How do you know?

[JReviere]

The question is: HOW DOES ONE KNOW?  How does one know when it's time to face the facts and just simply accept the reality: IT'S TIME TO SAY: "I'M DONE. NO MORE RIDING FOR ME?"

Yes... I know... I'm the Psychologist. I'm supposed to know such things. I don't, however. For the last 5 years I've been juggling this issue, wasted a lot of time and a lot of money buying bikes, riding them barely enough to get the engines hot, then parking them and letting them collect dust until I sell them... always at a loss too... Still, I don't know the answer to the question, if there is an answer.  

No, there's no money issue forcing a decision. There are no physical injuries or other constraints forcing a decision. The encroachment of age is involved. I'm 77 and still in excellent health... but getting old is better than the other alternative, or so I'm thinking.

So, just what is the answer... if there is an answer?  How does one know when it's time to get rid of the bike and the gear and accept the fact: IT'S OVER FOR ME?  

JR     (J. Reviere, Ph.D...Clinical Psychologist, Retired)
Lake Livingston, TX
Sold my Bandit this past week...  Is that a step in the direction of an answer?

[Nitro]

Haven't you already answered your question? If you're not comfortable, maybe it is time. Or maybe you could consider a sidecar rig, or a trike?

[Pidgey]

Or maybe you could consider a sidecar rig, or a trike?

If you still have the desire to ride, consider the Can Am Spyder. From what I've heard these are pretty well engineered vehicles. The Rotax motor on them is well proven and reliable.

http://www.can-am.brp.com

[skyrider]

Think of a bike as cheap art.  You can ride it once per year, and more people will get to enjoy it (looking at it), than all of the people who will see your Keith Ferris and Bill Phillips aviation art collection.  Plus, it gets you out in the garage to tinker now and again.  So, get out there and get another bike, or two.

FWIW, my 83 y.o. dad still builds houses and enjoys buying a new pickup every other year...just because he can.

[JReviere]

Thanx for the input, folks.  

In the brief span of my life, I've found this loss of interest in several things. It always comes when I have nothing left to prove to myself. I could not care less about proving anything to anyone but to myself. The only thing I've ever done which I was forced to quit before I'd fully explored it and had nothing left to challenge me was FLYING... airplanes and helicopters...

A bike as Mobile Art... now there's an idea...

I've never been artistically inclined except photographically. I hated the dark room although I did it. To me the challenge was having a PHOTOGRAPH when the shutter clicked, not by manipulating the framing, the composition, and the exposure using dark room techniques.  I realize that's all part of the skill set, but it did not appeal to me. When the limits of the lens had been explored (my money ran out too... photography before digital cams got to be EXPENSIVE) I began to thrash about for a different challenge....  Thousands of color slides lay somewhere now as dust collecting memories.

People and how their minds work are still a challenge... particularly in terms of their religious orientations. All people have a religion... often centered in THEMSELVES.  Even Atheists, who's religion is built on a belief system around the premiss that there is no Divinity, are religious.  

The genesis of sexual orientation and it's companion GENDER (NOT THE SAME AS PHYSICAL SEX) orientation are still really interesting areas to study. When one is able to filter out the filth and penetrate the psyche of individuals, it's amazing how easily socially dictated stereotypes, the unsupportable foundations upon which society's stereotypes are built can be challenged. Only when we challenge what we think we know can we learn something new.

Riders know about stereotypes and how wrong they can be. Just think about the "Easy Rider" "Outlaw Biker" stereotypes and how easy it is to find people who love to ride and for whom those stereotypes are not even close to accurate... yet those stereotypes persist in our society.  The same persistence of stereotype error persists about both Gender Orientation and Sexual Orientation.

Will I ride again???  I don't know... MAYBE so.  Maybe no..  At this point I can say with assurance nothing with 3 wheels appeals in the least. Riding as transportation... no appeal... Riding short trip (grocery store runs) may be FALSE ECONOMY...  If I bought the only thing which even appeals a little bit to me at this point (a big scooter like a SilverWing or a Burgman 650) with it's carry capacity on the basis of how inexpensively I could do my twice a week fresh veggie shopping 10 miles away... FALSE ECONOMY due to the initial cost, the maintenance costs, license and insurance costs... gear costs....  Analysis: driving my Blazer is less costly... and when the weather is lousy, which is often here, much more comfortable...  

All "reasons" to ride when passion and the fun of it is gone easily fail the logic tests.  

Still there's that small ... tiny even... illogical interest in a scooter...   Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of man?  The Shadow does.

JR
Lake Livingston, TX

(121 feet of water front out back and I couldn't care less about that 17' inboard outboard back there either... no interest in 'boating'... just a hold in the water into which money is poured... that's all a 'pleasure' boat is to me....

[Bob Holland]

At age 60, I have almost given up riding. Most of my riding, for the last 15 years, was at the dragstrip, and now with Hallsville dragstrip, which is less than a mile from my house, closed, and Red River, Lufkin and Cherokee County dragstrips all about 100 miles from me, and the high cost of gas, I quickly lost interest in dragracing. I now ride around the countryside about once a month, and that is enough to let me know that I am not ready to be without a bike.
Also I have about twice as much in engine work than what a 98 bandit 12 will sell for in this area, so I might as well keep it to ride when I feel like it.

[JReviere]

Aye.  With the miserable resale history of Bandit, I can understand your keeping your Gen 1.  Had I been in the same situation, I'd probably have kept my Gen 2. But, I was able to do close to a "break even" sale so when the offer came, I took it.  

The secret I suspect is, buy a bike, ride it, DON'T SPEND YOUR POCKETS DRY on additions or modifications.  You NEVER really come out well on a lot of expensive mods.  I consider doing a lot of stuff to customize a bike to be perhaps a fun and satisfying thing to do, but it's also a sure way to drop a bundle with little or no hope of getting it back.

JR

[skyrider]

JR,

I assume by your comment about flying, you were unable to obtain/keep a medical?!  I also assume you have a driver's license?!  Get into the sport pilot thing...although, airplanes do have 3 wheels.  Any way, being military/airline, I haven't followed the sport pilot rules, but I believe you certify your health/medical by the fact you have a state issued driver's license.

Sky

[JReviere]

SKY:   Thanx for the hint.  I have no medical problems to ground me. I could still get a General Aviation Medical with no problems. An ATR Medical would be a "no go" I figure, however.  However, I've found in my life, I am not able to "go back".  When I turn a page and leave part of my history behind, if I try to go back, it's always a waste of time. Like I said about having to give myself permission to do something just for the fun of it is HARD for me. If there were a way to disguise the activity to give a rationalized reason for doing it, the story would change. After the USAF, (retired Col, Command Pilot), I went back to riding bikes because that was as close to flying as I could rationalize the expense. At the time, I had a family of 6 to support, so Grad School and a profession (at the end of the thing in Nam, there were at least 2000 pilots walking the street for every available flying job) to pay the bills. I flew nothing for 11 years, then took a job as DM for an FBO with a whole ramp full of new Piper aircraft for me to fly when I wanted to fly. It didn't work... it soon got old... no challenge... It was fun teaching some of the civilian trained pilots how really to fly taking the bird to the ragged edge of it's performance envelope and holding it there, then recovering at will.  But, that soon got old too. It got to be just "boring holes in the sky to maintain my own required level of competence"... no rational reason... then the Arab oil crunch of 81 hit, the business cratered when all our charter service went in the tank, and well motorcycles were the answer.  I formed and led a GoldWing Road Rider's Chapter ... that was an interesting chapter... No MSF to train my chapter members... I wrote/taught a training program based on the safety principles of USAF Safety of Flight to which I was well exposed. Then it was a group I formed called: The Lead Butt Society... membership requirement was 1000 miles in a 24 hr period...  Later along came the IBA...  It's flattering to be copied, I guess.  But that's all history. Over the last 5 years, I've wasted a bundle of $$$ buying/selling bikes trying to strike a chord and find some of the old "happy."  It did not work. I just don't go back well at all.  I am convinced the more I discuss this with folks on this forum and on Two Wheel Texans forum, it's most probably my time to go another way.   The one thing which continues to intrigue me is contemplating possible answers to the unanswerable question:  WHY?    I guess I'm really a philosopher at heart.  
Thanx for the interest, for the suggestion, and the comments.

JR

[H2RICK]

CAUTION: The Surgeon General has found that reading the following may cause drowsiness and viewers are cautioned not to operate motor vehicles, handle sharp objects.....etc etc blah blah blah. You know the rest.

Hmm...well you've struck a chord with me, JR. I gave up street riding back in the day when I found myself not remembering the ride to work. I was riding on autopilot and that's a really dangerous way to ride.
So then I went dirt biking for ~20 years and that was fun....but my back started protesting too much and that was that.
Soooo.....back into street bikes.....but with old stuff that I restored myself. I get to ride some of the bikes I couldn't  afford at the time.....and there are a LOT more of those bikes that I've still got a desire to ride....and, mostly, they're all at least 20 years old or older. Older bikes are a real challenge to fix up/restore and then to ride. When I can ride faster than the bike I've restored then it gets sold and I move onto the next project.
Having said all this, I also have occasionally questioned myself as to when I'll have to hang it up....especially since I'm no longer on the sunny side of 60......but haven't discerned an answer yet.
However, I did go for a solo 3 hour ride this aft and had a pleasant trip.....not great, because of the wind.....but pleasant. No traffic, no clock, just me and the Bandit communing.....what's not to like ??!!??
So I guess I'm not quite ready to call it quits yet......
but there IS a Burgman in my future. That I DO know.
I'm sorry you decided to sell your Bandit....but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Good luck with whatever you decide to turn your talents and interests to. I'm sure you will be a contributor, no matter what you put your mind to.

[skyrider]

Colonel, sir, sorry I didn't read your earlier posts correctly...I didn't realize you flew in the military.  [Okay, the "young" W4 just knocked out 35 for you].  Did you fly helos too?  I started life that way, but realized the future was either slinging trees or flying single engine 200 miles to an oil platform.  Nonetheless, helos are the best, I just wish United would fly them instead of 747s.

I don't race motorcycles, I don't tour, I'd like to, but don't ride dirt bikes, I just have a motorcycle and ride it.  Friends have asked me, "what's the point?"  I point to their car/truck/whatever and say, "what's the point?"  It's quite often, just a form of transportation...get's me to work and back.  Or, on some weekends I'll go out for a few hours just rip it up a bit.

Sky

Oh, and I started taking a pottery class once a week...sounds lame, but I actually look forward to going to class (and it gets me out of helping with my 7th grade girls' science homework which is way over my head).

[BikerEd]

If you think that car is going to make a left into your lane and you can't see it coming you should quit. I have hit and killed an 800 Lb. moose with my Nighthawk Honda,suffered lots of injuries ,seen it coming but i could not react soon enough. You will die from something so Don't Worry Be Happy. At 72 Yrs. i expect i will go down with my Bandit . We have had lots of fun together, lots more to come. Good Luck on whatever decision you make. Been biking 60 years , love every second of it.  

[JReviere]

SKY... Yes... I flew Sam's big noise makers.  Logged about 4500 to 5000 hrs... B-47 Bombers (4 yrs... very little flying... mostly sitting on alert loaded with Nukes either in Kansas, Alaska, or Guam) and C-130's.  There was a lot of ocean crossing there too... that kind of flying is often called:  hours and hours of boredom interspersed with moments of stark terror.  Like bringing a war wounded bird across the north Atlantic in winter with the engineering officer's voice ringing in my ear... NO TURBULENCE... THAT LEFT WING COULD JUST FOLD UP ON YOU.... (It had taken a 20mm canon round thru the main wing spar in a little fracas in the Belgian Congo in 1964..). We penetrated 5 fronts between France and New Foundland...  not a burble.... PUCKER PRESSURE all the way... couldn't see a thing... Night... in clouds.... radar dead...  I knew it was going to be fun... roar down the runway at Evereux,  V1.... Rotate.... Gear Up....  Nav voice: "Radar's out"...  Nice way to start a planned 14 hr flight....

Yes, Sky, I flew the inverted lawn mowers... I had a 4 year assignment at Fort Benning, GA...  Small air lift detatchment in support of the Army's Parachute School... I was just nutty enough to fly anything I could get my hands on... that included H-13's and Hueys..  Over 4 years while it was the 11th AirMobile Div (Exp), I think I flew half the Hueys The 1st Cav Div took to Nam with them when the 11th AM changed name to 1st AirCav and deployed to Nam...   At times I felt as though I should back up to the pay window and not show my face because it seemed like stealing to be paid for doing something at which I was having so much FUN.     Ever drop skydivers from 15K and try to race them to the ground?   Did that with an H mod. Huey... when 8 guys would go off the skids at 15,000' the bird would pop up to about 18.000 instantly.  Cyclic full forward and collective full down, still going up at over 6000' a min... what a blast...  

I too have spun some mud trying the pottery thing, but never did get the hang of glazing and having it come looking like anything but ugly globs of glaze....  

Red...  Your comment is RIGHT ON!   Either due to early stage Glaucoma or worse, Oscar Grope in his Belchfire 8 is not going to see you... all he can see is 18wheelers...   I borrowed the character Oscar Grope and his Belchfire 8 from a venerable Canadian who used to write safety columns for Rider Magazine many years ago, so the allusion isn't original with me.        I just gave a PRISTINE  86 CB700 Night Hawk S to a grand son...  Beautiful old bike... ran and rode like new...    You've got 5 years to come to the chronological progression I've done.  

Thanx for the great comments.... both Sky and Red....

JR

[Barbarian]

Nothing wrong with pottery. I made a smurf head that's a candle snuffer, and I wanted something to put an incense cone on, so I made a hand holding a torch. Definitely unique pieces ;)

[Vidrazor]

[The encroachment of age is involved. I'm 77 and still in excellent health... but getting old is better than the other alternative, or so I'm thinking...So, just what is the answer... if there is an answer? How does one know when it's time to get rid of the bike and the gear and accept the fact: IT'S OVER FOR ME?]

Hey, you're old, you're gonna die anyway.

Retirement is when your heart stops beating. Die living. Ride the phucker...