempting it may be in the end. Besides, this is actually also an impressive example of how even professionals can ignore their daily work and impressions to a -finally- unhealthy extent.
Maybe, that way, his unfortunate faith will even serve as a reminder and save other lives.
Anyway, good luck to anybody who's still willing to take the risk - you may need it ...
MedWiz said:
I do that too!!! 🙂
MedWiz said:
Gosh. You're right. Plenty of people have died from car accidents too, I better stop riding in those, I'll just walk. Crap, I've seen plenty of people who got creamed walking across the street. I better just stay home. Everything is too risky. Seriously, everything has risk involved. You minimize it on a bike by wearing gear, driving defensively, and avoiding dangerous situations/intersections.
As for the k12000s, I haven't ridden one yet, but I'm skeptical of ABS, linked braking, and servo motors on a sportbike. But it looks like a sweet bike, if a bit big.
bigeyedfish said:
You've got to test drive it.
It feels a lot smaller than it looks. It feels just like my VFR.
As for the brakes, They ROCK!
One finger stops from 100 mph...no problem....ABS is transparent....I tried it out with the rear brake....just like a car....
Linked brakes....my VFR has them...I can't really tell that they're there.
bigeyedfish said:
Well, thanks for you comments. Actually, I'd love to say I appreciated them, but on the other hand I feel they are a way too drastic and simplistic generalization of the actual message of my original posting, even though I do see from where you're coming.
But, by no means, did I try to recommend what you're implying, and I think that your reaction is kind of typical for someone who's passionate about his hobby (no offense intended).
If you carefully re-read at least the first paragraph of my posting, you'll quickly notice that I didn't try to talk everybody out of this hobby (how could I?). Given my own background, any biker ought to be entitled to lots of understanding from my side.
Rather, this was merely meant as some sort of 'support' for those users among us who are already pondering about the pros & cons of this *hobby*.
Obviously, you don't belong to that group of people, and frankly I don't think anybody here would really mind it whether you ride your bike or not, nor do I.
Indeed, a couple of years ago I would've probably reacted in a fashion similar to yours to a posting like mine.
Back then, probably nobody would have been able to talk me out of this (biking, that is).
So, I've been where you are and I can still fully understand your point of view, to be honest looking at motorbikes still makes me want to take a ride and I bet some other users here felt similarly when viewing those images.
However, regardless of that I noticed and recognized some pretty familiar reflections (not to say concerns) in some of the previous postings, so I felt that some users might actually benefit from sharing the above anecdote in order to re-affirm their decision.
I don't know you or your background, so I don't how old you are or whether you're married and maybe even have kids yet, but if you look at some of the previous postings in this thread, you'll quickly see that for most ex-bikers (as it's the case for most people who pursue more 'dangerous' hobbies), it's often indeed these 'factors' that are usually contributing to a pretty tough dilemma sooner or later in life: having to decide between one's passions and one's family.
I really don't feel like advocating a certain decision, I can only say that I can personally fully understand anybody who's having a very hard time with such a decision, even though I've personally made the experience that it may ultimately be really helpful to try to switch perspectives and imagine what your spouse/family may be going through in a worst case scenario or how you'd feel in such a situation where you put your life unnecessarily at risk (to pursue a *hobby*), in order to try to set priorities accordingly.
At this point it doesn't matter anymore whether we're talking about biking, climbing, racing or parachuting (btw: another thing that I loved to do and can highly recommend to any adrenaline junkies out there who've got the balls for it).
Anyway, usually it comes down to a pretty simple question:
"Am I willing to accept the risk to possibly put the burden on my family of either being handicapped or dead ?"
But as you've already rightfully (even though quite cynically) pointed out, there's plenty of other risks out there, so there's still a good chance to put said burden on your family even without accepting additional risks. However, in the above scenario we are talking about *unnecessary* risks, specifically a risk that can usually be statically proven.
So, often this is not about avoiding everyday hazards: I really don't mind getting on an airplane or driving on the highway after seeing an MVA or airplane crash on tv.
It's quite simply about avoiding generally *unnecessary risks*.
With that in mind, it's quite typical for someone who's passionate about something to go for a simple generalization (I'm still prone to that, too), but I don't think you'd really argue with me that it's much less likely to get involved or even injured in an motorbike accident if you don't ride motorbikes ? ;-)
Likewise, I don't think there's any need to argue about the level of 'protection' that you have to depend on when riding a motorbike, compared to most (if not all) cars, regardless of any protective gear.
I'm not sure if you now fully understand from where I'm coming or are still inclined to downplay the risks, but I'm quite confident that you might find yourself one day actually pondering about the aforementioned issues and possibly even remember this discussion, one way or the other - with men maturity often is a matter of a decrease in testosterone levels ;-)
</Gosh>
I gave up motorcycles in July of 2001. I have a wife and 2 small children, so in July of 2001, I decided that it was time to put away the toys and become a responsible adult.
I was motorcycle free from July to September. On September 11, 2001, I was told by the Navy (I was active duty at the time) to pack my sea bag and get ready to deploy...where? no one said...how long? no one said...I was told to make sure that my will was in order.
I saw the images from the NYC and the Pentagon.
I bought my Honda Interceptor at the earliest opportunity.....My disability and life insurance policies are maxed out and paid up.....
If I die, my wife and children will probably be better off (financially) then they are now.
I was motorcycle free from July to September. On September 11, 2001, I was told by the Navy (I was active duty at the time) to pack my sea bag and get ready to deploy...where? no one said...how long? no one said...I was told to make sure that my will was in order.
I saw the images from the NYC and the Pentagon.
I bought my Honda Interceptor at the earliest opportunity.....My disability and life insurance policies are maxed out and paid up.....
If I die, my wife and children will probably be better off (financially) then they are now.
Well I didn't expect my cynicism to generate such a thoughtful reply. I do have kind of a knee jerk response to talk about the dangers of motorcycling because I hear it all the time and I am passionate about my hobby.
I agree that motorcycling is a risky endevor, however it's not as high as most people think, especially when you have an educated rider who takes the proper precautions. Gear will not afford you the protection of a steel cage, but I bet trinityalumnus would have walked away from his accident with only some bruises if he'd had good gear on. Although I've never understood the phrase "had to lay it down." That boggles my mind.
Who knows, maybe if I ever have kids I'll see things differently. Maybe give up riding on the street and stick to trackdays. But I doubt it.
I agree that motorcycling is a risky endevor, however it's not as high as most people think, especially when you have an educated rider who takes the proper precautions. Gear will not afford you the protection of a steel cage, but I bet trinityalumnus would have walked away from his accident with only some bruises if he'd had good gear on. Although I've never understood the phrase "had to lay it down." That boggles my mind.
Who knows, maybe if I ever have kids I'll see things differently. Maybe give up riding on the street and stick to trackdays. But I doubt it.
bigeyedfish said:
What stopped me from riding was not the that I was not wearing the proper gear or doing stupid things on the bike... it was the fear of the little old lady in her big ole cadillac who doesn't see me and decides to do some sudden turn to run me over.... I mean just driving home from work today I almost got hit in my big visible car by ******* drivers twice.
Well I love bikes myself and since I sold my CBR 929RR I have been eyeing that Ducati 999. Wow, what a bike. I have raced these bikes however not since undergrad. Too many friends injured (more than 4) or killed (3 to date)on the bike. It's not the other guys you need to watch out for on these bikes, it's yourself. You get comfortable and its all over. We all know to watch for the bozos on the road.
Since I sold the crotch-rocket I have found a new passion. Mtnbiking. And not just that crosscountry grind but the downhill as well. You think these sportbikes are exhilarating? Try going down a hill 50+ and hitting a 6-8 ft kicker and launching 30ft. Almost as exciting as doing 150+ and then diving into a switchback and laying that bike down as low as it goes wondering if there is enough road to make it through the turn.
Well either way its all dangerous. You could have a MI in your sleep. You could have a stroke. Live it Love it
Since I sold the crotch-rocket I have found a new passion. Mtnbiking. And not just that crosscountry grind but the downhill as well. You think these sportbikes are exhilarating? Try going down a hill 50+ and hitting a 6-8 ft kicker and launching 30ft. Almost as exciting as doing 150+ and then diving into a switchback and laying that bike down as low as it goes wondering if there is enough road to make it through the turn.
Well either way its all dangerous. You could have a MI in your sleep. You could have a stroke. Live it Love it
You guys are crazy. A General Surgeon that lives in my neighborhood has four kids and rides all the time. He's crashed at least a half dozen times and is still kicking, and each time gets even more enthused about living on the edge and dodging death.
So here's my question? Why not just go out and buy a Porsche 911? They are fast as hell and having all that extra metal around you could save your lives. Besides, as anesthesia MD's you can certainly afford one... I know that will be my first purchase as a doctor (in about 11 years) 😎
So here's my question? Why not just go out and buy a Porsche 911? They are fast as hell and having all that extra metal around you could save your lives. Besides, as anesthesia MD's you can certainly afford one... I know that will be my first purchase as a doctor (in about 11 years) 😎
I don't ride bikes (only been a passenger in Jamaica once) but that bike in your avatar is hot. If I didn't live in NYC I would consider one (even though my wife would kill me before I got on it). That cherry red bike looks like its worth every penny ($12000 yikes Sweet nonetheless).
dpoke1 said:
The red bike is a Honda Interceptor....I'm selling it.
I want the BMW!@!!!!
During one of my residency interviews, when I was still riding at the time, the interviewer asked me why I don't just give up riding because it was so dangerous. I went into my thing that I tell everyone... that I wear a ton of equipment, don't ride too fast, etc. Then he said "Oh, I get it. It's just like smoking." Man was I offended by that comment.
Now that I gave up biking, I realize that, hey, it is just like smoking, cuz I crave for it everyday... damnit!
Now that I gave up biking, I realize that, hey, it is just like smoking, cuz I crave for it everyday... damnit!
militarymd said:
There's just something about the beemers. I've had a F650 for the past four years (not as huge as the K12 but a whole heck of a lot more affordable for a then-med student) and the guys that I used to ride with always commented that you either love them or you don't. The big bikes are all shaft driven and don't ride as large as they look and the F is the smallest of the line and as as nimble as they come. They just have a different feel than most other bikes (I can't say for myself as I've only ridden Hondas and this beemer) and tend to make people fans for life.
I have to admit that I've taken to not riding as much since starting residency though. I agree with beezar - it's the fact that some of my 86 year old patients are still on the road that makes me think twice before I start it up each time. On top of that I just got engaged and she's not a fan of the bike... so it may (or may not, damnit!) go...
Take care and ride safe.
I agree those BMW 1200's are very nice. I am more of the classic cruiser kind of guy. Currently considering trading in my Honda shadow for the Harley Softail deuce. Man it's nice to have a paycheck again. Military I've gotta say that is a sweet ride you've got.
To those of you that say motorcycling is a dangerous addiction....I agree. We are all addicted to something. If you say you are not addicted to something denial is your psycological defense at this point. Some examples include caffeine, tv, food, smokes, etoh, sex, porno, videogames, movies, ....etc. and any numerous combinations. Pick your poison. That is the nature of being human, we seek out activities which activate our pleasure centers even if they pose a possible threat to our overall well being.
To those of you that say motorcycling is a dangerous addiction....I agree. We are all addicted to something. If you say you are not addicted to something denial is your psycological defense at this point. Some examples include caffeine, tv, food, smokes, etoh, sex, porno, videogames, movies, ....etc. and any numerous combinations. Pick your poison. That is the nature of being human, we seek out activities which activate our pleasure centers even if they pose a possible threat to our overall well being.
My wife just received her motorcycle license so it's time to get a second bike. I have to admit recently I've been looking at the hayabusa. It would be nice to have a cruiser and sport touring bike around so I could pick my drug of choice for the day.
Zeffer said:
Had a Busa, Dude. If you are looking for the ultimate adrenaline bike, thats the one. 150mph seems like 65mph. Very sturdy in a wheelie. Will beat a 911 turbo. Uh....all that stuff I just wrote......I did. 😱
Thats why I sold it. (To my brother inlaw, who lowered it, lengthened it, put in a computer chip, race sprocket and chain, and he ran a 9.90 quarter mile 😱 ). Thats smokin for a bike with relatively simple modifications. No one can beat Suzuki when it comes to brain-shaking performance.
jetproppilot said:
Come on now....chasing down 911 turbo is no mean feat when you're on 2 wheels.
Me and this surgeon (me on VFR and him on Yamaha GTS) we chased down a 911 turbo on the Cherohola Skyway in no time flat....He tried to stay ahead, but had to give it up after a while.
militarymd said:
I don't know military my '79 trail 60 might have a wee bit of a problem. Well I'm on my way to test out an '02 busa and '01 Triumph Daytona. Both have 2200 mi. Let ya know what I think if I return.
rn29306 said:
I suspect that the R1 would take the lead on the Dragon.
militarymd said:
I agree. The busa is just not as manueverable as the smaller bikes...but that straitaway....yeah baby 🙂
militarymd said:
I feel my Y chromosome coming to life...
I'm gonna have to find a comparison on-line...can't see an R1 beating The Beast in anything.
