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Location: IN>Germany>ND>OH>TX>CA>Currently NoVa and a Vacation Lake House in PA
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After my move to the DC area where traffic is just horrific I am seriously considering selling my bike this Spring. I have been a motorcycle commuter for a long time, but as I approach retirement I think about how much it would suck to have a horrible accident that could make my retirement years painful or not enjoyable. I already have bad knees and shoulders from sports and weight lifting. I am too close to a life of leisure to blow it now, and I don't want to put a burden on my wife should something horrible happen. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but at 52 I think I may be done.
I gave a lot of thought of going back to motorcycles after 40 years. Asked a lot of questions on this site about which bike I should buy.
A lot of interesting comments which I did not dismiss made me think real hard about riding in my seventies when the last time I road was in the sixties. 1960's.
I'll be looking out for the bikers like I always do but I'm content with a sports coupe for my mode of transportation.
Reading through these posts has been downright depressing! I just picked up this hobby a few years and can't get enough of it. I'm counting the days until it's warm enough to get the bike back out and being able to look forward to my work commute again.
For my part (sorry for depressing you), the #1 killer was turning my passion into my job. The old saying "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life"? It turning into a reality of "do what you love and you will completely kill any love for that thing" for me.
I went from being 2-wheels only, 8 years in total, and turning ~30k miles a year, riding 7 days a week (commute through the week and play on the weekends) to not interested in riding in just a few short years. I'm sure other things contributed, I'm a sport ride at the core, I like the challenge of pushing the envelope ~ well, that's dumb as dumb can be when combined with public roads and once I got on the racetrack I saw that. But I still need Some cornering to find joy in riding and that's non-existent here in central Georgia. "Cruising" doesn't do anything for me, actually it makes me want to turn a shotgun to my head (being in physical pain due to bike ergos not cooperating with body needs doesn't help) just to get it to stop. Touring is only slightly better, droning along for long stretches puts me to sleep. I feel into ADV riding about 8~9 years ago and that really re-ignited a little interest, but I've since moved and am not up for 2~3 hours of droning along (or trailering) to get to the Start of something enjoyable. Same story for true off-road riding, though I have next to now experience there. And finally, there's racing/track days ~ which I still enjoy, but the time commitment is a little more than I have available due to other demands on my time right now... that may change in 2 years when I'm finished with the big project I'm working on (refurbishing a 1930's built house that'd been neglected for a few decades).
I still get a little bit of joy from turning wrench on motorcycles, which is why I still do it for people I've known several years. But even that is falling off.
In all cases, my experiences are unique and my own. I was hyper-passionate about riding for a LONG time, and never thought I'd be where I am today. Life has some funny twists and turns though. I wouldn't worry about it or let it affect me in the present. Enjoy what you enjoy while you enjoy it and then move on to something else without lingering/regretting too much.
I am thinking about giving it up in my 70s maybe 60s. I ride everyday and make sure to give other vehicles a lot of space. I watch my speed. I operate a bus for a living, and I get cut off in both vehicles because people are in a rush to get in front of me.
I rode a bike from about 20 to 40 years old. Then I became ill with sleep apnea and that made riding was too dangerous. Waking up driving a motorcycle is a memorable experience! I had settled into a commuting 2 hour a day rut for the next 20 years. About 5 years ago I started riding again. I found a 650cc Burgman Scooter did everything I wanted a bike to do from local grocery getting to 300 miles in a day trip. It is not a Harley, it is not an adventure bike, nor a Cruiser. It gets me around and is surprisingly quick in the twisties. I would ride it year round except for things like cold, snow and ice.
BTW - Brian M is right about having to do something for a living will kill the joy you might once have had for that activity. Doing something you like to do because you WANT to do it is entirely different. More about control of yourself and your time than the activity.
I gave it up for a number of years when my son was little, I went for more family oriented hobbies but I came back to riding when he got older. just a little break.
Fla, is number one state for deaths on MC. Inner state roads are much better. Light traffic. The coasts are just asshat crazy. Too many young and old people driving like idiots.
I've seen guys been badly hurt, and one die. I road raced for three years, 20 years ago: the fatality was in a practise group just ahead of mine (slightly faster group). Could have been me. Glad I've never seen or been involved in a lethal street wreck.
I've owned thirteen bikes, street and track, across 29 years and (guessing) 100-200K miles between them. Very little happens in terms of "cars pulling out in front of you" and etc. you can't see coming, though it's not impossible of course. Fate on rare occasion, one in ten thousand times, picks you off randomly. I get that. But the stuff I've seen, seen coming *at* me, and gotten the hell out of the way-of ...I cannot begin to count. Best defense is a good offense, and other rules of not riding defensively (OFFensively, rather) could fill a book.
When I raced, I left street riding to focus on the track. Very different set of rules and much safer, in the aggregate. I'm down to less than 10K miles on bikes/year, mostly because of various sports cars that are damn near as much fun, almost as fast, and better for passengers.
But no, I won't give up street riding. It's a risk assessment.
I stopped for almost 2 years when I moved to Florida because the traffic was so insane and the roads couldn't have been more boring. Flat, straight and a stoplight every 3o yards. I could hold out longer than that though, so I eventually got another one.
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Anyone ever thought about giving up Motorcycles?
