A tragic waste of a perfectly good motorcycle...

[Echo40]

Maybe I'm just not enough of a motorcycle guy to understand simple pleasures like revving the engine in my driveway or cruising up and down my own street endlessly, or maybe it's because surviving COVID-19 has instilled within me a stronger desire to really live, but regardless of the reason, when I see a motorcycle that never really goes anywhere, it just makes me sad.

I can understand being very cautious after purchasing a new bike, especially if it's a particularly nice one that someone had to save up for, but after a year or two of driving it around locally and getting a feel for it, that worry ought to have worn off, replaced with a desire to really take it out for a proper ride on the open road.

Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of folks never really get over it, so they purchase a beautiful new motorcycle, tune it up to their liking, and then it spends most of its life parked in a garage with a tarp over it, taken out every once in awhile in the Summertime for a short ride around the block as if ridden by a child who has been instructed by his mother not to go too far.
I've seen it throughout my life, yet cannot understand it for the life of me. Are they afraid that they'll hurt it somehow? Couldn't be, after all, having a beautiful motorcycle and not riding it out of fear of potentially scratching the paint or something it is like having a beautiful wife and not kissing her out of fear of smudging her makeup. (To put it mildly.)
Besides, seems like some of these guys go to such great lengths to make their bike roar like a lion as they cruise by going well below the speed limit that they must have all but deliberately broken the muffler in order to get it to produce so much noise as it does while they practically walk the thing down the road, so I doubt that they are babying it too much.

Anywho, rev your engines if you've heard this one before and feel free to comment if you've ever been there yourselves, as I'd be interested in knowing why certain folks do this, as well as hearing the triumphant tales of how they eventually learned to get over it, rode that sucker until the wheels fell off, put it back together, then did it all over again.
If nothing else, I hope that it will at least encourage a few folks here who may be doing this themselves to take their bikes out for a proper ride, experiencing that thrill and exhilaration which simply cannot be had otherwise.

 

[Chubbs103]

I have a 2003 Softail Std that I bought new while on deployment. I used to ride it up and down the East Coast. My favorite boots rotted from riding in too much rain without using on a boot dryer between rides.

Then came children.

I usually have to be prepared to pick-up or drop off children either on the front side or back side of my day. My bike sits far too often these days.

My son (eight years old) has the hankering for a dirt bike. That is where I started, and likely where I will return very soon.

 

[bigwheelzip]

I might be worse than the "round the block" ninjas. I can't bring myself to dispose of my bike, 8 years after I stopped riding it for medical reasons.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[Babysitr]

78,000 miles on my 2001 FLSTC Harley....sold it three years ago...still miss it.....special grandchild, old age,ect. ect....Tons of memories

 

[JJEH]

Had a co-worker once, he was a m/c guy... didn't even own a car, the wife did. He owned several Moto Guzzi and in the winter time he had one with a side car. No excuses.

 

[ggibson511960]

Discomfort!!

Well here's the deal. No matter how much you like to ride, they beat you to death on the road, especially those more prone to vibration with air cooled v-twin engines, the louder ones you reference. Even the smoothest mc's still batter you in the wind. Big luxo tourers like Gold Wings are the pinnacle for long distance traveling, but your backside still has to endure sitting on the thing, even if it's smooth. Try sitting on a bar stool for four hours in a wind storm. I've progressed from standards, mostly Triumphs, to cruisers, to touring bikes, currently a Gold Wing. It's all about going distances. I've been all over the continent on my Wing, but it comes at a cost, especially with advancing years and an ever more tender backside. Having said all that, it's still a lot of fun to twist the throttle grip and hear it rumble, or whine, in your driveway.

 

[hittman77]

Oh people do things like that with motorcycles for all kinds of reasons. Heck, some people even buy guns and never shoot them!

My 15 Road Glide I bought new only has 15k miles on it but that makes me a hard core biker by some folks standards.

 

[Marshwheeling]

I put 200,000 miles on one BMW, and conservatively over half a million on motorbikes over the years. But I haven't ridden much at all over the past three years.
A knee replacement has made it easier for me to do the requisite maintenance, and I just got back from a week of riding in the Black Hills, a couple of weeks ahead of Rally Week, for a change.

 

[Echo40]

Thanks for the insight, fellas.

Just so you know, most of the guys I've seen doing this are either young or otherwise healthy men. Not married men with children, nor older gentleman who have undergone surgery which would make riding their motorcycles excessively uncomfortable or otherwise physically impossible.
Obviously, if such were the case, then I wouldn't be asking why they never really ride their bikes.

I'm actually thinking of a local young man in his early twenties in particular. He's not married, has no children, and is suffering from no dehabilitating illness, in fact I believe he's into construction and does a lot of hard labor. Another guy I'm thinking of is an older gentleman, but aside from the fact that he's an alcoholic, he seems to be in good health. Yet both of them have nice motorcycles which they spends most of their time just revving in their driveways or cruising around the neighborhood. If I didn't know better, then I would think that they were under the impression that it made them look cool.

 

[lrrifleman]

Had the insurance company not auctioned the remains of my '06 Road King Classic, it would probably still be sitting in my shop.

I started riding with an '03 Sportster, then moved into an '04 Super Glide. Then I met the lady that would be my wife and a child was on the way, so I moved up to an '06 Road King Classic, that ended up saving my life. While on my way to work on the King, a '97 Fleetwood crossed the center line and hit me head-on. The Cadillac was totalled on the spot, the King ultimately became a parts donor in Italy for a German company. And then there was me ...

I was in ICU in a coma for a week. The trauma team that took me off the medivac chopper never expected me to walk again. I then spent a week in PCU, then two weeks in a physical rehab learning how to get around in an electric wheelchair and how to use a transfer board. The only uninjured limb was my right arm. Three months later I took my first steps at my dad's viewing. Eight months later I took my final ride, by my choice.

If I still had a motorcycle, I probably would fawn all over it, but I doubt that I'd ride it. It isn't that I am afraid of the motorcycle, I am afraid of all the other motorists that are on the road and not paying attention to the other vehicles on the road.

 

[Bullet Bob]

I read about people here all the time who buy guns and don't shoot them, seems like the same thing to me. But that's fine, your money, your stuff, do whatever you like.

 

[The Big D]

I ride a Harley..

...Davidson. A 2018 Low Rider, to be specific.

I ride it a lot...but several factors in my world have prevented me from riding for about a month.

Tomorrow is another day, however, and NEED a ride...and a ride it shall be.

Not sure if OP is mocking loud (in his/her opinion) pipes but mine are Rinehart's and they are louder than stock. Stock sound is, of course, limited by DOT, EPA, Karen's, Kevin's, and who know who else.

Did the 9/11 Ride from Shanksville, to the Pentagon, to NYC in 2018. Just before we embarked on the very last leg of the trip through the Holland Tunnel one of the ride captains announced on his loudspeaker: 'Some of you will want to act like children and rev your bike through the tunnel. Don't be childish.' (Not the direct quote but close enough.).

You can imagine what happened.

Be safe...be well.

 

[delcrossv]

5 years, no car, only a Sportster.
In Northern Illinois.
Yes, you can ride a Harley in a blizzard.

BTDT.

 

[hogblue]

04 Road King. Still have it. My wife used to own a floral shop and Valentines Day I would help deliver flowers. That day was a Saturday and when it was over we went home and collapsed in our lazy boys. She then said "you left something in the truck ". I said no, don't think so. Yes you did, go look.

So I ventured out to the garage opened the door to my truck and there it was. A big pink stuffed pig with a black leather vest. Attached was a card that said Happy Valentines Day. Here's the down payment for your new Harley.

We went to the shop the next Monday and ordered it. 2004 Road King. Peace officer Blue. Helped uncrate it when it came in. I still ride it.

 

[Echo40]

Had the insurance company not auctioned the remains of my '06 Road King Classic, it would probably still be sitting in my shop.

I started riding with an '03 Sportster, then moved into an '04 Super Glide. Then I met the lady that would be my wife and a child was on the way, so I moved up to an '06 Road King Classic, that ended up saving my life. While on my way to work on the King, a '97 Fleetwood crossed the center line and hit me head-on. The Cadillac was totalled on the spot, the King ultimately became a parts donor in Italy for a German company. And then there was me ...

I was in ICU in a coma for a week. The trauma team that took me off the medivac chopper never expected me to walk again. I then spent a week in PCU, then two weeks in a physical rehab learning how to get around in an electric wheelchair and how to use a transfer board. The only uninjured limb was my right arm. Three months later I took my first steps at my dad's viewing. Eight months later I took my final ride, by my choice.

If I still had a motorcycle, I probably would fawn all over it, but I doubt that I'd ride it. It isn't that I am afraid of the motorcycle, I am afraid of all the other motorists that are on the road and not paying attention to the other vehicles on the road.

I'm sorry to hear that, but it's good to hear that you recovered from your injuries as well as you did.

I absolutely despise people who don't watch where they're going on the road and feel that anyone who causes someone else such grievous injuries due to negligence behind the wheel of an automobile ought to have their Driver's License permanently revoked on top of having to cover all of the medical expenses and any lost revenue the victim may have had for the duration of their recovery, especially when it's a case such as this when an overprivileged parasite harms an honorable soldier.

 

[sigp220.45]

Rode motorcycles from age 12 until kid number one was on the way 20 years later. Sold the bike I had and never looked back.

 

[jimmyj]

Perhaps the ride around the block M/C folks are like gun guys that purchase a new firearm and just keep it in a safe ?

 

[lrrifleman]

Forte,

There is actually more to the story, and it is insulting. In the lady's defense (did I really say that?), the lady was in a diabetic stupor from the night before ... she should never have been out of her daughter's house, but she slipped out to go to the local Wawa (a convenience store) for a cup of coffee, and missed the turn to her daughter's house. She got a ticket, but I don't know what the charge was. Because she had a stroke at some point after the accident, her SIL managed to get the charges dropped in exchange for surrendering her license (I believe she was in her 80s at the time of the accident). Her insurance company then used the same approach to try to avoid a liability suit, claiming that since she had a stroke at some point after the accident, the accident was therefore an act of God and they had no liability. Hold on, it gets better.

Two years after the accident, her insurance company settled the liability suit. By that time, I had had eight of nineteen accident related surgeries, and my health insurance carrier had been billed close to four MILLION dollars, and her insurance company didn't pay one red cent of the medical charges.I can understand why she never apologized, but she never reached out to my family, nor did she have a clue how much she disrupted my family's life. Am I bitter? Yes, but it will do me no good. She died a few years later without an iota of how she affected someone's life.

 

[wood714]

Well here's the deal. No matter how much you like to ride, they beat you to death on the road, especially those more prone to vibration with air cooled v-twin engines, the louder ones you reference. Even the smoothest mc's still batter you in the wind.

I've been riding close to 40 years. There was a time when I got married and first had kids I stopped for a few years.

My last bike was a 02 Wide Glide with ape hangers. A few of us rode up to Wilmington NC a couple years ago, we had to stop for the night because it was raining so hard we couldn't see the road. We left to come home at 8:00 AM in pouring rain, we made gas stops, and had to troll it under a bridge north of Savanna due to lightning for about a half hour. Got home at 7:30 PM. You're right about the wind beating you to death riding close to 11 1/2 hours. I was the only one that didn't have a bagger.

I bought a 14 Street Glide not long after that. I can ride all day and the fairing, and 7" windscreen keeps all the wind from beating me to death.

This time of year my bike sits in the garage more than on the road. When there is rain all over and the heat index is 100+ it's just not enjoyable.

I did ride great multitudes Feb thru early June. I think it rained 4 times during those times this year.

 

[Oracle]

I worked with a guy who would go to Sturgis every year. He had his bike in a cargo trailer and take it out just before town. He would park it among the other bikes and walk around in his black leather regalia and black T-shirt. His wife would show up with the trailer to load up.

He passed away and his wife posted the bike for sale; less than 1,000 miles over a six year time period.