Ever lost interest in riding?

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caboose483 said:
I have lost interest in riding on the street.

A few times a year I kind of get the itch to go for a ride out in the country on a warm clear summer night with a full moon... but it's rare.
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Same here. Racing did me in. I never believed the guys who said you'd lose interest in street riding once you started trackdays and racing. But 3 years later I've put more km's on my race bike than my street bike. I kept the insurance up on the street bike this year but only rode it once out of the barn and to the end of the road and back. It needs a bit of work now to even be able to sell it because it's sat all year, and a good bit of last. And I'm not even the least bit motivated to do it. I do miss the long tours though, but never seem to have the time anymore.

I'd love to pick up a couple dirt bikes though, and/or maybe a dual sport. They'd get a lot more use considering I can get into the ganny through my backyard.
 
Once you've been to the Gap, Penn, WV and NQ riding around daily just seams more like a chore.
I feel same way, would rather just jump in my truck then put my gear on.
But I still get giggly like a school girl before a long haul to some were new.
 
soto said:
Has anybody here ever lost interest in street riding in the past?
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Nope. Heading into my 30th straight year of riding and still enjoy it as much as my first. And as the old saying goes; "My worst day of riding is better than my best day at work".
 
I don't think there is any real answer, but sometimes it comes down to what bike you ride and the type of rider you are.

Many people ride a narrowly focused bike, like a sport bike which is more aimed at fast sports type riding, or a cruiser which is more of a bike for profiling. Both are great bikes at what they do but the limitations that focus more on their niche can make them less enjoyable at doing anything else. Often people ride because they are looking for a bit of identity (ie: sport bike ridier love the association with performance and sportiness, cruiser riders might like the "bad boy" image, loud sound, etc.) The challenge for many is that once they have done all they are comfortable doing with their choice in bike there isn't much left to do as the bikes just aren't great at much else.

I ride a V-Strom, which is a broadly focused adventure bike. This is a bike that isn't really amazing at any one thing but is good at many. It lets me pretty much do whatever I want with it. I commute with it, I go on day rides up north and can have a lot of fun in twisties, (even with sport bike friends), I rip down gravel rooads, go on long multi day rides (this year 5,400 km solo ride to the east coast and 10,300 km solo ride to Grand Canyon and area.) In short I can do just about any kind of riding that I think about, over any kind of roads I come across, to just about anywhere I want to go. It means that there is always a new piece of road to ride on or somewhere else to go, and when there isn't I just love riding the thing.

Maybe thinking about what kind of riding you like to do and what kind of rider you are might help you find a way to keep enjoying it more buy finding a bike that suits you better.

..Tom
 
I've been riding for 29 yrs, and the last 22 of them on the street. As a 16 yr old, I rode as much as possible on my Shadow 500 and Rebel 250, till the snow flew, sometimes even after. Then at 17, I got a 2 yr old CBR600 and rode all yr round....87,000 kms in 3 yrs. I really got motorcycle commuting out of my system. By the summer of 2000, I had become something of a trailer queen. I even towed my 98 CBR 600F3 up to Parry Sound for the rally...I wouldn't even ride it that far.....I was down to a couple thousand kms at Deals Gap eeach Jun and again each Oct...otherwise the bike would sit in the garage.

Now I began rtacing midway thru last summer. I have never done trackdays.....and I wondered, after racing, if I would fall victim to the track-only-itis many of my friends have. I have not. I do however, miss out on many rides, I never touch my bike unless I can ride at least all day. Minimum 500-800 kms....and it had better be interesting riding or I'd rather not ride. A few yrs ago, I began riding to Indy MotoGP. I leave a half week before the races, and make an interesting route, as twisty and technical as I can, thru NY, PA, MD, WV, KY and IN en route to Indy. The first ride to Indy sparked something inside me, and after I returned that August, I rode to PA almost every weekend till the snow flew. My passion for sport touring has been revitalized. I have been on many rides into the hills and mountains to our south, and have made some lasting friendships with people who are, outside of my fellow racers, the best riders I have had the chance to share asphalt with. I now do a week long ride, solo, camping, on a whim each summer.

My streetbike only got ridden 3 times this yr.....but each time was for a week long, more or les, thru twisties, so I managed to log almost 10,000 kms on it still. I don't think I will ever stop street riding. In fact suspect racing will go away much sooner. Racing is by far, the most exciting thing I have ever done. Even sex pales in comparison, and I have met and made some really incredible friends in racing as well, and it has made me a better rider, and a better person off the bike as well. Racing has done wonderful things for my whole family as well, and we all have grown from it......but racing is still round and round, lap after lap, in the same place. The scenery never changes, and something about exploring new places, and adding int he 2 wheeled challenge, stirs my soul like nothing else. I still have so many rides to do.

California and back, and so many spots between.
Alaska
Newfoundland
Mexico
...and one day, bucket list stuff.....Siberia.
 
This year has been a total bust for me. I didnt even renew my insurance on one of the bikes and the other one basically just sat there.

I bought a house and between the house, other hobbies and work i just didnt have time to ride it. If i worked out how many days i rode it compared to how much i'm paying insurance it came out to something like 100 bucks a ride in insurance! lol.

And as much as i enjoy riding the GSXR its way WAY too focused of a bike. doing 10 over the speed limit feels like you're crawling. It feels like you pulled back on the bow and arrow and are just holding it there, ready to release it. That and the constant paranoia of cops and HTA172 has totally killed my desire to road a sport bike.

I got the dual-sport bug now. I wanna get rid of the gsxr and get a Dual Sport with some motard rims. the lack of power will keep things interesting and the tons of trails around my town will feed my dirt craving as well.
 
omnivore said:
I still have so many rides to do.

California and back, and so many spots between.
Alaska
Newfoundland
Mexico
...and one day, bucket list stuff.....Siberia.
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I'm in :)
 
Red_Liner740 said:
I got the dual-sport bug now. I wanna get rid of the gsxr and get a Dual Sport with some motard rims. the lack of power will keep things interesting and the tons of trails around my town will feed my dirt craving as well.
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That'll come back to bite you in the arse some day. My '01 Triumph Tiger 955i was no snail on the paved roads and scared the bejeezus out of my on many a trail.
 
I feel like I'm getting less value out of riding, mostly because of the surge in bad drivers and traffic and high insurance rates vs the short riding season. Then there's the fact that good roads are way out in the boonies, usually requires taking the whole day off to really stretch the bike out, but then there's that cop element that dampens any spirited riding too. Sigh.

I'm getting a more sensible bike next season if finances allow.
 
You sound like me. I have ridden almost daily for the past 4 or 5 years, last week I sold my bike and decided not to replace it. This was a bike I owned for 2 months and had already put 5K on it. Coming back from riding the Naciemento - Fergusson Road I realised I have no passion for it, the ride was mechanical. The loss of passion was why I sold my previous bike, thought a new one would bring it back. It didn't.

Right now I am driving my partner's Jeep and enjoying it. Haven't sold my gear yet but I can't see myself buying something for a while. The cash from the sale is going to finance a long vacation, depending on where my next church is, anywhere from 1 to 3 months in Asia and the South Pacific.

Someday I may get a new bike, but not on the radar right now.
 
I seriously questioned whether or not I wanted to continue riding after a friend died. But I'm still riding.
 
Like V-Tom and others that have posted here, the real reason I own a bike is to go on longer trips. I make a point of going on at least one, usually several every year. Coming back from those trips is always really tough, because compared to those places, riding in Toronto - Ontario, even, just doesn't compare.

I've also been thinking about dual-sporting, or a dedicated dirt bike to ride at the Ganny, or a supermoto to ride on a track, or a dedicated track bike, or or or... because in Toronto just plain sucks.

Things change, they fluctuate all the time, but I don't think I could ever completely quit riding.
 
I don't think that I've lost interest in riding, but my focus and extent has certainly shifted. Injuries and aching joints have had me stop riding on the track. Where I would occasionally come home from work and do a quick 300 Km before bed, now I just park it. I haven't been on an epic cruise in several years, though I do occasionally pack the bike up and drive down to the southern US.

Time for a trip.
 
It's not so much that I've lost interest....it's that sometimes there are competing priorities in life. I used to have more time for riding and I simply don't anymore. I ride as much as I can on a yearly vacation to the Gap, and then very little on the street at home.
 
Like others here have already said, I too have lost my passion for riding on local roads. I just find it boring. I basically live for my multi-day trips to the U.S.

Unlike many others, I don't go south to peel my chicken strips. I go for the experience of meeting new people and seeing new places.
 
Definitely tired of riding...in Toronto. For that, and other reasons, I'll likely be moving (up to Guelph, I think) in the next couple of years. I dream about living in a place where twisty country roads are only 15 minutes away.
 
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