Bikes are more than plastic and metal

[Couchy]

This is not the thread I’m looking for

[demographic]

Ahh, yeah.
I guess I get kind of attached and my bike purchases are more of a ratchet system, they can check out anytime but they can never leave.

I've never had it for any Honda though.

[Docca]

I remember being really chuffed that my xr650r was being sold to someone who was going to race it in the sands over in Africa.

There is only one bike I’ve not given a damn about and can’t even remember how I got shot of it: zx9r. Every single other bike I remember where they’ve gone. Daft, innit.

My defender has the same bond, although I’m never getting rid of that.

I’m a slight twist of serendipity, I have been offered a silly price on a new Superduke. I have to say that’s a lot more tempting than the kitchens I’m looking at.

[Mr Moofo]

I hope someone is going to rag the tits off that Buell. It's been way too long standing doing nothing

[Couchy]

I remember being really chuffed that my xr650r was being sold to someone who was going to race it in the sands over in Africa.

There is only one bike I’ve not given a damn about and can’t even remember how I got shot of it: zx9r. Every single other bike I remember where they’ve gone. Daft, innit.

My defender has the same bond, although I’m never getting rid of that.

I’m a slight twist of serendipity, I have been offered a silly price on a new Superduke. I have to say that’s a lot more tempting than the kitchens I’m looking at.

I’m attached to the elgrand I’ve had for 6 1/2 years, prob cos of the memories made with it but it will only ever be sold if I buy another

[Potter]

I get more out of bikes I put more into. Buy a perfect bike and just ride it and its soulless to me. Buy a bike and work on it and you invest yourself into the bike and it becomes more attached!

That ^

I've tenderly rebuilt my Rudge, learned a lot from doing so and I feel like I built some of myself into it - literally in some cases with blood and bits of skin

My LC was a 40th birthday gift to myself and it was a new chapter in my life so somehow it holds the memory of that process, plus I've rebuilt that too.

And my TDR has been ridden by me in the deserts of the Middle East and the moors of the English countryside, it feels like a travel companion more than a bike.

My Royal Enfield is just a decent bike, I've customised it, but I'd sell it no problem.

[weeksy]

I've been thinking about this after this thread and wondering if/how people who are not usually like this can actually 'find' that sort of attachment and if so, well, how.. ?

Is it a mindset ? Is it a type/brand/model of bike ? or is it something else. Maybe a bit of nostalgia... I dunno.

Do you get it from time in the saddle... Do you get it from modifications... or is it just in your personality and not in the personality of others ?

[Count Steer]

I've been thinking about this after this thread and wondering if/how people who are not usually like this can actually 'find' that sort of attachment and if so, well, how.. ?

Is it a mindset ? Is it a type/brand/model of bike ? or is it something else. Maybe a bit of nostalgia... I dunno.

Do you get it from time in the saddle... Do you get it from modifications... or is it just in your personality and not in the personality of others ?

Only from my pov but:
I grew up when cars were unreliable enough to appear to have 'character' or 'personality'. My dad used to coax an old Standard 8 or Ford Pop sort of thing into life. Some days they would, some days they wouldn't. I guess talking to engines is inherited

I certainly don't get it from spannering or bolting on improvements or bling. I had to do the spannering to stay mobile when I was a yoof and wouldn't care if I never picked up a spanner again.

There have been occasions when a bike has been more capable than me* and 'got me out of trouble' which also seemed to be part of a 'relationship'.

Then there's the happy memories stuff.

* not a high bar to set

[MingtheMerciless]

Some bikes I’ve had are a definite yes, others just plastic and metal. I think I have to gel with the bike. Some have left me cold, GSXR1000 K1, awesome machine BUT i just didn’t get on with it.

[Docca]

E6E59E2E-1D71-4704-833B-88474A74BB08.jpeg (261.21 KiB) Viewed 136 times

On my Facebook timeline: 9 years ago

[dern]

No, all of mine are just bikes to me. They're either fun or gone and if they're fun I'd only replace them with something that's appreciably more fun. I'm not interested in newer or shiner bikes or image.

A couple of mine are genuinely great bikes that I'll probably not change any time soon but that's not due to sentiment but just due to the fact that they're so much better at doing what I use them for than anything else I've ridden.

[weeksy]

E6E59E2E-1D71-4704-833B-88474A74BB08.jpeg

On my Facebook timeline: 9 years ago

Did it work that day ?

[Couchy]

I've been thinking about this after this thread and wondering if/how people who are not usually like this can actually 'find' that sort of attachment and if so, well, how.. ?

Is it a mindset ? Is it a type/brand/model of bike ? or is it something else. Maybe a bit of nostalgia... I dunno.

Do you get it from time in the saddle... Do you get it from modifications... or is it just in your personality and not in the personality of others ?

I can answer that..............................

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

E6E59E2E-1D71-4704-833B-88474A74BB08.jpeg

On my Facebook timeline: 9 years ago

Have you ever had a bike that ran as it should, I seem to remember you having problems with your TL, Guzzi and Buell

[asmethurst99]

I love my CBR but in a few years time when I retire (maybe 3 ) we will probably move and it will go.

[weeksy]

E6E59E2E-1D71-4704-833B-88474A74BB08.jpeg

On my Facebook timeline: 9 years ago

Have you ever had a bike that ran as it should, I seem to remember you having problems with your TL, Guzzi and Buell

All of them. But then he got them home.

[Count Steer]

E6E59E2E-1D71-4704-833B-88474A74BB08.jpeg

On my Facebook timeline: 9 years ago

Have you ever had a bike that ran as it should, I seem to remember you having problems with your TL, Guzzi and Buell

All of them. But then he got them home.

Then what happened? Is there an infestation of shoggoths in the garage or summink?

[Mr Moofo]

Getting all philosophical- it’s not the bike that matters but where it took you to, or whom it led you to meet.

For that reason I will always have an attachment to my old Buell.

I wound find it difficult to find any any attachment to my 2 ZX9s

[Skub]

Another aspect may be remembering how hard it was to scrimp and save to buy your dream bike.

A lot of us,being no longer in the first flush of youth and having a bit of spare cash,forget pressing our snotty noses against the bike dealers window,yet knowing the objects of our desire were well beyond our means.

If you can buy any bike you want,sometimes that desire can diminish and the bikes become less special.