This is an interesting topic; how buying decisions for motorcycles are influenced by the place, time, budget, what's available, and how see yourself. I started riding in 1969 while in the army. Stationed in Thailand, near the beach resort of Pattaya, with plenty of time off, my buddy and I rented Honda 350s. We had to have a local drivers license, and the vendor provided the helmet. My bud and I rode all over the southern coastal area of Thailand, from Bangkok to Rayong. After the service, I rode for some years on a Triumph Bonneville, a Honda CL450, a Kawi 750, then took a hiatus from riding to raise a family and do sailboats. Twelve years ago, after selling the last boat, I got the itch to ride again and acquired a '98 H-D 883 Sportster, rode it for about a year, sold that for an '05 1200 Sporty rode it for three years, sold it to buy a '04 Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad 1500, rode that for six years, acquired a '94 Honda 750 NH as a second bike, then a few months ago, decided to go a different direction, and bought an '06 FJR. The Kawi is for sale, but I'll keep the Honda the Yamaha. It occurs to me that this might be an interesting topic for Master's degree thesis in psychology.