Twigg
Just an old, bald man!
I feel your pain.
That said, the decision for me is a little easier, because not only do I not have money in the bank, but circumstances have just robbed us of $1000 a month, so we are not likely to have the money any time soon. In some ways that makes life a bit easier. While I am free to admire the latest developments, marvel at the newly bestowed technical or comfort improvements and watch with interest as folk get to grips with a new motorcycle, none of those matters concern me in the slightest.
When you know up front that those options are not for you, a whole new world of opportunity opens up.
We are all subjected to an endless amount of pressure, some obvious and some rather more subtle, to be dis-satisfied with "yesterday's stuff", and persuade ourselves of the very real benefits of "something with a warranty". Or a new color, cruise control not stuck on 81 mph, instrumentation that has a gear indicator, or suspension that can be changed on a whim but rarely is. In a sense it is helpful to the entire community when someone, anyone, buys a new bike. They get the toy, we get the benefit of their tales, trials and tribulations, and the steady supply of machines is maintained all the way down the food chain.
I love motorcycling. Period. It's really that simple. There was a time when I was in a position to walk into any dealership and pay cash for most any bike they were selling. Do I regret that those days are gone? Of course a part of me does. Has it stopped me riding with as much pleasure as at any time in the last forty years? No, not a bit of it. When my circumstances changed I simply went back to my roots. No more new or newish bikes? No problem. I used to get my hands dirty and I could do it again.
Then came the "American Adventure". It took me a few years to settle into the red dirt of Oklahoma, but having done so I began to realize how vast and varied this country was, and the best way to see it was going to be the same way I saw much of the UK and Europe; from the seat of a motorcycle. However, when you are raising three kids who are reliant on food stamps that wasn't going to be easy. We dealt with the income situation, at least to the extent that we were not so reliant on others, and started to look around. My Step-children ("step", by the way, is a title without distinction), bought me a motorcycle for Father's Day. Here it is, as bought:
It cost the kids (me) $200 and was more a home for Oklahoma wildlife than it was a vehicle. Nonetheless, here it is a few short months later completing my introduction to the Iron Butt Association, a SaddleSore 1000: (I took my (wet) gloves off for the pic)
I could have made that journey quicker, with a good deal more comfort, on a Gold Wing or modern sports/tourer. I do understand the benefits, but I very much doubt that the sense of adventure, the feeling of accomplishment or the actual experience of taking a moldering heap of bits and pieces, and producing something that could carry me 1000 miles in under 24 hours could have been any better. Even if it could, I didn't know it at the time so it really doesn't matter.
Still, the taste for adventure had been born, and the XS750, as much blood, sweat and tears as it had consumed, was not going to cut it. I wanted to go further and yes, sometimes I wanted my wife to come too. Time to go shopping.
There have been times when I have decided on the bike I wanted and gone looking for one. The Honda VFR750 was a case in point, but this time I simple went to the local Craigslist to try to find something more suitable that I could, at least metaphorically, steal from its current owner. Well what actually happened is that I was mugged. Serves me right but I ended up paying $1400 for this, a 1986 Yamaha Venture Royal:
This motorcycle was to become a very familiar sight to many in the LD Riding community, but for now it wouldn't even hold coolant and had to be started with a screwdriver across the solenoid. At least it started
I am going to show you one more photograph of this bike, simply because it carried me through 10 rallies, a Bun Burner Gold, and forty thousand miles of adventure. We always come back to that word, each journey being the the destination and every mile a memory. Folk like to beat up on Kansas, and why not? But this is Kansas, and this is motorcycling:
With a bedroll and a bike .... with the sun setting and the road in front of you, what more could you really ask for, and would a shiny new toy make it any better?
After many trips the venerable old Venture was getting a bit too long in the tooth even for me. What is worse, I was finding myself pushing it too hard competing in events way above its ability. We had a couple of mishaps along the way, none of which involved falling off, but it was clear that the bike wanted a more comfortable life. It now has one, introducing my Brother and Sister-in-Law to the joys of two-up riding, and they love it.
Time to go shopping again.
This time the "shopping" came to me, and a whole new world suddenly opened up before me:
I've made a few changes and competed in a rally since that photograph was taken, but you get the idea. When I bought the FJR it had already been loved for nearly ninety thousand miles. So my first thought was that it has already proven that it can cover the ground, that's a very good sign.
For those keeping score, at least in terms of capital investment, my total outlay on the three bikes is a net $600. Sure the on-going rebuild and maintenance costs are higher, although not as high as you might suspect, but you absorb those so gradually that they have little impact. I did include the cost of a new Russell seat in the above figure, because at $800 that was a capital investment for us. I got most of it back
By many standards, my mileage to date would be quite low. Mainly that is because I can't afford the gas, so I pick and choose what I enter and where I go. That said, I have put about five thousand miles on the FJR so far, and so far all has been well. A small part of me almost regrets that the bike was running when I bought it, because I don't feel that I know it nearly as intimately as I did the other two. I love the bike, and we will be fine together, but I haven't the "connection" that I developed with the two previous motorcycles, both of which needed a great deal of work to be safe and reliable. I'll get there with this one, but it will take a while.
There are so many aspects to this activity we all enjoy that suggesting that one approach is better than another would be facile. Yet we read so many articles and threads, hear so much general discussion on the latest this, shiniest that and most expensive "other", that I simple wanted to explore a counter-point. Each of us follows a path dictated by external influences and our own desires. If you want a 2015 Yamaha FJR, and you can afford it then wonderful. I will enjoy reading about it as you get to grips with it.
On the other hand, if you cannot change bikes next year, or if you are undecided, I would simply ask you this:
Do you feel that you have explored the bike you have thoroughly? Has it reached its potential when you need it to do more? Would a new machine give you more of what you enjoy, and you can say "Yes" to that even if the only thing you would feel better about is the color ... because we are all driven by different things, and each matters if only to us.
Meanwhile I hope my trusty '05 will be on the road a little more this year, so I'll see you, at a gas stop, bonus location or just waving as we pass, each going the other way, but both of us going somewhere and enjoying the journey.
That said, the decision for me is a little easier, because not only do I not have money in the bank, but circumstances have just robbed us of $1000 a month, so we are not likely to have the money any time soon. In some ways that makes life a bit easier. While I am free to admire the latest developments, marvel at the newly bestowed technical or comfort improvements and watch with interest as folk get to grips with a new motorcycle, none of those matters concern me in the slightest.
When you know up front that those options are not for you, a whole new world of opportunity opens up.
We are all subjected to an endless amount of pressure, some obvious and some rather more subtle, to be dis-satisfied with "yesterday's stuff", and persuade ourselves of the very real benefits of "something with a warranty". Or a new color, cruise control not stuck on 81 mph, instrumentation that has a gear indicator, or suspension that can be changed on a whim but rarely is. In a sense it is helpful to the entire community when someone, anyone, buys a new bike. They get the toy, we get the benefit of their tales, trials and tribulations, and the steady supply of machines is maintained all the way down the food chain.
I love motorcycling. Period. It's really that simple. There was a time when I was in a position to walk into any dealership and pay cash for most any bike they were selling. Do I regret that those days are gone? Of course a part of me does. Has it stopped me riding with as much pleasure as at any time in the last forty years? No, not a bit of it. When my circumstances changed I simply went back to my roots. No more new or newish bikes? No problem. I used to get my hands dirty and I could do it again.
Then came the "American Adventure". It took me a few years to settle into the red dirt of Oklahoma, but having done so I began to realize how vast and varied this country was, and the best way to see it was going to be the same way I saw much of the UK and Europe; from the seat of a motorcycle. However, when you are raising three kids who are reliant on food stamps that wasn't going to be easy. We dealt with the income situation, at least to the extent that we were not so reliant on others, and started to look around. My Step-children ("step", by the way, is a title without distinction), bought me a motorcycle for Father's Day. Here it is, as bought:
It cost the kids (me) $200 and was more a home for Oklahoma wildlife than it was a vehicle. Nonetheless, here it is a few short months later completing my introduction to the Iron Butt Association, a SaddleSore 1000: (I took my (wet) gloves off for the pic)
I could have made that journey quicker, with a good deal more comfort, on a Gold Wing or modern sports/tourer. I do understand the benefits, but I very much doubt that the sense of adventure, the feeling of accomplishment or the actual experience of taking a moldering heap of bits and pieces, and producing something that could carry me 1000 miles in under 24 hours could have been any better. Even if it could, I didn't know it at the time so it really doesn't matter.
Still, the taste for adventure had been born, and the XS750, as much blood, sweat and tears as it had consumed, was not going to cut it. I wanted to go further and yes, sometimes I wanted my wife to come too. Time to go shopping.
There have been times when I have decided on the bike I wanted and gone looking for one. The Honda VFR750 was a case in point, but this time I simple went to the local Craigslist to try to find something more suitable that I could, at least metaphorically, steal from its current owner. Well what actually happened is that I was mugged. Serves me right but I ended up paying $1400 for this, a 1986 Yamaha Venture Royal:
This motorcycle was to become a very familiar sight to many in the LD Riding community, but for now it wouldn't even hold coolant and had to be started with a screwdriver across the solenoid. At least it started
I am going to show you one more photograph of this bike, simply because it carried me through 10 rallies, a Bun Burner Gold, and forty thousand miles of adventure. We always come back to that word, each journey being the the destination and every mile a memory. Folk like to beat up on Kansas, and why not? But this is Kansas, and this is motorcycling:
With a bedroll and a bike .... with the sun setting and the road in front of you, what more could you really ask for, and would a shiny new toy make it any better?
After many trips the venerable old Venture was getting a bit too long in the tooth even for me. What is worse, I was finding myself pushing it too hard competing in events way above its ability. We had a couple of mishaps along the way, none of which involved falling off, but it was clear that the bike wanted a more comfortable life. It now has one, introducing my Brother and Sister-in-Law to the joys of two-up riding, and they love it.
Time to go shopping again.
This time the "shopping" came to me, and a whole new world suddenly opened up before me:
I've made a few changes and competed in a rally since that photograph was taken, but you get the idea. When I bought the FJR it had already been loved for nearly ninety thousand miles. So my first thought was that it has already proven that it can cover the ground, that's a very good sign.
For those keeping score, at least in terms of capital investment, my total outlay on the three bikes is a net $600. Sure the on-going rebuild and maintenance costs are higher, although not as high as you might suspect, but you absorb those so gradually that they have little impact. I did include the cost of a new Russell seat in the above figure, because at $800 that was a capital investment for us. I got most of it back
By many standards, my mileage to date would be quite low. Mainly that is because I can't afford the gas, so I pick and choose what I enter and where I go. That said, I have put about five thousand miles on the FJR so far, and so far all has been well. A small part of me almost regrets that the bike was running when I bought it, because I don't feel that I know it nearly as intimately as I did the other two. I love the bike, and we will be fine together, but I haven't the "connection" that I developed with the two previous motorcycles, both of which needed a great deal of work to be safe and reliable. I'll get there with this one, but it will take a while.
There are so many aspects to this activity we all enjoy that suggesting that one approach is better than another would be facile. Yet we read so many articles and threads, hear so much general discussion on the latest this, shiniest that and most expensive "other", that I simple wanted to explore a counter-point. Each of us follows a path dictated by external influences and our own desires. If you want a 2015 Yamaha FJR, and you can afford it then wonderful. I will enjoy reading about it as you get to grips with it.
On the other hand, if you cannot change bikes next year, or if you are undecided, I would simply ask you this:
Do you feel that you have explored the bike you have thoroughly? Has it reached its potential when you need it to do more? Would a new machine give you more of what you enjoy, and you can say "Yes" to that even if the only thing you would feel better about is the color ... because we are all driven by different things, and each matters if only to us.
Meanwhile I hope my trusty '05 will be on the road a little more this year, so I'll see you, at a gas stop, bonus location or just waving as we pass, each going the other way, but both of us going somewhere and enjoying the journey.
