BIKE LONGEVITY POLL #2: Why did you get rid of that bike? (Or did you?)

[SWriverstone]

This is a multiple choice poll—and you're allowed to go back and change your answers.  

I have about 37K miles on my 2007 V-Strom 650 and it's still running perfectly...so I plan to keep riding it 'til it dies.  

Scott

[Kneescrubber]

I sold my '83 R80ST in '99 because I needed the money. I had 2 other bikes at the time ('86 K100 & '82 XL500R). The K bike was totalled in a wreck in '85 (replaced by the Viffer). The XL500 was sold in '09 again, I needed the money. Of those 3 bikes I really wish I still had the XL500. I'd bought it brand new when I got out of the service and for 3 years it was my only bike.

[auggius]

I have about 100K miles on my 1995 Honda VFR750 and it's still running perfectly (except for a minor oil leak) ...so I plan to keep riding it 'til it dies (or I win the lottery)  

[2RR2NV]

1992 CB750 Nighthawk - cause it was time to move up.
2002 VFR800 - cause i owned a Busa too and got addicted to the power.
2002 Busa - thought the wife was not happy riding on the back with all the wind whipping her head around like a bobble head. she actually loved the bike and told me that months later. DANGIT!!
2004 GSXR750 - cause i crashed it, but not bad, and didn't need the Busa and the 750 at the same time. plus i wanted to make the wife happy by going back to a st bike.... FJR1300
2007 FJR1300 - my job was not easily done by having a big bike. made riding very much NOT enjoyable. plus finances were the final straw... ba bye FJR

a year later.....

Current ride, wife says i'm not selling it unless i total it. so i guess i shall have it for a while. she actually picked it out and set up the deal to get it. so i guess i do owe her. LOL

[The Shepherd]

I have Newbikeitis that has gone into remission with my dose of KLX250S medication. I predict in another 2 to 3 years the Newbikeitis will flare up again.

Symptoms include obsessive motorcycle magazine reading, site surfing, stat comparisons, sleepness nights, itchy palms and a burning sensation on the skin right underneath the pocket I carry my wallet in.

[Squareman357]

I had over 40K on my 2006 Black ZX-14 and meant to join the 100K+ club until a red light runner trashed me AND the bike.  I've got about 22K on my current 2008 ZX-14 but I have a hankering for a new 2012 updated ZX-14 so we'll see how long I last.

[Jetpilot5]

49,850 miles on my K1200s when I traded it.  My local dealer (60 miles away) was excellent but went out of business and the next closest good dealer is 135 miles away.  Too far when you need to count on them for some service items.  After a year with no local dealer the BMW was gone.

The next highest mile bike I had was my 99 VFR that I traded with 41,000 miles on it because I wanted more power, went with a XX.

[garry]

I put 43K miles on my Sprint RS. Sold it because I wanted a sport bike. I just surpassed that mark on my KTM 950 SMR (pushing 45K now) and will ride it all this season and perhaps next (should be 60K+ by then). Mostly I change bikes when I want a different type of bike, not because of mileage. So far, all my bikes have been basically reliable.

[West]

Only have had three bikes.
My first was a 1983 Honda Shadow.  Good starter bike, but also had numerous problems and I seemed to always fixing some sort of it.  But that is somewhat expected with an almost 30 year old bike.  Sold it cuz I outgrew it and the problems with it.

Second was a 1999 TTR 250 dirtbike I bought from a friend not running.  The pure reason why I bought it is because I knew I could make money on it.  Put about 400-500 miles on it last fall.  Sold it to fund my current bike.

Third and current bike is an 2003 Kawasaki Concours that I got about 3 weeks ago and already have about 1200 miles on it.

[mxvet57]

After todays ride.

[naustin]

Peace of Mind, frustration, Kool-Aid poisoning, etc..

http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,28923.0.html

[West]

After todays ride.

That is awesome and super impressive!!!  You put on more miles per year than almost everybody does in their cage.

[Orson]

I reluctantly sold my 1984 FJ1100 (bought new in '84) after 16 years of ownership when I moved overseas in 2001.

The engine was still fine after about 64,000 miles, I never had the second gear problem some other FJ owners reported. But small problems associated with old age were beginning to develop elsewhere.

[X1Glider]

The 140k and 160k BMWs were sold due to the high cost of keeping them running properly, the older they got.  Ran fine at sale though because I spent the money when it was needed.

The 110k FXR was sold because I wanted something completely different and better all around.  Keeping it running was cheap and dirt simple though.

[Andrew]

I sold both of the ZX11's because I found I did not need or want to go that fast anymore.
Sold the FJR for the same reason and the fact my legs are a bit too long for the bike (took 3 or 4 years to figure that out)

Think I will keep the GSA till it is no longer cost effective to keep running (cost effective and BMW just don't seem to go together in the first place  )

[Papa Lazarou]

I sold my 1964 Norton 750 because I needed the money.

Ditto my Thunderbird.

The other bikes I have had have been variously thrown away or sold because I tired of them/ didn't like them/ didn't care about them that much.

[RedCBRRider]

2006 Yamaha FJR.  76,000 miles.  It ended because I crashed it.  

[Spanky]

I think wrecked it should be an option - it happens you know.

[CanadianBird]

'02 XX with 184,100 kms. I won't sell her.

[cultureslayer]

I think wrecked it should be an option - it happens you know.

+1, only in my case a drunk neighbor ran it over in the parking lot.  

[Dan K]

Most bikes were sold to finance the purchase of the next bike.

[ConPilot1]

'83 GS550L----sold it, needed the cash, was bored with it anyway after 10K fun miles. My first street bike, but was a really Meh. bike. after I got used to it.

'83 GL500 Silverwing--sold it rather quickly after developing a weird fear of bikes. Probably due to my daughter just being born. Wish I still had it cause' it'd be worth 4 times what I paid.

'91 ZR750 Zephyr.----needed a head gasket/blowing engine oil. Gas tank rotted out/pinholed and was pissing gas all over the place if you touched the tank. Great fun bike, I miss this one.

[vulcanbill]

85 Nighthawk 650 -  Sold it to buy a plane ticket home.  
90 Kawasaki Vulcan 750 - Tore the shaft out of it so I wholesaled it
86 Yamaha FJ1200 - Sold it because I didn't have the ability or inclination to do needed work.  sissy
96 Honda CBR1000F - Sold it because it was easier than trying to turn it into an effective corner carver.
03 Triumph Sprint ST - Not entirely sure why I sold that one, really.    Think I must have needed the money.

[nnjhawk02]

'84 R65LS - Sold it as I got a '78 R100RS

'78 R100RS - Sold it as it was EATING oil & couldn't figure out why, plus had the youngins coming.  I love that bike, IMHO one of the best designed bikes, hands are covered by fairing, thus no rain/wind on hands.



'88 R100RT - rescued it from my bro, installed new rear shock, got new bags, but then it needed more work than I wanted to put into it - elec problems, sold it & bought a new 2002 Honda VTR1000F aka SuperHawk, under direction from wife (best thing she's ever said to me).  I've modded the VTR alot & know if I ever sell it I will regret it

I'm Still a


And will get another R100RS one day

[sammyseaman]

'86 Yamaha Fazer: 1987 I bought my first streetbike from a co-worker who got his girlfriend proggos and needed $. Bad. I sold it a couple yrs later so I could go faster and bought a.....
'85 Honda Sabre: Bought because it was fast and sounded great. Was a big piece of shat though. Second gear was going out and it handled horribly. Couldn't get rid of that POS fast enough and bought a....
'84 Yamaha FJ100: This was one of my favorite bikes. Ever. Loved it but sold it for a....
GSXR750. Can't remember the year right now but it was fun for a summer until I sold it to buy a....
'81 Kawasaki KZ1100: w/ a big 'ol Vetter fairing and Kraco radio. Also bought a TW200 just because. I sold the KZ because I rarely rode it and a couple years prior to selling had bought a....
V45 Magna: Can't remember the year but I had cash in my pocket and decided to scoop it up for funsies. Had it a couple months and sold it to buy a....
'97 Suzuki Bandit 1200s: I loved this bike but after 5 yrs the itch started to resurface and I kept the Bandito but also bought a....
'02 Yamaha Warrior: I don't care for cruisers but the Warrior handled really good so and was easy to "soup-up", so to speak. I sold the Bandit a yr later to buy the wife a Honda 750 Spirit. I sold the Warrior a yr after the Bandit and bought a.....
'06 Triumph Sprint ST: I was really close to buying the Speed Triple but also realized it wasn't gonna work seeing as the wifey liked to go on long trips with me. A few months later we seperated. I rode the Sprint for a couple years and it turned out to be one of my favorite bikes along with the 'ol FJ. I then went and got the new wifey pregnant and knew I wouldn't be doing any week long rides for a couple year so I sold the Sprint and picked up a ....
'11 Thruxton: So far  

There was a time when I worked A LOT and made pretty good $ in my 20's and was able to afford a couple dirtbikes along with my streetbike, snowplow truck and classic cars so there have been a couple insignificant bikes that I can barely remember. I think I'll hang on to the Thrux for a while and plan on getting a D-S bike this summer. That should keep me happy for a while  

[stew71]

Started with a mid-80's V45 Magna. Sold after college as I was traveling internationally and spending most of each year overseas. Sold everything except for the guns, car, and some clothes. Didn't ride for a long time until...

I bought a 2003 Kawasaki Vulcan from a neighbor who needed the cash. I tired of the cruiser/V-twin ride after only 2 years, sold it,  and picked up the the FJR.  Haven't looked back since.

Well, except now I'm jonesing for a buddies' 2005 Sprint ST with only 8K miles. He's a Ducati fan and doesn't ride the ST enough to keep it....

What to do...what to do....

[viffergyrl]

Well, except now I'm jonesing for a buddies' 2005 Sprint ST with only 8K miles. He's a Ducati fan and doesn't ride the ST enough to keep it....

What to do...what to do....

Do what any good friend would do and "volunteer" to ride the bike once in awhile to keep things in tip-top shape.  

Keep up the giving tradition here at STN.  

[MisterSmooth]

...But small problems associated with old age were beginning to develop elsewhere.

Yeah, I feel that way too.


Oh, right, this is about motorbikes.

1983 Suzuki--Sold to get a major upgrade to a
1986 Honda 500 Interceptor--traded in on a
1990 Honda CBR1000F--awesome bike but heavy so to get an entirely different feel I sold it and bought a
2002 Yamaha R1--another incredible bike but to carry around my wife and kids (only one at a time) I bought a
2001 BMW R1100S.

The R1 sort of felt like it was faking it with me.  It was way more competent than I will ever be...so I traded it in on a
2007 Aprilia Tuono.  Incredible bike sort of like that buddy you have that makes you do bad things with a big grin.

And then my friend Erik bought an Aprilia Mille R.  Wow!  So I looked around and found me one.  In order to buy it I had to sell the BMW.  Thus:

2001 Aprilia Mille R.  

But after that I didn't have a two-up bike.  So in 2010 I bought a leftover two-up bike with hard luggage...a

2008 Moto Guzzi 1200 Sport.  

That's where it sits today until my inner bike whore calls again.        After all, I haven't had a KTM yet.  

[coucours grad]

Started with a 83 Suzuki gs650g and felt I needed 4 wheels so I sold it to brother for payments.... Mistake!


   bought a 1992 C-10 used in 1995 with 6k miles on the closk. In 2008 and 139k on the clock whe started rattling at me....Money was tight so I replaced the cam chain tensioner....Which kept her quiet till the 141,318 mile mark when she slung the timing chain and started leaking in places no bike should leak from. I recently parted her out.


    Last August I bought a crated 2008 Honda St1300. New warranty, got to see them open the crate and took her home for less then 13 grand. Wife and I have been toolin down the road ever since.


    I plan on driving this one till I cant hold her up then move to a Can Am.


     Cant say enough good about the C-10 as she was a great bike but the ST1300 Honda is a much more polished bike . I took a 573 mile trip to the Dragon yesterday (multiple passes on Dragon and Cherahola Skyway) and am convinced that the reason I work now is to put gas in the tank and farkles on the bike. (she needs a seat.)

   I believe in the 10 year plan though.....And had more fun looking for this bike then anything else that I've put my head to in the last 10 years. The fun IS in the search.....Until you pick the right bike that is!!!

[aj7840]

Had 4 street bikes and 2 dirt bikes.
Now that I'm real real close to seventy, the dirt bikes went first (the mind was 18 body sure wasn't)
never got the project bike running (67 TR6), but made a profit
'03 FZ1 lots of mods (the mind was 18 and rode it too much that way), sold to my nephew

That leaves the Ducati '00 M900 Monster and the BMW '07 K12GT,  seem to have grown up enough to ride these sensibly most of the time
so they will stay unless I can't figure how to mount a walker when I'm 90, or they reach 100k miles and I upgrade

[AutoXer]

First bike was a '92 Yamaha XJ600 Seca II.  Wanted a "starter bike" that was full-size and that went well enough that I wouldn't outgrow it too soon.  Good call - kept it until 2005 (almost 13 years - original battery lasted over 11 years, mileage was 48-52 in town and 58-62 cruising/highway.  Never put a dime into it besides regular oil changes and tires).  Headlight sucked, brakes sucked, all else was great.  Finally decided I wanted something newer and a bit better handling and braking.  

Second bike was an '05 Yamaha FZ6.  Figured it was a "modern, more powerful Seca II".  Sort of.  Headlights were better, brakes were a lot better, good handling, but ... it was a great standard ruined by having a sport bike motor.  Took several mods to make it rideable without my fingers and hands going to sleep.  Never a relaxing ride, had to keep it spinning to have any power, just too frenetic for my taste.  It got 44-46 in town and 50-52 highway/cruising.  Only kept it 5 years, never warmed up to it at all.  

Current bike is an '09 Suzuki GSF1250SA Bandit.  For me, just about perfect except I wish it were lighter.  Fitted with racks and Givi's it is an every day commuter (commute 80-90% of the time) and a good weekend tourer.  Does 42-44 in town and 50-52 highway, pretty impressive compared to the smaller 600 FZ6.  It'll be around awhile.