No I'm not against Harleys in the least. If that's your brand, more power to ya. If you're on two wheels, you're alright by me.

But I've always loved me some Jap bikes. We may have bombed the hell outa those cats back in WWII, but out of the ashes arose an epic sportbike empire! I love MotoGP, WSBK, Redbull series... hell even the AMA is exciting again now that Spies and Mladin are both gone (along with their total and complete dominance that made the series an utter bore to watch).

So Kawasaki has been my brand ever since I started riding. But I still have love for Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda, Ducati, Aprilia, Triumph, KTM, BMW, MV Augusta... did I leave anyone out? Lol, like I said if you're on two wheels, then you're having fun.

Here are some vids I made recently on the only road I ever really take my bike up on high speed runs around here. The road itself is about 5 miles long, but the part I blast down is about 1.6 miles from the peak of the one hill to the peak of the other. Along that 1.6 miles of road is almost dead flat, with little to no traffic (I don't ride fast around other vehicles period... you'll notice in the 2nd video as soon as I see the tractor pop up over the hill I immediatelly chop the throttle and start applying the brakes so that by the time I pass him, I'm doing the speed limit again), about 3 farms all with mile long driveways, and no bushes or trees for animals to hide in and jump out in front of you. It's the most wide open, completely visible road I've found, and the lack of traffic is the biggest drawl for me. I do not go fast around other vehicles period!

I would love, love, LOVE it if there were a race track around here where I could do this sort of thing. But unfortunately for me the nearest track is about 150 miles away, and expensive to get into. So this is my drag strip. I'm planning on going down to Deals Gap here in the next few days, I'll definately take some vids down there!!!

This is my intro video...



1st run of the day...



2nd...



And 3rd (notice when the speedo reads 172 the handle bars jerk right for an instant... that'll get your blood pumping lemme tell you!!!)...



And here's a lazy pass through a local state park. Now this is what I really live for, CORNERS!!! Unfortunately the speed limit in this park is 25 mph, so you can't get all crazy or anything.

Yowzers! I love crotch rockets. I've met someone in town that owns a Suzuki Hayabusa, which is my favorite bike; unfortunately I've never seen it.

Looks like you're having a blast, Mike. That's a great spot you've found to really open-er-up!

Life is all about having fun. Keep it on two wheels, dude.

I have mixed feelings about these bikes only because I've seen people riding them like maniacs around here...actually popping wheelies on one of the busiest roads. In fact, one of my clients died losing control. No one knows what happened since it was a a one vehicle accident. The helmet didn't even matter. He was found 10 ft away from his bike, and his chest was crushed in. It was very eerie when I heard the news because he actually told me months earlier if he ever crashed, he was gonna go. It was very sad. I'm glad you are careful around traffic, but please be aware accidents can happen at anytime...especially at those speeds.

At those speeds, just hope they can find enough of you to fill a shoebox.

That is some intense shiznit.

I want people to have the freedom to pursue happiness.

AND I've had three friends killed on motorcycles, so I don't ride.

I'm with ya Mary on the idiots that give others a bad name. My friend has an Yammy R1, but I always love my cruisers better. Back college the crotch rockets were fun though.

I call dibs on Micah's EP800's!

Well that's pretty much the status quo as far as sport bike responses go, lol. Bikes are a dangerous hobby to be sure. I seem to be addicted to all of the dangerous hobbies though (parachuting, motorcycling, cliff diving... why can't I just like golf?).

I guess motorcycling is somewhat like being a smoker... my dads been smoking since he was 14, he's now almost 70 and has never been diagnosed with cancer or emphisema. I smoked the two years I was in the Air Force then quit and was diagnosed with two forms of cancer 14 years later. So, it's a roll of the dice I suppose.

Same with those who take up the two wheeled sport... some young men throw a leg over a crotch rocket or other type bike and wind up dead, paralysed, or with some number of broken bones in their body within the year. I've been riding sportbikes for 20 years now. Have racked up more than a quarter million miles on them (my current ZX-10R has just under 50,000 miles on her, I bought her new in 05). And I've only been in one major accident thus far. My gear saved me from anything more than sore muscles in that incident, but I'm aware gear doesn't save you from everything.

I'm also well aware I could get killed driving out of my driveway like my uncle did on his (cruiser). You can get killed on a bike just as easily going 2 mph as you can at 150 mph. But I'm with you guys, I can't stand those idiots who ride wheelies or like a general madman through town, traffic, around kids, etc... I hear about motorcycle accidents every summer. And every summer someone asks me, "hey did you hear so-and-so died on their motorcycle the other day? You should sell yours".

That's never made sense to me. I've known 5 times as many people who've died in car accidents than in motorcycle accidents, but I don't tell people to sell their cars after someone I know dies in a car accident.

To which the anti-motorcycle crowd always tells me, "yeah but cars have a much safer record than motorcycles, there is a much higher death rate on motorcycles than in cars, so why would you knowingly choose to drive something with a higher accident/death rate"? Well I must say that's a pretty good argument, why would anyone knowing choose to drive something with a higher accident/death rate anyhow? I mean, you'd have to be nuts right!!!

Yup, that's why we should all sell our vehicles and go back to horse back riding. There is a HUGE Amish community around here that does all of their travel by horse back or horse carriage. And the accident/death rate of driving in a car compared to horse back riding is 1000 times higher! So I always let those of the opinion that only a crazy person would knowingly choose a method of transportation that's more dangerous than another option know that they'd be much safer on a horse than in their car. But, strangely enough... not one of them has sold their car for a horse? Hmmmm... oh well.

Lol, that's not aimed towards anyone here mind you, just thought I'd share my humorous experiences I've had over the past 20 years. My dad was big into bikes when he was younger, but turned in his two wheels for a set of golf clubs because that became his bigger passion. But he always told me that when you choose to ride a motorcycle, you're going to catch hell from the rest of society. And of course just like most advice handed down from father to son, he was dead on!

I always used to think that one day I would give up motorcycles for something safer like golf or canasta. But after my cancer experience when I was 35 years old I realized that life truly is short, and you might as well enjoy it while you can. So motorcycles aren't going anywhere for now.

More power to you, brother. I'm happy for you - I really am. I was really trying to justify my own reticence rather than question your decisions. We all have our own paths.

No worries, I'm not mad at anyone who's not into motorcycles or chooses not to ride because of the risks. There are some who choose to do things that I find risky, like smoke cigarettes. After going through chemo and radiation I really don't know why anyone would knowingly do something that could wind them up in that situation I was in.

But it's their choice, I don't hate on smokers or any other activity that I find risky. Everyone makes their own choices.

I realize that the vids I put up make me look like an insane person. I only put those up because those are the only vids other motorcyclists seem to enjoy watching. I could post up the videos of the other 50,000 miles I've put on the bike putting around town or calmly riding down the highway... but people don't seem to take any interest in those what-so-ever?

It's only the extreme stuff people seem to take any interest in.

Only in some situations. In others, like if a car pulls out in front of you, I'll bet you'll wish you'd have been going 2 mph instead of 150.



Yet, you are OK with doing 160 on a public road yourself. You have met traffic on your runs. You have tried to do a few things in the name of safety - early AM runs, flat land with good visibility - but the fact remains that you are racing on a public road, and you are fooling yourself if you think that that is safe.

You want to race, go to a race track. Cut the whining about how expensive it is or how far away it is.

Otherwise, you're just a Darwin Award waiting to happen. I just hope you don't take anyone else with you.

I'm not knocking the hobby of riding bikes at all. In fact, most of my clients who own a bike are very careful and defensive drivers. They are aware that inattentive people driving cars don't look out for them. Therefore, it makes them cautious when driving automobiles too. But, in my experience as an insurance agent, the people who buy crotch rockets tend to buy them for speed...as if they are toys. They certainly can't be comfortable riding for long distances. I've seen guys ride them with their feet on the gas tank so they didn't have to lean over!

Also, if you die going 2mph on a motorcycle, more than likely it won't be your fault. But, you DO take your life in your own hands by going 150mph. I doubt you could blame anyone but yourself going those speeds. All I'm saying is that these vehicles aren't toys. Unless you are on a racetrack, there is absolutely NO reason to travel at those speeds. Please enjoy your sport, but be careful.

And I'll throw in one more comment that I meant to add to my post above (but the boards seemed to be frozen at the time):

Micah, it doesn't make sense to me that you tout in one thread that you're going to start "putting the kids first" and in the next thread you start, demonstrate just how willing you are to leave them fatherless.

Responsible people don't do 150MPH on public roads...period.... regardless of the time-of-day.

There. I said it. Fire away.

Amen, Mark and JP. You're also endangering people who see the nutball coming and try to move to avoid hitting him or him hitting them.

+1

That's mostly because way more than 5 times as many people drive cars than ride motorcycles.

Word up, guy.

I used to think the same thing about parts of my commute between El Paso and Tucson @ 135 in my Acura. Then, on one trip, I was finally confronted with the question: Why did the javelina cross the road?

Have fun, but at least think about what Mary says. She authorizes insurance policy death "benefits" professionally. Remember, none of the benefits will be benefitting you. It's the final insult.

And your title led me to a grave misconception. Whew! Glad I read the whole thing.

I'm not here to apologise to anyone for the way I live my life. I've never denied that my hobbies carry risks to my own well being. As a 40 year old man I take full responsibility for the consequences of those risks to myself.

But I DO NOT put others at risk, so to address the above quote... why on earth would that 20,000 to 30,000 pound tractor have to try to move out of the way of a 450 pound motorcycle passing them doing the speed limit???

The gearing changes I've made to my bike has caused major speedo error, which is why I use the GPS to give an accurate speed reading in those videos. 80 mph on my bikes speedo is 55 mph on the GPS, I've tested and confirmed that on multiple GPS units. The speed limit on that road is 55 mph. You will never see me pass another vehicle going more than a few mph over the speed limit at the most, I'm usually going under the speed limit when I pass other vehicles. Perhaps you skipped over the part where I very clearly stated that I do not endorse riding irresponsibly around town, in traffic, in populated areas and around children, and I don't do any of those things myself period.

This road is out in bfe farmer land. I never would have known it existed before I bought my bike brand new in 2005, until my mechanic recommended I do a hard break in on it to seal up the cylinders as tightly as possible. To which I responded, "yeah, but where am I supposed to do a hard break-in around here"? He said, "take it out to Terrys, that's where we break in the customer bikes".

So I talked to Terry. Terry owns the farm on the left hand side of the road at the west end of that road. He works for Barry (my mechanic) on all the farming equipment that comes into the shop. His uncle owns the farm across from him, and his uncles father (what does that make him anyhow, his great uncle?) owns the farm on the left hand side of the east end of that road. Rick owns the other farm along that road, he isn't related to Terry or his uncles, but he and Terry are best friends.

Terry was the one who told me to go out and break my bike in down his road. Secluded, wide open (until the corn starts to grow), and you're more likely to encounter a tractor or some other farming equipment than anything. They drag race their snow mobiles down that road in the winter. You have plenty of visible warning when a vehicle is coming. First of all there are a couple of hills that precede last hill at either end of the road, so you can spot any traffic well before it appears on the main stretch.

But even if you were to miss something before it did pop up over the last hill, you'd still have close to a mile to slow down before you passed them... only someone who didn't give a shit about doing tripple digits in traffic could endanger another vehicle on Terrys road... and that ain't me. Well before I reach either hill top I've already slowed back down to the speed limit. I never take off if there is a vehicle coming either way. If anyone is going to get hurt by my actions down Terrys road, it would be me.

Besides the time I broke my bike in, I've gone out to Terrys a half dozen times. Besides those handful of high speed runs I follow the rules of the road like anyone else. In 20 years of riding I've been ticketed once while on a motorcycle. So you boys can criticize how much I'm endangering all those helpless motorists on the road all you want, it really doesn't matter because that just ain't the way it is. You'd be better off harshly condeming me for jumping out of an airplane because if my chut fails to open I just might land on an unsuspecting civilian minding his own business on the ground. That's much more likely to happen than me slamming into a car pulling out in front of me down Terrys road... lmao, you're more than welcome to my EP800's if you could pull off that magic trick!



BUT, the audacity to bring my kids into this thread and to insinuate that I must really not give a shit about them if I'm willing to take risks with my life.... man I have to say, I've been preached at many time in my years, but I certainly didn't come back here to listen to some bull shit like that. The comments concerning my kids had to do with my relationship status, not my speed fetish. I've put women on the back burner for the next 5 to 6 years so as not to drag Christian or Ellie through anymore of the agony that relationship drama puts kids through. I didn't decide to do that to gain anyone elses approval, I did that for the sake of my kids, period.

My kids and I have a very open and understanding relationship. They went through my cancer with me, they are well aware that I live my life the way I want to live it. I'm not the kind of person who just has to tell others how to live their lives. And I'm really disinterested in hanging around a site with so many who feel the need to judge mine.

To everyone else, it's been a pleasure.

Micah: I wish you'd understand that, if any judgement was going down, it was about a singular behavior you chose to share here--a small branch, not the whole tree.

I had my first fatal cancer diagnosis @ 26. After my unexpected recovery, I got as wild as I could at every opportunity. When I got my 2nd fatal @ 40 is when I started jumping out of planes and doin' 135 across the NM/AZ desert. Needless to say, the "I'm really not afraid of death anymore" behaviors began to pile up. I even started smoking again.

Then I realized how difficult my jollies were for friends and family. I had survived fatal diseases twice, when I had no scientific reason, either time, to think that I would.

They were so thrilled to still have me (though my self-worth doesn't really allow people to feel that way) and couldn't believe I was, to them, daring to be dead of my own accord.

Like most of us, my fun can still be, even indirectly, at someone else's expense. It may not ever be an issue for some of them, until that one time, just that one.

So, I wish you the most sincere best of luck--from one who has pushed that luck well past its limits, to another.

And I stopped smoking 2 months ago. I'm not happy at all, so don't anybody f--k with me, OK?

Micah, you're right. I crossed a line bringing the kids into it. I apologize for that.

So many thoughts spring to mind:

1. There are those types of people who do tell people how to live their lives, ya know. They include traffic court judges and the Indiana State Police, and there is an easy online form with which concerned citizens can contact them. With links to this thread and the videos therein. If a person were so inclined.

2. You just can't handle that the Axiom boards are not filled with a bunch of "Woo hoo!" speed heads like you're used to getting feedback from when you post those videos on youTube. If you're free to do what YOU want, then I'm free to what I want. Which is to disagree with you in whatever language I want. But no, you can't handle that. Instead, you get your feelings hurt, get all huffy and make a Grand Exit (TM). Way to go, champ! That'll show 'em!

3. Don't go!!!! Without you, wherever will we get our daily dose of doggie torture porn?!

4. Seriously, what kind of thought process made you conclude that people wanted to see those videos of a cut up dog? WTF.