ubelhjs_imp said:
Check in everyday, just don't post a lot. This thread kind of hits close to home.
I bought my CB new in October 2013 after a 30 year riding absence. I had a lot of bikes in my youth (maybe even as many as Ferret!) and considered myself a better than average rider. In the first 6 mos I owned my CB, I had 3 near misses in traffic. But it was the third one that really spooked me. I came within inches of T-boning an old dodge pick-up that turned right in front of me. Locked the bike up, smoked the tires and had the wobbles so bad I knew I was going down. Took an evasive around the back of the truck, into the center lane of traffic and gratefully made it back home. The bike went into the garage and did not come back out for 8 weeks. I am now a approaching 3 years of ownership and the bike just turned 1800 miles. So after much thought, I've recently decided to sell my CB "garage ornament". Quite frankly, I still get the jeebies when I take my bike out onto a public street and have to deal with drivers that have absolutely no regard for anyone but themselves.
I took three years off, after thirty years of riding/racing, and it took me three years (2013-present) and about 50,000 miles of riding -- plus about ten track days -- to get back to where I would consider myself competent. And where I live you have to be competent the instant you roll out of the driveway.
I think, if you've only done 1800 miles in three years, you may be making the right decision.
I have been thinking lately about what I'd do if I could not ride, assuming it was just a progression of age. Some of these cars out nowadays are pretty nice. I think I could be a car guy if I just could not ride any longer. Hopefully it will just be a progression of aging which leads to that decision.
It is true there are some people that just should not be on a motorcycle. I have known many of them. Many are now deceased. Most did not quit of their own accord.
I recall a large surge in women riders which happened in the late 1990s through the early 2000s. There was a pretty intense marketing effort in the industry at the time. However, the industry was not making bikes suitable for new/inexperienced riders. So these ladies were showing up on 600cc sportbikes, even 1000cc sportbikes, and many of them had a real "in-your-face" attitude, like "I am woman, hear me roar." I tried to caution some of them as to the hazards of riding but in every single case, was dismissed. In every single case, the lady crashed that very day. Thankfully none were seriously injured, although at least one received a helicopter ride. I held her hand and we waited rather anxiously for about an hour for the chopper to arrive.
This is not to disparage women riders, it is to illustrate that a marketing campaign that attracted a new demographic had unintended and unfortunate results.
These days the number of women riders I see is a fraction of what it was and they are quite a bit more competent.
One reason is the industry learned something, and finally is offering a huge selection of first bikes of light weight and low displacement, with ABS.
There is another option, and that is to obtain a motorcycle in the 300-500cc range such as Honda's CB/CBR series. KTM, Kawasaki, Yamaha, all make bikes in this range. Yamaha's FZ-07 is also a fantastic choice but I'd not call that a beginner's bike.
The CB1100 is just too much motorcycle for riders who aren't ready for it. You might try going to a CB500 ABS, putting in a few thousand miles, and see where it leads.
