Your longest hiatus in riding.

[Dave Modisette]

In June of this year I bought a Triumph Thunderbird 900. After being left out of a group excursion on motorcycles in Hawaii back in August, I had been getting interested in bikes again - especially seeing my new son in law and his Dad on their bikes. I didn't even have a motorcycle endorsement on my license so I couldn't ride the bike I now owned. I even had ask a friend to ride it back to the house after I bought it.

It had been 37 years since I sold my Honda 500 four cylinder back as a young Sargent in the US Air Force when I thought I was about to become a Dad. After that, I guess I was never in the position to afford a bike plus my goal was to continue as a full time musician and traveling didn't lend itself to motorcycle ownership.

Things change and now I have three of them. Anyone have a longer time away from riding?

 

[johnakay]

mine is only 14 years and at one point was going to give up altogether a couple of years ago due to chronic bum ache on this bike ER6F.
that bike didn't suit me at all nearly killed my biking days,
if it wasn't for my good wife I wouldn't be on here now.
she said don't give up try a different bike and that is when I found the NC and never looked back.

 

[Deckyon]

4 days. When i was on vacation this summer.

 

[670cc]

The longest I've gone without riding motorized two wheelers was from birth to age 16. The 40+ years that followed have had no breaks.

 

[dduelin]

I rode from 1970 to 1975 then for a few months in 1995. Ten years went by and I started again in 2005. I logged just under a quarter million miles since 2005. No commuting, just recreational riding.

So 20 years is the longest time without a bike. I did get a ride in now and then on a friends bike or rental scooter when sailing in the Bahamas. Sailboats are my other passion.

 

[StratTuner]

1985 to 2013 (28 years).... had to wait it out until both children were grown up and out of the house.

 

[Old Can Ride]

From July 1958 to present, owned a bike. Even had a Honda 90 while in Viet Nam. Except for that year in Viet Nam, over 20,000 miles every year. I passed over one million miles while riding my 1978 Gold Wing just a few years back. Still learn something new about bikes and riding bikes every day. My wife had a bike from 1967 to 2012.

 

[Dave Modisette]

From July 1958 to present, owned a bike. Even had a Honda 90 while in Viet Nam. Except for that year in Viet Nam, over 20,000 miles every year. I passed over one million miles while riding my 1978 Gold Wing just a few years back. Still learn something new about bikes and riding bikes every day. My wife had a bike from 1967 to 2012.

Was that a Trail 90? Those bikes were awesome and that's the bike I learned to ride on one summer back in 1969 while visiting and camping with my cousin in north Louisiana.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

My longest hiatus was seven weeks after Knee replacement in 2013. The Surgeon wanted twelve weeks but noted the immediate depression setting in as we spoke. He then left it up to myself. Depression lifted a few days later

 

[Dave Modisette]

mine is only 14 years and at one point was going to give up altogether a couple of years ago due to chronic bum ache on this bike ER6F.
that bike didn't suit me at all nearly killed my biking days,
if it wasn't for my good wife I wouldn't be on here now.
she said don't give up try a different bike and that is when I found the NC and never looked back.



View attachment 27401

Wives have wisdom. I didn't put this in my first post but it wasn't long after I bought the Triumph and got my motorcycle endorsement that I got serious buyers remorse. Contrary to what I thought, it WASN'T like riding a bicycle and I didn't hop on and take off on a bike that had almost twice the displacement of my largest previous one. Fact is, I dropped the Triumph twice. No, I didn't crash it. I pretty much literally fell over at take off leaving my house. Thankfully, I had a helmet on because one sent my head into a stone mailbox easing out of my driveway and that might have been serious. So the first month I owned it, the only one that got much benefit was the sales desk at Bikebandit.com as I ordered replacement parts to fix headlight mounts and turn signals. I confessed to the lovely Mrs. Modisette that I believed I had done a foolish old man thing when I bought the bike and I should have left well alone with the motorcycle riding.

But instead of hitting me with "I told you so" or "I knew you were making a big mistake" (ok, she may still think that one), she said, "Why don't you get a smaller bike that doesn't weigh so much and get used to riding again before you get back on the bigger bike?" And that's the reason I have the Honda Rebel in my stable. I fully intended on selling it after I got up to speed but now TLMM (the lovely Mrs. Modiesette as I refer to her so often) won't let me sell it because she has an interest in learning to ride and my daughter wants to learn, as well.

 

[Dave Modisette]

My longest hiatus was seven weeks after Knee replacement in 2013. The Surgeon wanted twelve weeks but noted the immediate depression setting in as we spoke. He then left it up to myself. Depression lifted a few days later

I see you're from Wicklow. My son in law and family are from Dublin - actually Finglas. We plan on visiting over there next June.

 

[Dave Modisette]

I realize that this thread is off topic and I apologize to the moderators for my over enthusiasm with this new forum. If a moderator would move it to a more appropriate section, I would not be offended or upset in any way.

 

[Garydj]

My first motorcycle was a Honda CB200 in about 1977. It had issues and I didn't have the interest to repair it. I road it for several months and then sold it and did not get another.

I did however keep my motorcycle endorsement. In 2012 I bought my CBR250R, so I guess that was 35 years. Now I'll be riding until I am not able to do so!

 

[MichaelJohn]

I rode in college (including 1 year in the south of France, what great riding that was) and then gave it up in Grad school in 1980. Started up again last year so that makes a 35 year hiatus for career, marriage and kids. Waaaay too long. I wish I had started again earlier.

btw to OCR, congratulations on your million miles, that's just amazing!

 

[bamamate]

Somewhere around 1985/86 to 2012. Next month I'll start the longest period since I've been back on a bike to have ACL surgery.

 

[BerndM]

I may be the winner here (so far)
My first bike was a Suzuki 80 "Scrambler" back in 1966. Had a serious accident in '67 and was released from the hospital, after 2 weeks stay on my 18th birthday.
Other than a couple of very short stints with some small dirt bikes, I didn't street ride from age 18 to 58 when I retired. So 40 years hiatus for me. Been "On The Road Again", so to speak for 9 years now.
Lovin the NC700DCT

 

[Brillot2000]

I do recall that I went nearly a year after I sold my 1982 Honda GL1100A on the day my father passed away. I bought a 1972 Honda XL250 just to have a bike again and ride it around on a few occasions.

 

[Old Can Ride]

Was that a Trail 90? Those bikes were awesome and that's the bike I learned to ride on one summer back in 1969 while visiting and camping with my cousin in north Louisiana.

No, it was a press frame, but it was a go anywhere unit. You could not hurt this unit. I belive every G.I. at Camp Evans used my 90 for something at one time or another. At that same time that I had the press frame 90 in Viet Nam, my wife had a press frame 90 at her mother's home where she was staying while I was in Viet Nam. I believe she taught all her relatives and most the folks in the neighborhood how to ride her 90. To this day being we still live in the same area, folks still come up and tell me my wife taught them how to ride a motorcycle.

 

[Olythom]

I had a CB400f that I sold in 1976. I just started riding again this year. That's a 39 year gap.
>T

 

[TCRider]

Purchased my first real motorcycle in 1969 and have had various bikes up until 1990 when life and work got real busy. Then in 1998 I started riding again and have never stopped so to answer the question 8 long years.