How long have you been riding? How many bikes have you had?

[Rich82GS750TZ]

This thread is disturbingly void of pictures.

I just saw this pristine looking bike similar to my first bike on FB Marketplace. Granted, it looks amazing for what it is, but +$5k? Really?

[dorkburger]

Ha. With exception of the XL and 200x I have pictures in various forms.. I’ll see what I can (be motivated) to do. The photobucket debacle of a few years back devoured some..

[dorkburger]

I owned both of these for about a week. Hindsight says I should have kept the E (the unfaired one)

GS 1150s by Glen Brenner, on Flickr

[Hayabuser]

I started riding in 1994 when I was 24... had 29 different bikes since then, including the 3 currently in my garage.

[trevor]

This is how small I was as a kid....I was maybe 11 years old on my first Suzuki....a Suzuki Trail Hopper 50cc lol My first bike was a Keystone mini bike with a 6hp Briggs & Stratton

[Hayabuser]

This is how small I was as a kid....I was maybe 11 years old on my first Suzuki....a Suzuki Trail Hopper 50cc lol My first bike was a Keystone mini bike with a 6hp Briggs & Stratton

That sad face makes you look like you should be sitting on a Honda.

[trevor]

That sad face makes you look like you should be sitting on a Honda.

Lol …exactly! …

[gustovh]

Well I first rode a Honda 90 trail at age 10. Rode it till I got my 250 Dream. Joined the army and bought a cb350, then a cx350, next a 450 Rebel,1987 which I still have. Then came a Suzuki 1980 1100 gl, 850 g, 80 1100 L, 850 L, 1100 g, 2002 Honda 919 and six other bikes,…….so I have been riding almost 61 years.

V

[GS1150Pilot]

Here I go again. We also had a Trail 90. It wasn't mine alone, since I shared it with my brother.

[Redman]

To answer "how long.."
Since 1979, so 42, 43 years.
Age 27.
Only other riding expereince was once as teenager, no experience with clutch, and dumping a friends dirtbike in first 10 feet.

Let me tell you about getting that first bike, and say some about first riding experience:

Always like the way bikes looked going down road, especailly in the turns.

Yah, 1979, age 27, 3rd year of job and marriage. Just got a good raise at work.
Saw a bike out in front of a dealer. Was something like a 175, but lights and such for road riding. I was just gonna put down a down payment, and tell the wife that I did - but didnt. Well, we talked about it, and I ended up buying a KZ400 road bike.

By then I had more experience driving a manual transmission, but still no experience on motorcycle.
Is quite memerable expereince I had, sitting on the bike in the dealer parking lot, trying to remember what they said about how to start it and what all these hand levers and foot levers are for. Sitting there thinking "this is clutch, this is brake, this shift, this is other brake, which is front brake? shift what which way?" I actually got back off to look again at the markings on side of engine/transmission while I was trying to figure out specifically what "1 down and 4 up" meant.
After thinking of which route to get home on least busy roads,. THen I got off again, and pushe bike around so pointed more parallel to the road, so didnt have to make a turn onto the road,..... and.... off I went.
Man, in that first mile or two, after getting going and shifting a few gears, oh, just watching the road come and go under my feet, and roadside scenery just approaching and rolling past on the side, oh, oh, this is great
oh,stop sign approaching, ah, um, clutch, brake, um, downshift, stop, oh, put out feet .....
THen get going again . . .
Enjoying it all.
Road goes a downhill a little, air gets colder, go back up hill a little, air gets warmer. Oh, there is a little creek down there, have lived here how long, been on this road how many times and never noticed that creek before.

Again, I cant fully explain/describe what was so great about that first ride, but is something about seeing the road/scenery approaching and seeing it pass by/under, and the feeling of going thru a curve......




That first year, 1979, riding to work. (rather than guzzling pickup truck) (lesabre was on way to salvage yard about then)



To yammer on more about my riding career :

That first year, I wasnt so sure how much I wanted to ride. Was only a few month it was warm enough. And I about ran off road a few times. And I recall one occassion heading into a curve, and saw some stones on the pavement and thinking my path/arc/lean is set and I sure hope I dont hit one of those stones. An other time I did run off the road in a curve, watching the guard rail zoom past my leg, wheel throwing up gravel, thinking if I should jump off into the swamp. Such events scared me to think I didnt have control of this thing any better. And was about to have a new baby at home.

THe next year, I got more gear, I rode to work a lot more, but still want sure I wanted to continue riding a lot .. and then I learnt/discovered a way to control the bike better/quicker than just by leaning (later learnt that it is called countersteering). . So I was riding more and more confidently. And somewhere in there that fueled the passion that was sparked on that first ride home from the dealer.

By 1982, I was getting annoyed with the chain maintainance and mess. And got another good raise, so got a GS650G . . . . . and a plexifaring so could ride earlier in spring and later into fall.... and ride further.....

Well, another few years and the the career and raises turned the other way (but thats another story) . . . . . . . . has been used bikes since. 850G in 1994.... 1100GK in 2006.....

The beemer RTs (2015, 2021). that is another story.

[Redman]

to answer "how many": Total of 6 over the 43 years. (which for a few of you guys here, 6 would be for about 2 or 3 years).

At one time?
3 for last 7 years (since 2015).
And two for the 21 years before that (1993-2015).

.

[oldgsrrr]

I first rode a motorized bike around 1972, it was something like a Honda Mini Trail - so long ago that I don't remember clearly. I was around 10 years old. Then a few years later I really learned to ride and got my license on a Yamaha RD250. My next ride was a 78 GS 750, quite a step up. From there I 'upgraded' to a 98 Triumph Tiger. Most recently a 2002 Triumph Trophy 1200. I'm about due for a new ride...

[Big Block]

I'll see if I can get lucky with a photo again. My touring bike I bought new in 87.. IMG_20180629_0006.jpg

[Big Block]

Then there's this one. I haven't owned a Honda since. Camshafts had to be replaced on warranty. Really high center of gravity. Lots of shaft jacking. A real pig to ride. My VMAX made this thing feel like a poorly engineered child's toy. v65.jpg

[Big Block]

I shouldn't have sold this one either. Repainted it and sorted everything then sold it. Duh. DSC03854.jpg