What happens to your bike when you upgrade?

As a follow on thread to the debate that seems to be raging about whether all of us SD owners are really considering upgrading to the new 1290 here's something to think about.

Me, I'm not one to be frivolously changing bikes every year like some, never have been. I think it's something to do with being pretty broke in my youth and every bike I owned I had to seriously work for and buy cheap, repair and renovate and then eventually get to know and respect. I haven't owned that many bikes really, about 10 in 35 years but, like women, maybe it's not the number of conquests but the quality of the merchandise that matters.

However, I've also got to borrow and ride and work on a lot of other peoples bikes over the years so have more exposure than just my personal ownership. My personal experience is that you don't really get to know a bike until you've lived with it for a few years and done at least 10/20 thousand miles or so. After that there's a bond and shared experience with that bike. It's broken down and frustrated you at times, chucked you down the road or track, had as least as much quality time spent with it than your human partner, been admired and cared for and certainly, except for the mortgage, drained your bank account more than anything else you ever owned. Bar none.

So I don't ever part with a bike I own without a serious thought to what will happen to it or where it's going. I have usually spent more time and effort on that bike than I would care to admit. I wish I had all of them still and had never parted with them. When I do sell them I usually keep a tab on them and know what happened to them.

Here's my heart-breaking list of a few in the past.

My first bike was a BSA bantam field bike that I saved up for over a year to buy. Had it for years and eventually gave it to my brother and his mates to learn to ride on. Within a week they had crashed it beyond repair. It ended up in the river Wyre after a pathetic failed attempt to do an Evel Kenievel parody off a plank propped up on some bricks.

My first road bike was a Honda 125J. Nothing dramatic or anything but it taught me about 4 strokes and setting tappet clearances and points. I had it so well set up that it could out perform Yamaha RD125s and shame quite a few of the cafe racer schoolboys that were my peers. I lent it to my brother who promptly crashed it into a lorry and wrote it off. He transplanted the, quite awesome engine, into a Honda SL trials bike but it lasted a few weeks before he blew it up.

I had a lovely RD250 which I sold to one of the local bike looneys who took a drill to the transfer ports and modified it so much that the power-band was shifted so high up the revs that it was impossible to ride fast. Until it self-destructed whilst he valiantly tried to prove otherwise.

I had an early Kawasaki S3 triple that I painted in amazing colours and finish in order to sell it. Beautiful hand applied lettering and pin-striping. In enamel. The new owner promptly sprayed all the bodywork with cellulose laquer creating a reaction and crackle finish to my two months labour.

I had a later KH400 which was actually my favourite bike of all time. I loved that bike so much. I think I had hand finished every nut and bolt and part on that bike. It was absolutely mint and perfect. I was deluded enough to sell it to fund the purchase of my first IL4 project - which was a huge investment for me. I even remember the name of the person I sold it to. Trevor Dickinson.

Trevor Dickinson, you took my beautiful bike and were so consumed with it's awesome abilities to wheelie that you wheelied it over a blind crest on the A6 into the oncoming traffic. Complete write off.

The Kawasaki 400/4 that I bought with the cash was rebuilt at great expense with Piper exhaust, Green paint, Jota bars. But I was a student then and cash shortage forced me to sell. I saw it a few months later in a pub car park, rusty, neglected, uncared for.

I had a GS1000 that I sold to a guy who just proddy raced it into the ground.

My beautiful Ducati Superlight went to a guy who rode it off up the road and I just knew that I'd sold a lover into slavery. I can hardly bear to tell you anymore about this one. It's too devastating a memory and I still have bad dreams about what I did.

My VFR800i was stolen and presumably broken for parts. (actually, I am less bothered by this one)

My rare Aprilia RS125 was stolen and recovered three years later. I could hardly even recognise it when I went to see it. Like seeing an old girlfriend from school who's become a crack-whore.

And my KTM LC4. A bike I spent longer with,(suprisingly), than any bike previously. Totally fantastic bike, full Akro system, carbon bodywork, Beringer brakes, the list goes on and on. A few years a after I sold it a guy rings me up because he's traced me through some old receipts and wants to ask me about it's history. When he starts telling me about the state of the bike and what he'd trying to repair it's like listening to a phone call from the hospital telling me about my dying parent or something.

So, sitting in my garage last Friday night looking at my SD. Thinking about the six years that I have owned this bike, the adventures we've been on together, the investment, the pain, the time, the joys. Do I want to sell it and trade it in for a new Superduke 1290. Do I want to have to condemn it to a new owner who may, as history shows, not exactly cherish it as I have done.

No I don't think I do.

I'm the usual next owner and have flipped, left to rust, blown up, run to death, and crashed a few second hand bikes. I plan on doing the same to my 2008 bought new SD. If anyone is going to do it it's going to be me

I do like this SD and it is one of the few I'm really attached too. I'm always a bit sad when it leaves but at the end of the day it's a toy and hopefully it get replaced by something better.
I always envy the b*stard who gets my second hand stuff. besides the odd scratch it is always in very good nick, not trashed and well maintained.

Toys All one hundred dollars of rubber and ten dollars of steel. I used to weave carbon fiber for a Company named Hexcell. They were the original supplier to the aviation and high tech fiber industry. From Fenwick rods to Ford driveshafts they made the products drones would eventually receive. To watch the introduction of this now ubiquitous burnt carbon, clothing cycle wares and with it the detailed descriptions of how to fancifie the finish to fawn over later and then waxon about future failures from undeserving purchasers of no longer desired two wheeled toys as if the very thought that their soulless existence could create a strugle in the fattened pocket of the seller, smacks me silly.

I also upgrade very rarely, have never sold a bike, but have been privileged to borrow or ride a lot of bikes over the years.
I still have all my old bikes except for my first.

My first bike was an RZ250 which I rebuilt from a rolling wreck. It was an up and down relationship. Mostly me going down and then picking her up.
The last time I crashed it had me in plaster for 11 months, after which I bought a '90 GSXR 750 and later swapped my wrecked RZ to a mate for a set of leathers.
Spent a lot of that summer helping my mate rebuild and upgrade it (to a 350), and he rode it until a German back packer in a combi ran it over (I believe she didn't leave him entirely uncompensated, although then again she also got free lodging for a few weeks).
He still has the bike (it's actually rideable, in a weavy, wobbly kinda way. I'm hoping it's just the forks.), but if he doesn't fix it up soon I might see if I can get it back.

I love the edit button. The Superduke has been edited countless times...

+1
I was funny till it got personal. There is no need for that, even Dribble has the right to is own opinion, written drunk or without comma's.
Now get along or as MrZ say it will turn in to the KTM forum!

Get-a-long shirt. That's awesome! I'm gonna have to remember that for my kids. I found out on Friday I'm having a little girl this time around...fighting should be minimal.

I think I just need to go ride up to Dribble's and have a beer with him. I'm sure things will be fine after that.

Back to the topic....

I would prefer to not sell any bike I ever own. Unfortunately my finances and luck are never willing of it. My first bike, 08 gsxr600, I destroyed so I couldn't really do anything with it per se.

My second bike, 04 gsxr750, I unfortunately sold to get cash for my move to NYC, otherwise I would still have it right now.

I don't plan on selling my Triumph or SDR, even after getting new bikes.

Anyway this post made me think about the bikes I have sold and I’m amazed to discover that I can’t remember ever seeing one after if left my care (or sometimes lack of care). There have been a lot over the years as well.

The only bikes I ever became emotionally attached to were the dogs (mostly CX500’s) that I dispatched on. Ugly slow, porky and often crashed (the bikes, not me of course) We bonded by overcoming hostile environments, relentless mileages and meagre maintenance. Persistence in the face of adversity seemed to build affection. When the time came to part, usually because I felt it would die soon if I kept pushing it or because a better option was offered at a knock down price, I would feel a slight twinge of loss.

Would I feel anything if I sold the SD – not sure but probably not. I loved my tricked up K5 gixer but felt nothing when it went so it would probably be the same with the SD. That said I like riding it and it still suits so I’m not planning to ditch it any time soon.

I usually hand said bike down to the missus, that way I can still ride it I desire. The SD won't be leaving the family if and when a 1290 comes along.

"My first bike was a BSA bantam field bike that I saved up for over a year to buy."

Me too, sort of. My DKW rip off was the Harley-Davidson Super 10.
USA, England and I thought some other country ripped off Germany of the DKW design of that bike.
Good, solid start for me from my home made mini bikes and roto-tiller powered 26 inch pedal bikes.

How often do you guys upgrade?
Funnily enough, despite my finances improving, my upgrades are getting further apart.
Although having a decade on this bike is more about noone building what I want.

Johnson's Life of London was one of the best books I have read this year. I know very little about the man but dare I say that I feel a bit of kinship toward him.
I would much rather be associated with the likes of he than that of Rob Ford. Either way, the topic was do I-We hold our motorcycles dear ? While they are under me yes, when they leave the stall for distant pastures, only that I hope that the new recipient is as thrilled as I may have been. I had a KLR 650 that took me on a wonderful adventure and worked with great efficiency. After the adventure and a years worth of commuting, I sold it and bought a Triumph Scrambler. I hold nothing resembling emotion toward these bikes but bikes they are and that is where the thrill is found.
Nothing I have owned moves me through time and space quite like the SD and that is why she has a home in my garage.

See for me, Dribble, the bikes I've owned do have a soul. I think that if I honestly thought about it then I would admit that I probably would put more credence in my bikes having a soul than many humans I have known, and certainly more than in the existence of a God. But then if we are to ponder on this more then maybe all man's belief in soul is just a projection of their own, frail human needs onto the world he finds himself existing in.

Why do we feel/think that a certain sunset is an amazing thing to witness? It is just a star disappearing over the horizon.

Why do we feel something intangible inside when we look up at a statue carved by Michael Angelo? It is just a lump of inanimate marble.

Why do we feel our pulses quickening when a red lined V12 engine doppler effects away into the distance? It is just a lot of noisy explosions.

We have the capacity and ability to see more in natural events and man made objects than is really there. We do it all the time. We probably need to do it subconsciously all the time to stop going insane. It's part of what makes us sentient humans probably. I don't know, I'm not a philosopher or profess to understand any of this.

But my bikes, the ones I've owned and cherished definitely take on more than being just a 'toy'. They were never that in the first place anyway. And I readily admit that I get emotionally attached and therefor sentimental about them and other things mechanical.

I have a box and in it is the very first model aeroplane engine I ever owned. It is a 1960's ED Diesel 2.49cc and was my fathers before me. It's very precious to me, more so than any piece of jewellry could ever be.

Here endeth my sermon.

Psyching while cycling, I get it.
Forgive me father, for I have send, the front wheel into the heavens.

I'm not done dumping money into the one I have,,,,,,why would I want a new one when my bike is still new,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I've still got a Dolphin that I carved out of Huon Pine when I started High School. That piece of Timber was just sooo beautiful. Likewise the Atomic Espresso Coffee Machine that I brought when girls still found me attractive Internally, I cry when I just have to let some beautiful things go. At Ephesus I put my hand into the hand print in a brick that a guy had made several thousand years ago. These are all just symbols of our existence and our ability to do great things. The reason some things (including some old bikes) are valuable is not because they are rare but because they represent the ability to think outside the square and also with an eye to the aesthetic. They are mechanical masterpieces. Time moves on but the beauty in the thought remains.

My Missus is going to give me a lot of grief for a while when I get a 1290. The problem will be that it will sit alongside the two other 2006 SD's I own. I believe that while the 1290 will be a great bike to ride it probably won't have the "spirit" that the original SD's had (the hooligan Mojo). If it does that's great but I think I'll be keeping my 990's just for that unique spirit.

On the issue of Grammar: I notice a lot of stuff that is not what I would write. I do however try, within the constraints of my OCD personality, to ignore it. It is far more important to understand what the person is saying rather than their ability to follow the normal rules. Tolerance is a blessing. Without tolerance everyone of us would be lying on the bitumen because some arsehole in a tin box felt it was justifiable to knock us out of the way to get past... I noted the aggression shown on this forum recently to a member who was saying some extreme stuff. I was pleased that the attitude changed completely when he stated publicly that he wasn't in a good place. One cannot assume that we all have our shit together for 100% of the time.

This forum has all types. The great thing about this forum is that it is world-wide. As such, it exposes one to all types and all views. At times it can be challenging but who wants a safe predictable life?

I get the feeling Bic is, for some reason, searching for the meaning of life. I think it's to be found smelling the cow shit from the seat of a motorbike and from the taste of a beer in the quiet of the man cave in the middle of the night amongst old mechanical friends.

"Amen to that brother!"

+1

Prior to owning the SD I have never really modified any of my previous bikes but all of the were treated with great love and kept in pristine condition. Most of my mates bikes in comparison always look to have seen better days, even the new ones.
A new bike purchase usually means that it gives me something that the old bike can't so in the end I look forward to the new one more than I miss the old one.
At the moment I am lucky enough to be able to retain the old SD and still get the new 1290 but not having ridden it (but one of the the lucky few so far to at least sit on one) this may change as there may be little point in keeping similar type of bike.
So if my love for the new out weighs the old, I will be a little sad to see it go but inevitably marriage is always better the second time around.