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I haven't been on a pleasure ride in at least a couple years now, for various reasons (spending time with the wife, doing stuff around the house, etc...). I now have a five-month-old at home. I ride the bus to work because it gives me time to get stuff done, or just think, plus I won't arrive at my dress-casual position drenched in sweat (or rain, or with immobile fingers). Riding in would be more fun, but the bus pollutes less, keeps one more vehicle off the road, doesn't require changing into and out of gear, and is half paid for by my company. A year ago, I was riding to work far more often than not, but my job situation has changed and I don't see it changing again anytime soon.
The logical thing to do would be to sell the bike, take the couple thousand dollars and counteract the effects of my wife and my seemingly eternally reduced salary and increasing expenses.
I'm having trouble letting go though, and I think there are a couple reasons.
First, now that I have one, if I get rid of it will I ever find the money or justification to buy another? Perhaps someday, after the kids leave the house and my body can't handle any bike with a remotely sporting riding position. Throw our calling for foster care into the mix, and "when the kids leave the house" may just never happen.
Perhaps the biggest thing holding me back is the completely illogical and ridiculous nature of motorcycles. Maybe it's weird, but for me, motorcycles represent my only remaining "**** you" to the world. I think all men, somewhere in them, yearn for something that satisfies this urge. For some it's drugs, for some it's music (well I guess I still have that...), for some it's just being an ******* to everybody. For me, it's my bike.
"Hey, you shouldn't ride that thing, it's dangerous".
**** you.
"Hey, that thing is loud and fast, doesn't stand without a kickstand or momentum, and is completely impractical".
**** you.
"Hey, it's cold/hot/raining/whatever outside, what are you doing?"
**** you.
Have any of you struggled with this decision? How'd it work out for you? I just had to ask somebody...
You can't find 30 minutes in a day or the weekend to ride? The bus pollutes less? Plenty of people find time to ride with families. Stop whining and being a pansy ass and ride it.
You can't find 30 minutes in a day or the weekend to ride? The bus pollutes less? Plenty of people find time to ride with families. Stop whining and being a pansy ass and ride it.
What I like most about riding is a full escape. Riding outside the city to the mountains where the twisties are (for the most part, where I live is a grid of straight flat streets). Where I live, that's not going to be accomplished in 30 minutes.
Yes, per rider, the bus pollutes much less. I don't know where you live, but as much as I love my city, it consistently has some of the worst air quality in the nation. I try and contribute as little as is reasonably possible to that problem. Riding in to work always beats driving or busing in to work in terms of fun, but it's not exactly the type of riding I like most.
I'm not interested in riding with my wife and child; my bike isn't exactly the 2-up type and I don't putt-putt around either. As mentioned my girl is five months old. My wife has her endorsement, but I don't trust her to handle a bike and she hasn't shown the desire anyway.
I don't know you, but I'm guessing you and I are very different types of riders riding for very different reasons.
In short, 30 minutes a weekend IS what I'm doing right now, but it's only to keep the fluids fresh; it ain't exactly providing a lot of pleasure.
Perhaps the biggest thing holding me back is the completely illogical and ridiculous nature of motorcycles. Maybe it's weird, but for me, motorcycles represent my only remaining "**** you" to the world. I think all men, somewhere in them, yearn for something that satisfies this urge. For some it's drugs, for some it's music (well I guess I still have that...), for some it's just being an ******* to everybody. For me, it's my bike.
"Hey, you shouldn't ride that thing, it's dangerous".
**** you.
"Hey, that thing is loud and fast, doesn't stand without a kickstand or momentum, and is completely impractical".
**** you.
"Hey, it's cold/hot/raining/whatever outside, what are you doing?"
**** you.
Have any of you struggled with this decision? How'd it work out for you? I just had to ask somebody...
LOL. Thanks for the good laugh. I've been riding just shy of thirty years. They get my bike when my cold dead hand is pried off the throttle.
I ride a bike in-part because I'm not interested in what anyone else thinks about anything. I am literally beholden to no one except God and the IRS, in that order. I could walk away from my job in 30 seconds flat, though it would be painful I guess I could work through it. Ditto home and everything else, could liquidate everything and say "**** this and the horse you rode in on" within 30 (days) flat and go live in the Everglades on the proceeds, if-needed.
And yes, you've got to have some of that attitude to ride a bike, to engage that hooligan streak.
I need a bike, and to take big trips to weird places, like I need an investment portfolio: great to have, but far from "necessary" in the hunter/gatherer sense of the phrase.
So yep: I feel you, bro.
PS:
"What the hell did you ride to Alaska and back for?"
A: "**** you, *****! I rode southern Africa, from Cape Town to Zimbabwe, with twelve other lunatics last fall. What have *you* done lately that is interesting and non-conformist, just because you could?"
I've been through your situation, thought for me is was just the death of the passion. Lesson learned, **NEVER** try to turn your passion into your job, you'll only manage to kill the passion and then the job is unbearable.
Anyway, I held on for over a decade from when I'd noticed the change between doing 30k miles a year and dozens of trackday/race weekends to just sorta putting around when I thought about it and felt guilty. I had a mild resurgence when I moved to Denver and got hooked into the ADV community, but it was the People not the riding, that keep me involved and that's simply non-existent down here in Georgia. Here, it's ride to a bar and drink, then ride to the next bar... I love to drink, but demand quality (and would never mix the 2 activities), the people/community are everything I hate and nothing I like, much less love.
So, after being here for 3 years I finally sold the last motorcycle I was hanging onto. That was 2 years ago and I hadn't even realized 2 years had passed. I didn't do anything with the money though, it went into my safe for future purchases (well, that's a lie as of yesterday as I just bought a Sprinter Van to convert into an RV/steel tent but I'll replace the money with the sale of my truck), so I keep an eye on the MC market. I almost bought something earlier this spring but thought long and hard about why I sold in the first place... logic won out.
It was VERY hard to emotionally let go of something that completely identified me (I was motorcycle only for 8 years, through winters in DC and summers in both Phoenix and Atlanta ~ as well as moving between those places). It actually still hurts, but it's more the loss of the passion than the actual loss of riding. Again, that's a logical thing because I still enjoy turning wrench on motorcycles and test-ride those bikes... I'm still riding, but it's just a task to do, like brushing teeth, doing dishes or walking the dog ~ not anything I love, just something that needs doing.
I don't envy your situation and wish you the best in making the hard decision. IMHO, you'd be better served just selling the bike and moving on with your life but it's a very personal decision and not one to make based off some guy saying one way or another on the internet. At one time I was like the above, thinking that I'd stop riding the day I died... but EVERYTHING can change, without your wanting it to, and suddenly it's just not important anymore, no matter how much you want it to still be important.
Why not get a Zero SR and ride that instead of riding to work on a gas guzzling polluting stinking bus? That way you get to ride a motorcycle every day and save the planet at the same time!
Your first paragraph sounds like youre finding every excuse in the sun not to ride. I live in Houston and wear a shirt and tie to work often and dont arrive drenched in sweat. With the right gear youll be OK and wont have sore fingers. In New Mexico I rode a LOT below freezing and was always fine on the bike.
Either ride it or sell it. If you leave it sitting youll just end up with issues you and develop a money pit to throw cash at.
What I like most about riding is a full escape. Riding outside the city to the mountains where the twisties are (for the most part, where I live is a grid of straight flat streets). Where I live, that's not going to be accomplished in 30 minutes.
Yes, per rider, the bus pollutes much less. I don't know where you live, but as much as I love my city, it consistently has some of the worst air quality in the nation. I try and contribute as little as is reasonably possible to that problem. Riding in to work always beats driving or busing in to work in terms of fun, but it's not exactly the type of riding I like most.
I'm not interested in riding with my wife and child; my bike isn't exactly the 2-up type and I don't putt-putt around either. As mentioned my girl is five months old. My wife has her endorsement, but I don't trust her to handle a bike and she hasn't shown the desire anyway.
I don't know you, but I'm guessing you and I are very different types of riders riding for very different reasons.
In short, 30 minutes a weekend IS what I'm doing right now, but it's only to keep the fluids fresh; it ain't exactly providing a lot of pleasure.
I wasn't talking about having your wife and child ride with you. I meant bikers find time to ride even with a busy family life.
Do you think you will want to ride at some future date? If yes, keep the bike, prep it for storage and put it away until you're ready to start riding again. Keeping the bike will save you a fortune versus a new bike purchase, new bike prices are stupid now, imagine what they'll be in a few years! You're already familiar with this one now which will make getting back in a lot easier. If you don't see yourself riding in the future then sell it and treat your wife to a nice dinner and don't look back.
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