I'm another Geezer rider (62) and have found a whole new world in moto riding, something I put off for 30 years. I started off just three years ago with an old '83 Honda CB650SC, then graduated to a Concours, where I found my passion for LD riding, then sold the Honda and added a Dale Walkerized Bandit (Holy Cow! Does that bike scream!), then got a dirt bike so I could ride with my son in the dirt as well as explore dirt roads in the Nevada deserts. I was content.....until a buddy let me ride his Feejer.
The Connie was immediately sold and replaced with an '04 FJR. I just can't imagine how anything could be any better than that bike, which I've owned, now, for three weeks. It's the only bike I ride anymore, and I will probably put everything else on the auction block. That said, though, I haven't ridden a lot of bikes, so maybe ignorance is bliss.
In the three years I've been riding, I observe that everyone has his/her own taste in putts. I think "live and let live" is a good way to go. I haven'y met a rider that I've been put off by, no matter his style or what he rides. I'm not a big fan of group riding, but I do it periodically for the fellowship. Nor am I a big fan of peg scraping and pushing myself to set speed records around the twisties. I simply haven't got the skills to do that. Moreover, I find that being a senior activates some kind of hormone that constantly warns me that it's gonna hurt a lot if I try to ride above my skill level.
The only thing I will not do is ride with Harley riders....not because they ride HD's but because I hate the noise they generate. My next door neighbor, who actually got me back into riding, rides an "old" '92 XLTP (or something like that. I never can remember what all the letters mean. LOL) and at first we did a lot of riding together, but now I hardly (npi) ride with him because regardless of whether he's leading or following me, the damn noise of them is just so off-putting, even with ear plugs stuffed in). On the other hand, when I invited him to go to Alaska with me, he politely demurred form joining me, whch I knew he would do anyway.
Riders do what they do for different reasons. I think most cruiser guys (most, not all, by any means) are what I call "day riders." For me, it's all about getting out there and going...for days at a time, if possible. I'm not interested in Iron Butt (which I've never understood the rationale for), but really, just in seeing this great big continent we're lucky enough to live on. And the farther from urban areas I get, the more I run into other riders who share the love of the road and traveling for its own sake.
Where I live, near San Francisco, there's a famous place in the redwood country called Alice's Restaurant (aka Skylonda Corners) where on weekends you can see dozens of guys and gals who park their rides, from full dress Road Kings and Indians to R1's and 'Busas. to kind of "see and be seen." I've gone up there from time to time, bought a cup of coffee and just watched the show. But it comes down to folks just wanting others to admire their iron, do a little bench racing, show off the new leathers, and all that stuff. That's cool with me. Call them posers, call them whatever, but they're just out having a good time like the rest of us.
It's all about "ride your own ride." eh?
