I started riding when I was 15 1/2 years old, which is over 40 years ago.
I'm between motorcycles now, but I'm a sports touring rider who has traveled throughout the western United States and western Canada from the Pacific to the Rockies and back, through Alaska from Anchorage to Fairbanks and back, through the Alps from Munich through Salsberg, Innsbruck, St. Moritz, Cortina and Lake Garda and back, throughout northern Mexico down to Patzcuaro, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, the Copper Canyon and Matzatlan and back up through Baja from LaPaz.
None of these trips would have been as much fun or as memorable in a car -- and that's coming from a guy who currently owns 5 cars. I'm thinking about getting another bike (probably a Honda ST1300) even now, but at 57 (pushing 60) most of my riding days are behind me. Nonetheless, I feel privileged to have seen so much of the world from the seat of a bike and, if I never ride again, I'll always have fond memories of the motorcycle tours that I've taken in the past.
Here are a few of the bikes that I've owned previously:
1965 Honda 305 Scrambler (my 1st bike)
1968 Triumph Bonneville 650 (a classic)
1979 Triumph Bonneville 750 (Triumph's comeback bike)
1981 Yamaha Seca 750 (a good bike but uninspiring)
1982 Honda Aspencade (a great touring bike, before it good too big and heavy)
1989 Kawasaki ZX10 (my favorite bike that I just sold last year)
1992 Ducati 750 Sport (sold it to the founder of Sharpe Image)
1992 Harley Low Rider (too slow and noisy but am still a life member of HOG)
2001 BMW K1200RS (a lemon that I traded in for the Ducati)
2002 Ducati 998 (a work of art)
