Thread: Rossmeyer

"He was out West, maybe in Colorado even, riding his motorcycle with some others, not wearing a helmet, following a truck which turned its left turn signal on to make a left turn, then (did not state how long) the motor cycle riders passed the truck on the left, with the first several making it by the truck and when Bruce went to pass the truck turned left and Bruce was hit and killed, a rider behind Bruce managed to swerve to the right around the truck.

1) Regardless how independent you want to feel about it, IT IS STUPID to ride a motorcycle without a helmet.

2) IT IS STUPID to pass a vehicle on the left which put its turn signal on for a left turn.

Two STUPID THINGS lead him to die in that crash.

He was just buried here yesterday, and, wouldn't you know it, there was a long line of motorcycle police following the procession and the first ones slowed for some reason, the others behind them failed to slow quick enough to hit the ones in front of them - a motorcycle mishap involving several motorcycle in the funeral procession for a well know motorcycle rider and dealer who died from a motorcycle accident.

Is that fate or what?

When I heard it was in Colorado (where I think it was), I thought "Wonder if Nick was riding with them?"
Foregoing is quote from Jerry P taken from a thread that turned in to inspector politics.
__________________________________________________ ____________________________

I was on vacation last week.
We were touring the northwest area.
I happened to drive by an accident in Wyoming on a 2 lane hiway.
There were 2 motorcycles laying down.
There was a state policeman, an ambulance, a pick up towing a camper, several other bikes. In as much as this was way out in the middle of nowhere, I would guess that it happened 20 - 30 minutes before I passed it.
I did not stop - there was plenty of help there and not much parking room.
Later that evening, in Casper, Wy., I heard about the accident on the news ..tho I did not catch the deceased mans name at the time...they said he was from Florida, was the biggest Harley dealer (13 Dealerships) in the country.
They reported that he was riding with 6 other riders, was the last in line, the others passed the camper, and when he started to pass the camper turned left.
I had several conversations with bikers in the next few days - just to satisfy my curiosity about this person. Many had not heard about it yet.
There were thousands of bikers in that part of the country all headed for Sturgis.

There are no small accidents on a motorcycle.

Is there a point to your post or just whining, because I'm missing it. Like a law requiring helmet use would have made a difference in either case? I doubt it.
Sometimes I wear my lid, sometimes I don't. I sure as hell don't want the man telling me I have to wear it all the time.
I've been riding since 15, had my motorcycle license before car license, been down 6+ times. Every time I've been down it was the car's fault.
There are guys I won't ride with because they ride like crap. That's their issue, not the bikes'.
Want motorcycle safety? How about making people take a safety course before they walk out of a dealership with a 20K loan on something they've never ridden.
Really am sorry those guys are dead, that really sucks, it's a bad way to go. Having flown over a car and slid down the street on my back (leather jacket took the beating) because idiot in the left turn lane with left blinker on decided to make a right turn at the last second, I know how horrible of a feeling it is.
Nonetheless my patience for helmet law arguments and dangerous motorcycles is pretty thin.

Seen on billboard.
ASPHALT - Worlds fastest tatoo remover. Drive Safely.

Re: Older riders.

My wife and I both rode for many years, in my case going back to the late 1960s.

But a while back there came a time when I put my finger on the starter button and realized there was a little bit of unease mixed with anticipation.

After a while it became trepidation, and after a while it became the the outer edge of fear.

Part of that was getting older, and better understanding my own mortality. Part of it was having watched what happened to friends and strangers, sometimes as a result of their own carelessness or bad judgment, but more often is as a result of some action by another driver.

Part of it was the realization that I just didn't heal as fast as I did, and that recovery from an injury the might have taken months as a young man might now take years - or never happen all - that if possible my wife and I were both going to have to kept working into our 70s if we wanted to continue to enjoy many other things we do, and how unfair it would be if an injury that was result of an optional, dangerous recreational activity not only ended one of our incomes, but forced one of us to care for a disabled spouse.

Part of it was the realization that as you age you really do start to lose the edge in terms of vision, reflexes, and resistance to fatigue that's needed if you ride as safely as you once did.

Part of it was the realization that there's a lot more traffic, and in my area a lot fewer roads that are a pleasure to ride.

So there was no one thing that ended my riding - the time just came when not only "the thrill was gone", but even, often, the pleasure.

We occasionally talk about how much we miss riding - but both we and the world have changed, and for us the pleasure just doesn't balance the risk anymore.

YMM (literally) V.

Well put Michael. Along those lines is why I ride less and less in the City. We usually head straight out of town for country roads. Not that a tractor or deer is any softer to plow into.