I Feel Done (and It's Really Strange.)

I have been mad for motorcycles since I was 15 years old. Mike Henning pushed a 1973 Triumph sales brochure at me under the desk in 7th grade English class and I have not been the same since. Those full color pictures of every Triumph model from the Hurricane to the 500 Trophy Trail looked like pure adventure. I lusted after bikes. I learned to work on them. I worked as a mechanic in a Meridan Triumph dealership. I learned to love Norton's and BMW's. I went racing in the 90s, did track days and made many motorcycle touring trips. I owned bike from Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki to Moto Guzzi, Moto Morini and Ossa to name just a few and I have loved every one. I had a great time riding dirt bikes with my son. But something happened.

I don't know if it's because I lost pretty much all of my motorcycling friends or got out of the motorcycle industry. I don't know if it's because I got older or that I feel a little unsure of myself on the road. All I know is that the fire has faded and it's really strange to me. It's like I have lost a piece of myself. Sure I still watch the Internet classifieds for bikes but mostly it returns admonitions of "I had that and I had one of those and I owned one of those!" I do not feel the need to own another one. (Still have the Norton) I am not riding as much. I seem to be waiting for the perfect day or when I "feel like it." It seems as if those days are further and further apart.

I can't even generate the excitement for a new project. Since I sold my '66 T100 my shop and tools stand idle. I don't feel like dumping time and money into a bike no one wants. I am not sure why I am even writing this. I feel lazy. I feel unmotivated but I don't know how to rekindle the fire.

Big_Jim59 said:

I have been mad for motorcycles since I was 15 years old. Mike Henning pushed a 1973 Triumph sales brochure at me under the desk in 7th grade English class and I have not been the same since. Those full color pictures of every Triumph model from the Hurricane to the 500 Trophy Trail looked like pure adventure. I lusted after bikes. I learned to work on them. I worked as a mechanic in a Meridan Triumph dealership. I learned to love Norton's and BMW's. I went racing in the 90s, did track days and made many motorcycle touring trips. I owned bike from Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki to Moto Guzzi, Moto Morini and Ossa to name just a few and I have loved every one. I had a great time riding dirt bikes with my son. But something happened.

I don't know if it's because I lost pretty much all of my motorcycling friends or got out of the motorcycle industry. I don't know if it's because I got older or that I feel a little unsure of myself on the road. All I know is that the fire has faded and it's really strange to me. It's like I have lost a piece of myself. Sure I still watch the Internet classifieds for bikes but mostly it returns admonitions of "I had that and I had one of those and I owned one of those!" I do not feel the need to own another one. (Still have the Norton) I am not riding as much. I seem to be waiting for the perfect day or when I "feel like it." It seems as if those days are further and further apart.

I can't even generate the excitement for a new project. Since I sold my '66 T100 my shop and tools stand idle. I don't feel like dumping time and money into a bike no one wants. I am not sure why I am even writing this. I feel lazy. I feel unmotivated but I don't know how to rekindle the fire.

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The only thing that is constant, is change.

Get a muscle car.

You have the memories. No one can take them from you.

Slick

We all go through times like that and even worst when you retire from the work force, I been retired for 10 years now and I loved riding my bikes from 15 years old, but now retired not riding every day, but I can't go more than 2 weeks before I get the DTs and have to take the bike out, my Norton I built and I love mucking around with it and is always a frill when I do take it out, I stopped riding it every day when 12 months before retiring and brought a new 2013 Triumph Thruxton and 12 month later a forced redundancy at 55 years old (after 31 years at the job), but the Thruxton took over everyday duties from the Norton, I upgraded to a new 2016 1200 Thruxton in 2018 (old new stock) and these days with covid and no longer working I am clocking up less miles on both bikes and a lot of my old riding mates have become slack.
Things change as we get older but with me I still love taking the bikes out, my Norton is my fun bike and my Thruxton is my run around and traveling bike, my Norton has always been a reliable bike so only maintenance is kept up on it, the Thruxton is always ready to go anytime and at short notice long distant travels.
Without my workshop and bikes I be bored sh itless while in retirement and I still have my 1960 Manxman project bike to finish off when I feel like working on it, it's OK to have a break from the bikes but if you get rid of them you surely will miss them as really they keep me happy and getting away from the wife sometimes is a blessing, well for me anyway and she knows when I been cooped up too long I need to get away.
No I never get like that as bikes have been my life from dirt bikes to my Norton I have owned for 48 years, at 65 years old the bikes keep me young and free when I need to get out.
Just don't despair, have a break but never give up, we all have our lazy times and having a hobby is better than sitting around doing NOTHING.

Ashley

texasSlick said:

You have the memories. No one can take them from you.

Slick

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When I found out my old racing buddy Jerry had died, I started thinking about all the people from my past that I am the keeper of their stories. Jerry was a great story teller and story generator. Then there was Jack Hatfield from my bike shop days that told me his WWII stories or Russell B. Suskind aka Cisco my old riding buddy. He was a seller of corporate aircraft and consummate sales man. Their stories are all still a part of me.

ashman said:

We all go through times like that and even worst when you retire from the work force, I been retired for 10 years now and I loved riding my bikes from 15 years old, but now retired not riding every day, but I can't go more than 2 weeks before I get the DTs and have to take the bike out, my Norton I built and I love mucking around with it and is always a frill when I do take it out, I stopped riding it every day when 12 months before retiring and brought a new 2013 Triumph Thruxton and 12 month later a forced redundancy at 55 years old (after 31 years at the job), but the Thruxton took over everyday duties from the Norton, I upgraded to a new 2016 1200 Thruxton in 2018 (old new stock) and these days with covid and no longer working I am clocking up less miles on both bikes and a lot of my old riding mates have become slack.
Things change as we get older but with me I still love taking the bikes out, my Norton is my fun bike and my Thruxton is my run around and traveling bike, my Norton has always been a reliable bike so only maintenance is kept up on it, the Thruxton is always ready to go anytime and at short notice long distant travels.
Without my workshop and bikes I be bored sh itless while in retirement and I still have my 1960 Manxman project bike to finish off when I feel like working on it, it's OK to have a break from the bikes but if you get rid of them you surely will miss them as really they keep me happy and getting away from the wife sometimes is a blessing, well for me anyway and she knows when I been cooped up too long I need to get away.
No I never get like that as bikes have been my life from dirt bikes to my Norton I have owned for 48 years, at 65 years old the bikes keep me young and free when I need to get out.
Just don't despair, have a break but never give up, we all have our lazy times and having a hobby is better than sitting around doing NOTHING.

Ashley

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Same here, 65, retired, work was my thing. I loved new adventures, new jobs and new career opportunities and then found out I was too old to start fresh. I am too deaf, too blind and too old. Plus, since I am drawing my Social Security (pension) it's hard to work without messing up my finances. I has been raining a lot here (storms, tornadoes and golf ball sized hail really) so that may have a bit to do with my lack of motorcycle seat time.

Big_Jim59 said:

Same here, 65, retired, work was my thing. I loved new adventures, new jobs and new career opportunities and then found out I was too old to start fresh. I am too deaf, too blind and too old. Plus, since I am drawing my Social Security (pension) it's hard to work without messing up my finances. I has been raining a lot here (storms, tornadoes and golf ball sized hail really) so that may have a bit to do with my lack of motorcycle seat time.

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I was planning an early retirement, but the redundancy came one year early, but worked out well for me as I got a good pay out and was born before 1960 was able to get my superannuation at 55, have to be 67 years old to get the old age pension here in Aus so I have still got 2 years to go, I just pull a fortnight pension off my super so am self funded retiree that the wife and I live on, I own everything, house and all, but those pesky bills keep coming in and living cost keep going up (bastards), we live on a tight budget each fortnight, but it was the best thing to happen to me to be able to retire while I can still enjoy it, we live a very simple life, have my garden, shed/workshop, my toys, my dogs and the wife, the kids have all left home doing their own thing and the most important one of all my bikes and sanity and still have money in the bank left over for rainy days.
I know what you are going through as we have had one of the wettest summers in such a long time, Australia is one of the dryest countries in the world and my state of Queensland has been declared for the first time in a long time to be completely drought free and hasn't my gardens loved it, two days before winter and we still getting more rain on the way in the next few days, thank goodness I have a well set up shed to keep me amused, snooker table, big slot car track set up, music, a good bar fridge and of course the bikes.
For me life couldn't get any better, well it could if I won lotto lol, I am just enjoying life no matter what is thrown at me, but at the moment I am stuck at home caring for the wife after her eye surgery, but healing up quick so be out and about again soon.

Ashley

Going through the same thing myself . I will be 71 in July .
I’ve had my own carpentry business for 15 years and have absolutely no interest in doing carpentry any more . I had to retire my bird dog two seasons ago due to his arthritis and sadly had to put him down two weeks ago . I don’t want another dog so the bird hunting chapter of my life may be closed . The motorcycle fire may be lowered a bit but still there . I still do the maintenance but it now seems a chore whereas I used to enjoy it . I have a 1956 Model 99 to restore but since I don’t work much anymore I am not sure I want to invest the money in it but my interest in it is returning a little. I sold my Honda ST 1300 a couple years ago- had it for 17 years. No interest in distance riding anymore and I don’t miss it .
Still love riding them though. Most of the people I rode with have stopped riding or passed on . I picked up playing guitar again a few years ago - that seems to have entered a lull currently as well .
My lifetime hobby of scale modeling is still going strong - probably the biggest constant in my life . I have been battling Trigeminal neuralgia for several years now and I blame my loss of interest in things on this disease. Some believe there may be a link to the early CoVid vaccine. The timing is right for me but who knows?
Fortunately I am still pretty healthy other than that .
I think that most of us here are at the age where this sort of attitude is to be expected- at least in varying degrees.
I am still glad to be able to get out of bed every day.
Enough moaning for now - LOL

Stop your moaning and get on your bike lol, every day I wake up is a good day and even better when I am out on the bike.

Big_Jim59 said:

I have been mad for motorcycles since I was 15 years old. Mike Henning pushed a 1973 Triumph sales brochure at me under the desk in 7th grade English class and I have not been the same since. Those full color pictures of every Triumph model from the Hurricane to the 500 Trophy Trail looked like pure adventure. I lusted after bikes. I learned to work on them. I worked as a mechanic in a Meridan Triumph dealership. I learned to love Norton's and BMW's. I went racing in the 90s, did track days and made many motorcycle touring trips. I owned bike from Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki to Moto Guzzi, Moto Morini and Ossa to name just a few and I have loved every one. I had a great time riding dirt bikes with my son. But something happened.

I don't know if it's because I lost pretty much all of my motorcycling friends or got out of the motorcycle industry. I don't know if it's because I got older or that I feel a little unsure of myself on the road. All I know is that the fire has faded and it's really strange to me. It's like I have lost a piece of myself. Sure I still watch the Internet classifieds for bikes but mostly it returns admonitions of "I had that and I had one of those and I owned one of those!" I do not feel the need to own another one. (Still have the Norton) I am not riding as much. I seem to be waiting for the perfect day or when I "feel like it." It seems as if those days are further and further apart.

I can't even generate the excitement for a new project. Since I sold my '66 T100 my shop and tools stand idle. I don't feel like dumping time and money into a bike no one wants. I am not sure why I am even writing this. I feel lazy. I feel unmotivated but I don't know how to rekindle the fire.

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Don't let the old man in mate

Big_Jim59 said:

I have been mad for motorcycles since I was 15 years old. ... But something happened... I am not sure why I am even writing this. I feel lazy. I feel unmotivated but I don't know how to rekindle the fire.

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"been there, done that"

I spent almost two years building my "barndo" at the ranch, working in sub-freezing cold, 100F+ heat, wind, dust, rain, mud, everything. 90% of the time, I worked alone. I once came 2 or 3 minutes from heat stroke, and ALMOST became a basket case; I suffered the results of heat exhaustion for a month or more. Nearing the finish line, the timing coincided with my 66th birthday, so I pushed REALLY hard to get it "presentable" and invited family & friends for a big bash.

Since then, I think I've "used up all my goody". I can't tolerate the heat as much, I tire more easily, and my body is doing things it never did before, related to my general constitution and "bodily function routine".

Once the barndo was done, I started to "un-pack" my storage trailers and pull out the bikes I had been wanting to work on for over 5 years, and so far I have only gotten 4 projects done, 2 of which were "new work" reviving my late friend's Moto Guzzis to sell for the family.

Sally and I have ridden together a couple of times, and I've ridden the ZRX here and there in nice weather, but IT'S NOT THE SAME. It no longer feels effortless, I have to focus on riding and my surroundings more than ever. Semi-familiar roads don't feel as natural. Topping the ton doesn't have the same thrill, there's no natural feel to "leaving it pinned" till I run out of road, I just back off and start thinking about where I'm headed, how traffic will be, etc.

I did spend almost a month and almost $2K, loading, hauling, unloading, re-loading, re-hauling, and unloading again with 9 of my previously un-titled and/or VT registered bikes, and got 7 of them Texas titled, 1 more just pending Louisiana to reply why they "changed" the serial number on a Commando special, and my late friend's wife to sign an Heirship Affidavit on a Beemer. If I croak now, that's a heck of a lot of work my family won't have to do.

Still, riding doesn't have the same zing. Maybe after our 40th anniversary dive trip, it'll be better...

Things are meant to grow, bear fruit, and then plant the seeds for the next generation. That is the natural cycle of life. It's rewarding to help people who are new to things to see the goals ahead and to encourage and assist them to achieve the goals which you have behind you...

Much of this may be due to finally recognizing our own mortality.
In our youth many if not all of us were certain we would live forever.
( cue large flashing neon sign ). WRONG !!

I would ride more but modern traffic and the drivers involved spook me. And I know if I am spooked I shouldn't be riding. My ventures out now are now sunrise, weekends and holidays.
My skills are still solid and I do venture out once in a while during "normal" hours but I have very little confidence in the modern day automobile driver.
I get what the OP is saying, there are many times when I consider riding but feel uninspired to do so and I have been riding since I was 8 yrs. old.
Quite often now, more than ever before, I am thinking I don't want to chance getting busted up because some dummy was looking at their cell phone or in-car computer screen when they are supposed to be managing 4 tons of metal and plastic travelling 40 MPH.
I am more than a bit haunted by the knowledge there are so many more really bad drivers these days, more than I can ever remember.

OMG You all are the best! I type out a rant, vent my frustrations and get back encouragement, well thought out responses and commiseration. I am humbled and grateful for your friendship.

If it wasn't for my wife's Motor Maid rides my long distance rides would be over. No zing! Been thru Corvetts, guns, street rods, times change. Nothing is as much fun as the first time ( except sex !?!?!). British bikes started for me about 20 years ago, always had motorcycles Harleys Yamahas, still interesed but have slowed down a bit. Have two project bikes I doubt I'll finish should sell them. Can't decide what I want to do when I grow up! LOL I'm almost 71

grandpaul said:

Since then, I think I've "used up all my goody". I can't tolerate the heat as much, I tire more easily, and my body is doing things it never did before, related to my general constitution and "bodily function routine".

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About three years ago I replaced the windows in my old house, replaced the wood siding, reworked the chimney and slapped on fresh paint. I purchased a rough terrain JLG man lift and, with a little work it became invaluable for the endeavor. It took me about 15 months to do all the work, working part time. By the last window and the work on the north side something had changed. I became noticeable weaker. I lived with a rising fear that I would get the old window out, the new frame prepped and run out of steam before being able to fit the new window. It was a new and rather frighting experience. I have always relied and taken for granted my strength and just like that, it was gone.

Never give up!

Big_Jim59 said:

I have been mad for motorcycles since I was 15 years old. Mike Henning pushed a 1973 Triumph sales brochure at me under the desk in 7th grade English class and I have not been the same since. Those full color pictures of every Triumph model from the Hurricane to the 500 Trophy Trail looked like pure adventure. I lusted after bikes. I learned to work on them. I worked as a mechanic in a Meridan Triumph dealership. I learned to love Norton's and BMW's. I went racing in the 90s, did track days and made many motorcycle touring trips. I owned bike from Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki to Moto Guzzi, Moto Morini and Ossa to name just a few and I have loved every one. I had a great time riding dirt bikes with my son. But something happened.

I don't know if it's because I lost pretty much all of my motorcycling friends or got out of the motorcycle industry. I don't know if it's because I got older or that I feel a little unsure of myself on the road. All I know is that the fire has faded and it's really strange to me. It's like I have lost a piece of myself. Sure I still watch the Internet classifieds for bikes but mostly it returns admonitions of "I had that and I had one of those and I owned one of those!" I do not feel the need to own another one. (Still have the Norton) I am not riding as much. I seem to be waiting for the perfect day or when I "feel like it." It seems as if those days are further and further apart.

I can't even generate the excitement for a new project. Since I sold my '66 T100 my shop and tools stand idle. I don't feel like dumping time and money into a bike no one wants. I am not sure why I am even writing this. I feel lazy. I feel unmotivated but I don't know how to rekindle the fire.

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Buy a small camper , get a bike rack for the back , get a light old bike and put it under a steel cover , go touring and if you get the urge in different areas, go for a little ride . Or just go fishing, golfing, or bowling , sounds like you've done a lot of biking anyway, take it easy .cheers.

Richard Tool said:

. . . I sold my Honda ST 1300 a couple years ago- had it for 17 years. No interest in distance riding anymore and I don’t miss it .
Still love riding them though. Most of the people I rode with have stopped riding or passed on . I picked up playing guitar again a few years ago - that seems to have entered a lull currently as well . My lifetime hobby of scale modeling is still going strong - probably the biggest constant in my life .

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I have never owned an ST1300 but I have a lot of seat time on them. Back when I worked at the Honda store we always had a few used St1300 and I would take one out on group rides. For a big bike you can really stuff that thing into corners. I have thought about getting one but it just doesn't fit my needs these days. (Too big!)

About 4 years ago I picked up the pipes again and this has helped me have something to do. I learned to play back in the 90s. I was good enough to compete in grade 4 solo competition but stopped because we moved to the country. As my wife pointed out trying to keep bagpipes in playable condition without help is like expecting a weed eater to start in the spring. I discovered that we have a local service pipe band and so play and practice with them. We play veteran's funerals, line of duty deaths, parades and special occasions. It's full of comradery and I get to play with some pretty crazy pipers from local agencies.

Speaking of modeling, I had thought of building a diorama of bikes or a workshop setting inside a Norton fiberglass tank cut in half. I have been toying with watch repair. It's fun for the mechanically inclined but a bit tough of you have fingers like bananas.