Featured Motorcycle Therapy

I have had problems with my right hip all my life. I have to mount and dismount from the right side.

 

I don't mean to sound 'preachy' about this but getting on (and/or off) the bike by standing on the left peg while the machine is on the sidestand is quite likely to become a slow but fairly certain route towards potential disaster!

You are, in effect, levering the majority of the weight of the bike plus your full bodyweight against the sidestand pivot lug and the retaining bolt. I've seen frames that have been creased by this pivoting action; I've seen welded lugs bent and even occasionally broken through this action and I've seen a number of machines that gradually lean closer and closer to the ground as the lug widens ............... not a reassuring sight, I can assure you.

It's your bike and you can and will mount it any way you want, of course .... but, if you have any intentions of keeping the bike long term, I'd strongly - very strongly - recommend that you try to find a more sympathetic way of getting on and off when parked - even with the tail bag on!

Maybe especially with the tail bag on?

 

It is a common technique, especially on big bikes like BMW GS etc., I was out with a group recently, and stepping up on the left footpeg is how all the GS riders mounted up. Having said that - the early BMW 310's were breaking sidestands even just with the weight of the bike!

Fortunately I can still manage a 'straight leg over the seat' hopping action when I have my big tailbag on, but I can see why riders would use the footpeg method.

 

YMMV, I've been doing this on various bikes for 50 years.

 

I'm a very fit ,active pensioner and I find it's certainly not as easy to swing my leg over as nonchalantly as I used to.i may resort to carrying a wee set of collapsable steps to aid me as I get older,the kind I put in front of the sink when my granddaughter wants to help with the washing up ,could put a triumph logo on it

 

I to have pain in my right hip. Doesn't stop me riding though. I do find the 400x a bit of a strain sometimes by the time i get straddled i get cramp and have to jump of again. Seeing a specialist next month so hope it can be sorted.

 

Hi TripleX
Very interesting post !! I'm 71 and experiencing the same problems as you. Riding a bike is one of the best ways to exercise all muscles and joints in the body and it's also very good for the heart ! I was told this by an osteopathic consultant no less so I knew I wasn't going to give it up. After a couple of particularly rainy weeks here in sunny Manchester I decided to sell my bike and buy a trail bike as there's plenty of off - roading here however , having made this decision I went to the garage for something , took one look at the speedy and sacked the idea !! No way am I gonna stop riding that. The point of all this ? Keep your speed triple and get some good painkillers !!! LOL. John.

 

Those 400s are flying out the door at our local Triumph dealership and it's older riders buying them. They must be pretty good.

 

I never sat on a motorcycle until I was 50 years old. Now at 68 I can't imagine ever stopping riding. I've had a number of bikes over the years but thank God this year I have found I believe my perfect bike my triumph speedmaster. Fits me like a glove. Add some wonderful rides over the summer both solo and with my club. I have no plans to ever retire from riding. As long as I am physically and mentally capable, I will ride until the day the Lord calls me home.

 

Hi everyone ,
There is an amazing book out there somewhere called The magical land beyond the hill. I first read it in a library about 50 years ago so it might be hard to find a copy now. It's written by an old guy in his eighties who had ridden motorcycles all his life. His favorite bike was a BSA bantam and the book tells of his adventures touring England with his wife on pillion !! Most memorably he tells how riding his bantam brought him back to life after his wife of 60 years passed away. No drugs could ever do that !!! It's as everyone says , it's not what you ride it's that you do ride.
Keep it pinned !!! John.

 

I had a blood pressure test, which was too high. Went out on my bike for a couple of hours. Came back and it was normal. Goes to show that motorbikes are good for your wellbeing.

 

A few (lot of!) years back when I was still working I was seeing the doctor for occasional light-headedness, especially if I was working on my car, or doing something that meant being up and down a lot. On my latest visit I had a blood pressure test and it came out a bit high. I explained to the doctor that I had a hell of a day at work, and I wasn't surprised that it was high! We arranged to have another test taken the following week, and before I went to work, so that I had no excuse.

I went back, early morning, quite chilled, and the doctor looked at me and said, "what are you here for"? Blood pressure went straight back up again!!

Turned out it was an inner ear thing (BPPV), quite common in us older chaps, and a simple pill before doing anything which might set it off cured it.

 

@ajc400 I will have to get the bike out soon. Two weeks ago i got rushed to hospital with an over 200 blood pressure and if not treated would have caused a stroke. On tablets now to keep it down. It is better but not there yet. So the bike it might have to be.

 

Did you suffer dizzy spells when looked up, up got up quickly? Hope your sorted now.

 

Yeah, working under the car, getting up and down a lot made me feel dizzy, kind of like travel sickness. All fine now.

I had a few sports cars at the time and did winter work on them, so up and down a lot - Spartan kit, MGF and then a new MX5 that at least didn't need me to work on it!

Back on motorbikes now, maybe should have done that sooner!!

 

Sorry to hear that Joe, look after yourself!!

I'm seeing a consultant on Friday after an MRI a few months back. It is just for gallstones escaping into my guts (painful when it happens!), and it's been a while, so hopefully they haven't seen anything nasty lurking in there!!

 

@ajc400 Yes do keep that appointment. Don't want to put any fears on the subject. But my late wife had the same and one got lodged in her pancreas a very rare and as the doctors said a chance in a million. But her pancreas starting poisoning her organs around there and by the time she was rushed to hospital she was in a coma. She never recovered. But the doctors said they had never before lost someone through this. But i wish you luck mate and you get well soon.

 

What an awful situation Joe, I knew that a gallstone in the wrong place could be a terrible thing, but didn't realise how bad it could be. I'll find out on Friday if the consultant says my gallbladder has to come out.

Going back to TripleX's original post - make sure you fully research the Speed 400 - yes, I like mine and it is selling really well, and yes, it is MCN Motorcycle of the Year, but there are a few annoying problems troubling some new owners which would make me think carefully about how it suits my expectations.

 

Hi Joe ,
Hope everything goes well on Friday , I've had kidney stones a few times so I know what the pain can be like !! Seems like there are quite a few of us out there suffering but still riding , so maybe we should all meet up one day in the summer, an old goats rally !! Could be a good reason for a ride out and we always like to have that !!!
Best wishes to any of us with health problems
Keep it pinned. John.

 

@John James You need to redirect this to ajc400. As i am good now well as well as can be expected. No doubt i confused the topic as i am good at that and have done it many times.