fnckr

Those were my thoughts too!! Enjoy the coupe. With the sunroof and windows so close I definitely feel just enough exposure to make the experience similar.


The thrill seems to be worth the gamble until your perspective or risk tolerance changes. I could never be a professional poker player but others buy a Porsche because of it. I bought mine with a salary and bonus.

I am now equally wealthy in thrills with much less risk. And with my new experiences and two perspectives I'd say right on the efficient frontier!!

Slow Guy

I had not heard about Lawrence's death, I had thought about taking one of his training class tours for years. I read his articals in MCN and other rags, he was a good writer and will be missed by the community.

I had many bikes, most BMW's but sold my last, a '93 BMW R100GS/PD last year. As much as I enjoyed riding there are too many crazies (cell phone obsessed teenagers included) out there and that doesn't even take into account nature's crazies, those frickin' deer, to be out sharing the road with so little protection.

On topic, glad to have you part of the 993 community.

dcdude

Every rider goes down eventually. It's not if, but when. With all due respect, your doc friend has an inherently distorted perspective. For every ER case he sees, there are 99 other guys who get up, asess the damage (bike first!), curse profusely, and either slowly ride home with twisted handlebars or call a tow truck, go home and start disinfecting the road rash. Ask me how I know.

This doesn't mean I'm about to go mix it up out there with the LA County idiots, but I just wanted to paint a more realistic picture.

Toga

Congratulations for your choice Nice car.

I did gave up my Kawa ZX9R last summer for the same reason : I knew she would put me into trouble one of these days.

Have fun and take care!

Edward

Hi Jonathan,

I understand your sentiments entirely. But like anything in human existence, "living" (which is to say "enjoying one's every breath to its fullest") is replete with calculated risks. Otherwise we'd all be driving the largest land barge possible...or heck, maybe never even get out of bed

Driving a bike, without doubt, increases your risk exposure; but you can counter many of those risks with how you ride. Yes, attitude and awareness has everything to do with your survival/enjoyment of riding your bike. FWIW, I had ridden for over 20 years and the only "collision" I had was with asphalt ...duh, my own fault, and not a car in sight when I went down. That taught me much. Likewise, my best friend who I had ridden with since then was the same. And one of my brothers had a minor altercation with a car (which he willingly acknowledges was his own fault), and my other bro, like myself, never had a run-in with a car. Now these may be piddly "statistics" which pale in comparison to the myriad of riders that get killed or severely injured on the road. But believe me that there are many others like myself as well. It's all about calculating your risk/enjoyment and then making choices to allow you to reduce one to maximize the other. FWIW, I am *never* jumping out of no stinkin airplane! But I just came home last night from ButtonWillow raceway. Go figure

Edward

mrsullivan

understand all the comments about 'live your life', calculated risk, docs only see the bad cases, etc.. we can disagree without being "disagreeable" as Mr. Obama likes to say... I am not an expert, but I did take some physics classes in College...and I dont see how someone riding a motorcycle AT SPEED can get into any kind of an accident and get up cursing the bike... its like having a parachute not open, there isnt much in between I would think..

but anyway, I am a staunch supporter of people taking whatever risks they want, this is the USA... I just choose to not take this one myself

Rinty

I haven't read the Hurt Report, which is the authoritative study on bike accidents, but I think you can more easily assess the risk by analyzing it in components: urban riding, rural riding, and night riding. In the former, your greatest risk is an oncoming truck / car making a left turn across your path. This accounts for the highest number of urban accidents, and the at fault party is usually not the rider. A second risk is collision from the rear while stopped or in motion.

In night riding, the risk is collision with an object on the ground, due to the combination of speed and reduced situational awareness.

In rural riding, the risk is encountering animals or objects in the middle of a corner, or a contaminated road surface longer than the wheelbase of the bike.

For many years I eliminated the risk of night riding by simply not doing it, and the risk of urban riding by only doing it to the extent necessary to get to rural riding. But my riding habits were still such that I was running corners too hot, before I could see all the way through them, and knew that eventually my number would come up. It's sort of like skiing powder; once you get that rhythm going in a set of twisties, it's hard to stop.

I think Lawrence's death triggered the start, at the tender age of 59, of being able to "visualize my mortality".

It makes me feel better to know there are other refugees here, because I didn't look forward to leaving all those great folks at the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America, where I have been a member for many years.

Rinty

Chuck W.

Gotta jump in here; too close to home. I rode from 1969 to 2000 all in Los Angeles traffic. I had Hondas, Kawasakis, Yamahas and finally bought a 1999 Harley Road King. In March of 2000 I had my wife of 31 years on the back of the Harley for only the third time. Dark, 60 MPH on the freeway with a slight curve .. saw the mattress taking up the full lane 20 feet prior to hitting it. At 90 feet per second (60 MPH) it was a split second. Broke a few bones and my wife and I had one surgery each to fix our injuries.

I rode for another few months but the fun was gone. I sold the Harley and bought the 993 Cab and haven’t regretted my decision. Perhaps this explains the reason the top stays down all the time and the supercups.

My son took me skydiving once, I SCUBA dive and my occupation offers some level of challenge. I figure I would rather be blooded in the arena of live than a spectator in the stands.

fnckr

Whoa, whoa, whoa! You guys are glossing over my poor Jessica. I accept why people pierce their "members," I accept why grown men paint toy soldiers, and I accept why people ride Harleys instead of sportbikes. Everyone has their own interests as diverse as they may be. Jessica happens to fill mine right now and you each have yours.

No more debate. Just tell me how wonderful your 993 is, and if you have one for her/him, what is her name?

Rinty

Back to Jessica it is, with our apologies.

And I'd comment, but my wife knows my password.

Rinty

dcdude

My last bike was a '95 Heritage. After it was stolen out of a garage I shared with 7 other units, the "security concern" was just one more hassle in addition to the pre-existing risks that tipped the scales and made me say, "screw it," and I bought a sailboat, then a 993.

Funseeker- get used to the thread jacks. We are all friends with complicated lives and diverse backgrounds which we occasionally go OT to discuss. Trust me, we'll get back to Jessica!

bluejam

I agree with Chuck. Sometimes we go off onto another topic, or a thread within a thread. I start feeling like we're all hanging out in a cyber-bar, having brews and talking shop.

So tell us more about Jessica. How'd you find her? How many miles? How much $$$(if you don't mind)? You know, juicy details ;-)
And more pix if you got 'em.

flatsixforme

My girl's name is Ruby and she puts a smile on my face eveytime I see her (which is often just a peak out in the garage before bedtime)

I have given up racing endurocross last year for many of the reasons that have already been mentioned but the one thing that has always and will always be true for me is that my passion for Porsche's, especially 993's, far exceeds any thrill I have ever had on a bike (and flying through the air at 30 feet above the ground is LOTS of fun)! My only limiting factor was having the finances so it was an easy decision to give up the bike.

fnckr

I don't mind the hi-jack. I just didn't want everyone getting so depressed about motorcycles. This 993 has me exhilarated like never before and I was hoping everyone would get caught up in my bliss!!

I did an intro thread here https://rennlist.com/forums/993-forum/422947-newbie-in-north-nj-a-proper-impulse-long.html Feel free to comment on her. She definitely has road-rash up front and some worn carpeting from spirited shifting. I'll definitely freshen up the interior very soon. The road rash will be treated with Dr. ColorChip and I'll do a post on that experience. There is a small dent on the front fender in front of the driver headlamp (in the tear duct region of the fender, if you will) Wondering if that will come out.

After June I'll do a full detail and touch up of her. Until then I'm just enjoying her and I don't care where she's been...

fnckr

This thread is getting more play anyway, so here are more pics! She came from Princeton Porsche. I was the lucky guy who won the Ebay auction for $30m when they were asking $37m in the showroom. There was a ton of mechanical work done to the car 2000 miles before the sale. No PPI, no test drive, nothing. All I can say is that Princeton has given me excellent service both before and after the sale and I as soon as 997 prices come down I'm going to make Jessica a full track car and I'll look to Princeton to pick up her younger sister.

Mmmm, Gemballa wing and side skirts... I was looking for a stock car in any other color than black.... But, I have to admit, I'm sold and this car looks great with the shine highlighting the curves.



RS Splitters coming soon!



Do you feel the rear bumper needs some kind of skirt? I feel it looks fine as it is.


Here's her biggest scar and some of the road rash. Looks like she picked up a cone or something. One paintless dent removal guy said he wouldn't touch it. I'm wondering if any of you know someone in NJ/NY/PA willing to try. I'm guessing a full front spray would be $3000 plus so don't want to go there yet.