# Are these motorcycle riders insane? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 7, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515 "2012-07-07T13:28:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/1 "2012-07-07T13:28:56Z")
How do people do this? I mean, one small mistake and it’s “good-bye.” [http://www.viddler.com/v/ccf4851a](http://www.viddler.com/v/ccf4851a) ---
**Author:** ![L.mo5rg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f475e1/32.png) [@L.mo5rg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/L.mo5rg)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/2 "2012-07-07T15:14:15Z")
No, for several reasons. Firstly they’re driving quite slowly which indicates they’re perfectly aware of the risks involved. Their are many sports and activities people do that are far more dangerous, and I don’t think wanting to do dangerous or extreme sports is considered insanity. Tbh if it’s fun why not? I would rather live life doing what I enjoy, even if it’s dangerous, than live a boring life, even if that means living longer. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/3 "2012-07-07T17:15:12Z")
Yes they are insane. I know because I’ve done lots of insane things in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/4 "2012-07-07T17:46:29Z")
Looks like a good time to me **CAPT** ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/5 "2012-07-07T18:02:08Z")
Looks like some of the mountain bike trails I have been on. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/6 "2012-07-07T18:47:13Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Looks like some of the mountain bike trails I have been on. I’m not quite that daring, but I’ve been on some with a fairly high pucker factor where one fall would mean for a pretty bad time. Adrenaline rushes are fun. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/7 "2012-07-07T19:12:18Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Adrenaline rushes are fun. Yeah, that’s what it’s about. I don’t understand the negative connotations associated with doing insane things. I don’t hear many people bragging about how dull their life is. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/8 "2012-07-07T19:31:14Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I don’t understand the negative connotations associated with doing insane things. Me either. Personally, I don’t know why people get so up-in-arms about driving the wrong way on expressways. It’s just _fun._ ---
**Author:** ![L.mo5rg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f475e1/32.png) [@L.mo5rg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/L.mo5rg)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/9 "2012-07-07T20:17:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I don’t hear many people bragging about how dull their life is. This made me laugh. I do however know people who brag about never having an injury and condemn any action with some risk to it. Why is fun not a good enough reason to do something risky? ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/10 "2012-07-07T22:18:14Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Me either. Personally, I don’t know why people get so up-in-arms about driving the wrong way on expressways. It’s just _fun._ Your straw man is facing the wrong way, and he’s dumping oranges into your apple basket. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/11 "2012-07-07T23:10:12Z")
> [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > Looks like a good time to me > > **CAPT** Seconded. I don’t think these guys are getting much of a huge rush doing this. They’re being careful and seem to be riding within their limits. It looks like the camera guy is in control at all times. I’d (like to) think their senses are fully heightened, though, because a simple miscalculation puts them off the cliff. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/12 "2012-07-08T00:14:12Z")
Meh. People have different risk tolerances, and nothing is absolutely risk-free. There are probably things you do every day that someone would look at and say “oh my god, that guy’s nuts!”. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/13 "2012-07-08T00:33:06Z")
Why did I click on that link? Kudos on their bravery and all, but I couldn’t even WALK along that trail. You’d find me ten steps in clinging to the rock-face and whimpering like a baby. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/14 "2012-07-08T00:36:10Z")
> [@Uber\_the\_Goober](#): > > Your straw man is facing the wrong way, and he’s dumping oranges into your apple basket. Well it _is_ insane, so…how, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![stanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@stanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stanger)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/15 "2012-07-08T00:43:25Z")
The riding is a bit more than I probably would have tried, back in my trail riding days, but a lot of it didn’t look too bad. There were a lot of stretches where the slope wasn’t so great or smooth that you were risking certain death. Sure, you might slide down a bit and get banged up, but a lot of it wasn’t like ‘free-fall’ or anything. And though it has been many years since I did my riding, the bikes looked like ‘trials’ bikes, which are meant for traveling across much rougher terrain than the actual trail they were on. At least they had the right tool for the job. That being said, there were a few spots where the fall would have been far, the slide would have been near impossible to stop, the trail was covered by loose sliding rocks, and the near wall or tree could clip your handlebars and send you over. Those areas were dangerous, but didn’t make up all of the trail. I can see the appeal and appreciate the thrill. I might have even tried it in my younger days. I was always hurt worse on my bike within a quarter mile of my own house, on a paved public road, than I was when trail riding and goofing around. Trees and rocks I understood and could move over or through, but the idiots driving on the wrong side of the road (or all over it) were the obstacles that gave me the most grief and road rash. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/16 "2012-07-08T21:16:39Z")
The camera perspective is giving an exaggerated sense of the narrowness of the trail. See 5:20 on the video - The trail is not nearly as narrow as the camera makes it look. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-motorcycle-riders-insane/627515/17 "2012-07-08T23:32:31Z")
I’m afraid of heights, so they should be, also.