The boomers are back - please be safe, guys!

It's just getting warm around here, and already the streets are taken with brand new motorcycles everywhere, brand new pipes, <100 miles on the odo, and with brand new leathers riding on top.

Yep, a fresh crop of mid-life-crisis riders are out with the first >60F weather. It's cute, sad, and funny all at the same time.

It's cute because of how much they over-invest in their bikes, just because they have the money. Like a brand new exhaust on this Yamaha I saw this past week on the FDR, when the rider should have known that a first bike like that is likely to get dropped, and so why would you invest in an exposed can as your first purchase?

It's sad because you can spot them immediately. They're the guys on 9A and the FDR scared out of their minds, holding a single line in the lane (not taking advantage of the full width of the lane), and usually riding in the center lane. Any city rider knows that the center highway lane is the most dangerous, and that the left lane is by far the safest. Even the scooters know this, for crying out loud!

It's also sad, because statistically speaking, there are a handful of these folks that won't make it through the summer without a serious accident. Likely caused by a combination of dulled reflexes, inexperience, and a big pot hole on West End between 73rd and 74th, heading South. You could have avoided it if you weren't driving in the oil-slicked middle of the lane, Mr. Saturday BMW driver... you know who you are.

And funny because of the all blacked out clothes they were, to become completely invisible to all traffic. What's the point? Why not just charge headlong into a cement highway divider, and save someone else the traumatic experience of hitting you from the rear because your black helmet, black jacket, and hidden license plate with fender eliminator and tiny little lights didn't stand out. No crud. To be fair, I did see a guy on the FDR recently with a white helmet, and a hi-viz jacket over his black jacket. And a couple where the woman in back hung a hiviz reflector pad over her back. Bravo to both of you. In the meantime, everyone else can tell me by the: white helmet, yellow pants, reflector pads, white jacket, extra rear blinking flashers, and additional headlights... and proud of it.