What are your experiences with and feelings about motorcycles?

I am having a love affair with motorcycles. I am an enthusiast. I collect things to do with motorcycles and dream of owning and riding my own. This started after my father died and then appeared to me in a dark and vivid dream where we walked through a deserted, burned out amusement park and happened upon the old Wall of Death where he used to ride as a motorcycle stuntman for Tornado Smith with a lady on his shoulders(his first wife).
In my dream we walked among vintage motorcycles talking and laughing. The smell of oil and the midway was overwhelming. He showed me a beautiful vintage Indian Scout 101 from around 1928 and also many old Harley Davidsons and BSA's. He talked to me about the bikes and their low centres of gravity and how this made them perfect for riding around the wooden wall.
Upon waking, my obsession began. I subscribed to a Vintage motorcycle magazine. I listened for passing bikes, collected bike memorabilia and longed for a bike of my own. Along the way the Vintage Indian Scouts and Harleys became my favorites but now I am totally obsessed with The Harley Davidson V-rod. I wouldn't sniff at an MV Agusta F4 or a Ducati either My favorite choppers are the ones made by Jesse James out of West Coast Choppers in California.
Someday I will own one or more of the bikes I love. I will ride them myself. I will be complete.

I was a passenger on one once.
I like motorcycles when I'm on them (as a passenger,never tried as a driver and not sure I would...).
I'm indifferent to motorcycles when they are around.
I like them better than cars,but I hate cars so...

i ride, have been and will be a passenger, i own one, and i love them. and i also think that the word sounds funny when you say it a lot. i am going to pick up my new old motorcycle at the end of april!!!!! wooo hooo!!

Indifference. Utter indifference. I don't find them sexy, or anything..

hawt...

I recently rode on a motorcycle for the first time ("1985 Harley ironhead sportster 1000cc") and fell in love with the experience. But sadly that was on a trip to visit a friend on the West Coast, and now I have no access to one . I'm desperate to find somebody with a motorcycle so I can con myself into a ride...

Raking over my brain cells, I can't come up with any memories of actually driving a motorcycle. If I did, it probably was brief and made no impression on me. I know that I've been a passenger on quite a few occasions. The first time was when I was a child. The last time I recall was when I was in my late teens.

I'm completely indifferent to motorcycles. If I had to say something beyond that, it might be that I find cars a lot more comfortable as a mode of transportation. The seats are more comfortable. You don't have wind blowing in your face. You don't have to wear a stupid helmet (not that I ever did)!

Last summer was a dud for motorcycle riding and now it's leaking its precious bodily fluids onto the garage floor. I think it feels neglected. But the snow is melting rapidly and soon my road will no longer be a mud pit.

I love motorcycles!! My Dad has been carting me round on them since before I could walk. The speed and the acceleration and the feeling of not being contained are fantastic. Some of the best weekends I've had have been at bike rallies.
I don't have my own yet because I don't want to be stuck on a 125cc for the next few years, I'm waiting until I'm 21 and can get straight onto the real machines.

I love them. I've been a passenger on them many times; my SO rides one. He's the third guy I've dated who rides. I want to learn to ride.

I dislike them quite a bit.

I like Italian bikes, like Ducati:

Tell me again what you have? I'm sure I have asked before but I cannot remember.

What do you own?

I love my small motorcycle (the type which Italian people call "motorino")

They're scary.

Never driven one, never been a passenger on one, and dislike them. They're too noisy and move too fast round corners when I am a pedestrian, and they make me rather nervous.

I like motorcycles, I have one, it's a Yamaha 350 RD one of the quickest bikes ever made, this thing will go 0 to 60 in about 3 seconds if you can hold it down. I only get it out a couple times a year.

I have a Honda Shadow VLX. That's the little one, the 600. I agree with you that the Harley V-Rod is a beauty.

my husband restores triumph and bsa motorcycles,he will not teach me to ride them because he says ill get hurt,he did let drive a minibike.just when i was getting good he sold it.made me so mad!!!

I've ridden a motorbike a few times. I've hired some when I'm at the coast, but I think they are a good way to lose a leg or get brain damage. I hate it when motorbike riders go up the middle of traffic, or pass illegally on the freeway.

i am the proud owner of a yamaha v star.........(the 650 model) it is currently residing at my brother's house so i have to have it shipped down here probably in may.
check out this site...... http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcyam/vstar6.html

What can I say about Motorcycles.
I love them.
I own one, I ride one..
Mine is a HONDA SHADOW 700cc vtwin.
I rode mine from NY to FL...
It's a great feeling..
Being a woman, I get a few strange looks..

Con yourself,,
No conning....JUST DO IT!
YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID!

I agree,
It's the HOTDOGS and the JERKS that give the rest of us "Bikers" a "bad rap"

Sue had a Shadow! She loved it.

That's what Sue wants now. A V-Star Custom, I believe. I like them as well. I have sat on one. Nice low seat height, comfortable, It fit my body well. COOL!

I have an old black and white photograph from the early 60's of my father on a bsa that he rode stunt style on The Wall Of Death. Would your spouse be able to identify it from the picture? I would love to know what model/year it is and own one just like it someday.

The thing that struck me about the V-Stars when we looked at them was that they are alot of bike for very little cash. Compare what you can get from Harley for $5,000 and some change and you might be able to touch a Sportster which to me looks like a tee tiny little kiddy bike. Those V-Stars have muscle looks but they weigh under 500 pounds! Good choice and cool article!

Somehow I had a feeling you would have a lot of comments in this survey.

i am headed up to visit my brother at the end of april to spend a week riding with him. it has been a number of years since i have ridden and i want to be comfortable prior to bringing it down here to florida. it seems to me that i will like it. i will let you know how it rides when i get back!!!!!

My Dad owns a motorcycle. I don't think he's really ridden it since he and my Mom were in an accident in 1986.
Let's see: My grandparents had taken my brother, sister and I to Washington DC for vacation. I still had a cast on from breaking my arm a few weeks before. My parents decided to take the motorcycle out and were in a serious accident that almost killed them. My mom's foot was almost cut in half, and my dad sprained his ankle so bad it was in a cast. They were laid up for the rest of that summer.
During that same time, my great-grandmother died. We didn't find out about any of this until we got back from Washington DC (they didn't want to bother us, wanted us to enjoy our vacation, even though our car broke down on our way home).
Needless to say the summer of 1986 was not a good one.

Cool!

i dont mind motorcycles i'd love to own one but i hate when people take off the muffler and go around making a racket, especialy late at night when so many of them from my neighborhood like to go out

I have never ridden one or been a pillion. I would love some big hairy biker to let me ride on the back - maybe down to the seaside. Such a hopeless romantic I am!

I've been a passenger & have driven one a couple times.I love um! David & I used to own one in our "hey days"..... I love the feel of it. I think you women know what I mean. Don't have one now tho. Rode on the back of a Ninja with my oldest son & it was so dogen!

Motorcycles scare me to death. My husband really wants one someday, but just the thought of it gives me a near panic attack.

I guess it's a little bit of jealousy. When I'm sitting in my car stuck in freeway traffic, counting the gum I can now see on the road because I'm basically parked, I see those bikies passing us all in the breakdown lane and get a little envious and kinda hope they hit a bloody big pot-hole

It should scare you. See my experience above.

I have been on a motorcycle as a passenger exactly twice. The last time discouraged me from ever getting on one again, as the driver was a total butt-hole who tried to scare the crap out of me.

OUCH!..next time I see a pothole. I'll remember that someone would like to see me hit it..Luckly tho it's easier for a bike to miss a pothole than a car..Remember that next time you hit one and it rattles your teeth....(wink)..

I once dated someone who owned a Harley Davidson. The bike was awesome. But I think that motorcycles are very dangerous regardless of how good a driver you are because of the high rate of injuries to the head.

anon 1......hmm makes me want to ask if you (anyone) know what the rate is for those who were (decent) helmets??

Just avoid those white lines in the rain! I've seen what happens to a person after they hit one.

Cool

Motorcycles Motorcycles Motorcycles Momercycles Mowercycles Mowerbikles....

My experience is that I got to go riding yesterday for the first time this year. The bike started much more easily than I expected since I had forgotten to put fuel stabilizer in it until January.

One time my xboyfriend popped a wheelie when I was a passenger and I fell off infront of the car behind us, fortunatly I didnt become roadkill.

my first time on a bike was in Kansas, i told my friend to go slow and take it easy. we drove about two feet and he did a wheelie....i was thinking it was over but we had to still drive around the block. by the time we had gotten around we had done 5 wheelies. here is the clincher, i had so much fun on the trip around the block, that i bought it from him. so having never driven a motorcycle, i drove it back to my house here in Texas in one full day. oh the bike is a GPZ900R that now has over 1000cc, not the best beginner bike. but i love speed and power....go figure that my first car was a 3000GT *smile*

cool!