I built my first scooter around age 14 but my dad made me dismantle after one of my riding buddies bounced off a stopped truck into the incoming traffic and was killed.Yeah man - dodgy road surfaces - slow tricycles - busses/trucks and jeepneys - no pavements most places - so many pedestrians and cyclists everywhere - sudden tropical rain storms - even big cobras on the roads in places - they do have toll free ways - where I could really open the bike up - so had alot of fun on that Ducati - but judging from the many near misses I had - it was just a matter of time before I would inevitably prang - and suffer the consequences - or die even -
I still loved bikes so started again after leaving home, but stopped riding bikes again at age 20, after two accidents where, "the driver didn't see me", but by 20 years later had convinced myself that it was because I wasn't being careful enough, or paying close enough attention.
Soooo, I got into bikes again with a Honda CB-300R scooter for commuting and a 500S offroad bike for joy and amazement.
Alas, after another incident where the oncoming driver "just didn't see me", before turning point blank in front of me without signaling, I again gave up bikes.
Regrettably not before suffering permanent neck injuries that 40 years later haunt me and are growing worse.
Bikes were sure a lot of fun, but I also have a quadriplegic friend who had a young family when he broke his neck in a bike accident, thus demonstrating possibilities worse than mere owies, boo boos, or death, soooo I gave up bikes for good.