Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: inditx on June 14, 2022, 09:32:46 AM
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Misleading topic, as I obviously don’t have the gene that encourages keeping any one bike for very long. Good thing I have the gene that keeps one wife ay?! :thewife:
My insurance guy calls me a connoisseur or some such malarkey...
Anyhoo, I am loving the V7 850 but as Kev points out it IS different than the V9 Bobber/Roamer mill. Less torquey down low is my “butt dyno”. :bike-037:
Once I get any bike dialed in I’m kinda like ok that was fun what’s next. I know I’m addicted and Huzo has some good advice for overcoming this alas, I am a poor student here. :rolleyes:
So, what’s one to do?
So many bikes, so little time.... :popcorn:
inditx
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Don't ask me. I just keep them all. :grin: I have a spreadsheet to keep track of all of them. LOL
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Don't ask me. I just keep them all. :grin: I have a spreadsheet to keep track of all of them. LOL
Great fleet Dave and a spreadsheet is a necessity I would guess.
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What seems to be working for me lately is spending way too much money upgrading to just give it away.
I have no plans to part with my current bikes, but am looking to add something.
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Sorry, no help here. I have been riding my own bikes since 1979, a Suzuki GS400 for eleven years, A T-3 which I have owned since 89 and my Norge since 2011. Still ride the last two. Guess I am still "dialing" them in. :grin:
GliderJohn
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Misleading topic, as I obviously don’t have the gene that encourages keeping any one bike for very long. Good thing I have the gene that keeps one wife ay?! :thewife:
My insurance guy calls me a connoisseur or some such malarkey...
Anyhoo, I am loving the V7 850 but as Kev points out it IS different than the V9 Bobber/Roamer mill. Less torquey down low is my “butt dyno”. :bike-037:
Once I get any bike dialed in I’m kinda like ok that was fun what’s next. I know I’m addicted and Huzo has some good advice for overcoming this alas, I am a poor student here. :rolleyes:
So, what’s one to do?
So many bikes, so little time.... :popcorn:
inditx
We might have some of the same gene defects.
I can't explain what has happened of late (maybe I've been distracted by my still relatively young family over the past decade) but my bike ADD has slowed down significantly. I mean like to the point where I'm sitting on the cash for a new one, but have no desire to buy another. Well, not enough to go do it.
Maybe part of it is simply that we've reached capacity (both in reasonable use of the garage space and the number of bikes I can regularly ride and maintain), but as much as I do like other bikes (The Bobber Sport or say the new Low Rider ST) that lust doesn't rise to the level of me giving up anything in the garage for it, so I'm more than happy staying put (for now).
There was a time when a bike never reached 3-4 years old in my possession.
Now I've reached a point where two of the bikes in the fleet we've had for ~ a decade each (and I had one or two others before that which approached or reached that tenure).
Weird.
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I don't make impulse buys. I actually am on the other side of the fence and research my motorcycle purchases way beyond what is probably mentally healthy. On the other hand, I hate buyers remorse. I very rarely make vehicle mistakes. I have well defined performance parameters of what the vehicle must deliver. Once purchased I tend to keep my motorcycles a long time, as in 15-20 years. I also ride the ones I have quite a lot, because each bike I own has a very specific purpose. I own three now, and they serve me very well. I would like to get to two, but don't think that is possible at this point.
I don't own motorcycles, cars, trucks, etc. just to work on and look at. That's not to say I don't appreciate the aesthetics of a design, I do and the visual aspect is important. However, if I am not using it, I find it frustrates me having something just sitting there. No matter how pretty it might be. Equipment with motors is a kinetic experience for me, not so much a static one. YMMV.
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I don't make impulse buys. I actually am on the other side of the fence and research my motorcycle purchases way beyond what is probably mentally healthy. On the other hand, I hate buyers remorse. I very rarely make vehicle mistakes. I have well defined performance parameters of what the vehicle must deliver. Once purchased I tend to keep my motorcycles a long time, as in 15-20 years. I also ride the ones I have quite a lot, because each bike I own has a very specific purpose. I own three now, and they serve me very well. I would like to get to two, but don't think that is possible at this point.
I don't own motorcycles, cars, trucks, etc. just to work on and look at. That's not to say I don't appreciate the aesthetics of a design, I do and the visual aspect is important. However, if I am not using it, I find it frustrates me having something just sitting there. No matter how pretty it might be. Equipment with motors is a kinetic experience for me, not so much a static one. YMMV.
Exactly my thoughts!
The only Guzzi I have had, a 1984 SP/NT, I owned it for 20 years, before I decided it was a handful for my physical condition.
The bike gave me lots of enjoyment, but it also a lot of aggravation due to the stupid things previous owners did to it that compromised its reliability.
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Ride it and create some memories.
It will morph into less of “what it is” and more of “what it’s done”.
Which one looks better ?
(https://i.ibb.co/VgD1hRQ/A0-A6-FCA3-9851-4837-8789-ED5-F7-BA9-EBA9.jpg) (https://ibb.co/VgD1hRQ)
Although both bikes are fundamentally identical in the ways that matter most, the one with the bag on the bag looks like it’s into something good.
When you know in your own mind that even if you sold your bike, it would still be referred to as ******’s old bike, then you know you have bonded.
I venture to say that if I sold my Norge, the average bloke would say..”Oh, you’ve got Peter’s old bike…”
The money doesn’t make it “yours”, the miles do……
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We might have some of the same gene defects.
I can't explain what has happened of late (maybe I've been distracted by my still relatively young family over the past decade) but my bike ADD has slowed down significantly. I mean like to the point where I'm sitting on the cash for a new one, but have no desire to buy another. Well, not enough to go do it.
Maybe part of it is simply that we've reached capacity (both in reasonable use of the garage space and the number of bikes I can regularly ride and maintain), but as much as I do like other bikes (The Bobber Sport or say the new Low Rider ST) that lust doesn't rise to the level of me giving up anything in the garage for it, so I'm more than happy staying put (for now).
There was a time when a bike never reached 3-4 years old in my possession.
Now I've reached a point where two of the bikes in the fleet we've had for ~ a decade each (and I had one or two others before that which approached or reached that tenure).
Weird.
Come on Kev............. no one likes a quitter. :grin:
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Wow. Nice topic. I am definitely a bike-a-holic in remission/recovery, I would say. A number of folks on here used to make jokes about it, some still do on the local Advrider thread, like each time I’d post a new bike they’d make the obligatory :grin: “Wow, Brian. You’ve really got that one looking nice for the next owner” kind of thing. :boozing:
I’m 52 now and in the last 19 years of street riding I’ve had about maybe 35 (?) different bikes? I’ve had pretty much every iteration of a Guzzi made since say 2002 or so - well, all except a spine frame. I’ve probably traveled over 250k miles or more on motorcycles, loving nearly every mile.
How did I make it into remission/recovery? I’m honestly not sure. I’d love to point to this or that but there was nothing too definitive and besides, I’m still in a bit of denial as per it being a “problem”; rather, I greatly enjoyed each and every motorcycle I owned previously. The KTM I have now has been there for almost 2 years maybe and I did just last year get this Guzzi California Stone project. I have tough time criticizing myself or anyone else with this ailment. Enjoy it while you can, I say.
For me, well, I got older. Life priorities changed a bit. I wrecked a couple times and had shoulder surgery as a result. I quit riding for about a year, sold all the bikes. I finally realized on a gut level there was never going to be “The One” motorcycle. Many other things as well but whatevs. I’m not saying I’ll never return to it but in similar manner to Kev’s comments above, I’ve now been in the lucky place in life where I have the cash to buy any motorcycle I’d like but I now know better generally what I enjoy and I just don’t see anything that would reward me much more greatly than what I have now. This sounds all wise and resolute :cool: but in truth, I could very well start buying them again tomorrow, who knows :popcorn:
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hahahahahahahahahah ahahahaha (sorry, couldn't help myself) :boozing: :boozing: :boozing:
I got nothing.
Next.
:bike-037: :bike-037: :bike-037: :bike-037: :bike-037:
:bike-037: :bike-037: :bike-037: :bike-037: :bike-037:
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We call it motorcycleitis. A disease there is no cure for. Only can be medicated once in a while with a sell-one-buy-another. But don’t worry the government is working tirelessly to separate you from your money so you’ll have nothing and be happy!
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Come on Kev............. no one likes a quitter. :grin:
:boozing:
Ok, in my defense I have been plotting how to build a carport or additional garage space to take care of that problem.
So I simply need to spend $20-40k so I can spent another $10-20k on another bike.
Yeah, this is gonna get by the CEO REAL easy.... I feel a veto in my future. :thewife:
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Ride it and create some memories.
It will morph into less of “what it is” and more of “what it’s done”.
Which one looks better ?
(https://i.ibb.co/VgD1hRQ/A0-A6-FCA3-9851-4837-8789-ED5-F7-BA9-EBA9.jpg) (https://ibb.co/VgD1hRQ)
Although both bikes are fundamentally identical in the ways that matter most, the one with the bag on the bag looks like it’s into something good.
When you know in your own mind that even if you sold your bike, it would still be referred to as ******’s old bike, then you know you have bonded.
I venture to say that if I sold my Norge, the average bloke would say..”Oh, you’ve got Peter’s old bike…”
The money doesn’t make it “yours”, the miles do……
Yes, well said and helpful. It is the experiences that make life.
inditx
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Wow. Nice topic. I am definitely a bike-a-holic in remission/recovery, I would say. A number of folks on here used to make jokes about it, some still do on the local Advrider thread, like each time I’d post a new bike they’d make the obligatory :grin: “Wow, Brian. You’ve really got that one looking nice for the next owner” kind of thing. :boozing:
I’m 52 now and in the last 19 years of street riding I’ve had about maybe 35 (?) different bikes? I’ve had pretty much every iteration of a Guzzi made since say 2002 or so - well, all except a spine frame. I’ve probably traveled over 250k miles or more on motorcycles, loving nearly every mile.
How did I make it into remission/recovery? I’m honestly not sure. I’d love to point to this or that but there was nothing too definitive and besides, I’m still in a bit of denial as per it being a “problem”; rather, I greatly enjoyed each and every motorcycle I owned previously. The KTM I have now has been there for almost 2 years maybe and I did just last year get this Guzzi California Stone project. I have tough time criticizing myself or anyone else with this ailment. Enjoy it while you can, I say.
For me, well, I got older. Life priorities changed a bit. I wrecked a couple times and had shoulder surgery as a result. I quit riding for about a year, sold all the bikes. I finally realized on a gut level there was never going to be “The One” motorcycle. Many other things as well but whatevs. I’m not saying I’ll never return to it but in similar manner to Kev’s comments above, I’ve now been in the lucky place in life where I have the cash to buy any motorcycle I’d like but I now know better generally what I enjoy and I just don’t see anything that would reward me much more greatly than what I have now. This sounds all wise and resolute :cool: but in truth, I could very well start buying them again tomorrow, who knows :popcorn:
Yes Bp!
Especially there is no panacea, perfect bike, one jack of all trades.
inditx
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hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha (sorry, couldn't help myself) :boozing: :boozing: :boozing:
I got nothing.
Next.
:bike-037: :bike-037: :bike-037: :bike-037: :bike-037:
:bike-037: :bike-037: :bike-037: :bike-037: :bike-037:
Hah!
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:boozing:
Ok, in my defense I have been plotting how to build a carport or additional garage space to take care of that problem.
So I simply need to spend $20-40k so I can spent another $10-20k on another bike.
Yeah, this is gonna get by the CEO REAL easy.... I feel a veto in my future. :thewife:
Good luck, we’re behind you!
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p.s. The wife says I enjoy the hunt, negotiations and closing the deal. Can’t argue with these reasons but it is something more with bikes.
Appreciate all the “help”, keep em coming!
inditx
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For me it is always the bike. If I get tired of it I let it go, if I don't I keep it.
Bikes I've kept: 1979 XS1100 (owned since 1984), 1978 XS 750 (owned since 2000), 2007 Griso (2015), 2016 Stornello (2018), 1976 Convert (2020), 2008 1200 Sport (2020) Cant see letting any of them go with the exception of the Griso due to ergonomics. Hoping Mana Bars will fix that.
Bikes I've Sold because they lost the draw or weren't special enough to keep: Honda CB350, Kawasaki LTD 454, Yamaha VMAX (regret selling), Kawasaki C10 Concours, BMW RT1100, Yamaha FZ 6, 8V Norge, MGX-21. All great bikes but had no staying power.
Then there is the Yamaha FZ 1 that I didnt sell, but wrecked........
I am always making tweaks and adjustments to my bikes to make them better suited or interesting to me, but ultimately if I don't get that "AHHHH" feeling when I ride or drive it, it doesn't stay long............
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The longest we've ever kept a motorcycle was ten years.
A 2008 Harley FLSTF "Fat Boy"
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52148504096_8a751bedf1_k.jpg)
Had a Gl1800 Honda Gold Wing for five years.
A Harley Dyna for six years.
?
Most everything else left after a year or two or three.
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(https://photos.smugmug.com/Motoland/n-r6dVZ/DGR-2022-/i-dDXbnCc/0/ebd13e1f/XL/IMG_9832-XL.jpg)
Great post and great vexing question. This may be a little out in left field, but I recently started keeping my V7II Stornello at a motorcycle storage facility in Brooklyn called Gotham Depot Moto. I'm a part-time city person, and wanted to have a bike I could ride around Brooklyn and Manhattan on the weekends or days when I'm city-bound. The facility is filled with 50 awesome bikes of all stripes, from Triumphs to Guzzis to Ducatis, Yamahas, vintage BMWs etc. And an equally diverse and interesting set of owners. The weird thing is that being around all these other bikes...many of which I've lusted after or thought of buying at one point or another...has dampened my appetite for ownership. I get to see them, chat about them, and folks are shockingly generous about offering a ride on them (hey, you wanna take it for a spin?). And so just the exposure to them—with my beautiful Storny nestled in the mix—has curiously sated my appetite to acquire or own them. And what it's made me more interested in are the people who ride them, and going on little jaunts around Greenpoint or Williamsburg and getting to know the riders with the bikes.
I did say this is a bit of a "left field solve" for loving the bike you're on, but one insight (for me at least) is that if you can find conditions where you're around other bikes and riders, it seems to lessen that private, in your head, internet-fueled urge for "yet another bike."
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:thumb: adventerlounger
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Bought and sold close to forty bikes over the last fifty years. The Bonneville has been with me since '74, my Cal since '01, the Monster since '19. They're keepers.
Larry
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:thumb:
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Well. I failed the test too. I traded my 20 V85 on a 22. Tee in Charlotte made me a very fair trade. Great people.
(https://i.ibb.co/BynyJBF/905824-EE-7-F20-477-A-ACC4-DECF6-DF3027-B.jpg) (https://ibb.co/BynyJBF)
(https://i.ibb.co/g7LJMcb/4-D465-B93-454-C-4452-9-B1-E-ED8-C1-B109-C1-E.jpg) (https://ibb.co/g7LJMcb)
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Yes but.
The question was… HOW do you stay happy with your bike ?
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:popcorn:
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Yes but.
The question was… HOW do you stay happy with your bike ?
Maybe he just answered: "Trade it for one with fewer problems"?
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Maybe he just answered: "Trade it for one with fewer problems"?
Well yeah Kev.
A lot were just saying, “I’ve got my new ***** and I’m really happy”.
But our Man wanted to know what has gotten you to that state of mind.
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Yes cause it isn’t usually problems it’s more I tire of it.
Maybe it’s just hopeless with me and I’ll always be looking/finding another bike.
I do find solace when I work on them and then take em out for a spin.
Good news is my V7 850 is still making me smile and I’ve done the least to that one.
Go figure.....
inditx
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Have you ever tried a Griso?
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Well yeah Kev.
A lot were just saying, “I’ve got my new ***** and I’m really happy”.
But our Man wanted to know what has gotten you to that state of mind.
I'm literally talking about his (Vagrant's) bike. I thought I remembered that his was down for a while waiting for a part.
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I’ve been buying a NEW bike pretty much every 5 years. It seems I get it where I want it, then my eyes stray to another. When it comes to my vintage bikes, I tend to hang on to them much longer, 10-15+ years. For some reason I stay much more attached to owning, riding and maintaining the “classics”.
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Have you ever tried a Griso?
I’ve lusted after one but never pulled the trigger on a Griso.
Now I’m afraid the riding position doesn’t fit my age body, at least not without a few mods.
inditx
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I’ve been buying a NEW bike pretty much every 5 years. It seems I get it where I want it, then my eyes stray to another. When it comes to my vintage bikes, I tend to hang on to them much longer, 10-15+ years. For some reason I stay much more attached to owning, riding and maintaining the “classics”.
Interesting
So what makes the difference between selling the new and keeping the older would you say?
inditx
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I’ve lusted after one but never pulled the trigger on a Griso.
Now I’m afraid the riding position doesn’t fit my age body, at least not without a few mods.
inditx
Knight Lowering Pegs fix the seat to peg situation perfectly, and either spacers or bars help with the reach to the bars if you need it. I've got significant left shoulder and elbow injuries that now make the bike painful to ride for more than 3 hours.
The 1200 8V Griso's have better bars than the 1100 bars that are very wide. I just bought a set of Mana Bars from AF1 but they came unfinished so I am going to get them powder coated and then put on.
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How to stay happy with your bike
Several times a season, take your bike on a long, overnight trip somewhere you have not been before...(IMHO just sayin')
:thumb: :boozing: :cool: :wink: :smiley:
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I bought my current bikes in the following years. I bought and resold other ones during the same period but mostly I’ve kept them, because I liked them equally then and now.
1987 (1979 model)
1993 (1980 model)
1999 (1997 model)
2006 (1990 model)
2010 (1997 model)
2011 (2001 model)
2017 (2002 model)
2018 (1999 model)
2021 (2020 model)
All of the current fleet were bought used, and my interest has nothing to do with owning the latest model. Actually it’s more the opposite - I don’t really enjoy what’s being made for the past few years. I made an exception to buy a V85TT and the jury is still out of that one. With possibly that one as an exception whichever I’m on is my favorite, I don’t get bored of a bike I like and have no great interest in selling any of them.
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87 bikes in 85 years. I'm the last person to give the advice you're seeking.
Ralph
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Depend on it, and only it, someplace far away for longer than a week…
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Depend on it, and only it, someplace far away for longer than a week…
Yes…!
Was it someplace like this that you had in mind..?
I remember taking that shot, it was heartlessly cold and I remember putting on my freezing Arai as the warmth of a car interior parked next to me, wafted out as they opened the doors.
But I wouldn’t have traded places even if I could have.
(https://i.ibb.co/D8yfmLY/08-DD1-FE5-F115-4-CA5-B4-AA-0-B57-C5-F181-A0.jpg) (https://ibb.co/D8yfmLY)
I think a bike is like a relationship.
If all you do is give to it and divert resorources with no reciprocation, pretty soon you’ll tire of the partnership and start to look elsewhere.
But as Chuck says, when you only have it to depend on in a far away location and it supports you faithfully, the bond crystallises into a solid duality that you begin to lose the desire to break.
Then not long after, you can scarcely conceive of why you would.
Oh and BTW.
Nordkapp is another 800 km North and it doesn’t get any warmer…!
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87 bikes in 85 years. I'm the last person to give the advice you're seeking.
Ralph
Hah way to go Ralph! :bow:
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Yes…!
Was it someplace like this that you had in mind..?
I remember taking that shot, it was heartlessly cold and I remember putting on my freezing Arai as the warmth of a car interior parked next to me, wafted out as they opened the doors.
But I wouldn’t have traded places even if I could have.
(https://i.ibb.co/D8yfmLY/08-DD1-FE5-F115-4-CA5-B4-AA-0-B57-C5-F181-A0.jpg) (https://ibb.co/D8yfmLY)
I think a bike is like a relationship.
If all you do is give to it and divert resorources with no reciprocation, pretty soon you’ll tire of the partnership and start to look elsewhere.
But as Chuck says, when you only have it to depend on in a far away location and it supports you faithfully, the bond crystallises into a solid duality that you begin to lose the desire to break.
Then not long after, you can scarcely conceive of why you would.
Oh and BTW.
Nordkapp is another 800 km North and it doesn’t get any warmer…!
:bow:
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I figured it out! Just add another one to park beside it!
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We only have 2 ,but they will stay .The 1400 Cali, cause we 'love 'it and 'they' don"t make it anymore.
The V7 Carbon Dark,.... was on the brink of letting it go, well 11 Month in the Hospital ,but at last 'Guzzi' send the 'right' motor .
Been taking it to work and back ,such a fun Scoot, limited Edition ,...
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I figured it out! Just add another one to park beside it!
:thumb:
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I had thought/hoped I could treat my bike purchase like I would that of a good tool etc, in that I would add only, never subtract to my collection. Unfortunately, at least for now, a second (or more!) motorcycle is just too big of an outlay that could go elsewhere. Especially when I can only ride one at a time. And as someone who only recently got back into riding, there were just too many temptations and styles to stick with the Goose for more than a couple seasons. Sometimes an itch simply must be scratched.
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Yep!
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No help here, hi I'm Curt and I'm bike curious :grin:
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We only have 2 ,but they will stay .The 1400 Cali, cause we 'love 'it and 'they' don"t make it anymore.
The V7 Carbon Dark,.... was on the brink of letting it go, well 11 Month in the Hospital ,but at last 'Guzzi' send the 'right' motor .
Been taking it to work and back ,such a fun Scoot, limited Edition ,...
I apologize if you mentioned it and I forgot, but out of curiosity, what was the failure in your V7III motor in the first place?
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No help here, hi I'm Curt and I'm bike curious :grin:
Hah, I know that’s right!
Take care Curt!
Jack