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

[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.