Survey Says...

[RC]

I've been riding since April of this year and have been enjoying every minute of it (except when my rear tire almost slid out and I about pissed myself).

In the past several months I have noticed a lot more riders out compared to years past.

I think more people are riding now than before and I'd like to know why.

So what's your reason for riding and have you noticed more people riding in your town?

Top ten answers are up for grabs!


RC
Houston, TX

[Rashad]

Well, ive always loved dirt bikes.. ever since i rode a Honda XR80 at my dad's friend's gun club. I fell in love with bikes... havent looked back since.
I started out building my own, and i built a mini-bike powered by a 5-hp Tecumseh motor (which i still have :mrgreen: ). Then i moved on to a 1981 80cc kawasaki KD80M dirtbike. I loved that, beat the living hell out of it, and even sold it for 650!! I started to notice street bikes, being of that age.. and i had to wait til i was 18 so i could legally make my own decisions.( dad had a bad experience, lost a friend when he was younger )

So.. i used that 650 from my KD80M to help pay off my car, then went bike hunting. I had remembered seeing a GS500E at the local stealer, but it was priced waaay too high. I loved that bike though.. and my friends exact words were "If you rode this to school one day that would be sooo awesome!"

Well, i liked that idea, being it was my senior year. So when i found a 1991 GS in the newspaper priced at 1900 i had to go check it out!! (this was three years ago). I went, i saw... i rode... I LOVED!!!!  I bought. For $1700... i had sooo much fun on this bike.. for about two months..

I rode with my buds with their ninjas, gixxers, katanas and the like.. but i loved my bike to death. Then tragedy struck  and it ran out of oil on a long trip... and i seized the motor.

Now, three years later, my passion resurfaced ( I had put it on hold because of getting into modding cars).. and i took my GS home and decided to fix her.

I see now that it was a blessing in disguise when it blew up. I have made sooo many friends and had a blast learning and fixing the bike. (thats right Srinath.. i had fun :nana: )

Well... thats my story.. i hope i answered your question.

[powrful1]

I have a death wish. :guns:
Or so I am told, no seriously I love anything that gets the blood pumping.  If I could find a cheap boat I would have one of those too.
I am currently in school flying planes, and I wanted another mode of transportation since my 96 Ranger now has 110,000 miles and a few things are going wrong, but nothing major yet.
So enter the GS.

Not to mention its nice to be out of the cage!

[gitarman]

i definitely think a lot more people are riding...which can be good and bad. Anyway I have grown up around bikes b/c my dad had sport bikes and now messes around with harleys. I wasn't allowed to buy a bike while in high school otherwise I prolly would never have owned a car. Now I have the GS500 which is perfect for a first bike.

[Von Vester]

I rode a KZ750 in college in the 1980's then got out of it in the 90's. Just bought my '93' GS500 to relive my youth. Now I'm loving it allo over again.

Small foot note: I noticed when I bought a Ford Escort that there were a lot of Ford Escorts on the road. I don't think the population of Escort loving drivers increased when I bought mine. Just that my awareness of the automobile increased when I actually owned one. Perhaps that is why you notice more motorcyclists when you are now among their noble ranks.

[WAP]

Definitely a lot of people riding these days, i agree, even compared to a couple of years ago around these parts. Or perhaps i've just been noticing more riders now that i'm "brethren".

Reasons? I've wanted to do this for at least 4 or 5 years by my count, finally got around to it this spring, when the bug really bit me. I'll admit i started party because of the "coolness" factor, but it turns out that motorcycling is so enjoyable and so rewarding, being cool is just icing on the cake. Not only is a bad ride better than a good day at work, but coming home from any ride makes me feel more "complete"...sounds corny i know, but i can't describe it any better. When's the last time you've seen cagers wave at eachother simply because they were both driving cars?

You're all my people, and i love you very, very much!  
   

[Rashad]

Definitely a lot of people riding these days, i agree, even compared to a couple of years ago around these parts. Or perhaps i've just been noticing more riders now that i'm "brethren".

Reasons? I've wanted to do this for at least 4 or 5 years by my count, finally got around to it this spring, when the bug really bit me. I'll admit i started party because of the "coolness" factor, but it turns out that motorcycling is so enjoyable and so rewarding, being cool is just icing on the cake. Not only is a bad ride better than a good day at work, but coming home from any ride makes me feel more "complete"...sounds corny i know, but i can't describe it any better. When's the last time you've seen cagers wave at eachother simply because they were both driving cars?

You're all my people, and i love you very, very much!  
   

Hehe, doesnt sound corny at all. I feel the same way bro.

I noticed the huge growth of sportbikes as well.. i say sportbikes because thats what is taking over IMO.. cruisers are ok too.. but young people in general love the looks and performance of the Gixxers etc...

I dont blame them. Problem is, some will get a bike and not take appropriate caution with their new toy. Hence the prayer request i posted. (thanks once again to you all by the way.. im gonna print it out once a lot of people have said something)

[vegbiker]

Eight years ago I bought a 1979 Honda CB400 - my first bike. I was in college and a few of my friends had bikes. I had grown up with the "bikes are dangerous" speech pounded into my head, but they also looked so fun, so I caved and got one of my own. My mom blamed my dad for getting me into cars when I was a little girl - lol! She says that started it all.

Then, I ran out of money (poor student) and the bike was the first to go (I had it only three months). I never thought about getting another bike cuz in Toronto (where I was living) it's a half-year thing with all the snow, etc. Plus, public transit was so good in that city that I even sold my car!

Three years ago, I moved to WA State, where riding can be a year-round thing (providing you have a good rainsuit ). I thought about getting a scooter, but kept meeting sportbike riders. Finally, in November, I got it bad! I signed up for the MSF course, bought a 1979 Yamaha XS650 and started riding!

I sold the Yammy and bought a GS cuz I', still a new rider and I know little about mechanics. I want a fun, reliable, sexy machine, and the GS fits the bill.

Now I have even more reasons to ride. It's so fun, it's economical, it's a great way to meet other people - and riders are usually so nice!

The weather for riding is fantastic here in Australia... never to cold to ride in Sydney or Brisbane! (I move from city to city)  :nana:

The petrol is expensive here also, in Sydney it is common to pay over $1.00 for a litre... so about $4.00 a gallon. Keep in mind in the late 90's the exchange rate between Aussie $ and US $ was very close (only recent that our $ sucks!), so cost of living etc is about the same... so yeah we pay shaZam! loads for fuel!  :x

We also pay way to much for cars and motorbikes... another example a BMW Z3 would be close to $90,000 here... what are they in the States? like $40,000?  

My GS I just bought this week was $7400 on the road, the asking price was $8850!!!  (Im a good haggler!)

So I guess what I am getting at was the first time I wanted to ride was because its cheap! Then I fell in love with the freedom, speed, power, ease etc of riding.

I dont think I will ever buy a car again?!  

Stay Safe

[JohNLA]

I started riding because it was cheap and I didn't need insurance in Florida and after 10 tickets the previous year that was a good thing . 15 years and 5 bikes later I will always pick a bike over a cage. They are only like 10 times more fun.
A buddy invited me to some free track day thing that Mazda and Mercedes were doing out here. Both weekends we had canyon rides planned. I didn't even think twice about choosing my GS over racing some boring cage. Nascar even boars me. Now if it had been a free track day on my GS I would have been all over that.

[Pkaaso]

I think the low interest rates and the low monthly payments you can find just about anywhere, are causeing a lot of people to consider a motorcycle over a car these days.  I see alot of new bikes hitting my local riding roads.

At Cooks Corner here in California, just up El Toro Blvd off the 5 frwy, I see alot of brand new cruisers and a lot of brand new riders in thier brand new black leathers and chaps and I just can't help but wonder (sadly) how many will go down in the near future and who will be able to walk away and who won't.

And, don't get me started on the squids on their brand new rockets wearing levis and tee shirts.

I always say a little prayer for all riders especially the new ones.  I figure they need it the most.

Paul

[snapper]

I was hooked as a kid.  I also got the "motorcycles are dangerous" speeches.  My mom broke her leg on her motorcycle... ummm, she fell over in a gas station.     Bike was too big/tall for her- lesson learned- Don't let my dad pick out a bike for you!  
I finally decided to get a motorcycle when I had the money to do so.  I didn't want to spend $$ on a new bike cause I knew I'd make mistakes.  So I did some research and GS500 was rated one of the #1 beginner bikes and it was sporty enough.   :mrgreen:   Then you look at things like gas cost...  Cheap cheap cheap!

So here we are!  I ride every day that I can.  I ride into work now (love the hov lane!) and I ride when ever I can.   I save over $100 riding into work.  Thats a lot of cash to save if you ask me!  Sometimes I have to remember to go out and start my car everyonce and awhile so when it rains it will start!

[The Buddha]

Oh yea on the new leathers and new HD/clone thing...I saw this girl in leathers saturday on a Dyna no less...Yea she had a leather tank top with studs and leather bicycle shorts also with studs to match the studs and fringe on the bike and guess what in traffic she was struggling and was so tense you could see all the blood vessels in her back...However I now know after doing a lot of stoopid things in the rain on my 2 cruisers...Its nearly impossible to wad a cruiser...Everything happens so slow on it, and the bike doesn't have the handling to let you do stoopid things and then lose it cos you were already at the limit and didn't see that little pothole etc...The GS asks you to whip it, it tells you to nail the throttle 1/2 way around the corner cos the power slide is way fun, it asks you to turn in tighter when you see a problem ahead...Cruisers throw off huge warning signs..like starting to grind parts long before you run out of traction, they are never out of suspension travel to absorb bumps cos they dont brake that hard anyway and the length and the weight at the extremeties makes any change in direction too slow to be a serious threat...You can run into stuff still if you not paying attention cos their brakes aren't worth a crap, but other than that the regular slide out/low/high side threat is a lot less.
Cool.
Srinath.

[V8Pinto]

I ride because:

I like the look people give me when it's pouring rain outside and 35 degrees and I'm next to them in traffic.  Or up near tahoe when it's snowing and people are all snuggled in their cars...

They look at you and think "WHAT A DAMN FREAK!!!!!"

But then they stay away from you because anybody THAT crazy must have something wrong with them. hahahahahaha

[V8Pinto]

There's nothing like cutting a series of perfect throttle downshifts in front of other guys girlfriends...

[JohNLA]

I want to ride with Snapper's dad He sounds like a funny guy.
I agree with Srinrath that cruiserrs are almost as boring as a cage. On our last ride we had Manjul's buddy with us on a 883 Sportster and you could tell the guy was into riding and was trying real hard to stay with the faster guys up front but would always end up in the back by the next stop sign. He was getting good leans the one time I stayed behind him. He just had zero power coming out of the turns. That is my favorite thing about riding, is gunnning it in the apex :mrgreen: I think cruisers are just to slow for me but if you are just going in a straight line I guess they would be cool.

[The Buddha]

Boring cruiser...Hell not all of them...Look at my eli...www.eliminator.org, left side top link to your pics and top of page 18...That will get you in trouble in a hurry...Enough power to yank your arms off from 2K to 10K+ dont have the cojones to twist its tail past that...and just short on handling (IMHO) for a good scare. Just the very sound of it idling through that sport bike pipe with unequal length headers is enough to conjure up images of running across the desert where the mountain watch on from their mountain top wistfully and rattle snakes scurry out of the way...200 series rear tire fits with room to spare...
Cool.
Srinath.

[The Antibody]

I like it alot.

 -Anti

[bbanjo]

Had dirt bikes 'til I could drive/ride on the street, and a '74 CB750 for about six years after that. I took a long break and caught the bug again last year.

Chicks dig it too. Hell, everyone digs it.

[octane]

I just dig goin' fast on the cheap.