How long is a long time?

Novice_imp

Been there
Thread starter
I was watching a YouTube video (yammienoob) and he was talking about keeping a bike for a long time, two years. Is that a long time?
 
Fascinating question.

Perspectives of "long" is in the eye of the beholder.

I've had the CB1100 for five years and I don't think that is long at all.

Some Forum members are original owners of the CB750. It will be interesting to read what "long" means to them.
 
i have always my reason if i buy or sell something .........but never bcos i have somehow a general timelimit for own something..........
 
I think that depends on which stage of life you are enjoying.

As a 20 year old, I started riding on a 1966 Yamaha 100cc twin (AKA Twin Tin). I only kept it a couple of months, and traded it in on a 1966 Yamaha 305cc twin (YM1). That was sold when I bought 1966 BSA Lightning the following year. Three bikes in three years. These would be the peer pressure years.

Sold the BSA 5 years later and bought a 1972 Kawasaki 750cc H2 Mach IV. Sold the Kaw 2 years later because a young lady I met preferred a car for winter travel.
These were the final years of bachelorhood.

In the late 70s I bought a 1971 BSA Lighting and restored it over the winter. The lady, now my wife of 2 years, went for her first motorcycle ride. That was sold when we joined a Motorcycle Touring Club and I bought a 1980 Yamaha SG1100. It was replaced in 1982 when the lady conned me into buying a Goldwing which I kept for 7 years. The Goldwing was replaced a few years later by a second hand Volkswagen Rabbit convertible. These I would call the early married years.

Twenty five years later I bought a CB500XA for my 68th birthday. Three years later it was traded in on a 2017 CB1100 EX which I still ride. These would be my second childhood years.
 
I kept my ST 1300 as a daily rider for 10 years and 110,000 miles. I've had my CB dlx for 5 years with no plans on getting rid of it. I've only had my FJR for 1 year but it replaced my ST as a daily rider so unless something weird happens with it, I should have it until I quit riding or am too old to hold it up anymore.
 
I think "long time" depends on your age. If you're 22 years old, then 20 years probably feels like a "long time." If you're 65, then 20 years feels like yesterday. I owned my K1200RS for 21 years. It wasn't a long time at all!
 
:D

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Time means different things to different people.
I'm not one who keeps jumping from bike to bike. I've owned all my modern bikes since new and probably won't be making changes in the foreseeable future.
I've had my vintage Triumph since 1995 and the BSA since 2000. I'll be keeping both for the duration.
 
Thread starter
True it really depends on perspective. I once talked to a homicide detective and he told me about a female victim who had been murdered by a guy her female friend described as a good friend they had known for a long time. Turns out a long time was two weeks. If I told I had my CB for a long time, what would your first thought be?
 
Long isn't long enough.

When I decided to motorbike again many years ago, the former bikes in my youth didn't stayed very long in contrast to the new pick up. Averagely 1 to 2 years.There were several starting with a Zündapp Mofa my dad gave to me and then working my way up to the biggest one of all a Hercules W 2000 Wankel, to bad I sold her.

After the restart the LTD Kawa 750 Twin stayed with me for 10 years. I switched to a W650 for 4 years, which I exchanged for a W800, still riding the bike for over 8 years now. Besides the W I tried out different bikes, more or less all coming and going. But the ones I still own, a RE Bullet Classic, 1,5 year and CB1100, over 5 years in my posses, shall be ridden together with the Kawa as long as they will last. If something will go wrong, if it doesn't become to expensive to be fixed, I try to repair it. See no more need to switch. I arrived there, where I wanted to go, three nice looking bikes, all retro aircooled but totally different ones. Now we can get old together and we still do....

Wisedrum
 
Novice_imp said:
True it really depends on perspective. I once talked to a homicide detective and he told me about a female victim who had been murdered by a guy her female friend described as a good friend they had known for a long time. Turns out a long time was two weeks. If I told I had my CB for a long time, what would your first thought be?
Depends for sure. If you were approaching an Event Horizon (with the CB), a long time from this perspective is indeed, a very, very long time.
 
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