When is one too old to ride?

[rjs987]

@Ralf_CT , don't worry too much about what bike you continue to ride and hanging around here.
There are plenty of members here who no longer ride a ST, some even never have I think.
Heck, I ride a SCOOTER and these guys still tolerate me. Of course it helps that my Burgman is actually designed and built like a "normal" motorcycle and is just dressed like a scooter. It also is to my liking that there is no clutch to operate and nothing for my feet to do other than get comfy on the extended floor boards (both brakes are levers on right and left grips).

Not trying to sell you on any particular course of action but just to assure you that you ride what is most comfortable for you to ride. If you keep the ST and get used to it then that's great. I kept my Gold Wing after coming off a much MUCH lighter and smaller bike and now anything smaller is more of a toy to me. If you decide to get a different ride that is lighter or just "different" that's OK too.

BTW- You know it's time to stop riding when you can't get past that 6 foot pile of dirt on top of you to get up out of that hole they put you in.

 

[Ralf_CT]

Spring of 20 I returned to riding after 20+yrs. The first month I thought I'd made a mistake. Not so much the weight of the bike, it's heavy, but I had no issue. It was the idiots in cages that scared me.
RT

When I returned to riding in 2014 after a 20-year break, I bought myself a little LML150 scooter, I dreaded heading out into the traffic and felt like I had a target on my back. That feeling has passed and I'm now quite confident in the traffic, always anticipating the worst from drivers around me. I don't ride at night or in the rain, which further reduces my risk factor. Here we unfortunately have gale force winds during summer, sometimes lasting 1-2 weeks, but our winters also offer excellent riding weather.

 

[Slydynbye]

Maybe you should start exercising.

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where
you have plenty of room at each side.

With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your
arms straight out from your sides and hold them
there as long as you can. Try to reach a full
minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position
for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move
up to 10-lb potato bags.

Then try 50-lb potato bags and then eventually try
to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag in
each hand and hold your arms straight for more than
a full minute. (I'm at this level.)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato
in each bag.

 

[Whooshka]

I don't know if anybody has mentioned this earlier, but one of the few memories I have of my Dad was him being my little league coach. He would run around with the kids and have a blast.

I remember him saying, "You don't stop playing because you get old. You get old because you stop playing".

 

[Sadlsor]

One sees more and more posts on social media where owners are selling their bike due to "age" or "health" issues. When does this dreaded age arrive?

I'm 56, healthy, still walk 6.5kms several times per week, hike etc. Granted, there are a few aches and pains, but nothing serious. My last big bike was a Gold Wing GL1100 Interstate in '91 (I used to throw this around like a 50cc), I stopped riding in '94, resumed in 2014, albeit on a PCX150 (I love this little thing, perfect for nipping around town). I briefly owned an Aprilia Pegaso 650 in 2016, but hated the single, especially at low speeds (maybe due to the 'highway' sprocket setup fitted by the previous owner).
<SNIP>

Your thoughts?

Riding -- like speaking a foreign language, or shooting, or flying a plane -- is a perishable skill.
No one can realistically expect to take a years-long hiatus, and come back at the same skill level as when they walked away from it.
Although (DISCLAIMER) I AM an MSF RiderCoach, I submit it is worth your consideration to look into a riding course. Even a one-day BRC2 class (using your bike, designed for re-entry riders or anyone wishing to brush up on their skill level) will offer a lot of value, for your confidence, your ability, and maybe even your bike insurance.
The Basic RiderCourse would not be a waste of your time, and will go into some detail about street strategies, which many experienced riders never fully learn.
Practice does NOT make perfect.
Perfect practice, makes perfect.
After decades of riding, learning, and coaching others, I still intend to pursue a lifetime of continued learning.
I recommend learning as a desirable attribute for everyone, rider or not.

 

[Erdoc48]

This is going to sound like obvious advice and I don’t mean it that way. I have on occasion had back pain as many of us do (nothing lasting and no disc disease as far as I know)- when I am parking the bike, I’m usually cognizant of how I park and the potential issues with getting it moving again (meaning parking on rocks or in the dirt may make it difficult to get it out of that pickle- same with parking it on a downslope against a curb or fence area where you have to wrench the bike against gravity to be able to leave where you parked). Sometimes you can hurt your back trying to wrestle a heavy bike. If it’s on a slope, I usually back it in, so all I have to do is get on, fire it up, and pull out of the space it’s in.

 

[mcarver351]

What are some of you young kids talking about ? I stopped riding dirt bikes at 75 because my riding buddies died or moved. Road my ST 1300 until I was 84 when one of my street buddies got banged up pretty bad and my wife said that's it. I am talking about real sport touring, Sierra Passes, to B.C. Canada, all back roads almost no freeways. 94,000 fun miles. No street crashes but several "drops". I am 86 now and would I still be on site if I didn't still miss riding???

Ed Wing

I pretended a couple years ago that my hearing was much worse than it is so I didn't have to listen to my wife anymore. Now when she says take out the trash, I say, I won't crash and I'm gone all day on a ride.

 

[Al st1100]

Mitch - Your old ST1100 has over 118,000 miles on her and has been in 49 states!

Uncle Phil - The FroST

come on Phil, get that 50th one in

 

[Uncle Phil]

come on Phil, get that 50th one in

Waiting on them to build that bridge - or someone to give me the money to fly all 4 ST1100s over to Hawaii!

 

[Mellow]

@Ralf_CT Just remember, while practicing, if you feel like it's going over just let it and walk off the bike... you can hurt yourself even more trying to save it and the built in crash bars are one of the great features of the ST. It's a top heavy bike.. the goldwing feels lighter due to engine and fuel tank locations even though the Wing is a heavier bike. But, even with the wing, just walk off of it if you feel it's going over.

Good luck on the practicing. I'm in okay shape but just don't like heavy bikes in general so am currently on a tracer 900 GT.

 

[Sadlsor]

As my very good friend Clint Eastwood once told me, "A man's got to know his limitations."
Magnum Force - turn up the volume.

 

[caldercay]

From the article linked below

"We love riding and scenic photos, but we had to highlight this shot of 78-year-old Floridian Phil Steiner’s 2015 Honda Gold Wing odometer (taken by Kenton Kloos on December 17, 2019). He racked up 500,000 miles in just five years! Now that’s some serious riding.

Reader Photo Spotlight: 500,000 Miles of Smiles

We love riding and scenic photos, but we had to highlight this shot of 78-year-old Floridian Phil Steiner's 2015 Honda Gold Wing odometer (taken by Kenton Kloos on December 17, 2019). He racked up 500,000 miles in just five years! Now that's some serious riding. We're inspired! Your turn! How man

www.roadrunner.travel

And I found this in a magazine while in a waiting room at the VA ... basically, Phil's racked up a 1,000,000 miles on his various 'Wings as of July 2019 (and got 54,000 miles on a rear Dunlop E4)

 

[Ralf_CT]

@Ralf_CT Just remember, while practicing, if you feel like it's going over just let it and walk off the bike... you can hurt yourself even more trying to save it and the built in crash bars are one of the great features of the ST

If the ST1300 does go over, which part of the panniers hit the ground, the black plastic or also the painted section? I dropped my '81 GL500 Silver Wing Interstate at the first traffic lights after fitting a new rear tyre, I had to lean hard to the right which was just too much for the new tyre and I suddenly ended up standing above the bike. I dropped the same bike again some months later while doing a slow U-turn in a narrow street (my fault, lack of technique).

Today I took my PCX150 and spent an hour or so doing figure 8s in a deserted parking lot (3 bays wide), something I had never done before on any of my bikes. After a while it actually became quite effortless, now I just need to do the same with the ST and take it down to 2 bays wide.

 

[ad.hom]

If the ST1300 does go over, which part of the panniers hit the ground

The bottom half, front edge.

You can (and I have) fit goldwing crash guards just in front of the panniers. Thankfully they were on the bike, and not sitting atop the fridge, on the day when I forgot to put the side stand down!

 

[Larry Fine]

Waiting on them to build that bridge . . .

Reminds me of that joke about the genie.

 

[the Ferret]

From the article linked below

"We love riding and scenic photos, but we had to highlight this shot of 78-year-old Floridian Phil Steiner’s 2015 Honda Gold Wing odometer (taken by Kenton Kloos on December 17, 2019). He racked up 500,000 miles in just five years! Now that’s some serious riding.

Reader Photo Spotlight: 500,000 Miles of Smiles

We love riding and scenic photos, but we had to highlight this shot of 78-year-old Floridian Phil Steiner's 2015 Honda Gold Wing odometer (taken by Kenton Kloos on December 17, 2019). He racked up 500,000 miles in just five years! Now that's some serious riding. We're inspired! Your turn! How man

www.roadrunner.travel

And I found this in a magazine while in a waiting room at the VA ... basically, Phil's racked up a 1,000,000 miles on his various 'Wings as of July 2019 (and got 54,000 miles on a rear Dunlop E4)

Good night 500,000 miles in 5 years is averaging 274 miles a day, everyday, 365 days a year for 5 years. That is some serious riding.

 

[caldercay]

Good night 500,000 miles in 5 years is averaging 274 miles a day, everyday, 365 days a year for 5 years. That is some serious riding.

And the interesting part is his age and is riding a 'Wing

 

[OldWingit]

Ralf CT,
I was very good at dropping my 03' and can tell you that if you are on somewhat level ground nothing touches down except the tires and the tip over wings. Never had bag crash guards or any other guards. Honda did a super design in that regard. Never a scratch except under the tip over wing plastic, about twenty bucks if you feel the need to replace. I have heard that a fully loaded top box can make the bike go "over center" and hit the turn signal and bag, but I never used one.

Ed

 

[Styles]

I hear making longevity disreputable by an untimely persistence in it is bad—but I doubt riding under its influence is. I rode to our local winery today to retreive two quarterly bottles of red. My Wineberry ST behaved well. Tomorrow I think I'll take my Blackbird out for more lively fun. Sunshine perhaps helps me more, but for now I've no present plans to drop these powerful, enlivening, warming influences. Triple cheers.


Styles

 

[Sadlsor]

If the ST1300 does go over, which part of the panniers hit the ground, the black plastic or also the painted section?
<SNIP>

Today I took my PCX150 and spent an hour or so doing figure 8s in a deserted parking lot (3 bays wide), something I had never done before on any of my bikes. After a while it actually became quite effortless, now I just need to do the same with the ST and take it down to 2 bays wide.

I've let my 1300 down twice, first time practicing slow figure 8's shortly after taking possession. I had enough speed that when it went over, it slid and spun 270 degrees on the black tipover guard, scuffing a small hole in it. Also barely scratched the same-side tailpipe on the underside, but the saddlebag never touched down. Second time stopped sideways on an incline, but didn't have the bars squared. It went over in ghastly slow motion fashion, and me, the non-superman, couldn't stop it.
I installed the rear GoldWing case guards shortly thereafter with adapters from @red dirt cowboy from this forum.
Now I'm much more practiced on this bike, and can do figure 8's and circles inside a 20 foot box (approximately 2 parking spaces. It's not about "me", no bragging here. With proper technique and proper practice, once the rider is trained you'll find the bike itself will do it willingly.
This is one more advantage to taking the Basic RiderCourse, or similar.
As I've stated before, it is a great confidence-booster, helping you improve your stopping, cornering, and slow speed control, as well as helping you ride safer "if you want to."
Of course, there are advanced courses beyond the Basics.