Sad realization

[davephipps]

Looking at my riding for the last 3 years I've come to the conclusion that I'm now a motorcycle commuter. I haven't carved a corner in so long that I think I would highside trying it now.
Maybe it has something to do with having a wife, 4 young kids, and a 100 year old house to fix up. I just don't seem to have the time to sport ride anymore
Should I put the FZR away and buy a scooter or just retune the fizzer back to stock, get some commuting tires?

SIGH......

[95FZR600]

I would KEEP the FZR and buy a cruiser. Thats what I ride when I feel worn out but its not to often. I swap back and forth between the two.

[reelrazor]

No reason you cannot commute and sport ride at the same time.

Me, I would (and DO) find alternate, more fun, commuting routes and use that time as 'me' time. Even if it you can jump on an interchange, do an offramp, do an onramp back into the interchange and back to your orig. route you can add some fun.

I am also big on doing laps/loops. I'll go to work on one route and home via another

[megaloxana]

From sportbike to scooter? I couldn't even imagine.

[ShogunTX]

You can still carve in the City, When I want to blow some steam I will "ride the clovers." Most mid sized cities have at least one set of clovers. Perfect long sweeping 360s often with slight banks built in. Just keep your eyes scanning on the entrance and exit.

Clovers Keep my tires balanced!

[yamaha_george]

Looking at my riding for the last 3 years I've come to the conclusion that I'm now a motorcycle commuter. I haven't carved a corner in so long that I think I would highside trying it now.
Maybe it has something to do with having a wife, 4 young kids, and a 100 year old house to fix up. I just don't seem to have the time to sport ride anymore
Should I put the FZR away and buy a scooter or just retune the fizzer back to stock, get some commuting tires?

SIGH......

Dave,
Stop feeling sorry for yourself, life is for living if you throw the towel in now you will regret it later in life.
Me, I'm 62 in 8 days time and i still sport ride with the rest of the looneys, they look shocked when i take my helmet of and they see a mop of grey hair.
Get of your butt and ride !

[ragedigital]

I wish I had the ability to commute more on my bike. I also have 4 kids and a basement remodeling project that almost involves building a whole other house... I understand the frustration.

I wouldn't mind a bike that would allow a little better posture when commuting though. Need to start saving my pennies I suppose.

[PIMPMYFZR]

Man atleast you guys get to ride , last time i rode my bike was thanksgiving day and hadnt touched her for a month before that .. I take the scenic/Long routes home when i feel like riding because the everyday same a&b route does get boring after a while no matter how nice out it is ..

[yamaha_george]

Man atleast you guys get to ride , last time i rode my bike was thanksgiving day and hadnt touched her for a month before that .. I take the scenic/Long routes home when i feel like riding because the everyday same a&b route does get boring after a while no matter how nice out it is ..

PMF,
Boring is in your head nowhere else!

A to B can be done so many ways it aint funny

My late mothers place is the worst bloody ride on our motorway I used it once and said never again, I have used 6 routes there some country some through the city (yuck ) some town & green areas of town , some thro the country for real.

Get the map out plan , ok if you are going to work / school 5 days a week it is a little more difficult, Good Lord you can plan to make a bike different to all of us you can plan a route surely ?

ALL of us here are creative so go create a different way ...................

[YAM93]

Keep the FZR and buy a Kawasaki KLR650. It's fast enough for freeway speeds PLUS you can go offroad with it. It's more fun off-road, trust me.



Sport riding after a certain age, especially where you live, starts to get bad for the brain and can possibly be bad for the body, considering the traffic just gets worse and worse and the people get progressively stupid with each impending "de-generation".

[mike94fzr600]

i ride 10-15 mi out of my way to work just to hit a fun road to work. this is my first bike and i am by far no hardcore rider but i find a to b rides a lot more fun than an a to b drive anyday

[yamaha_george]

Keep the FZR and buy a Kawasaki KLR650. It's fast enough for freeway speeds PLUS you can go offroad with it. It's more fun off-road, trust me.



Sport riding after a certain age, especially where you live, starts to get bad for the brain and can possibly be bad for the body, considering the traffic just gets worse and worse and the people get progressively stupid with each impending "de-generation".

The KLR is a neat ride as is the big Aprillia, but as too a certain age for sports riding well I am as i said 62 in what 5 days now and I ain't got there yet so I think most of you young pups are safe for a while LOL

[ALMOST]

Looking at my riding for the last 3 years I've come to the conclusion that I'm now a motorcycle commuter. I haven't carved a corner in so long that I think I would highside trying it now.
Maybe it has something to do with having a wife, 4 young kids, and a 100 year old house to fix up. I just don't seem to have the time to sport ride anymore
Should I put the FZR away and buy a scooter or just retune the fizzer back to stock, get some commuting tires?

SIGH......

Dave,
Stop feeling sorry for yourself, life is for living if you throw the towel in now you will regret it later in life.
Me, I'm 62 in 8 days time and i still sport ride with the rest of the looneys, they look shocked when i take my helmet of and they see a mop of grey hair.
Get of your butt and ride !

very well said

[95FZR600]

You could always convert your upper triples to accept the risers and raise your bars up.

I rode today to and from work. This morning I rode the Intruder and then when I came home from lunch I grabbed the FZR.

[davephipps]

OK, firstly (is that a real word?),I'm not feeling sorry for myself. Mainly it seems I'm using the incorrect tool for the job.
I have a five or 10 minute commute with lots of stop lights. I work in the middle of downtown, so the adventurous commute doesn't work here. When I lived in Everett WA and commuted to Redmond I found many a fun route to keep me happy. Here not so much.
Taking care of the kids and working on the house has also killed whatever spare time I had. Maybe when I finish repairing the foundation I'll have more time. Till then I'm thinking that I need a ride that will match the way I'm riding. Perhaps this will get me going on fixing the Wing and the CB550. I think my old CB would make a fine commuter. The thought of the KLR is pretty appealing too.
I might be a bit frustrated too. There isn't anywhere close to do track days(when I finally have time), and the road conditions here pretty much suck. Lots of pot holes and frost heave. Not very good for sport riding. I miss the long commutes on fun roads in Washington. I also miss the WMRRA track days.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention my frustration with the riders in the area. I get to hear "So yer ridin a rice burner/crotch rocket, HUH?" from the Harley guys all the time. That't about 90% of the riders here. The other 10% seem to be squids riding very new powerful bikes wearing flip flops, shorts, and w/o helmets.
That last bit really doesn't have much to do with my riding style. I just wanted to vent about the local MotoCulture here.

OK goodnight everyone. I'm off to plan my budget for geting all the bikes together. I've also decided that I'm gonna keep the FZR for the time when I can ride like a lunatic again.