General biking discussion approved.

Interesting topic, rarely discussed... in my view there are 2 parts to the whole issue... age and experience... with age you are SUPPOSE to garner experience... however that is seldom true as most people do not give much thought to their riding skills let alone analyze each ride... what Praful is going through is a analysis, evaluation and conclusion process that each ride should end with... it helps people become better riders.... so the question is how many people are aware of their limitations and want to work at becoming better riders... for example you may have an inherent talent but you will only hone your skills through experience (regardless of age)... being cautious is a part of the experience you have garnered through the years of riding... you know and have seen the consequences of mistakes.... its like a fresh hot shot fighter pilot who has inherent talent vs. a experienced fighter pilot (much, much older than the fresh jock) with thousands of hours of flying to hone his skills... in a dogfight who would you bet on? (I certainly know who I would bet on) ...... and as far as becoming so frightened that I would want to leave riding, only a physical handicap could stop me from doing so, not a metal one...

Hi!
I personally dont feel that age has got anything to do with being cautious.
I believe that being cautious is more of a characteristic trait. The best way to react to a situation on road is to anticipate a situation.....the more experience you gain the better the anticipation, which means good decisions...
Im a person for whom safety is top priority no matter where im riding. And i ve been mocked by my friends for being too cautious..... but whats wrong in being too cautious......
Although my experience on road isnt much, but this is my point of view....

Having young blood flowing in my veins did not make me cautious. I used to ride rash and mostly without a lid (college days). Yes, reflexes were sharp but that alone did not save my butt from a nasty crash. It was luck.

Sometimes sharp reflexes and the ability to quickly respond to a situation can lead to a crash... something known as survival reactions.

With age, i drive/ride more sensibly and safely, and experience has taught me my limits. My reflexes although are not that sharp as it was a decade back has been balanced with defensive riding instead of aggressive riding. Survival reactions are lesser as experience helps one to steer away from the impending crash. One anticipates trouble better with experience

^^^ is the question for which I'm seeking one primary or most importantly a logical & reasonable scientific explanation.

^^^ The answer to this is "if you don't use it, you will loose it".... meaning with age you will have to work harder to maintain that edge (or reflexes as being put over here),.... it is not necessary that you will loose the edge with age... that can only happen if you don't keep working on them... scientifically, the mind and body loose their edge when they are not constantly honed (regardless of age, but becomes more pronounced with age)...

No!!! Even if it is put to use, there's some factor, call it experience, maturity or I don't know, something that matters. So do all oldies ride slow? The answer is again NO!!! I personally know few old guys who can & are able to cruise in speeds excess of 120 Kmph. That's why I'm confused & trying to seek a "scientific" explanation with sufficient proof.

Well very nice thread i must say.

Now lets look at it in this way:-
Starting:-All you are exited about is riding it and having fun. Thats it. No worries of any crash, no logical decisions but pure fun
After some time: You start loving your Machine. Now you have a healthy relationship with your Bike and most of the time you are concerned about how well maintained it is. Even a slight scratch is a big heart break for you.
Lateron:- You become more responsible. You realise that there are people waiting for you back home. You start observing every move on the road. And hence you become cautious. And being cautious means more worries and more worries means you become more calculative.

So it all boils down to the experience. And Experience teaches you all the risks of the road. And you eventually learn the ways to ignore or save yourself from all the risks which we encounter on daily basis.

Hence, as we grow old, we become more sensible. And we start to Care.

well aargee,I started riding my dad's scooter some 12 yrs ago,although my actual riding began when i came to chennai 2 years ago. but i will tell my experience starting from the first day...i was "SCARED" means actually scared,,keeping balance,changing gears,controlling the clutch (I never rode any non geared except my bicycle)...my next phase of motorcycling came when I was in kota,Rajasthan. I used to ride my friends Honda Dio..and there was that "young blood factor"...i hardly used RVM or even indicator,for that matter...it was, as now i understand, total "INSANITY"...THen away from wheels for 3 years,,,back in saddle here,in chennai...now here came the responsibility. it was here I faced lot of traffic, bus drivers playing NFS Underground on road, Bike riders engaging in road rage,autos n taxis act as they are playing crazy taxi...what you are feeling aargee we all feel more or less. lemme tell you todays incident. I went to potheri by chennai bypass (porur-potheri) and i felt iwas overcautious (or scared,whtever you want to think),but then again we act like this bacause of experience (my own opinion). i dont think that age plays much of a factor,health may be. you can see schumacher still racing at the age of 42 years. may be at higher ages you may attribute this to age but as of now it is because of sense,experience and responsibilities.

I just happened to notice the word "scientific" in your post. cruising at a speed of 120kmph and being cautious are two different things.you can be negligent at 30 kmph and cautious at 120kmph,it has noting to do with age. if you want to stay on road,fitness is the key...growing old theoretically makes you weak,but if you look at our actors, this seems to be an overstatement. my great grandfather is still alive and practices farming till date without looking tired. let me tell you, it is his fitness and not the age which gives this ability.yes,you may feel the reaction to be slower than the earlier reflexes,but one thing you may be overlooking, that is since you have been cautious, you never take chances and stay at a safer distance in order to make any decisions towards safety.

interesting discussion... soon shall be a part of...

The young maybe faster in reflex times but just being faster in reflexes doesnt make you a better rider. The younger chap would be quicker in analysis but he need not make the correct analysis. IF you are an old rider who has taken his bike to the limit you would be in a better position to challenge a new rider.

The real reason is RISK APPETITE. With age the risk appetite goes down. You know what risks to take and what not to.

During younger days, if there was a truck over taking a truck on the highway with space in the middle, i wouldnt have even second thoughts on taking that middle route. But now i keep asking whether i should do it or not. And on hindsight it doesnt give me the thrill it used to. If required, i might still do it but years of riding has made me smarter not to let two trucks define my tomorrows. It doesnt mean that ppl dont make mistakes but we all still do. Its just that the number is greatly reduced because of the lesser number of risks you are taking. And i do regularly cruise at 140-150 given its the highway. This also means that am always on the look out for intersections to slow down. I could keep going at the same speed but thats a risk i intend not to take. I dont go fast into the corners as i used to but nowaadys its easier for me to exit faster out of the corners. There are still aspects to work on which i am consciously doing. Beyond 150 is a dangerous domain for me. Not very sure but been there types. Thats some thing which intend to build on.

Age reduces your risk appetite but experience increases your ability on the motorcycle.

A closer look at the worlds most dangerous race- Isle of Mann TT will give you a clear picture. Look at the chap who won all the 5 Isle of MAnn Senior TTs this year (Ian Hutchinson), he is 31 (thats a year older than me) . Arent there enough early 20s in the championship, yes there are enough. Havent they got all those early reflexes? They do. The man who has the maximum number of wins, Joey dunlop started the TT when he was 24 but he won his first TT race when he was 31. He then went on to win it for the next 5 years too. What can you say to this 30+ bracket of supersport winners?

So if you have been riding bikes through out your years and have been stepping on the game, its very unlikely that a newer rider with higher reflexes can dislodge you! The early birds have the advantage though, no doubt on it. If you started late, then its a distinct disadvantage because you have to consciously build on every thing you learnt.

So to sum up if you have to be old and wise you need to have been young and brash. My two cents!

Nice topic but rarely discussed as some one posted. I've experienced it in my own life. My dad and my uncle were the best riders i've known ever since i was a small boy. Perfect control even when going very fast(i'm not boasting but i ride like that now). But over the years their riding style changed. They hardly crossed 35km. So i started wondering. What made them ride like this? As Sunil G said that he was scared i too came to the same conclusion but my mom suggested otherwise. She said that over the years my dad and my uncle both had greater responsibilities. Me, my brother and my sister grew older and we had greater needs regarding everything. My dad had to take care of that. My uncle got married and he has a family to support. So the main reason for the change is one single thought. According to my mom that thought was if something bad happen because of riding fast there will be no one to support the family. Thats what every rider thinks when he grows old. He chooses family over his riding style and his passion for riding. Thats just my opinion. There may be several other reasons.

Thats a wonderful topic for discussion

aargee - Only you can think about these kind of I believe

But I would say with experience lot of things get changed

1. Your riding style gets changed once you start riding in groups / solo
2. Your calculation on the speeds would become perfect (Your Speed, the person on the opp direction, the person behind you and so on)
3. You will know at what speed you can take a corner
4. You will know your bike's strength and weakness

May be some would fear to take risk inspite of this experience, they would not be a passionate biker, they are more of just commuters. If you were to ask me, I have one of my uncle's who has done twice around all states of this country at the age of 60 (Once on his RD 350, and once on his Electra 350) without much of the modern world gears....May be a Helmet, Leather Gloves & Normal Shoes. I learnt a lot of riding skills from him. He is at his 70s now and still does long rides.

Not sure if I have conveyed my message