[AZIROC]

I turn 40 in July, been riding since I was 20. I sold my last bike (modded Hayabusa) about last year. Partially because I knew I wanted to get a ZL1 and needed to make room on the garage. The bigger part though was I think I was just done riding. The extra time it took to get the gear on, dealing with the different weather (damn Phx summers) let alone driver have gotten SO much worse... I was just done. Sometimes I miss it, but then at that same time I'm able to turn on the a/c or heater or take a drink while driving and remember I dont have to deal with that stuff anymore.

[ST1LE]

Originally Posted by jamala00

Hey that's awesome...! Just be safe, keep your head on a swivel and ride like you are invisible to everyone. You can't get the feeling of being in the wind any other way. Convertible to and extent but it's still not the same.

Thanks a lot!! Appreciate the advice, I will follow it for sure.

[L78toLT1]

From the time I got my first minibike in 1968 until I sold my DR350 Suzuki in ’96, I never went over a couple of days without riding. In middle and high school, we rode every damn day unless the weather absolutely sucked. I rode CZ’s back then and stuck with them even after the Japanese gained the upper hand in the mid-late ‘70’s. On the street bike front, I got a ’74 Z1 Kawi shortly after I got my license. I had a few more stock and modified Z1/KZ 900-1000 Kawasaki’s before moving to a 1260cc ’83 Suzuki GS1100E. I ran a 10.32 on the Suzuki which remains my fastest ¼ mile pass to date. If my Camaro was an A8, I believe just a drag pack and good air would net me a new personal best. My M6 will make it a bit more challenging!
I absolutely loved riding and miss it to this day; I would be back on a bike in a heartbeat if there were nothing but bikes on the road. The physics just aren’t in your favor vs. cell phone obsessed, SUV driving soccer moms. I came of age in the middle of the Japanese invasion, everyone had a dirt bike and several graduated to street bikes when they were of driving age. Two guys from my circle were killed in car-bike accidents. One buddy was drunk and stoned out of his mind; can’t blame the car or the bike for that one. The circumstances of the other really shook me. Kenny Roberts could have been on the bike and he would have been just as dead, there was absolutely no way my buddy could have anticipated or avoided the accident. I realize that I was very lucky to make it thru 22 years of street riding, a good bit of it in the Houston and Atlanta metro areas, without getting maimed or killed. I’m just not willing to take the chance at this stage in life. I don’t harbor any old-age wisdom with regards to dirt bikes though. I’d be back on one in a minute if I had a few riding buddies and access to a bunch of trails and fire roads.

[dray]

Originally Posted by ST1LE

I feel like the odd man out in this thread.

Turned 40 6 weeks ago and recently decided to get in to riding Motorcycles.

I have my Motorcycle Safety Foundations course in 2 weeks and can't wait to start practicing some Motojitsu and taking more courses.

It will just be something to use and enjoy, not primary source of transport. Not that it makes it any less dangerous.

My story is similar. Got my license @ 39 and been riding whenever I can ever since (51 now). Commuting to work whenever and going out on the twisties on the weekend. I've got a Yamaha FZ8 naked bike that I've modified, mostly to save weight and improve handling. I take it over the Camaro any day, weather permitting.

The Camaro is faster (top speed), but the bike is quicker from a stop and alot more fun in the twisties.

[MANNAXMAN]

I had a sport bike for just over 20 years. I got rid of it before buying my 6th Gen Camaro, but I had two Camaros during the time I owned the motorcycle. The bike was always just a recreational vehicle for me, but I occasionally used it to commute to work.

[Clearly_Canadian]

Only use the bike when working hours that puts me in rush hour traffic or I know I am working late. My 15 min commute can take over an hour in rush hour with no HOV lane.

[Silent_H_]

I'm with you guys. Had a CBR 600F2 back in the day and it was a blast, but being older and with people so extremely distracted while driving behemoths means I'll probably never buy another bike. Even a minor accident could put other physical activities on hold and that just wasn't worth it to me anymore.

Stay safe and have fun!

[ST1LE]

Originally Posted by dray

My story is similar. Got my license @ 39 and been riding whenever I can ever since (51 now). Commuting to work whenever and going out on the twisties on the weekend. I've got a Yamaha FZ8 naked bike that I've modified, mostly to save weight and improve handling. I take it over the Camaro any day, weather permitting.

The Camaro is faster (top speed), but the bike is quicker from a stop and alot more fun in the twisties.

Sounds awesome. I live a couple miles from work so plan to use my bike the same way eventually. Right now I am just trying to find the closest parking lot to practice in when I get my bike.

[jamala00]

I have to be honest, when I started this post I would have never expected I'd get as many responses with guys/gals that have rode for a long time and have since given it up for the car. Honestly, it makes me feel a bit better about where I'm at with my thinking on if I'm going to continue to ride. Like I said, I'm not quite there yet, but I do feel the same way so many others of you have posted. We'll see what next year brings, but in the mean time I'll take the Camaro an hop on the bike when I get the itch.

[wilbur_xmas]

The motorcycle and the Camaro scratch two different itches and the amount of attention the motorcycle gets only drops a bit in the mild winters we get here, but at least every week or two the urge pushes me into my leathers and up into the hills.

The motorcycle experience is zen for me, even when ripping that torquey triple to redline with the front tire dancing on the pavement. I ride a spirited pace but not more than 7-8/10ths, and I usually avoid heavy usage days. I am comfortable with that level of risk. I can now picture a point when the risk might not be worth it when I couldn't say the same a decade ago. I'm almost 37 now but can see myself on the path of you 50ish year olds that are hanging up the bike.

I spent years commuting across the bay on bridges due to the benefits of carpool lane usage, lower (used to be free) tolls, and ability to lane-split out here. I found I rode less for fun when I spent more time commuting, also watched traffic grow heavier and heavier and felt like my hourglass was running out of sand. One particularly heavy traffic day the sand ran out and a punk in a Mustang (always a Mustang, can't make this stuff up!) jumped from his standstill lane to my 40mph lane when I was just a couple car lengths back. I pinballed off the side of his car, smashing every panel and bounced into the side of a box truck before nearly following my bike under the rear wheels. Full gear and protective items on bike (hand guards, crash bars), along with a LOT of luck meant the only damage was where his broken plastic mirror stub found the gap between my jacket and pants and gave me a little scratch. Bike was totaled, RIP 2009 Versys. Decided no more commuting, only fun rides if I got back on the bike. Picked up an FZ-09 2 years later and was rear-ended up in the hills making a left turn. It was a mostly glancing rear-end which took off my foot peg, rear spool, etc... and thankfully my right leg went up over his hood/mirror after whacking my clutch cover. I limped around for a couple weeks but also super lucky there. The bike survived after a few thousand in repairs and a new swingarm. That was two lives down for those counting. Currently on an XSR900 and I ride light traffic days and chase that feeling of when the bike and I are in sync and just flowing through the turns. If I pull out of the garage and things just feel "off" like being jerky with the controls or out of sync then I just come right back home and park it, not worth the risk if the reward is out of reach that day. I've got 7 lives left and no desire to use any more up.

The Camaro mostly sits these days, I used to take spirited runs in the hills but took up tracking last year. Now spirited runs in the hills feel so damn milquetoast compared to the track and I refuse to be one of those guys endangering others by going 10/10ths on public roads.

Warm days when I need a "fix": Motorcycle
Weather less than great or I need cargo space: Camaro
Wife and dog coming along: Bronco Sport (Wife's new toy)

[MR's 2SS]

I can understand guys attitudes about riding. I dont see the SS and the bikes in the same light though.
Im 65. I started on my cousins mini bike at around 7. Then we got our hands on a junked moped and started dirt riding that. Honda 100 after that.
Then I turned 17 and had an old car and a new 1972 Rickman 125 dirt bike. Then a '70 Honda 750 was my first street bike. Kawasaki Z1B in 1975... then my Harley Superglide in 78. I still have the Rickman as a basket, I still ride the Shovelhead. And when I turned 50 in 2006 my wife got.. me an Electraglide. I still have that too. Through all that were Corvetts.. a GTO, Camaros, a 63 Riviera... Peterbilts... a 58 Power Wagon.... I wish I still had all of them...
Im in north NJ where we have some of the biggest frigging JO drivers on the planet.
Quite frankly I am a terminally aggressive driver. Not that I go wildly through traffic and endangering others. I just move through traffic. I drive with the intensity of a fighter pilot landing on a carrier. I drove for a living for 25 years and raced everything that would move for most of my life.
I dont ride among the traffic. I go around. I dont follow or allow anyone to be next to me. I let faster vehicles pass but if they dont pass and keep going I just speed up an get away from them.
Ive been assaulted by cars for 50 years on the bikes. I stopped counting how many miles I had behind me at 3 million. Every one of those miles was spent observing... cataloging... and developing prejudices against certain vehicles and drivers. I believe I know what they are going to do most of the time. Before they know. I know what to anticipate. I look at a car by brand... character... dents... license plate... even the angle of the drivers head while they drive... a limp arm hanging out a window flapping in the breeze is a sure sign of a dildo.
Ive had to pull over because some a hole in a jacked up diesel was trying to run me over and just park because Id rather get my ass beat than run over. Predictably they ran.
Im not going to stop riding because we got a Camaro. Im not going to stop because people suck.
I love cars, trucks, bikes, boats... I prefer a lot of older things. Noisy bikes. radial engine planes. Muscle cars....
Im a hopeless automotive enthusiast... a gear head... biker... whatever.
A former now dead custom bike builder named Indian Larry said he was into certain machines because of the "mechanicalness" ... he was referring to radial plane engines and older Harleys. But theres a lot of cool stuff around with tons of mechanicalness.... Ducatis.... old tractors... 2 stroke Mercury boat engines... LT1s....
For me enjoying one new vehicle doesnt detract from any of the others. I just like it all....
If I had enough money I would need a huge Morton building to park my collection....

[Camaro fanboy]

my trusty transalp and our DD tucson

[Jbh]

I have been riding bikes for 20 years. I mainly ride on longer trips and not as many day rides anymore. Camaro is fun and easier to take out since don’t have to gear up. But bikes are still much more fun to me. Plus cars lean the wrong way in corners.

[dray]

Originally Posted by ST1LE

I feel like the odd man out in this thread.

Turned 40 6 weeks ago and recently decided to get in to riding Motorcycles.

I have my Motorcycle Safety Foundations course in 2 weeks and can't wait to start practicing some Motojitsu and taking more courses.

It will just be something to use and enjoy, not primary source of transport. Not that it makes it any less dangerous.

Taking safety courses is a great. I took the basic course to get my license and then took an advanced course, which was even better. In the advanced course, we rode are own bikes and learned the best ways to corner and reduce braking distance. These were both state courses in Ohio.

There are a couple of books I would recommend as well:

1. Sport Riding Techniques by Nick Ienatsch
2. A Twist of the Wrist II by Keith Code

I re-read Ienatsch's book almost every year before riding season starts.