Are motorcyclists transients unable to be satisfied?

[TCBronson_imp]

This is one of the most interesting threads I have ever read on any forum! I thought I was alone. I used to go to car shows and talk to some of the owners. I met an older gentleman that had a 4dr Oldsmobile that he bought new and kept it for 40 years. I asked how is it that you never upgraded to something newer over the years. He said he just liked the car so much he didn't need to sell it. I wish I was as satisfied and content at owning a bike. I got started riding because of a TV show called Then Came Bronson and have been riding ever since 1971! I have owned a bunch of bikes over the years including several new and used Sportsters because of a one season TV show. I buy bikes based on the type of riding I want to do and maybe I just go through phases. I am picking up a new 2013 CB1100 tomorrow and hope that it satisfies me for a long time. I hate loosing money buying and selling bikes. I know there is no one perfect bike, but my quest continues!

[cooldrum_imp]

For me riding the CB checks all the boxes. I've ridden it on long distance days, short rides and just around town. I still have my very first bike, a 1967 Honda 305 scrambler all original and running. Yes, I said running and that bike is now 50 years young! Amazing engineering then... and amazing engineering now. That bike serves as a bench mark on how far motorcycles have come. We just turn the key and push the button and have no worries. It's the experience of riding I enjoy and not necessarily the destination now. Grateful to keep the rubber side down. Russ

[the Ferret]

Cooldrum..very cool, post up some pictures. WHen I got my 67 CL77 305 Scrambler in 1968 I was moving up from a CB160 and the 305 was huge! My goodness it would run over 90 mph. All the power I would ever need. Unfortunately a lady in a 54 Dodge turned in front of me and I planted it in her passenger door and totalled it.

Got a chance to sit on one lately and it was much smaller than I had remembered... And I was much bigger lol

[physics-teacher_imp]

Ferret, our Honda chapters almost match for a while. My first Honda, a CB 160 (felt immensely powerful after my Vespa scooter) followed in 1967 by a new 305 Super Hawk. Went to a CL 450 (5-speed, my gosh) when it first came out and it lasted 5 months before it was stolen and never seen again. Around 1971 a 500/Four appeared and was kept for about 50,000 miles before a head gasket leak appeared and I sold it. No more Hondas for quite a while until a VTR 1000 found its way into my garage. It stayed for a couple of years until it developed a cam chain tensioner problem and I traded it for a Suzuki SV650. A gap in Hondas again until my latest "fix," the CB1100. This one's certainly the best and reminds me most of of my CB500/4.

[Cormanus]

I always wanted a CB500-4. I didn't ever own a CB350, but back in the day they seemed all the bike I'd ever need if only I could afford it.

[LongRanger_imp]

I tend to keep my cars at least 15 years. I've had about two dozen bikes in the past twenty years. Some I've enjoyed for a few years and then sold, just for something different, but my current bikes feel like keepers (well, perhaps not the Monster). I think back to the Honda's I owned in the 70's (two CB750's and a CB400F). I don't miss them.

[nhawk7504_imp]

I'm actually rather satisfied with my CB500. Renthal Ultra lows, Penske three way shock from GMDComputrack Boston, Corbin seat, 17 tooth front. Summer number two with it. I don't need more motor. It's light weight exposes bad pavement no matter what but it's quite comfy and I can rev the snot out of it if I want. Half a CBR1000 motor basically. I've bought and sold a lot of bikes over the years. Getting into the latter half of my fifties, a little more plushness would be nice, sometimes, but I don't like climbing on high, plush machines. The CB motor is a peach. Oh and the Michelin Pilot 2's turn in and lean as far as you want to go. Push the bar down and turn as far as you want.

[the Ferret]

LOL reading back thru this thread which I attached to another thread has been fun.

BTW my CB DLX which had 10,000 miles when this thread started and now has just over 36,000 miles on it, and my ST which had 53,000 miles in post number one is about to turn 103,000 miles in the next couple of days.

still live in the same house and married to the same woman lol

[Guth_imp]

Well there are motorcyclists, and then there are ferrets.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

The obsession with motorcycles is not transient. No one who really has it ever gets "cured" of it.

It is expressed in different ways depending on the personality.

It's not about money; some riders with plenty still only have one bike.

Others with limited finances spend themselves into the poorhouse with multiple bikes, tons of accessories, and so on.

So the motorcycles themselves may be transient in the life of an individual rider, but they remain a motorcycle to whomever is riding them.

When I had much more limited finances, and could only own one or perhaps two bikes at once, I really believe I had a lot more real fun.

That one bike would serve every purpose: touring, sport riding, commuting, you name it. I got to know that one bike and it was attuned to my riding styles.

Now I have a bunch of bikes. I ride a lot but it's hard to find the time to put equal miles on them. It's also, frankly, a pain to move them around in the garage, to make sure those in storage are properly maintained with fully-charged batteries and fuel preservative so they'll start and run properly. And where I could get a bike set up and working for me within a few months (usually takes about 10,000 miles) it now takes about two to three years to get that kind of comfort on any given bike.

Sure, it's great to have several machines but you can only ride one at a time.

Next year I'm going to cut the fleet back and may yet buy another CB1100 (EX this time) because the darn thing just does everything pretty darn well.

And no darn farkles necessary.