How Many of you are Lifers??

LIFER...CT 70 Mini Trail in 1968...Ridden just about everything else you can think of (and a lot you can't...i.e, Harley VR1000 Superbike, TZ 750, or Triumph 200 tiger cub) since then.

I thought I would be. Then I decided to move to Texas awhile ago, which brought up two bad things.

1. hot as hell
2. No lane splitting

So i sold the bike, and haven't ridden since. During that period Andrew Trevitt got hurt
and honestly, I just don't want to ever ride on the street again.

If I can one day afford a track bike/pickup truck, I might pick it up again.

Time changes things josh. Sad deal with Andrew.....

If it is in your soul...you will find some way to enjoy two wheels.

I was for a long time, but a rather nasty crash that caused my junk injury sort of put the kiboch on MX riding for awhile...Ive had a lot of crashes in my day, never had an issue with one(hell I raced a stockton SM race right after dislocating my thumb) but the casing it on a triple and smashing my shit hard enough to require a few doctor visits was an issue.

I still ride flat track time to time, but art and traveling have taken precedence over it. I realized a few years ago riding for me was a sport, not a passtime. and its hard for me to "relax" and just ride. I think after I get back from west africa in aug im going to do a few ninja 250 rental track days...

Seeing folks post in the RIP Gary J thread made me think of this.

I guess it was the statements by Dion saying he quit and Hawaiin Rider saying he might.

I strolled through all the posts here. Two who posted here have passed on by natural causes.

:rip Robbie and Paul (RapidRobbie and Silly Sod)

Some still barf some don't. Not sure if they gave up riding or not. I see a lot of folks I know are still at it for sure. I know 12 years after starting this thread I enjoy street riding more than ever because of the barf rallies and the awesome friends I have made from taking trips!

I certainly have been blessed by getting home safe for so many years. I sure hope that stays that way!! It will be 20 years since I broke a moto bone in 2017 and it will be 50 years of living the moto life too.

I find my life just as consumed in the two wheel gig now as it was in 2004 just in different ways. Looking forward to many more years doing this stuff.

To be honest part of me was sad about losing Gary... and there are others. Glenn Patterson's loss this year sure hit me harder than any strangers passing ever has. I am about to send a Christmas card to his parents and seeing Dion's and HR's post made me think for a second. What is wrong with me... and quickly it came right back to NOTHING! I love to ride and it is such a part of me I would wither into a sad sack of an old fart if I quit.

Every time I go ride with Butch.. my buddy Danny, Kurt, Christian and some dude called SLO just to name a few I realize how lucky we are . We do live like kings as Butch says.

MotoKings are even cooler. :teeth

i'm a late starter (parents refused to let me get a bike, lived with the now wife in an apartment for awhile that was not conducive to owning a motorcycle) - finally moved to a house and got my license at 26 - been riding for 4 years now. I've had a lot of hobbies - i surfed for awhile but always felt like an outsider, i mountain biked and raced for a long time but that felt more solitary and i was too young to really get into the community.

Got my moto license and fell into a great group of sport bikers in NJ who did track days and great/safe group rides. Helped each other with maintenance. I learned how do basic maintenance on my bike (never had the background in anything mechanical) from them but i still have a lot to learn.

Moving cross country is stressful - i'm starting in a new place with literally 0 friends but part of me feels assured that at least I have riding in common with some people and who knows where that takes it.

Riding has always been an activity that requires 100% of my attention - can't look at my phone - can't think about other things - can't worry about work or life - when i realized that - i fell in love with it. I dont think anything would ever get in the way of me giving it up and i made sure my wife knew that before i bought my first bike.

I've seen some really nasty spills - i had to clear a patch for a helicopter to land to take one of my friends to the hospital after he broke his back riding. Those moments really challenge the desire to ride but through those i'd like to think that everyone accepts the risk of what this sport is and does it anyway. I don't go out thinking i'll die but if it happens for some unforeseen reason - so be it i guess. I think about motorcycles 24/7 - it just seems worth the risk and maybe that's stupid but i don't know how else to make sense of that feeling.

I'm an aspiring lifer

I've been riding for almost 41yrs contiguously now. About equal hours dirt and pavement, and raced both with some success. Though my goals have changed over the decades, the bigass grin and bone deep need to ride never have. Hope they never do...

this inspired this thought...

Start 1969...
Rump Go kart
Bonanza minibike
Rump minibike
maybe another mini bike, though folks today do not understand want a "minibike" was
Hodaka minibike
Yamaha Trail 80
Suzuki 185
Yam DT250MX
Yamaha R6
Yam IT I75
Hon CR 250
KTM 350
Hon CB 900F
Yam RZ350
ATK 406
Emmick Yam KT100
Hon CBR900RR
Yam R6 03
KTM 250 MXC (current)
Suzuki RMX250
Yam R6 07
TMRacing 250 (current)
TMRacing 530 Black Dream (current)
Yam R6 06 (current)
Alta Redshift MX '17 (current)

I think I will ride as long as I can safely do it. There would be a void in my life without motorcycles.

Someone had a Bonanza Minibike with a Hodaka Engine for their avatar... I would love to see that pic again.

Lifer: Started with a mini bike, then me and my buddy did chores for his dad so we could ride the trail 90, that was at 8 years old, had a brief hiatus during my band years which was probably good, I rode others bikes but did not own one. I feel like allot of us do, truly free when i ride, as I tell non riders it liberates my soul. In my early fifties now will keep going as long as possible. My Ex used to say I was a real bitch if i did not get to ride

Interesting thought. Now that this thread is almost 13 years old looking back to all the members that said they were lifers and are no longer on BARF, I wonder how many of them still ride.

Budman.....you know....
We eat,sleep,dream,ride,live and love motorcycles....
Riding IS life.....
a1scoot :ride

budman said:

I have been riding since I was 8. Never left the sport for too long.

What I was wondering is how many of you have seen friends take up the sport only to ditch it a little later and why?

Did they get scared?

It was a fashion statement and they moved on??

They got married and the hammer came down??

Someone told me about the fashion statement deal..friends got bike because they were cool, but lost interest in a short time.

Are you hooked for life..like me:teeth

I don't think I will ever quit unless I cannot balance or have some other disability that would take it away.

:smoking

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I started riding when I was 28 and a week after owning the bike I sold my truck. Since then I haven't owned anything except motorcycles. It's been 10 years now and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon or at all.

Lifer.

I've always said "as long as I can take a shower and shampoo my scalp without falling over I'll have bike"

a1scoot said:

Budman.....you know....
We eat,sleep,dream,ride,live and love motorcycles....
Riding IS life.....
a1scoot :ride

Click to expand...

Yes I do brother.

Was thinking about quitting until I saw this damn KTM 790 Duke video.

Lifer.

Started 46 years ago, had a motorcycle years before I got my first car. Raced some, all dirt track: motocross and scrambles (they don't call it that anymore) which included oval dirt tracks. Have always had a motorcycle(s), but only have taken forced time off due to broken bonz & stuff.

Motorcycles still give me wood, just like when I discovered riding at 14.

lifer..... me?

yep riding since age of 4.
Cant exactly seeing myself stop yet... guess that makes me a lifer:thumbup:teeth

Hello, my name is Simon, and I am a motorcycle addict ...

... for life!

I cannot face the prospect of a day in and day out commute in a car - I would just have to shoot myself in the face!!!

Oh, and (earlier in the thread) - "Silly Sod!!!!!" (RIP )

--S

DJNick said:

Been riding since '84 and I still get excited getting on the bike, even if I'm just going to work. Don't see myself ever stopping as long as I'm able.

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That's it right there. I got my motorcycle license (already had the motorcycle) on my 16th birthday, been riding ever since and I'm 42 now. Hell, I joined this website damn near 15 years ago! To this day every time I leave my driveway on the motorcycle I get this good feeling, a smile comes on my face...I just love riding...always! :thumbup

I've learned that my riding group changes over time. Some people fade out, new ones fade in. It never has and never will stay the same and that's ok. It's these people I've ridden with, even if I don't ride with them anymore, those are some life long friends. Anyone that HAS ridden a motorcycle, whether they still do or not...they know what's up. :ride

I just renewed my AFM license for 2017. I figure I'll last a few more years on motos maybe.