I was thinking something similar about that “bike rides you” comment. My first thought was, “if any bike is capable of riding you, you don’t know how to ride.” I decided not to speak up since I am sure Caddyman meant something other than what I understood that comment to mean.
If the bike’s design and components are set up correctly, it should always ride upright in a straight line. Anything you do to upset that line (like turn or go around a bend) results in a change of balance, and the bike will want to straighten itself. This is normal operation. That’s why we lean into corners, and not “turn” the handlebars, but push on the side we want to turn (gently push out the right bar to turn right).
You’re basically riding on two gyroscopes. Their desire is to be vertical. the smaller the bike, the easier it is to force that balance off.
I’m guessing, but I think that may be what he means.
Chase
I am 69 and live in the mountains of Mexico. I think it would be fun to have a small machine to ride over the mountains, but the only ones with “automatic” clutch and shifting seem to be scooters, which will drag on the rocks. If I could get a small “dirt bike” with a high clearance with auto clutch, it might be worth trying.
On the other hand, it has been a long time since I rode, and those who know tell me you WILL go down at least once the first year. As someone here said, healing time might be a major percentage of my remaining lifetime.
Though I had bone density x-rays done a few months ago when my wife did, and my bones are the same as most 20 year olds. As part of my modified Atkins diet, which is very successful (b.p. now around 106/63) I take 2400 mg a day of calcium.
Side note: if anyone has a wife with osteoporosis, osteoporosis and osteopenia are apparently curable with 1800 or more mg of calcium a day. It takes a long time but you eventually get thicker bones. My wife finally, after me begging her for years, started taking 1800 mg a day several years ago. Last year, she stopped taking Fosamax because a side effect is they get achy, but when we did tests, she has improved from osteoporosis to osteopenia, now is normal for her age, which is not good enough. We will have the tests once a year, it only cost us $33 USD each.
A friend in the States told me not long ago that when she retired she had osteopenia. Her doctor told her she could take Fosamax, or take more calcium. She chose calcium which is so much cheaper, and eventually had normal bones.