I was never convinced that motorcycles were all that dangerous. My dad wanted a cowboy, but after dealing with horses, I concluded that motorcycles were much safer, Lou. But, you're right. We were encouraged to take chances, and we did. I don't think our parents thought of it that way, but rather just allowing us to have experiences that they knew would help us grow up and develope greater "strength". Kind of get a sense of priority about what is really harmful and what only seems harmful. We learned that pain was not perminant, and that we could endure it better than we might have imagined. We got to test limits and grow beyond those limits.
And, I guess, that while every mother hated the day her son/daughter got that first bike, we still got the priviledge because it would be a learning experience for us. I am so glad that our parents didn't try to keep us from life's bumps and bruises. And, for me, a motorcycle was part of that learning.
One of the problems today is maybe too much disposable income going toward these kids. In our day, if you wanted a bike or whatever, you had to beg, borrow, finagle, and whatever to get one, then do it again to keep in in parts and running. And it was good that the bikes of our day weren't so sophisticated. We could keep them running with tape, kerosene, wire, or whatever it took to clean, work around, cobble together and otherwise make the thing run by whatever backyard engineering we could devise. Not so easy today, and that's too bad. Maybe the makers would do well to make some very simple machines that would have this same appeal to young people.
