I rode with a Harley guy for years and years. We decided to meet in Daytona for Bike Week in 1988. I had a V Max at the time and rode it down. He and his buddy trailered their HD's down and couldn't believe I rode ALL THE WAY from Indiana. We started going to B/W every year, and eventually, they convinced my to buy a Harley. Started on a 1200 Sportster, then upgraded to a SoftTail Custom, then a POS RoadKing that I quickly sold. I went on to several BMW's. In 2002, I convinced my dyed in the wool Harley buddy to ride the ALPS on an Edelweiss Tour. We both rode R1150RT's. It changed his life. With in two weeks of returning home, his 6 month old Harley was traded for an RT. He was still repeating, "I can't believe I'm doing this on a motorcycle".
After 70,000 miles on the RT and a final drive failure, then failing transmission, unbeknownst to me he bought a 2010 FJR. He is a happy camper. :yahoo:
Interestingly, I too am in my 50th year of riding. I've always considered myself to be a motorcyclist, not a biker. Merry Christmas to all. Racer