Tired of riding?

[cycleman2]

Well here's the thing, I've been doing this since I was a kid and I think I may have finally lost my moto mojo after 45+ years of bikes. Strangest thing, all I've ever wanted to do was ride, tour and live the motorcycle life.

Now that I've retired and riding is available to me whenever I want to go, I seem to have lost the desire and interest. It's nearing the end of the season here in the North East, and after nearly 6000 miles of day trips and tours this season, the last few rides have just kind of been going through the motions. I often find myself thinking I'd rather play golf or go fishing!

Have you ever felt that it might be over?

Believe it or not everybody is going to reach that point in time if they listen to themselves. We all have to plan on when it's time to hang the helmet up. I do know that it is really dangerous to keep riding if your mind is not into it.

Maybe it is time to move onto something else. Lots of choices out there but one never knows how much time he/she has left.

[Firenailer]

Interesting and very good points everyone. I'm thinking that I'll winterize it in a few weeks and just put it away for awhile.

I usually try to keep riding throughout the winter season as long as the roads are clear, but I think the time away might be what I need.

Hopefully when spring comes, I'll feel that old fire to go riding again!

Thanks

[71243]

Bob,

I'm thinkin' ya need a break. Like you I've been on them 45 years, and at the end of the season, [now] I find I don't miss it like i once did. Heck I've been everywhere there is to go, within 300 miles of home. So local riding is less exciting. Then about mid-winter, I get antzy..and by spring I have most my season trips planned & plotted. Something else I discovered a few years back try a total change...I bought a Japanese cruiser...liked it for a while, wound-up coming back to BMW, now have two,,,[again].

And I do not buy new, I buy used and farkle-ize?...them as I choose. Play with /ride one for a while, then the other,,it's fun again.

Like you I'm retired, and it's just like Fridays....they lack that ?? that they once had...same as holiday weekends....don't even know when they are anymore.
I honestly think it has to do with aging .

In 2002 I bought a new truck, I still have not put 20,000 on it yet...but have traveled over 100,000 miles on motorcycles since then.

Best of luck, what ever you decide!!

Ron

[175781]

I don't get tired of riding, but I do think that an RT is pretty sedate. I prefer the RT for everyday commuting and for long trips, but there are lots of times something more along the lines of my R75, a mean streak, or a ducati is a lot more fun and less effort to ride. I like the smoothness and protection of the RT. I sometimes lower the screen all the way, but even that produces a sensation similar to what piloting a heavy submarine with your head sticking out above the water. But something smaller and less enclosed is more fun if you don't mind wind and weather exposure. I always figured that's why GS models are so popular. My father in law is older. He went through 3 low-speed laydowns in a year. He changed to a smaller bike, but never really got back. He spends more time tinkering with and hauling bikes now than riding them.

[43362]

Well here's the thing, I've been doing this since I was a kid and I think I may have finally lost my moto mojo after 45+ years of bikes. Strangest thing, all I've ever wanted to do was ride, tour and live the motorcycle life.

Now that I've retired and riding is available to me whenever I want to go, I seem to have lost the desire and interest. It's nearing the end of the season here in the North East, and after nearly 6000 miles of day trips and tours this season, the last few rides have just kind of been going through the motions. I often find myself thinking I'd rather play golf or go fishing!

Have you ever felt that it might be over?

Back in the year 1987 I bought my first BMW K75T when I was a machinist. I rode and I rode I thought the road would never end. 100,000 miles in 4 years. I then changed careers I then became a high school shop teacher, you think I rode more when I had the summers off. Think again it took me 10 years to put on the next 100,000 miles. It was over, lost my mojo. 2 years ago I started to look again and finally 2 weeks (12 years without a bike) ago I took delivery of the first c650gt in Canada. I hope I pack on the miles again get to a few rallies and meet up with a few old friends.

[gfspencer]

Could be the RT. I had an RT and switched to an R. After riding the R, I realized that the RT, for me, was a bit difficult to ride. Too tall, too heavy, much too top heavy. Maybe a smaller, easier to ride bike will light your riding fires again.

I think you have hit on something. Unless I plan on riding at least 200 miles I take my Triumph. The Triumph is just so easy to ride. As I get older smaller bikes are more appealing.

[racer7]

Having only 1 bike is a drag.

The RT is a pretty fair all around bike but for crowded town stuff, an R or something a bit more agile is more fun. I prefer my RT on trips but there's a K-RS and a K-GT in the garage for faster play and the SOs R1100S, too- that she likes me to ride once in a while to verify its in good shape and ready for our next trip (am her mechanic, of course).

I'd prescribe any way of adding variety to get interest. Do longer rides as social events rather than solo, play with other toys, go really different places, etc.

Got my own version of riding frustration but sort of the reverse. Am finally retired with all the resources and time to do as I choose- but have some medical issues interfering with the most ambitious targets so at least for a while have to settle for weekend rallies and rides rather than mutli-week or multi-month jaunts. Pisser but one just adjusts...Debating whether to a Christmas fishing trip to the tropics instead...

[Firenailer]

Oh man I used to have an '04 K-GT. Just the sound of that bike got my juices flowing! I had some shoulder and neck issues that forced me to sell it. I just couldn't get comfortable anymore. Christmas fishing sounds pretty good to me!

[shakeybone]

Echoing other posters, I am 52, lifelong motorcyclist, ridden UJM'S to Harleys to BMW's. Had a K100RT, great touring bike, but my riding is commuting 25mi each way with no highway, and 50 to 300 mile pleasure rides. I sold the K100 and financially cant buy a BMW right now, so I found a 82 Suzuki GS650E on Craigslist for $500. I bought it as a short term bike but found a light weight mid sized bike can be a lot of fun. It is big enough to ride the highway if I need and lots of fun on the back roads. Has made me a fan of mid sized bikes. Now I dont know what I want, G650GS, F800R, or GS, R65. The "nice" thing is after unexpectedly replacing my truck last month and my daughter getting braces next week I will have lots of time to decide.

[22600]

Get a job again working 6 days a week, 10 hours a day. After about two weeks you will be thinking of nothing else but riding.

[Zygmund]

I transfer my need for speed to alpine ski racing in the winter months and Buck Hill is my race course. After a few months of 306 vertical feet banging gates the thoughts of arching the back roads on the RT become strong and a early spring is welcomed!
Before long the cabin needs to be opened, get the boat ready and hit the lake for the fishing opener. Once the cabin is ready my riding time dwindles and all is good until the fishing gets slow and I hear the groups riding past our lake and that fires me up again knowing fall riding is not far off. I get in some great rides during the fall and that takes me to snowfall, then my thoughts prepare me to strap on the race boards, put the padded suit on and hit the race course!
This routine has kept me going for years and other than the work involved with each equipment changeover I hope to keep it up while the body parts are still intact!

[cycleman2]

Interesting and very good points everyone. I'm thinking that I'll winterize it in a few weeks and just put it away for awhile.

I usually try to keep riding throughout the winter season as long as the roads are clear, but I think the time away might be what I need.

Hopefully when spring comes, I'll feel that old fire to go riding again!

Thanks

I notice that you have recently retired. Guess what, in many cases things that we enjoyed doing when working are no longer of interest to us once we have the time to do whatever we want. The reason is - we did those things when working as a stress reliever or filler to take our minds off work. I am no different. I was heavily involved in photography as a hobby away from work and once I retired and had lots of time to devote to photography, I totally lost interest and moved on.

Its just the stages that we go through in life, and one has to adjust.

[blackfriar]

I'm about a year and a half from retirement, so I find the comments on that change in life interesting. Up here we can't ride all year, on the street anyway, so there is always a time to put the bikes away and take that break. I hope to get a few more miles on mine this fall, but it's been a relatively long riding season this year and I will feel ready to put it up for the winter when the snow and ice arrive. That excitement of the first ride will be there in the spring.

[lkraus]

I notice that you have recently retired. Guess what, in many cases things that we enjoyed doing when working are no longer of interest to us once we have the time to do whatever we want. The reason is - we did those things when working as a stress reliever or filler to take our minds off work. I am no different. I was heavily involved in photography as a hobby away from work and once I retired and had lots of time to devote to photography, I totally lost interest and moved on.

Its just the stages that we go through in life, and one has to adjust.

+1

I've a whole shop of woodworking equipment that I bought over a 30 year career and a very long list of furniture projects that I promised my wife would be done after retirement. Seven months after "freedom day", I've not been able to make myself start a single new project. Somehow, when every day is Saturday, I feel no sense of urgency. I have not given up though. Cold weather and wet, slushy, sloppy roads are coming - a cozy warm shop may still prove attractive.

[kantuckid]

I'm also a life long woodworker & like the warm & fuzzy shop but the wood dust has taken it's toll, so it seems. My house is already full of furniture self made. No interest in making money on woodworking as my CTS wouldn't allow me to turn out stuff at that level. My lungs function well by actual test but I've got a number of "senior allergies" I never had before! I do get in a bit of trouble as my bike projects seem to get in the way of woods stuff these days as the dust & paint work don't mix... My wife feels wood is a more justifiable line of work than vintage bikes.
One of my "retirement problems" is trying to find labor(to work alongside me) to get my back a rest & me into my hobbies more often. Have you tried to find someone to work lately? Especially a teen. LOL!