what made you choose to give up motorcycles (street bikes)?

"Is it time to give up, sell my bike, toss my ratty gear and make it a part of my history rather than my future?"
since you asked, yes.
 
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JMHO but bikes are past fun at speeds below 45 mph where one can soak up the goings on as they pass by but beyond that speed the fun goes away and the increasing intensity levels leaves one tired and restless. Not my pleasure blasting down the highway with semis all around me weaving as they text about their boredom. Whether car or bike, one is in danger but at least there is some protection when the grinding starts and today there are incidents that no one can escape.
 
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Jayne said:
Is that a KLR250!?!?!

So this is making sense to me. I completely suck at dirt riding, did a 3 day tour in Death Valley (in January, got snowed on!) and hated the sand the entire time. Crashed from hitting nothing, the earth just came up and hit me. BUT... maybe if I could ride a hard pack trail it would be like a mountain bike. Slow and steady and just enjoy the ride and not have to stand up and nail the gas and be all crazy like the ADV guys?
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I wish I had taken up dirt bikes when I was younger - I can get all the feels I enjoy from motorcycling, at speeds and in places where I'm unlikely to get killed. I've had a KLR 250 (hard SOB to reach the kickstart on, but I liked it) but the bike in the photo is a Kawasaki Super Sherpa, fantastic little bike. Had KLR 650s too and I like them, but on a loose surface I prefer a lighter bike that I can keep upright - and pick up when I can't.

I spent a couple of decades riding backroads in the Blue Ridge on motorcycles and bicycles, so I developed a pretty good catalog of places I wanted to explore. You don't have to go fast to enjoy it. Go by yourself, go at your own speed, go where you feel like going. Makes an old man feel like a kid again! What I typically do is load up Friday afternoon, drive up there Friday night, blues on the radio, and stay at a cheap motel. Ride all day Saturday, home Saturday night - or if I'm feeling frisky, stay over and ride Sunday too. Beats hell out of riding in populated areas. I have a secret location where I once rode all day without seeing one (1) car on the road. The bike here is a Royal Enfield trailie built to be a plonker - flywheels like manhole covers.
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Gave it up when my left hand would lock up. Could not move my fingers as needed to operate the clutch.

Miss it < fear of cagers = bub'bye
 
I won a lot of motocross races when I was young. Now I have a 1990 Yamaha XT-350 and a 1973 BMW R75/5. Both need work, which I will enjoy doing. But I will not ride them on the road any more. Each and every day I see people on their phones while operating a motor vehicle. It makes no sense to risk riding a motorcycle among them.
 
After nearly 50 years of riding both on and off road, I found myself not being as focused as I felt like I needed to be. I decided it was time to hang it up before I got the wife and I hurt. It wasn't an easy decision for me or for us. My wife cried a lot when I finally sold the bike.
 
I commute every single day from South Carolina to Charlotte, rain or shine on a klr650 or a tw200 if I want to take it easy and go the back way.

I cant imagine giving it up but Im only 57. I sold my harley and got the klt because it is a bike Ive wanted since the 80s.

Traffic is not a problem if you have that sixth sense. I swear I know what a car is going to do before they do.

I like the dual sport since I can scoot around traffic when necessary. With covid it's been so relaxing riding in. I LOVE IT!
 
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4 knee replacements
2 major back surgeries
1 dislocated hip
Spinal pain stimulator


Damn near new BMW still in the shop too, crying shame!
 
MacEntyre said:
I won a lot of motocross races when I was young. Now I have a 1990 Yamaha XT-350 and a 1973 BMW R75/5. Both need work, which I will enjoy doing. But I will not ride them on the road any more. Each and every day I see people on their phones while operating a motor vehicle. It makes no sense to risk riding a motorcycle among them.
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I lost a lot of motocross races when I was young. :D

I bought a slightly-used Kawasaki 750 H2 Mach IV as my one and only street bike when I was 18. I had too many close calls (mostly of people making turns in front of me), and decided NC is just not the place for a bike like that. Since then I've just had a couple trail bikes. I haven't owned one in five or six years. I still feel the urge, and am fit enough to do it, ...but I should probably stick with tractors and old trucks. :)
 
I had the classic "Crash and Burn" on my Bultaco Pursang (this dates me).

Got T-boned by another bike between my engine and my front forks. Sheared the triple clamp, ruptured fuel tank, and the main part of the bike (with engine, seat and rear wheel) burned to a crisp.

Since I was on my own and only 17, hospital could do nothing for me other than stabilize me, before getting power of attorney from my parents in Florida , to my friends Dad where I was in New Mexico.

Man was that a fun call to make ("Hi Dad, guess what? Remember that motorcycle you told me not to buy, well................")
 
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I never did race, but I always thought Bultacos were cool because Jim Pomeroy rode one. I always wanted an Alpina for the woods.

Sorry for the hijack.
 
Inner ear condition which causes slight dizziness my last bike was a Kawasaki Concours that I rode 30k a year on
 
i had stopped riding during my late 202 and 30s but got back into it .
it is such a different game now, it is no longer being one with the bike and the wind. now it is an exercise in hyper conciousness . but the wife loves to ride and visit the vineyards...enough that we just picked up a newer k1600gtl.....yay me...
 
JohnFreeman said:
I had the classic "Crash and Burn" on my Bultaco Pursang (this dates me).

Got T-boned by another bike between my engine and my front forks. Sheared the triple clamp, ruptured fuel tank, and the main part of the bike (with engine, seat and rear wheel) burned to a crisp.

Since I was on my own and only 17, hospital could do nothing for me other than stabilize me, before getting power of attorney from my parents in Florida , to my friends Dad where I was in New Mexico.

Man was that a fun call to make ("Hi Dad, guess what? Remember that motorcycle you told me not to buy, well................")
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Glad you survived it - the crash and the phone call. I gotcher Pursang front end on my TR25W trail bike!
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Red Marley said:
Glad you survived it - the crash and the phone call. I gotcher Pursang front end on my TR25W trail bike!
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You have the neatest motorcycle collection. I've been wanting to build a Sportster chopper & am half tempted to run down a KHK to hard tail & either build a tracker or late '60's style bobber.
 
Crazy Carl said:
You have the neatest motorcycle collection. I've been wanting to build a Sportster chopper & am half tempted to run down a KHK to hard tail & either build a tracker or late '60's style bobber.
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Do it. We ain't getting any younger. Do it now.
 
When I got my Texas driver's license, I kept my motorcycle endorsement. For many years I have wanted a dual sport bike. I doubt if I ever will get one but, I kept the endorsement anyway.
 
Mine was the full nine months I spent in a cast in 87'. I still think I'd like to get a dual sport for riding around town but then I remember that I've only got one ass to fall back on if I get put out of work and no one to spoon feed me after.
 
You will know when it is time. It may be a combination of age,health problems,close calls,or over crowded roads with problem drivers,or just something as simple as it becomes not enjoyable anymore. When that little voice in your head says "it's over" you will know it's time to quit.
 
Chuck said:
You will know when it is time. It may be a combination of age,health problems,close calls,or over crowded roads with problem drivers,or just something as simple as it becomes not enjoyable anymore. When that little voice in your head says "it's over" you will know it's time to quit.
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No, then you hop on a trike.
 
Stobie said:
I never did race, but I always thought Bultacos were cool because Jim Pomeroy rode one. I always wanted an Alpina for the woods.

Sorry for the hijack.
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I had a buddy with the Alpina.... it was a torque monster in its blue and silver trim. Great bike.
 
Goofyfoot2001 said:
No, then you hop on a trike.
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A lot of people go to a trike. That was never an option for me. I have zero interest in a trike or the CanAm Spyder or Slingshot. Might as well be in a car.
 
Geezer said:
A lot of people go to a trike. That was never an option for me. I have zero interest in a trike or the CanAm Spyder or Slingshot. Might as well be in a car.
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The only three-wheelers that interest me at all are the Morgans, and other similar "cars". I would go convertible before I would go trike.
 
Bikes were my primary (sometimes only) mode of transportation for 10 or so years. Sold the last bike after second kid arrived, and realized I hadn’t been riding anywhere enough to either stay sharp or really justify the investment.

Thought about getting back into it several times since (lots of silly cheap and neat bikes out there right now if you start looking), but running wreck calls with the VFD has definitely given me a different perspective on an activity that was once a major part of my life.
Wife rode for a while, but gave it up after a (thankfully minor) wreck.

Only thing that might get me back into it at this point would be another side hack. Had an old Ural that was simultaneously the most fun and the most unreliable machine I’ve ever owned.

We still have all the gear in the garage.
 
If I give it up, it will be out of boredom for roads around here. I like technical, challenging, and twisty.
Coming from riding in traffic where Jayne and I did, this place is super chill, traffic/cell phone wise. You have to ride aggressively and offensively. This requires speeding and passing where you have to, total 360 degree awareness, and proactive thinking. There is no time for "cruising and enjoying the sights" anywhere close to cagers. You have to be actively watching traffic patterns developing and changing and actively mitigating dangerous scenarios. You have to have good gear and good skills. And you still might eat it.

This is actually what I like about riding. If it were "safe" I probably wouldn't be interested. Skydiving is fun for people because it is the opposite of safe. Motorcycles are awesome because they are very difficult to master, and the consequences of bad decisions or lack or skill are at the least very painful and at the worst, very fatal. Like flying helicopters.

All that said, at this point in my life I hardly ride at all. But I have a payed-off bike in the garage that brings me huge joy when I ride it, so it's not costing me much money to have it there. I could live without it. Quite easily. But my mom often says "motorcycle" was like the first word out of my mouth and I have always had a deep passion for them. I love them. It is waiting in the garage patiently waiting for a blast around town, being a general hooligan and pissing people off. Yeah, I'll probably keep it.

I do not encourage people to ride unless they show this same attitude. If you do not feel compelled to ride...... don't go anywhere near one. I'd never let my girl ride, and will not take passengers. It is a very very selfish thing to do at the end of the day. It has to be.

If I die on one, I expect everybody who knows me to be like "that was not entirely unexpected". They can all act smug and say "we told him so". That is perfectly fine. Because they did, many many many times in my life. Probably thousands.
 
I have a Harley that has been collecting dust for a few years = kids.

I might as well sell it.....but it's not just that easy.
 
I'd ridden Harleys 30+ years, some close calls but never a scratch.
We (wife & I) rode pretty regularly to dinner/ ice cream or just a cruise around the beach.
One evening we had a nice ride, went for ice cream, got home, put it in the garage...
4 years later, the bike was in the same spot. I just never got back on it, I can't say why.
I uncovered it to clean it up for a memorial ride for a (not close) friend that had died because of a texting driver.
Got the bike running good enough to sell and haven't looked back.
 
Two years ago both trail and street rocket were sold. A near crash while going the speed limit and distance. Was looking really bad until a miracle maneuver got me out of a potential bad wreck. Other drivers ended my lifelong passion. I do not want to be crippled and a burden on my wife and family. My son had a bike almost identical mine and he sold his so he could make sure it was him that raised his baby twins.
 
Drivers not paying attention, texting, distracted, high, whatever. Anyone who has driven emergency response knows what I'm talking about. People don't notice a full size vehicle lit up like the Vegas strip with sirens screaming like air raid alerts in London, they aren't going to notice a cycle just driving along. If I'm going to have someone change lanes first and look second, I want 4 wheels on the ground and a frame around me.

That said, I still keep the endorsement on my license - just in case -
 
NKD said:
If I give it up, it will be out of boredom for roads around here. I like technical, challenging, and twisty.
Coming from riding in traffic where Jayne and I did, this place is super chill, traffic/cell phone wise. You have to ride aggressively and offensively. This requires speeding and passing where you have to, total 360 degree awareness, and proactive thinking. There is no time for "cruising and enjoying the sights" anywhere close to cagers. You have to be actively watching traffic patterns developing and changing and actively mitigating dangerous scenarios. You have to have good gear and good skills. And you still might eat it.

This is actually what I like about riding. If it were "safe" I probably wouldn't be interested. Skydiving is fun for people because it is the opposite of safe. Motorcycles are awesome because they are very difficult to master, and the consequences of bad decisions or lack or skill are at the least very painful and at the worst, very fatal. Like flying helicopters.

All that said, at this point in my life I hardly ride at all. But I have a payed-off bike in the garage that brings me huge joy when I ride it, so it's not costing me much money to have it there. I could live without it. Quite easily. But my mom often says "motorcycle" was like the first word out of my mouth and I have always had a deep passion for them. I love them. It is waiting in the garage patiently waiting for a blast around town, being a general hooligan and pissing people off. Yeah, I'll probably keep it.

I do not encourage people to ride unless they show this same attitude. If you do not feel compelled to ride...... don't go anywhere near one. I'd never let my girl ride, and will not take passengers. It is a very very selfish thing to do at the end of the day. It has to be.

If I die on one, I expect everybody who knows me to be like "that was not entirely unexpected". They can all act smug and say "we told him so". That is perfectly fine. Because they did, many many many times in my life. Probably thousands.
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Riding hard is like running from the law, you have get away every time, they only have to catch you one time. You’re right though, aggressive riders are on average better riders but there’s always the unknowns that will sooner or later get you. Once met a pickup truck on a two lane highway with a big Dalmatian riding on the toolbox overlooking the cab and just as they met me the truck hit a bump in the road sending the poor dog straight at me airborne! I swerved and ducked at the same time as did my guardian angel, never lost control, turned around to see how the dog was fareing to find him now white, black and red but no broken bones. The owner turned as well and placed the dog in the bed and off he went to the vet. Me?...I gave thanks to my Maker and made a generous donation to the Dickel Foundation.
 
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OldNascar said:
Riding hard is like running from the law, you have get away every time, they only have to catch you one time. You’re right though, aggressive riders are on average better riders but there’s always the unknowns that will sooner or later get you. Once met a pickup truck on a two lane highway with a big Dalmatian riding on the toolbox overlooking the cab and just as they met me the truck hit a bump in the road sending the poor dog straight at me airborne! I swerved and ducked at the same time as did my guardian angel, never lost control, turned around to see how the dog was fareing to find him now white, black and red but no broken bones. The owner turned as well and placed the dog in the bed and off he went to the vet. Me?...I gave thanks to my Maker and made a generous donation to the Dickel Foundation.
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I hear ya. I got many stories!
 
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