I road bikes for years, and a harley for years... I am no 36 years old and gave up my bike a few years ago. No, not any sort of accident, but fiscal reasons at the time.
I used to shake my head when I’d see some guy in his 50s who’d never rode before showing up at the dealership to pick up his new fully loaded dresser or fat boy.. or whatever. Beautiful bikes that I knew odds were very great would wind up road kill inside of a few months. Not because the bikes were any more unsafe than any other bike, just the riders were, completely out of their leagues.
I cannot even begin to count how many close calls I had over the years, where the only thing that kept me from going down was defensive driving, experience and reaction time. On a sunny day like today, where they are calling for 70s and sun, I openly admit I miss my bike... but I also know and can tell my reaction time has slowed, from what it used to be, and I’m in my mid 30s, because of my experience I doubt highly I’ll ever buy another bike just for that reason alone. Guys in their 50s, never been on a bike before and then go buy the biggest most loaded thing they can find are flirting with disaster.
A new rider really should start out on something small. Unfortunately the only small Harley is the sportster, and that seems to have a certain stigma in Harley circles. So most guys buy a 900lb monster.
Personally, I won’t ride anything I can’t pick up by myself. Bikes can and do fall over.
I agree. I think the “graduated licensing” here should involve displacement limits, perhaps restricting novices to < 500cc.