Are motorcyclists transients unable to be satisfied?

[Lord Popgun]

Ferret, Did your old ST shock pre-load still work? Mine doesn't do anything and I am debating trying the refill the pre-loader fix or fighting the dealer for a warranty replacement.

[Capo]

My moto- promiscuity knows few bounds. My issue is selling rather than buying. I really don't like to sell anything, and generally regret each sale deeply...even bikes that treated me poorly, like the Griso and RC51. I would happily own another of each again. I have reached my upper limit in terms of bikes, not so much because of a lack of desire, but time, garage space and, increasingly, a lack of desire to do the work to keep the fleet provisioned for duty. I love garage time, but anything deeper than basic maintenance and farkling...oops, sorry, banned word...is no longer fun for me. Thankfully, I have The Bike Whisperer, Frank at Sun Cycle, around the block from me to handle things when needed.

I set out, once midlife arrived, to put together a small 'mutual fund' of bikes and a fun car, all for less than the price of a Porsche 911, And I would buy and sell to keep within an allotted range. A used Lotus Elise provides the car fun, cheap and cheerful to run and worth what I paid for it 7 years ago. Won't sell it until they need the Jaws of Life to extract me from it's narrow doors and foot- wide sills. On the bike side, some of my old bikes are worth a good bit more than I paid, and each of them are rideable. I'll sell them when I must, but not before. I fund newer whimseys on what I stash above and beyond living, college and retirement funds, so I'm fairly guilt- free.

But, I've seen the horizon, and want to scale back a bit now. I have a few spare bikes and a project that I'll never get to. But i need a track bike!!

[kennyw]

I'm happy to have one reliable bike at this point. As long as the CB Is reliable, I have no reason to consider changing. Besides that, I put too many miles on it and the value is likely dropping faster than I'm paying off the loan anyway.

[Offroad]

I'm going to keep mine until I'm in a wheel chair and I'll still have someone wheel me out and have them start it so I can listen to it ;-)
I might do like that insurance commercial and have them load it into a trailer and tow me around while sitting on it (I wonder is that is legal).

[Lord Popgun]

Offroad, it worked for Ponch and Jon

[rboe]

I should get down to two bikes, but not sure which ones to purge. I doubt the CB will the one to go.

[MM300_imp]

Unable to be satisfied? Probably, at least in part.

The first bike I ever really wanted was an '87 HD Heritage Softail. This was in '88 and the bike was a leftover. $7500.00 out the door. I had never ridden before, didn't even have my license, but I wanted it.

Took the MSF course right away and started plotting how I was going to get that bike. Riding vets advised not to start on a bike of that size, and I saw the wisdom in that, so by spring '90 I rolled out of Camden County Harley with a brand new Sportster.

I still really wanted the big bike though. Rode the Sporty for four months and then traded it right back in for an FXRS Low Rider. Loved that bike and kept it for two years but the Softail bug would not go away so in '92 I finally got my Heritage. What an awesome bike.

And I didn't like it.

Spring '93 saw that bike go and a new FXLR Low Rider Custom found its way into the garage. My favorite HD of all time. Kept that bike till '96 when I bought a concurrent CBR600RR. No intent to get rid of the Hog but the CB had stolen my heart.

The pattern was now set and I would never again be loyal to any one bike. There have been around 20 other bikes since that CB at a rate of about one per year.

I blame part of it on the fact that I'll trade or sell a bike on a whim. The rest of the blame goes to Motorcycle mags with glossy pics and catchy copy. I'm such a sucker for that stuff.

In another year l'll have the CB for almost as long as I had that FXLR. Unless I sell it.

[the Ferret]

Ferret, Did your old ST shock pre-load still work? Mine doesn't do anything and I am debating trying the refill the pre-loader fix or fighting the dealer for a warranty replacement.

Popgun don't know, can't get the shock put on for a few weeks. Will let you know then. Are you talking the big handled knob behind your left thigh, or the screw you reach thru the swingarm?

Because of the ridiculously low gvrw on is what is supposed to be a 2 up bike, my big knob has been cranked all the way in since the day I bought it.. 8 years and 72,000k miles ago. I'm not sure what is worn out the knob thingy or the shock, it just doesn't feel like I remember it feeling anymore when my wife is on back, and I seem to reach the ground easier so I figured the shock was shot. Who knows?

[Lord Popgun]

Ferret, yeah, the big knob. Supposed to feel it setting pre-load after maybe 3 turns according to the ST guys. Mine will turn all the way in without doing anything that I can tell. The DIY fix is to refill the little reservoir that is part of the knob assm. (it can be done) Honda fix is new shock.

[the Ferret]

Yea I dont know. I can turn mine, it makes a clicking sound and it you can see it moving from hard to soft of the scale, but I can't tell you if its actually doing anything. The new shock didnt come with that part, just the shock with a hose attached to it.