How Many of you are Lifers??

[Lunch Box]

Lifer here, too. I started on an RM 80 when I was 7 and haven't stopped since. That makes it 35 years of riding now. I've had the good fortune to have taken some amazing moto trips, spent 5 years road racing, and have likely logged close to half a million miles on two wheels. I have only averaged about 10K/year for the past 10 years or so, but I used to spend pretty much all of my spare time on a motorcycle, and have done some very long haul us through quite a few countries. I plan to ride until it no longer gives me pleasure, or it no longer makes sense to me to do so. We shall see when that is.

 

[injun]

It all started in 66 for me, so 50 years have passed and I am still like a kid every time I'am on a bike.
It just happens.

INJUN

 

[budman]

....Hell, I joined this website damn near 15 years ago! It's these people I've ridden with, even if I don't ride with them anymore, those are some life long friends.

Hell. My first barf group ride included disappearing with you and your bud.... the Gold Country ride. I was 44.... :teeth.

Your still a young man baby!! :ride

 

[storm]

On 2 wheels, all of them in SF, coming up on 30 years [old bag=me, geez]. Admittedly, first 11 of them on a scooter before switching to the dark side. Here's to the next 30

The only time I stopped riding for any meaningful length of time when I was [a lot] pregnant - okay, yeah, it is a bit unseemly, pregnant lady riding a motorcycle...whatev...

 

[doc4216]

I love this thread. I think everyone wants to say they are a lifer (maybe they don't but I can't imagine it any other way). Maybe some think they want to be and maybe some just don't. All of them are perfectly acceptable, however, I can't imagine not haveing a motorcycle. I have only ridden street for 8 years but I started on a RM 125 at age 11 and when I didn't have a bike, I missed it. Like a deep, longing kinda missed it.

Something about being on a bike, even though I may not accrue as many miles or take as many trips as I would like, just makes me feel whole. I feel at peace when Im on my bike. A connection that I never imagined. I don't need to go fast, I don't need to race, but I do need to ride!

 

[phocup]

Can anyone with < 10 years in the saddle really legitimately claim 'lifer' ?

I'll put a pin in this to answer in 5-10 more years.

 

[JakesKTM]

34 years and counting for me. I'm 50 and have never looked back but to cry over all the bikes I owned and didn't keep. But I'm in it until I just can't do it anymore :ride

 

[JakesKTM]

Can anyone with < 10 years in the saddle really legitimately claim 'lifer' ?

I'll put a pin in this to answer in 5-10 more years.

When you know......you know :cool

 

[doc4216]

Can anyone with < 10 years in the saddle really legitimately claim 'lifer' ?

I'll put a pin in this to answer in 5-10 more years.

So I guess in 2 years, my answer will be acceptable.

 

[89fj]

Lifer
If I spend over two weeks without a ride, I have withdrawals :laughing

 

[Cabrito]

With 35+ years and still going with no plans to stop I'm going with lifer...

 

[SlideSF]

Been riding since 1970; longest without a bike was two years. Two looooong years!
I take fewer pleasure rides these days, mostly commute. But I will always ride until I cain't rides no more.

 

[gt3x24x7]

Started last July at age 21. One year later and 22 now. Riding for life! Makes commuting for work and college so much easier. :teeth

 

[CrumpetRocket]

I started riding at 19, now 29. Wow, 10 years have got behind me.

I've enjoyed riding for leisure and commenting on the bike; married with my first kid and there's no mention of me selling. I think it helps A LOT that the father of one of my really good friends has been a responsible rider his whole life, and looking at him and his family (his wife also rides) puts a lot of holes in what people say about motorcycles and motorcyclists out of fear and ignorance.

I have a 65 year old coworker who loves his r1, and I would very much like to be that guy. It would be so cool if my d675 was still kicking when we're that old.

I've seen people get their m1 all gung-ho and stop there. One buddy bought and petered out. A friend of a friend stuffed his r6 into a tree on our local country back road. (He's changed but alive and able bodied.) One guy I went to high school with died in a freeway collision. Another buddy lost two of his friends to moto accidents. A new found friend lost his wife when they crashed splitting lanes not long ago. So yeah, people have come and gone for one reason or another.

The only thing that keeps me from riding is my job. I used to commute on the bike when I was an apprentice, but I noticed that some people didn't take me as seriously, and it was a major inconvenience if my tools needed to move from job to job. And the bike doesn't loan itself to my new duties. So it's a weekend thing now, you know, when I'm not working ot, or traveling, or getting every moment I can with my wife and daughter.

 

[mean dad]

I'd rather ride for credit than drive for cash.

 

[Johndicezx9]

Nice OG thread!

Still riding, still barfing, haven't changed my view since I first posted in this thread in 2004.

 

[HeatXfer]

Like many have said in this thread I'll keep riding until I can't. Started in '73 by taking my Dad's Trail 90 out at night when the family as asleep. Started buying my own when I was 16 (I was a 'child actor' from about 9 to 17. I still can't believe my folks let me spend the "college fund" on bikes).

Was without a moto for about 3yrs. Just before my daughter was born my wife said if I wanted a moto I'd better do it before the baby came 'cause disposable income was off the table after the birth.

Been at it for over 40yrs now. I used to ride with a guy in his 70's who was fast as f*ck. I hope I'm there when I'm that age. Yes.

 

[bikewanker]

Life ain't over yet

New '72 XS650, first slide leaving the dealer's gravel lot. '74 a Norton, '75 a GT 550, '76 a Guzzi T3, need I go on. As they got better less need to replace or I became willing to spend more or short attention span or they became brighter and shinier.
Wasn't until this century that it occurred to me that I was passionate about riding :cool
So here I am:ride

 

[Manimal]

Lifer? I'm working on it :ride Like some others, I'm a late bloomer (started around age 25). I've been riding steady since 91; street, track, and some dirt.

Although, as a kid, I recall having a family mini-bike, a family Honda trail 90, and threw a leg over a RM80 a couple times.

 

[Maddevill]

I started at 19, now am 58 still riding , still like track days, still love racing, still riding dirt bikes. Hell I'm thinking of getting another stand up jet ski. I may be retarded...