I'm 43 years old, and for you guys who are older and have been through some generations of motorcycling, I'm curious about your thoughts concerning the evolution of motorcycling, in particular motorcycle safety, and whether there has been a net increase or a net decrease over the last say, 50 years or so.
The context for the query comes from a ride I took on Sunday. I headed out to the three sisters around Leakey, Texas, and man was it gorgeous. I was lucky enough that I caught it minutes after a rainshower, and the sun breaking through the cloudcover, along with the smell and feel of the air, was breathtaking. It was just one of those days. I know ya'll know the feeling. And also, man what a bike.
As it got dark and I had to head home, I realized I was about 130 miles out, so I headed over to I-10 for the straight shot rather than riding through all the twisties(and deer) for the ride back. And this is where the basis for my question began to form.
Not only do we have an ever-growing population of vehicles on the road, most of which, if I'm seeing correctly, are being piloted by distracted drivers on their phones hurtling down the highway, we have a huge and growing fleet of truckers that are flat out hauling ass. Motorcycles have been going fast for a long time now, but I have to imagine that 50 years ago, if you were on a motorcycle and traveling down a highway at 85 or 90 mph, you were one of very few on the road doing so. Nowadays, we have fully loaded semis that are doing 85 and they are being PASSED by other semis doing 90+.
This was something I encountered between 5 and 10 times on the ride back. And getting stuck going over an already windy hill behind a semi doing 90+ in the left lane, while there was a semi directly to my right doing 85, and a line of drivers directly behind me doing 85 while looking at their phones, made me wonder about this evolution.
Now granted, the F6B is one of the most reassuring, planted, power whenever and wherever you want it bikes on the road. And technology has also given many bikes better aerodynamics, traction control, abs, etc. But this experience made me wonder about the asymmetry of this evolution. Even with all the rider aids, it seems like it might be lopsided.
So I'm wondering, for you guys who are older, do you feel you have experienced this? Has the additional power available, aerodynamics, rider aids, etc., created a gradual change in motorcycling? Or have you felt more of an exponential shift, due to other vehicles, over the last 10-15 years?
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