yeh it is true. so you have to use it to continue to use it. age is one where you cannot drop things and pick it up right after a period.

i am 48, i ride a bike, but with adequate caution that i have charted for myself. and i do keep my age in mind and do things accordingly, whether riding or running.

and i do twist my bikes throttle all the way back and enjoy the speed.

JAKRAP you are precise,pertinent,and correct in every word you expressed....As someone who had been on a bike since 1967 till now, I had,and am living the words you have expressed....Experience teaches one's limitations and how best to achieve things within it...in every walk of life....Great post,and thanks for the "Spontaneous expression of Powerful Emotions".

As we start biking the fun exhilaration in it takes us to a more exhausted state but after a crash or after seeing someone crash mostly 99percent of us try to become cautious (may be scared );But mostly when its just seen this cautiousness is always temporary even in case of some people any crash personally too as days pass on the fear factor fades of and the fun factor(of biking)comes into play ;All said above in case of a true biker ;But being responsible is something much of inbuilt quality depends on the psychology of the person spoken about ;Some even after big crashes tend to be much tilted to the fun factor some (responsible people) analyse and rectify the mistake which they think lead to the crash and subsequent difficulties caused ;
In short its much upto the psychology of the individual person cannot be differentiated under categories .

You are absolutely right...anyone who takes the responsibility of family in the true spirit,think of them before doing anything,and how it might affect the family.

+100 Absolutely true and very well put

Well, if experience, wisdom, risk appetite plays a major role with motorcycles, then, I do not see the same with people driving cars. Again, "do not see" doesn't mean a complete big NO, atleast, a majority of the people driving cars aren't. They still drive fast, how does that attribute to age? I do know driving car & riding a motorcycle are two different things (but personally to me, both are almost the same) & infact driving a car needs a little more attentiveness than riding a motorcycle. So where does the age factor go w.r.t cars?

Next, point...I personally see age + riding this way...
As age progresses, there're several things that run into mind. While the neurons take care of riding activity, an young brain takes decision based on the situation, while an older brain keeps munching on other things. Probably the loan to repay (and damn, all these issues come only then) etc. This is what I witness most of the time on road, atleast on Chennai roads. Guys, don't tell me that you haven't seen a dreamer riding; most of the time, I witness this to be someone in mid 40's. Sry Harish sir, this is not intended to you, but atleast, this is my observation & hence I'm putting it forward for some understanding. So this point that I've observed is against my other observation that with age comes maturity & experience that makes one a perfect rider. Any thoughts?

After you have a painful crash, you tend to be cautious. And with responsibilities, you tend to be more cautious. Fear of pain of self and of family/friends. as simple as that.

Not necessary!!! The point is, one needs to learn & experience shapes it. Normal ppl learn from their own crash, wise people learn from other's crash & I don't want to mention about ppl who never learns from both & hope you understood that category .

Its upto one from they choose to learn

I do think of other things while driving because I had learn the art of reflex driving....when I start i know my destination and draw a route and register it in my mind..thereafter my body automatically drives me there....I do not know how many have developed this...but I am not mooning over things but still attentive to what is happening on the road..

I had my first crash at 17 . After the third crash it did not matter to me any more ,and in fact started driving at higher speeds .But after getting married and having children, I not only think of them but also of others on the road.I do defensive driving now at 59..but do touch 80 or 90 Kmph once in a way in the city..when it is safe.

thinking, having tensions or preoccupations in mind are way too different than just getting older,,aargee, dont you think that people driving cars have such tensions??? they do have, so what you are thinking is not variable among all. it will affect anyone equally on road,be it a biker, a car driver or even a pedestrian. so i will still stick to my previous opinion of fitness and experience. as far as real-time biological factors are concerned, what i have learned till now, you have enough connections in neurons to keep you working till you die. only thing is how you take care of them. so i again quote my previous statement. please think and tell me if i am right or not.

Am honored Thank You. Thats 44 years of riding experience in your wallet

Beg to disagree. Cars and motorcycles are a different ball game altogether. There is no balance required on the car. Cars give you a false sense (better than a bike thou) of security. The sense of speed on Cars is limited. They have better stopping distance and lesser need for reflexes too.Thats the whole problem.
You can get off with most of your mistakes bcos you are protected. Have done 160 on both the bike and the car. On the car it never felt like a 160. I opened up the windows and it gave me a small idea as to how 160 was. ON the bike you have a much better sense of speed. Try taking off your hand off the bar at 160 and you will know.

Its this false sense (or no sense) of speed in the car which allows both the young as well as the old to take the risk of driving faster and faster in the cars. The risk of the speed does not manifest itself entirely when you are on the car. So thats why you dont see the experience+wisdom+risk appetite conundrum happening in the case of the car. And just like the bikes, with age and experience the persons becomes better on the car.

The first thing you need to do when you get on the bike is forget them all No bank loans, no wifes, no girl friends! If your are thinking of other things then you are missing the experience of the ride plus you are putting urself in danger as well. (Talking about riding and not commuting here. I know its a lil difficult to control your mind too)

Couldnt have been better said. Sometimes i keep wondering how i roll of the throttle, shift the gears or brake even when riding. It just happens subconsciously!
This time on my Pune-Blore stint some autowala had jumped out of nowhere into my lane on the highway that too in the opposite direction and i didn't even experience fear. By the time i was conscious of the threat, the brakes were already applied and rear end was sliding and had managed to stop a couple of metres in front of the auto. By the time i stopped i wasnt even looking at the auto. I was wondering why all the guys in a nearby bus was turning and looking at me. (It must have been the sound of tyres screeching). To this day i have no explanation on how i did it and i have no explanation on whether i would do it again.

No Adarsh bro. The mind at mid 40 & early 20's & early 30's are totally different. Like PSR ji says, people DO think about something when they ride/drive. I'm on the strong opinion that, just like reading, sleeping, watching TV, riding is another activity; one can pause to think something else in between, but cannot do two different things, like riding & thinking at the same time. Through great difficulty over years, I've eradicated that habit from me. When I drive, I sometimes cannot hear what the person next to me is speaking, but can very well hear the honking of the other vehicle in opposite direction!!!

True

No I don't know either Adarsh; I'm too trying to seek clarifications through questions.

PS - JAKRAP, I'm still going through your post & will analyze it before responding (old mind working eh!!!)

Since you mentioned "logical and reasonable SCIENTIFIC explanation", I did a quick google scholar search for "motorcycle riding and age". A research article popped up titled "Increasing age and experience: are both protective against motorcycle injury? A case-control study". The article is too big to attach but the article is well written IMO and concludes: "There was a strong and consistent relationship between increasing driver age and decreasing risk of moderate to fatal injury". However, the article does not address the reflex issue nor does it explore the biological reasons behind decrease of reflex with aging (you can do a google scholar search and probably find related articles).

My personal opinion with respect to age is that even if reflex etc. does decrease with age, you can always compensate for such effects by RIDING WITHIN YOUR LIMITS. Case in point is my motorcycle riding instructor. He is 72, he has been riding for 50 years (pretty much all over the world). He rides a goldwing for long distance and a ZX10 (!!!!) for a ride through backcountry twisties. One question which did pop up in class was obviously his age - how the heck does he ride a ZX10 at age 72? His answer: ride within your limits. Mind you, the guy is pretty good with a ZX10 on those twisted roads.

Ride safe, later.

Bartman

Bharat, Thanks so much for the good info. Infact, it was good that you brought your instructor's story, I DO HAVE some questions on that comparison too, but for the moment, let us not get there.

And the point is that, the limit keeps decreasing over the age.

I think this is what is called "Conditioned Reflexes"...Thank God nothing happened to you..ride safe.