Motorcycles are pretty dangerous. I know a kid who got broken up and put back together again. I had one when I was younger and the only reason I'm here to tell the tale is by the grace of a higher power. In neither incident were we at fault. In the case of my friend, he was trailriding and a guy came barreling down the wrong side of the road (in a truck) and took him out (the idiot probably didn't even see him, the visuals of a biker are essentially two dimensional and not very easy for a car driver to see). In my case, I was riding at night, crusing along and about to cross an intersection where I had the green light when some fool decided to run the red light. I was lucky that the person on passenger side screamed at him to stop, because I couldn't slow down and we are already at the intersection. Long-story-short, I pretty much gave that bike away soon after that incident, and haven't been on one since. Sorry to be such a killjoy, just wanted to make sure you know the otherside of the equation, and just like with trading, always manage your risk.
Riding isn't for everybody. I have 18 years experience on two wheels, more if you count dirt bikes, and I'll never give it up. And by two wheels, I mean two wheels and a motor. I think riding around in congested city traffic on a bicycle is insanity.
Won't argue with you, but I'd buy one again in a second if I knew I'd get to ride more than once week. To many trips with multiple kids these days.
My last street bike was an old '79 Yam XS-1100 Special. Not a rocket, but almost 100HP on it. Had tweaked-up carbs and a Kerker header. Top heavy as hell, and scary around 90+ mph. Bought it as a basket case and re-built it. Still got a Honda XL-250 dual-sport.
Lol, that sort of vintage, you would think you were on a harley, handle like a wheelbarrow full of watermelons. xl250? I thought they canned the xl range around early '90s? They were great bikes, utterly bombproof-you still see early 80's models for sale, at outrageous prices. What is it with 80's bikes? They cant be THAT collectable, still see vfr', gixxers, xj's ( even xl's) etc around at crazy sort of prices.
Yeah that old XS-11 sure wasn't a sport bike! My XL is a '86. Still runs great. Got more than 20,000 miles on it. I beat the heck out of it in the Mojave desert. Never has broken. Not one single time in 23 years!
There are 3 guys in my office in various stages of recovery from serious injuries resulting from motorcycle accidents. Any thoughts I may have had about getting a bike when I turned 50 are pretty much gone now. Being killed is one thing, but being potentially maimed for life is entirely different. No thanks. (I will admit that a well-made machine is a beautiful thing, nonetheless)
There is a third way, you run into something. I remember seeing a story in the local newspaper about a couple that on a very fast motorcycle getting on the highway. They sped really fast to get into traffic and the person in front of them did something foolish and unexpected. The driver could not lean the bike fast enough and ended up hitting a concrete wall. Every bone in their body was in pieces and they were both jelly.
All 3 dumped their bikes. Actually one of the guys is a 20-something right out of the Marines. He was in a sanctioned racing event, but still, he was just about asking for it.