Dilemma with an 1199R

Hi guys! It's been a while since I've been active on this site. I wanted to get some opinions on an 1199R I have had on order since January.

Here's my background:
I have been riding and tracking sportbikes since 1991, so I am not a squid. The track speeds are for the track and the street speeds are for the street. I have owned 12 different motorcycles and I have ridden well over 500,000 miles...

Just after last Thanksgiving, I was hit by a distracted driver on my 1198S in FULL gear @ 30 mph. I suffered some pretty severe injuries, such as broken wrist, broken clavicle, and broken jaw just to name a few. In addition to all of this, I am STILL trying to get my flight status back so I can go back to work as a professional pilot...

Here's the dilemma:
In a few weeks, my dealer 1199R will be calling me saying that my bike is ready for pick-up, BUT... I am not sure I will actually get it. I don't know if I can ride on the street with the possibility of this ever happening again. At $30k plus tax, fees, and insurance, I'm just not sure if it worth it to buy as a "track bike" or just "fine Italian garage art"...

This is not to mention that my wife is very opposed to me ever riding on the street again either. She's ok with a track bike, but she then brings up the price tag again...

Anybody else experience this dilemma? Thought about it? What would/did you do??

Thanks in advance, y'all.

Do what you love to do...

Accidents happen. Sometimes you can mitigate the risk, but don't live your life in a bubble, you won't be happy. Get what you lust for, not what you have to settle for.

FrostyFire said:

Do what you love to do...

Accidents happen. Sometimes you can mitigate the risk, but don't live your life in a bubble, you won't be happy. Get what you lust for, not what you have to settle for.

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+1 I agree with Frosty. You only live once so why not live it to the fullest!

I agree with Frosty on this one.

For background, I totalled a GSX-R 1000 when an old lady rear ended me while i was stationary in a toll booth... (don't get me started...) full gear, only a boken toe

And then summer of 2011 a deer lept into me on a tree lined road. I was only going 40ish, and just saw it leaping at me from behind a tree out of the corner of my eye, and then woke up an hour later in the hospital with a very bad concussion and broken ribs (also with full gear).

Point is, I couldn't have done a thing to prevent either accident, which makes them scarier because you can't really "learn a lesson" from them aside from wear gear. I took last summer off from riding, but this summer I'm back on a new pani and loving it, because I am passionate about it (although, I now find myself constantly searching tree lined roads for deer). If it helps... I've convinced myself that those were pretty freak accidents and hopefully unlikely to happen again. Either way, I'm not one to live in fear... I knew a guy that died from slipping on wet grass in his own front yard. Should you never walk on wet grass because that could happen? Anything can happen, just ride as safe as you can and enjoy what you're passionate about.

Taking the crash/safety issue out of it for a moment, I'd look at the track vs. road piece closely. If you aren't ready to get back out on the road and/or it will cause problems with your wife I'd look at how many track days you think you can squeeze in and go from there. If it is only something you can do every now and then and you won't ride it on the road, I'd get a used 600 and be done with it. Personally, I wouldn't sink $30k into something I would only use occasionally. I'd get a cheaper bike and use that occasionally and sink the rest of the money into something else that I would use more and hence enjoy more.

By the way, Apeluv (was on this forum), full gear, took a tumble that should have killed him and just has a broken neck, major memory-losing concussion - girlfriend said no more crotch rockets.

That said, maybe you get a bike you both can enjoy together, or something else - the bathroom re-do, kitchen, pool. Unless money is a zero object, like CF says , $30K is alot to spend on a "you" object, that almost killed you, and you will hardly ever use.

i empathize.

get the cheaper Aprilia with ABS and ride it better and smoother on track.

plotshots said:

Hi guys! It's been a while since I've been active on this site. I wanted to get some opinions on an 1199R I have had on order since January.

Here's my background:
I have been riding and tracking sportbikes since 1991, so I am not a squid. The track speeds are for the track and the street speeds are for the street. I have owned 12 different motorcycles and I have ridden well over 500,000 miles...

Just after last Thanksgiving, I was hit by a distracted driver on my 1198S in FULL gear @ 30 mph. I suffered some pretty severe injuries, such as broken wrist, broken clavicle, and broken jaw just to name a few. In addition to all of this, I am STILL trying to get my flight status back so I can go back to work as a professional pilot...

Here's the dilemma:
In a few weeks, my dealer 1199R will be calling me saying that my bike is ready for pick-up, BUT... I am not sure I will actually get it. I don't know if I can ride on the street with the possibility of this ever happening again. At $30k plus tax, fees, and insurance, I'm just not sure if it worth it to buy as a "track bike" or just "fine Italian garage art"...

This is not to mention that my wife is very opposed to me ever riding on the street again either. She's ok with a track bike, but she then brings up the price tag again...

Anybody else experience this dilemma? Thought about it? What would/did you do??

Thanks in advance, y'all. View attachment 5182

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i had a cheaper aprilia, got totaled in a wreck where i got rear ended, now i have the pani and i am happier...

happy husband, happy life - says the wife

VAST said:

i empathize.

get the cheaper Aprilia with ABS and ride it better and smoother on track.

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ok, since we are already off topic... Why not just save some money and get a used 'Busa. It looks exactly like the Aprilia.

Capt CF said:

ok, since we are already off topic... Why not just save some money and get a used 'Busa. It looks exactly like the Aprilia.

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STOP saying that..lol.

Why not buy and use a cheap track bike for a season and see what your gut is telling you afterwards? You'll know if you: A - want to ride on the street again in which case you can get an R next year. Or B - you're fine with track only and can then be better prepared to decide if you're comfortable with a $30k track toy or fine with something less financially risky.

Thanks for all of the responses guys. I really do appreciate it. It is a complex issue that I have to mull over still.

I can definitely identify with trainsdesigner's situation. My accident was one of those that I still cannot think of a way of avoiding. And then just last week, some moron in a Jetta almost committed suicide by turning left in front of my F-150 Raptor. So I am reminded on a regular basis that the world has no shortage of idiot drivers... In situations like that, it's nice to have 7,000 lbs of zombie apocalypse surviving heavy metal to battle with them.

plotshots said:

Thanks for all of the responses guys. I really do appreciate it. It is a complex issue that I have to mull over still.

I can definitely identify with trainsdesigner's situation. My accident was one of those that I still cannot think of a way of avoiding. And then just last week, some moron in a Jetta almost committed suicide by turning left in front of my F-150 Raptor. So I am reminded on a regular basis that the world has no shortage of idiot drivers... In situations like that, it's nice to have 7,000 lbs of zombie apocalypse surviving heavy metal to battle with them.

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I know what you mean... I strongly considered buying a new corvette or something safer for public roads as my new toy. And I'm not going to lie, my eyes are still darting all over looking for idiot drivers (or deer), so riding isn't yet as enjoyable as it used to be, but at the same time, a car (that I can afford at least) wouldn't put a smile on my face the way hearing those angry termis does.

In regards to the wife situation, of course she wouldn't want you to get another one... she loves you and hates thinking you could get hurt. And will also be worried out of her mind every time you go for a ride until you return home safely. My close friends and family think I'm an idiot for buying another one. Except the friends that ride, who understand. In the end my fiance, at the time, knew who I was, knew that I spend my free time on car and motorcycle forums, reading magazines, I manage a powertrain/transmisssion design department for work so it's my career too... and understood that I can't just change what I'm passionate about, and eventually came around to the idea of me getting another one because she knew how happy it would make me. She knew when she met me that I'm into fast cars and bikes. Basically part of who I am. Unfortunately it happens to be one of the more dangerous hobbies out there. So, anyway, like I said, after catching me druling over yet another bike review online, she knew I needed another one, because she knows "me".

If the bike is more of just a one-of-many-toys types of hobbies for you, it may not be as important though. But based on your post and the fact that you track it, I assume you're pretty passionate about it too. Hope the wife understands!

Btw, my fiance was actually in the deer accident as well... fully face helmet and full gear, but still had a broken arm, needed reconstructive surgery on her nose, and stitches in her chin. And after all that... she not only was ok with me getting another bike (after a year to recover from the traumatic experience), but is actually getting one herself. Can't live life in a bubble, it's not living.

transdesigner said:

(after a year to recover from the traumatic experience

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Ok, she wasn't going to tell you about our affair, it took me sometime to get over it as well, she is quite a gal

Wow, transdesigner, it seems we have similar paths. I've been fortunate enough to have married a very good woman, too. We just celebrated our 15th anniversary. Our very first date was on a 1982 Honda CB900, which was a pile of sh!t, but it was 2 wheels. I am passionate about riding and I guess I always will be. Right now it would feel like playing Russian roulette riding on the street... Tracking it with B & C riders can be pretty dangerous too, I guess. LOL.

I guess it boils down to the fact that if I had no other responsibilities, I'd probably just do it. But then my wife talks about how she doesn't want to raise our daughter by herself. She didn't see my accident happen, but she was driving 30 seconds behind me and saw me and the bike laying on the ground right afterwards...

Just don't know how long I can hold out in either avoiding buying it or forgetting it. I did order a new car for her, so perhaps I can wear her down. Ha ha.

I gave up riding when I was 19 and newly married. About 7 years ago I ended up with 2 different deadly cancers and wasn't supposed to be here.

I am good now at 59 and back riding. Risk come in many forms so I voted to live to the fullest ...

Not motorcycle related but two incidents that made me think about life and how quickly .... can change...2008---I drove over an IED which didn't detonated under my vehicle but a guam national guard crew wasn't given the same hand of luck. 2011---I poked my head inside of house with 140lbs of HME (home made explosives) in it, it was rigged to blow upon opening a door but the det cord wasn't connected. Those two incidents could have potentially ended my life on a foreign soil while doing my day to day job. Motorcycling can potential end my life too, risk is "uncalculated" one but I still do it, even after 4 wrecks. I am not this passionate about any of my other hobbies, this is a way of life for me. Bar none. OP, i hope you do find the mental strength to enjoy riding in a near future and i wish you the best in whatever you end up doing. Cheers and enjoy your memorial weekend.

ttkarp said:

Why not buy and use a cheap track bike for a season and see what your gut is telling you afterwards? You'll know if you: A - want to ride on the street again in which case you can get an R next year. Or B - you're fine with track only and can then be better prepared to decide if you're comfortable with a $30k track toy or fine with something less financially risky.

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Good advice if you really are not goi g to ride on the street again. If you end up doing track days a lot, then you can make an informed decision.
Besides, you might want to spend some bucks on a good enclosed trailer and track-related gear like tire warmers, tire changer, etc.

Castor Troy said:

Not motorcycle related but two incidents that made me think about life and how quickly .... can change...2008---I drove over an IED which didn't detonated under my vehicle but a guam national guard crew wasn't given the same hand of luck. 2011---I poked my head inside of house with 140lbs of HME (home made explosives) in it, it was rigged to blow upon opening a door but the det cord wasn't connected. Those two incidents could have potentially ended my life on a foreign soil while doing my day to day job. Motorcycling can potential end my life too, risk is "uncalculated" one but I still do it, even after 4 wrecks. I am not this passionate about any of my other hobbies, this is a way of life for me. Bar none. OP, i hope you do find the mental strength to enjoy riding in a near future and i wish you the best in whatever you end up doing. Cheers and enjoy your memorial weekend.

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Happy Memorial Day to you as well. We all appreciate your service.

Wow, amazing to read everyone's stories. I can empathize with Castor's experiences, from what seems now to be another lifetime for me. I have had many close calls, have had friends with close calls and friends who did not fair so well. There is only so much that you can do to intervene on the outcome of a random incident, like your accident. I think when bad things happen we naturally try to justify or intellectualize the cause in an attempt to find a remedial reason. I was driving drunk, I was texting while driving, I was getting a ........, whatever. Most of the time it's just wrong place, wrong time and random .... happens. I think it depends on how you came out of that accident psychologically. I can't tell you whether you should get the R or not. But, I would not waste the money unless you are able to forget the past and ride without being worried that your number is up.