Is it fun or another job

Lonerider59

Lonerider59

Wizard
Visit site
I've been watching posts on this site for about seven months now and have to ask myself if some riders are motorcyclists for the sheer enjoyment of two-wheling or has it become a job towards contriving the impossible, the perfect, fastest, quickest, bike on the planet. I've been watching riders do that for a lot of years. They are never happy with what they have but know that one more add-on will get them to that point of perfection. There is simply no utopian bike out there for everyone. If you really want to be happy with a motorcyle or anything else for that matter, make it your utopian steel by enjoying it for what it is. I really believe that most riders who are unhappy with their ride bought the wrong bike. It was perfect for someone else but not them and all the mods in the world won't change it. There's an old saying, "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear", and its' still true no matter what you're reference is. Neither of my bikes are perfect but I try to concentrate on what I enjoy out of the experience of owning them, and what isn't perfect I live with. Contentment is a gift.
 
For Fun and a learning experience.....


As I have gone down my modding path, I was all consumed. This is my first bike, that I've ever owner, and I was bit by the "it'll do more" concept. I've still got a jet kit/timing advance, lower fairings, and paint left to do.

I've pushed MY evenlope and after riding this past weekend, the evenlope is just fine (for now...hehe) with the bike in its present setup. Not having the time to tinker has just left me to riding and I still have the same grin from ear to ear when I throw a leg over and head off for work or twisty riding. (and my wife still does not understand why I want to ride in 95+ temps with full gear in the middle of summer.....)

I'm not clouded by a slew of owned bikes to compare the FZ against, I just know that any of my future bikes will be measured against this one. I'm sure there will be pros/cons but I won't travel that road until it is time.

Adam
 
Last edited:
The first bike I had I didnt modify at all, I rode it for a couple of years and loved it. Once I got my FZ1 I was amazed at how it handled and the amount of power it had. Right away I started to mod it and at first wasnt too happy with the results, after getting everything done and dialed in it is now MY perfect bike. I ride it as often as I can and it still gives me an amazing thrill everytime I twist the throttle. I know what you mean about some people never being satisfied with their bike/car/boat etc....I think really they just enjoy having a project as much or more as they do using it. For me doing the mods has been fun but I much perfer to ride!
 
Is it fun or another job?

Why, it's funnnnnnn, of course...!

All of my bikes are modded to my personal taste which includes weight reduction, improved handling, better real-world power (especially throttle response), and more comfy/functional ergonomics--all while trying to maintain a clean, minimalist appearance.

I agree, "there is no utopian bike out there for everyone." That is what drives my mods towards my utopian configuration. After many thousands of dollars, several decades of delerious modifications, and tons of fun, my current bike (FZ1) approaches utopia...for me. It's the American way and I don't regret a second of it.

:america:

Cheers!
 
For me it started out 30 something years back as sheer enjoyment. Then I got back into it because of the gas prices. Now, after having the FZ1 for a little over six months, screw the gas!!, I'm back in it for the sheer enjoyment again.:woot:
 
I can say that I probably enjoy working on and modifying my bike almost as much as riding it. I don't think I have ever owned a car or bike that I left stock. Just something about making my ride somewhat unique...
 
Pure enjoyment.... I love modifying the bike... and then riding to see the difference that the modifications make....

My love for modifying goes so deep in fact that normally when I'm "done" modifying or I've done everythign I can to a bike, I get bored with it, and decide it's time to move on to something else... case in point, lately, I've been looking at engine kits for the FZ... do I need it? Hell no. Would it be fun? Hell yes. After that... about all I have left is a custom paint job..
 
In all my years of owning cars and motorcycles I have done almost no modifications to any of them. I drive the wheels off all the cars so I do not mod them very much, as I feel it is just pissing money away.

My FZ1 is something different. I have been tinkering with it a little, but will not mod it just to mod it.

I enjoy the riding much more than the modification of the bike.
 
I equally enjoi both and for me having a project to do is something exciting I look forward to every weekend or so. I love tinkering with mechanical stuff, etc and that goes on with everything I own.
 
Totally for enjoyment and personalizing the bike to make it mine. I can't say I am a high performance rider but I push it when I can. In this area, we just can't. The police presence here is very high and people willing to call them is even higher.

I mod to make the bike what I want it to be. For me, this is all simply fun. I ride because I love it and I feel it is the best blood pressure medicine out there. No where do I feel calmer than being on the bike and it doesn't matter if it is touring or edge of the tire on a decreasing radius corner. The grin cannot be erased.

We need to get Norm to put HIS post from the FZ6 forum over here. It was poetic and just really nailed the riding experience.
 
This one maybe?

That Feeling We Get When We Ride

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What’s that word we keep hearing when our new riders tell us about how they feel when they ride? Freedom! “I feel free”, is what I’ve read a thousand times. I’ve said it myself. A friend of mine from another forum has challenged new members: “Free? Free to roam around your lane? Free to have cars push you around and choke you with fumes? Free to leave your job or your family? Were you granted an exemption from paying income taxes, groceries, or speeding. How are you more free now than when you drove your car?” No one has risen to his challenge. No one has been able to explain why they suddenly feel free now that they ride. When so many people have used the same word to describe how they feel there simply must be a reason. So on their behalf I’ll take up the gauntlet.

Let us examine what happens when we decide to ride and not drive. Well first, of course, we’re riding and not driving. Riding a horse or a bike means we’re on top, not inside. Inside my hermetically sealed bigass SUV I listen to my radio, talk on the cell, curse out other drivers that are somehow bereft of the massive driving talent I was born with, and calculate the minutes to my destination. Brooklyn born and raised, I’m reticent to yield to any vehicle when I believe I’ve got the right of way. On my motorcycle I smile, talk to no one, avoid confrontation with wile and wits, and will yield to a 90 pound 16 year old in a Smart car. I don’t care so much about the destination as I do the journey. Didn’t some philosopher tell us to do that a long time ago?

On my bike, I am indeed exempt from many laws. “Fasten your seat belt. Click it or ticket”, and all that jazz. No seat belt for me Mr. lawman. No frontal airbag, side curtain airbags, no reinforced metal, crumple zones, engine in front of me, trunk in the back. I’m “out there” baby and it’s all legal. “No standing. Please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times.” Yea, that’s the sign at the roller coaster. I’ve ridden with no hands, stood on my pegs, and kicked my feet out over the frame sliders. Oh, and I have roamed about my lane when nobody’s looking.

“That’s all very interesting Norm. What’s your point?”

My point is a 51 year old physician, responsible dad and husband is acting like…a kid. And amazingly enough it’s legal. The cops won’t stop me. My friends have tried. They’ve hit me with statistics. “Riding a motorcycle is dangerous” they say. They talk about me amongst each other. They say I’ve got a screw loose. They’ve probably said worse. But I’ve noticed something else that differentiates us, something very important. I’m happy, very happy. They’re not. I haven’t felt this happy since I was in high school. I’ve thrown caution to the wind, traded down on safety and up on thrills. I’ve left airbags behind to feel the air. I’ve cancelled my subscription to air conditioning, leather wrapped steering wheel and seats for a handle bar and a saddle and I gave away 2 wheels and a spare for the only two that I need. Handle bars, two wheels, and wind in my face? Sounds like 15 years old to me.

“But how are you free Norm”

Let me ask you something. When you were 15 did you have a house or a mortgage? Did you worry how you were going to put the kids through college, get your increasingly confused and blind dad to give up his license, or how to get your pig of a boss off your back? Did you wonder when your life became “Groundhog Day”, day after day of smothering, unalterable, and excruciating sameness? I’ll answer this for you. No, you did not. When you rode your bike you were more free than anytime that followed. But all we wanted back then was to be older. We wanted to get our license and drive because driving would give us our freedom. What we did not know is that we were free when we were riding. Back then we wanted to drive and grow up and be married and have kids and a job and a paycheck. We did not know these wants would take away our freedom. We did not anticipate a beeper, a Blackberry, and a job would enslave us. It made us more and more a part of the machine we call civilized society. And we would feel anything but free.

Even with an abusive dad and distant mom I have never felt as free as I did as a kid. Other than keeping out of my dad’s hair and scavenging for a meal here and there I was happy most every day. I only cared to ride my bike to my friend’s house or sit on a tree stump and dream my dreams. I can’t pedal my bike like I used to. But I can ride my motorcycle. And I’ll take my chances, free of my safe car, to feel like I did back then. I had no safety net then. No net worth. No influential friends. And precious little responsibilities. And on my bike, where anyone, from any walk of life, can take me out in an instant, I somehow feel the way I did back then…alive…and free.

I haven’t lost my mind. At this point in my life I wear a lot of hats. I won’t walk away from my responsibilities as a dad, a husband, or a doctor. But when I’m on my bike, I only think about the ride, the smells and the scenery, good or bad, and the journey. The winds, the cars, and the pot holes challenge my otherwise routine life. At 15, it was all new. At 51, it all became old. But not on the bike. On my bike it’s new again. And I throw my hats away for a helmet. I trade my suit for a leather jacket. And whether I am really more free than I was before I cannot say. But it sure feels that way. I feel like a kid, and at least some of the rules just don’t apply to me.
 
I ride for fun. I like to have fun everyday. The bike has to make me smile...so it's normally some crazy ar*ed street ripper.

I generally always ADAPT my bikes to a configuration that suits my riding style and needs. I commute on mine everyday throughout the year.
They must handle well (generally ends up with bars, suspension upgrades and tyres)...must be loud...loud is safe/safer (slip ons required with added advantage of eliminating all the emissions crap and weight)...I like the brutal look of nakeds hence the FZ1N and the MT-01.

Worst mod on the FZ1 to date is the tail tidy...looks superb...but is feckin' useless. Rooster tails 2m high all over your back...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top