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I’ve been re-reading Dr. Hunter S. Thompson’s “Hell’s Angels.” Although the book is about the social phenomenon of the Angels themselves, there is a passage in the book that I think EVERY new rider should commit to memory. Then again, we can all do well to remember the late Doctor Thompson’s words:
“ Nearly everyone who has ridden a bike for any length of time will agree. The highways are crowded with people who drive as if their sole purpose in getting behind the wheel is to avenge every wrong ever done to them by man, beast, or fate. The only thing that keeps them in line is their own fear of death, jail, and lawsuits…which are much less likely if they can find a motorcycle to challenge, instead of another two-thousand pound car or concrete abutment. A motorcyclist has to drive as if everyone else on the road is out to kill him. A few of them are, and many of those who aren’t are just as dangerous – because the only that can alter their careless, ingrained driving habits is a threat of punishment, either legal or physical, and there is noting about a motorcycle to threaten any man (sic) in a car. A bike is totally vulnerable; its only defense is maneuverability, and every accident situation is potentially fatal – especially on a freeway, where there is no room to fall without being run over almost instantly.”
“ Nearly everyone who has ridden a bike for any length of time will agree. The highways are crowded with people who drive as if their sole purpose in getting behind the wheel is to avenge every wrong ever done to them by man, beast, or fate. The only thing that keeps them in line is their own fear of death, jail, and lawsuits…which are much less likely if they can find a motorcycle to challenge, instead of another two-thousand pound car or concrete abutment. A motorcyclist has to drive as if everyone else on the road is out to kill him. A few of them are, and many of those who aren’t are just as dangerous – because the only that can alter their careless, ingrained driving habits is a threat of punishment, either legal or physical, and there is noting about a motorcycle to threaten any man (sic) in a car. A bike is totally vulnerable; its only defense is maneuverability, and every accident situation is potentially fatal – especially on a freeway, where there is no room to fall without being run over almost instantly.”
