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reason for riding

5K views 57 replies 49 participants last post by  DvlsAngel 
#1 · (Edited)
After seeing yet another Honda vs Harley thread, I figured I would re-word the question, to at least answer some questions I have: Why do you mainly ride you bike? Do you primarily use it to commute or do you use it for pleasure?... or both?
My Shadow is almost exclusively used for commuting or the odd run into town. ( I live about 20 miles from the nearest store). Where I park at work is an alkali flat that is corrosive to vehicle finishes. I'd rather park my shadow there than any of my other vehicles. It also gets the best mileage. Plus every mile put on it is one less put on my other, more valuable vehicles.
I have a '68 Mustang I built from the ground up. I have around $25k in it, and except for the final paint job, I put pretty much all the work into it, didn't farm it out to shops. I will only drive it when the weather is nice, pretty much always for pleasure so it gets less than 5000 miles a year. Does that make me a yuppie? Am I less of a "real" car driver since I only drive it on weekends???
Seriously though. Is yours a "money saver"?, a commuter or what?
Thanks.
 
#2 ·
I ride my bike as a daily commuter when it's not raining or snowing to save gas but also as a pleasure bike. I tried telling my wife that it's to save fuel then she reminds me that if I was so concerned about fuel why do I have a boat that gets less than 1 mile per gallon. So, I guess I ride so I have more fuel for the boat.
 
#4 ·
Both...starters out as a commuter to save gas, but I've gotten so addicted to riding that I ride everywhere, anytime I get the chance. Then there's the fact that any money I've saved on gas has gone into upgrades.....so......what the hell......I just love to ride!


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#5 ·
I ride mine everyday for work and for pleasure. It started out as a fuel saver for work as my 70 Fairlane 500 only averaged about 8-10 mpg, and it was a daily driver. But since buying my shadow I love being on it that I ride it everywhere. It is also giving me the time to do some of the upgrades on my car I have been wanting to do. So yeah my shadow is for commuting, and for pleasure.

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#6 ·
It was a forbidden fruit of my youth. Got married, still forbidden, had kids they grew and moved on,, I bought my bike. (still married) I commuted for 5yrs on it. Put 50,000 on it the first five years. Retired now, ride when I want to, which is often. Thought I'd slowed some in my riding, but looked back to July this year and found I actually did some 2000 miles in four months.

So I guess you'd say I just like to ride.
 
#7 ·
Dual reasons. The bike is definitely my preferred mode of transportation. All things being equal, I'll take the bike every time. Due to circumstances, however, I really can't afford to buy a car, so the bike is also a necessity. I commute every day, summer and winter, run errands to the store, and pretty much anything else. I typically don't intentionally ride in the rain, but the recent demise of what was left of my '94 Camry's CV joints may change that as well until I can get that fixed.
 
#8 ·
why did I start riding? I got sick of people changing my radio station in the cage. Its fun as hell so I ride any time I can when the weathers good. money saver? its cheaper then the cage at 28 mpg. a commuter? to work and school then fu@king off in my free time witch is a lot of time.
 
#9 ·
I use it for work, or at least that's the excuse i give my family. I always had the desire since I was a little kid and my uncle had me clutch while he tore up the streets on his bike doing incredibly stupid things. But, when I came of age I knew I was too wild and I'd kill myself on a bike so I waited a while, until the desire for speed went down a lot. Then I bought a Shadow to sort of way to tame the motorcycle lust (desire to be in the open air) and have a fun chop project. Riding itself is cool and all but I find that chopping is far more fun.
 
#11 · (Edited)
First 25 years, pleasure and lots of long distance riding out west. To visit friends and hook up with riding family was always a 350 mile ride in the SW corridor. Whether from home in San Diego ad later in Las Vegas. As I got older and especially now in this part of the country, the bike became purely a commuter that saves a lot of wear and tear on the more expensive to replace 08 Tacoma which has a whopping 30K miles. The distances here between destinations are much much shorter in miles and time. I should be riding an NT700 or NCX for my style of riding anymore. I really don't need a 1300 cc bike.

The only time i use the truck is if its raining when I have to leave the house or to pick up what I cannot on the bike and when the wife and I go anywhere together. She doesn't like the bike and I am more than ok with that. Her RAV is always filled with her gigging gear.

Chief you are an auto enthusiast. Nothing wrong with that. one of my brother's was one and obsessed over every mile he put on his 67 Vette. I don;t really believe a bike is more economical than a car or truck after the costs of the bike, insurance, upkeep.... only advantage I see is it saves wear and tear on the more expensive vehicle over the long run and is far less expensive to replace. My bike insurance is higher than my truck!! That un/under insured coverage is more than half the $450 premium for $300K.
 
#12 ·
I learned how to ride a bike before I learned how to drive a car. When I was 13 in 1964 my best friend had a 125cc Ducati that we would "race" around an oval dirt track that we made in the field behind his house. When I was 14 my Dad bought a 50cc Honda from a guy he worked with and gave it to me. I didn’t have a license and the bike didn’t have a tag but we lived out in the country and I rode it on the dirt and gravel roads. When I turned fifteen and half I got my learners permit (car) and Dad made me trade the bike for an old Chevy pickup. It broke my heart but I understood the practical advantages of 4 wheels over 2. When I got my license at 16 I passed the pickup on to my younger brother and my older brother passed his 1949 Ford Coupe down to me. I got a job and saved every penny and by the time I was 17 I had saved enough to buy a very used 305 Yamaha. That’s when I REALLY learned how to ride. Back in the 60s, in Oklahoma, if you had a car license you could ride a bike legally and I rode the bike more than I drove the car. Not much has changed in the last forty plus years. I still prefer the bike to the car but for practical reasons I have almost always had a car. Those times when I had a car but no bike were pure torture for me and I was forever trying to figure out a way to get a bike. Those times when I had a bike but no car were a lot easier to take.

I never thought much about "why" I ride. It’s just something I’ve always done.
 
#14 ·
i ride because i love to ride. i've been involved with motorcycles since i was really young. don't remember how old.. just remember always being around them. my dad opened a motorcycle shop when i was 11 years old. i'm 21 now and have worked in the shop nearly all my life. motorcycles are one of the most important things to me in my life.. it's how i've made most of my money all my life.

i'll ride to work, ride to college, ride to church, ride on a 300 mile sunday, or take a big trip. it doesn't matter to me. i just ride.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I got my first bike when I was 6 and have been riding ever since (minus a one year hiatus after my spinal surgery). My motorcycles were never my DD, they couldn't be. I work at an airport and a farm so I always need my truck. I ride whenever I get a chance and the weather is right. I find it very claming and it's an experience that no cage can give you.
 
#17 ·
Pleasure rider here. Wish I could use for work, but can't carry all the equipment I need. Once in a while I will take it to visit current customers or particular job sites. Also not sure that a new customer I have never met would like a "biker" pulling in their drive way at their home.
 
#18 ·
Initially got a bike for commuting and found out how much fun it was. So I also ride for pleasure and I've been know to take some multi-day trips on the bike too. So basically I ride the bike instead of the car every chance I get. However, Maine has a relatively short riding season. April to November and some years the weather dictates little riding in either April or November.
I have been know to trailer the bike to a vacation destination. Hard to carry golf clubs and all the other items you need for vacation on a motorcycle.
 
#21 ·
Multiple purposes, really. I don't get into that "wind in your hair freedom machine" crap, but the bike is a pleasant change of pace from the cage and provides some relief from same-old-same-old boredom on frequent routes such as going into Sacramento to pick something up. It's also much more economical than the car and for that reason helps me to justify a 180-mile round trip across the Sierra now and then for lunch with a friend, which would be a very pricey meal otherwise.

It also gives us flexibility on camping trips. With the Wee-Strom in the toy hauler we have an economical alternative to using the Tundra tow vehicle for day touring in national parks, etc.

In nice weather, that is.:mrgreen:
 
#22 ·
Commuter and pleasure rider. It's amazing how you leave a crazy, fast pace and stress filled job, hop on the bike and it all melts away. It's about the only way that I can leave my "work" at work.


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#23 ·
I ride most every day to and from work or what ever I spend 12 plus hours a day in a cage for work, so the bike gets me out in the fresh air.
Bike gets better fuel mileage that my 21 yr. old 3/4 ton dielsel pickup I guess, maybe, because when I take my bike to a store its a 20 plus mile ride. When I take my truck
to the same store it's only about a mile. Oh, well.

Ride safe,
Loren
 
#24 ·
In a way I consider myself a 'pleasure' rider, because I find so much pleasure in riding. That in mind, I ride as often as I can and wherever possible. About the only time I use my car is when the weather is bad, when I'm going golfing, or when my wife and I are going somewhere. I ride to work probably 9 days out of 10 and it is definitely more cost-effective for me -- 52+ mpg on the bike vs. 26 mpg in the car.
 
#25 ·
:shock: It's my main form of transportation. I only drive the truck on Saturdays to town to get groceries or if there's ice/snow. So yeah...the least I ride is 80 miles a day to and from work. And then...everyplace else I go. :-D

 
#26 ·
Started riding in 1980 strickly for the love I had for anything motorcycle. Had a lot of bikes over the years and had spells when I had no bike. These days I commute on minefor gas savings and the added bonus of it gives me an excuse to ride. Any miles on a bike are good miles, whether you're going to work or riding the open road. I do some weekend riding when I don't have other "honey do's" to tend to.
 
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