

Falling for a Hells Angel - pmcpinto
http://narrative.ly/gangsters/falling-for-a-hells-angel/

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chroma
The people in this story (including the author) seem insane to me. It's crazy
enough to ride a motorcycle (let alone without armor), but that's a footnote
to the real issues: the violence, needless aggression, and treatment of women
as chattel.

What's worse is the author spares no effort rationalizing her abuse. For
example: After Jack hits her, he quickly says he's sorry and comes to her aid.
That was not an example of how much Jack cared about her. That was Jack scared
of her calling the cops and sending him to jail.

I can't find a single good decision made by the author of this story. Had Jack
not broken up with her, she'd probably still be in this abusive relationship.

~~~
randlet
Riding a motorcycle is not crazy. It is a risk/reward decision. The risk can
be mitigated by always riding with gear (ATGATT - All The Gear All The Time)
and making smart decisions about how & when you ride. For me the reward of
being on a bike far outweighs the risk.

~~~
chroma
Humans suck at estimating risk. From the Wikipedia article on motorcycle
safety[1]:

 _Per vehicle mile traveled, motorcyclists ' risk of a fatal crash is 35 times
greater than a passenger car._

In 2012, the US had 23 fatalities per 100 million miles ridden. If you do the
math, riding 4,000 miles a year for 40 years gives you a 4.2% chance of dying
in an accident. That's just death. It doesn't include getting crippled or
having permanent brain damage.

You would be crazy to ride in a car that gave such a high risk of death. In
fact, any car that dangerous would not be allowed on the road, and any excuses
about mitigating risk would be laughed at. It is an accident of history that
society allows motorcycles. If they were invented today, there would be zero
chance of them being allowed on streets.

Paradoxically, the only sane place to ride a motorcycle is a race track. With
no obstacles, large run-off areas, trained riders, and plenty of armor,
injuries are minor.

1\.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_safety](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_safety)

~~~
randlet
_riding 4,000 miles a year for 40 years gives you a 4.2% chance of dying in an
accident_

No, it doesn't give _me_ a 4.2% risk of dying. That 4.2% (assuming your math
is correct) is a figure for the entire population which doesn't say much about
an individuals level of risk.

It is possible to ride in a low risk fashion that will put an individuals risk
at a significantly lower rate. There is a reason my insurance rates are
drastically lower than a 16 year old on a super sport.

~~~
randlet
I would be highly interested in knowing what the risk is for a population of
mature riders, who wear proper gear all the time with 50000+ miles experience
is. I'm sure my insurance company has the numbers on file...

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yeezul
504 Time-out. Here's a link to the Google Cache version:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:CIBYb2V...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:CIBYb2VoTdYJ:narrative.ly/gangsters/falling-
for-a-hells-angel/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca)

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ssimpson
Pretty good read from a woman's perspective. I don't know why I find M/Cs
fascinating.

~~~
Nursie
Do the relationships described in that story not seem deeply unhealthy to you?
From my (male) perspective the women seem to get treated like property.

~~~
__david__
Finding something fascinating and finding something deeply disturbing are not
orthogonal; the relationships seemed deeply unhealthy, the men inherently
violent and the women second class (don't disturb to club members while
they're talking)—and still it was very interesting, very well told.

~~~
gaius
... And yet, any geek gets irritated if interrupted while deep in code, or
even a game.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
By anyone, not just by a woman? The misogyny was being pointed out I believe.

~~~
sinewav
It's actually considered rude for any non patch-holder to approach two patch-
holders having a private discussion. Gender isn't important in this instance.
I'm not saying there isn't a ton of misogyny in the MC lifestyle. There really
is.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
"Any"? Including family? Doesn't your wife or girlfriend constitute a very
special category? If not, then then are indeed messed up.

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the_rosentotter
W. T. F. Why am I reading pulp romance novel on Hacker News.

