There are a whole lot of interesting comments on this thread and I don't think there is an answer that you can say is right or wrong. I think if you are asking the question "Knowing when it's when?" Maybe that time is now. If your fear of getting hurt or dying out ways the enjoyment of riding or whatever you do, then it is time.
Everything we do has risk as Uncle Phil so nicely put about the guy walking down the side walk. Motorcycling like anything else has a level of risk management that we must do every moment we ride. I consider myself a pretty good risk manager but even with that said every day there is something I see while riding that could interfere with me having a great day. Your fear factor dictates the risks that you will take and we all have a different fear factor. In fact our fear factor may change from day to day, road to road, situation to situation. You must gauge this and then manage the risk you are willing to take.
My wife and I spend several days at RockSTOC and the level of riders and their experiences were all over the board, each of which was very different and the way they approach riding is very different. While talking with a friend at RockSTOC he mentioned that he is getting a different bike moving away from the ST to most likely a wing. I asked him why, and he said that the ST although he likes the bike does not really fit the type of riding he wants to do. I have no argument. But after reading this thread, I think that this may be his way of still enjoying motorcycling but managing risk. His risk management is getting a bike that better fits with the type of riding he wants to do.
I had a riding instructor for an advanced riding class that was a riding instructor on a military base. One of the issues on the base was that the folks were getting into a lot of fatal and near fatal accidents. The instructor was hired to train all staff that rode motorcycles all the way through very advanced riding courses. To make a long story short what he learned was that these folks had a fear factor beyond any riders that he has trained and there risk management was completely different than what he had anticipated. All had been in combat and their approach to fear was very different than normal students. The results that he saw is that they were willing to take higher risks in their riding, and most of the time exceeding their skill level. Hence the reason for the very advanced rider courses.
If the "When" out ways the fun then maybe it is "When"!!
Everything we do has risk as Uncle Phil so nicely put about the guy walking down the side walk. Motorcycling like anything else has a level of risk management that we must do every moment we ride. I consider myself a pretty good risk manager but even with that said every day there is something I see while riding that could interfere with me having a great day. Your fear factor dictates the risks that you will take and we all have a different fear factor. In fact our fear factor may change from day to day, road to road, situation to situation. You must gauge this and then manage the risk you are willing to take.
My wife and I spend several days at RockSTOC and the level of riders and their experiences were all over the board, each of which was very different and the way they approach riding is very different. While talking with a friend at RockSTOC he mentioned that he is getting a different bike moving away from the ST to most likely a wing. I asked him why, and he said that the ST although he likes the bike does not really fit the type of riding he wants to do. I have no argument. But after reading this thread, I think that this may be his way of still enjoying motorcycling but managing risk. His risk management is getting a bike that better fits with the type of riding he wants to do.
I had a riding instructor for an advanced riding class that was a riding instructor on a military base. One of the issues on the base was that the folks were getting into a lot of fatal and near fatal accidents. The instructor was hired to train all staff that rode motorcycles all the way through very advanced riding courses. To make a long story short what he learned was that these folks had a fear factor beyond any riders that he has trained and there risk management was completely different than what he had anticipated. All had been in combat and their approach to fear was very different than normal students. The results that he saw is that they were willing to take higher risks in their riding, and most of the time exceeding their skill level. Hence the reason for the very advanced rider courses.
If the "When" out ways the fun then maybe it is "When"!!
