I’ve been yearning for a bike for years, an overbearing mother when I was younger didn’t help realise the dream, then years later my mind wanders back to it, and now I am finally in a place that I could take the plunge (early 40’s) I’m not sure I want to.

The moment of realisation came about 10 minutes ago, a guy at work just bought a new bike (Honda Hornet) and I was having the usual look around/sit on it. Nothing felt right about it at all and all I could think was how alien it felt. But even weirder, like I would instantly kill myself on it.

Should I blame having kids for this?

If you buy a motorbike you will die.
(If you don’t you will die also)

Take some lessons, see if you like it.

You’ve been used to your own comfort zone for too long, try it you might like it.

Deffo get some lessons and pay for some instruction after that too… it will help more than you think.

Then.. if you still like it, buy one if you don’t like it nothings beeen wasted and you’ve learned a lot.

This ^ Even if you don’t go on to get a bike its a great experience.

Like chip says, take some lessons and give it a go. Motorbikes, much like bike bikes, have lots of types. If you fancy off-road, racing, on road, touring etc… there are lots of options.

Having only owned a motorbike for a number of years and no car I get the fear factor. I hate motorways personally due to a number of factors, managed to get to Andorra then over to Les Gets and back to sunny Yorkshire with very few motorways as I know I hate them.

What else have you chucked a leg over recently?

After a 25 year absence, I bought a motorbike this summer. Before doing so I had a wee refresher lesson. It was scary as ****.

I still bought it though 🙂

i grew up riding bikes (trials and enduro) and have had sports bikes on the road, but the sad thing is riding on the road is lethal. i never worried about my ability, i dont want to sound big headed and yes over confidence is the fastest way to come off, but i say it because what scared me was the **** coming round the bend on the wrong side. it did happen to me, thank the stars the car was only just over, but i still took off their wing mirror with my arm it was that close.

i also saw a car spin into the path of the car in front of me once, that really brought home how vulnerable you are.

so if you do ride on the road the best advice is ‘every bastard is out to kill you.’

or get your fussy out on dirt which is what i’ve decided to do and return to.

Nothing felt right about it at all and all I could think was how alien it felt.

If you’ve never ridden one before, of course it will feel Alien. Even weirder is that from 21-25 I was a keen motorcyclist, then I stopped for various reasons. Fast Forward to May this year, a few weeks before my 37th Birthday, and I randomly went and bought a bike again… 12 years off and it felt VERY Alien to me!

5 months and almost 4000 miles later, and an upgrade from a Honda VFR800 to an Aprilia RSV1000R, it feels as good as it ever did before. Only I’m a little older, a little wiser, and the insurance is a little cheaper now too… Still stings on a grp17 1000cc bike when you’ve got no no claims bonus mind!

But even weirder, like I would instantly kill myself on it.

That just means you have a healthy level of respect for it, a good place to be. A couple of lessons later, you’ll still have a healthy level of respect for the machine, but you’ll realise that it doesn’t ride itself and that you are indeed in control of all of its parameters… The only thing you can’t control is the other idiots on the road, so of course you ride in an incredibly defensive manner in order to mitigate the chances of the worst happening.

Similar to you OP a terrified mother and paralysed family friend has made me think bikes are dangerous.

I’ve always loved watching people ride them with envy.

Anything better than Honda or Yamaha? I like the 500cc up to 750cc,

Do the cbt, the learning curve is steep but satisfying. Even if you never pursue it it’s a great day out.

In my 40s here, driven for many years and always fancied a bike. I did my CBT last year and although it was very weird at first, it becomes normal very quickly. You’ve just got to treat everything as a potential hazard and be very, very aware all of the time.

I’m still on my 125, will go for a bigger licence next Spring. I’ve spotted some nice bigger bikes, a 700cc Yamaha will do me nicely next I think!

But I love it. Wish I’d done it sooner.

Anything better than Honda or Yamaha? I like the 500cc up to 750cc,

KTM of course.

690 duke.

I’ll have a look thanks weeksy

Haven’t ridden a bike in, ooo, six or seven years and don’t have the cash to indulge now, but if the lottery numbers come good, the biggest part of my toy investment would be based on two wheels.

I’ve never had a bike either, probably for similar reasons – parental pressure. I wondered in my 50s if should get one. I decided no as I knew very well that even in sensible middle age I would want to get my knee down on the Cat and Fiddle.

Learned to ride almost four years ago, just on a whim.

Ridden some amazing places, across Europe and into a little bit of Africa. Slow, fast, onroad, off-road, it’s all good.

Rachel

What bike you got Rachel?

KTM – yeah right only when they’re working but mere mortals cannot simply afford a mechanic to fix them every 5 mins when they suffer with faults from factory.

I gotta admit I miss my original one that was 2nd hand and had been sorted as best as poss, had good times!
New one completely different story.

Shame so Triumph in the future is looking likely, basically a bike that’s far more reliable and passes qc with a reasonable standard of inspection than other brands.

It’s also worth doing advanced training too which just gives you more insight and confidence into how to ride properly and get aquainted with a larger capacity bike.

Enjoy!

Same as. Once you’ve done the CBT though, they don’t feel as strange. Then, go to the Earls Court show and sit on dozens – some feel right, others don’t.

Just started work after a short period of funemployment and my mind is once again turning to getting the full licence and a motorcycle.

slowoldman – Member

I’ve never had a bike either, probably for similar reasons – parental pressure. I wondered in my 50s if should get one. I decided no as I knew very well that even in sensible middle age I would want to get my knee down on the Cat and Fiddle.

A big part of the reason I gave up bikes. thrashing 1000cc bikes around the highlands was going to end up either in jail or a big hole in a hedge somewhere. I’d ride something sub 40bhp again tho like my old BSA. Something you can thrash at not too ridiculous speeds

I had bikes from 15 up to about 32. 44 now and just got back on.

I’ve never liked modern bikes though, always preferred something a bit older. I heard a saying that you should never trust a bike you can’t look through. 😀

The modern sports bikes do look like they’d feel a bit alien and they’re just insanely quick. A lot seem to have a sort of wasp-based Transformer look to them.

My 1982 400 is just perfect. It’s slow in comparison to modern bikes but can get going if it wants but it feels, like a bike.

It’s nice as it is but I’ll be doing a few mods over the winter.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/YBtXJ4]Untitled[/url] by Kayak23, on Flickr

Do it.

A hornet is quite big for someone with no experience. Try a 125 first?

Throughout my 20’s a good few of my mates had motorbikes (I had a company car and subsequently the nominated pub/taxi driver) and a small piece of me was a little jealous.. until the winter came. Anyway, don’t want to put a downer on the thread (because I think bikes are ace) but I lost two best friends to motorbikes and obviously that’s always had an affect on my attitude towards bike riders.. in the main because I see a lot of stupidity and inappropriate riding by them.. but I do love the idea of freedom, the thrill and excitement and sheer use ability of them.. I have owned a couple of trials bikes, a TL200 and a TL125 and a Cota350 all at the same time my mates were ring dinging around on KH250/500’s and YamRD250/LC350’s and such… A few years ago I bought a Vespa GT300 for riding around Town and getting to/from work and I really enjoyed it. Anyone who has ridden in London will tell you it’s horrendous, but it really isn’t if you ride to the conditions and the myriad of other drivers abilities/inabilities. I rode it home to the Coast a few times down the A3 and the lanes out of Guildford through Liss/Petersfield and it was a fabulous way to see the countryside.. and now I have a thing for big Scooters like the this:

And I think I might buy one early next year..
But my heart still beats fast for old school two stroke ring dingers like the KH/RD/LC’s of Old, the nearest I’ve found that would replicate the feel is Aprillas RG250 ringer..

I sold my Vespa to a work colleague who moved out of Town and needed to commute from Dulwich into CW, he’s still got it and I still see it and a twinge comes back.

Anyway, I’m not sure what the point of my post is, but I guess it’s this.. even though some shitty things happen through your lifetime there is still something very earthy about owning and riding bikes.

Do a CBT, (don’t be put off by the CBT bikes, they are deliberately horrid). Then do a direct access tatster course. The bigger bikes are a world away from the CBT ones.

Would definitely recommend a KTM. My 950sm is essentially a glorified 105bhp downhill bike. The only bit that has ever let me down is the shitty Magura clutch. Oh and after 10 years / 35000 miles, ethanol in our crappy petrol is making the tank porus.

I treat every ride as a possible death scenario. The stats are very much against you. Much worse if you’re a returning Middle Aged rider. Fair weather riders were also significantly more likely to cop it in one study bike was touting a while ago.

If you go on to learn, do full direct access, then do some advanced rider training with the plod or IAM. Plod riders are awesome. Amazingly fast in a way everyone else isn’t. The stories and photos they share would change the way everyone uses the road – I’d recommended their courses even to non-riders.

I realised that I wasn’t cut out for a motorbike nearly 40 years ago when I announced to my parents at the age of 15 that I wanted a FS1E, to which my father ( who in his youth rode a Vincent B1000) said that’s fine, but I had to purchase it myself and learn how to maintain it. Cool I thought and went out and got myself a Saturday and holiday job in the workshop at Romsey Motorcycles.

After a number of months of this and morning and evening paper rounds, I saved up enough money and also learnt how to do most jobs that would be required to maintain the machine. However, during that time, I saw so many flattened bikes come into the workshops, that my sense of self preservation took over and I used the money when I turned 17 to get my car licence instead.

Two wheels for cycling for me 8)

Tails – BMW S1000XR. Love it!!

It’s my second bike. My first was a BMW F800GSA

Rachel

Spend it on a another bling MTB !

I always wanted a motorbike when I was young and finally got one when I was 25 and had at least one ever since (25 years), if they get you they’re an itch that’s difficult to get rid off!

They’re, imho, not as dangerous as the naysayers give out about and it’s much safer if you do some advanced training, tbh given that a lot of it is observation skills even advanced car courses will be of benefit as you’re taught to raise your eye line and find hazards much earlier which is equally valuable on two wheels. After twenty five years I’ve had one off when I first start and it could have been easily avoided by reading the traffic correctly and one slow speed spill on oil and I used to do a big miles and a lot of it quiet fast through London traffic. I don’t go out thinking I’m risking my life but I also don’t ride like a chopper, like some of the commuters around here.

Go for it, ktm, Honda, big scooter they’re all good :).

God I’ve just realised I’m now in the “The older I am the faster I was..” stage of life 🙁

tdog – Member
KTM – yeah right only when they’re working but mere mortals cannot simply afford a mechanic to fix them every 5 mins when they suffer with faults from factory.

Are KTM’s that unreliable? Someone must have forgotten to tell my KTM’s that they’re supposed to be unreliable. Thousands of miles and nearly a decade of KTM’s and only a failed rectifier on the 990 SM. Twice the mileage in the time on the 1190 Adv and it’s had a battery. Everything else with the bikes has just been servicing and consumables.
The Honda I had before left me stranded when the HISS through a wobbler curing the ignition going uphill mid way round a hairpin bend which brought a fully loaded bike to a standstill in the most dangerous place possible. The rectifier died on that bike too.

I had motorbikes for years, and loads of pals with bikes.
Noone died. We had fun.

YMMV

Redsox, as others have said many different bikes, styles and engine configurations. I’ve thrown my leg over some very popular bikes and hated them straight away, even after riding them I hadn’t changed my mind.
Try some other bikes at the dealers, take some lessons and go from there.

Are KTM’s that unreliable? Someone must have forgotten to tell my KTM’s that they’re supposed to be unreliable. Thousands of miles and nearly a decade of KTM’s and only a failed rectifier on the 990 SM. Twice the mileage in the time on the 1190 Adv and it’s had a battery. Everything else with the bikes has just been servicing and consumables.
The Honda I had before left me stranded when the HISS through a wobbler curing the ignition going uphill mid way round a hairpin bend which brought a fully loaded bike to a standstill in the most dangerous place possible. The rectifier died on that bike too.

Same as you. I’m on my 11th KTM and toured Europe, done 20 track days on them and again, Like you, only ever had a rectifier issue.

What about an off-road ‘experience’ day rather than road bike lessons/CBT? I’ve got a road bike licence (had it since 2002) but balls to riding on the road now, there are just waaaaaaaaay too many arseholes* about.

OP, your mate’s Honda might have the stupid standard narrow, one-size-doesn’t-fit-all bar on it. Naked bikes make loads more sense with wider MX bars on them.

* of which I was one, I used to enjoy the speeder bike chase/Tron light cycle stupidity of filtering through traffic on the A1 at warpspeed on my TRX850. I don’t even own a road bike now 😕 I’ve got a 125 2T that very occasionally gets wheeled out for the odd trackday.

Took my full test in 2008 and rode through a succession of bikes until 2012 when a BMW driver side swiped me on the M25 and wrote off my lovely SV1000 (and put a nice little hole in my shin for good measure).

Took a couple of years to get the bug again, but now I’m very much a fair weather ‘get it out of your system in spring/summer’ rider.

I like having a cheap bike on standby in the garage for rare commuting/football parking duties but even in the 10 years I’ve been riding I’ve noticed an increased amount of pressure on the road systems, plus I’m less willing to bounce along the overtaking lane of the M25 in my older age..

They are a brilliant toy, but I’m dreading my son coming of age and wanting to ride – vulnerability is an understatement.

Just get an e-bike.

My KTM 690 was also reliable, and a pig to ride – never again will I have a big single. Bikes should have four cylinders IMO 🙂

4 cylinders! That’s twice as many as needed and probably in the wrong configuration too 😀

That’s twice as many as needed and probably in the wrong configuration too

Applauds loudly against a backdrop of an Akrapovic-equipped LC8 at full chat.

Twins do sound good. When I park up, i get to listen to the sound they make whilst they try and catch up with me on my inline 4… 😆

Rachel

i get to listen to the sound they make whilst they try and catch up with me on my inline 4…

Hmm, and the OP is saying he’s not cut out for bikes, sounds like twin more appropriate to me 😆

V-twin all way. Although I’d consider a parallel twin (in T100 guise as well as I have that particular itch to scratch…)