Who started riding after age 30

1. First bike 1998 BMW R1200C bought new in summer, 1998 at age 52
Would ride 15 miles and was so scared I would get sick. Had over 30K miles
when I traded it.

2. Feelings about starting late
Probably saved my life

3. Bikes since then (all purchased new - have logged over 100K miles
in 49 states and Canada and that is with last two years grounded by
cancer. Still have a bike in the garage though, which my drives my wife
crazy.)
1998 BMW R12C, 2000 R11RS, 2001 F650GSD, 2002 R1150RS,
2003 K12GT, 2005 R12RT, 2007 R12RTP, 2009 R12GS (current bike)

1. 46 years old then 47 now

2. First and current ride is a 05 KLR. Took my test at 20 years of age on a borrowed Honda CX500 Custom. Had big bike license my whole life never owned one!

3. I missed out on a lot of fun. And now with little experience and a older body, read that a young and dumb brain, I stop and look and think before just going for it.

4. 3 wheelers and 4 wheelers don't count do they? Just the KLR.

Started last year at 37. Bought a new TW200. Rode all over the neighborhood, found a few fields. I bought the TW instead of a 4 wheeler to take out with our Jeeps on the weekend. I then found out I like motorcycles. Next I got my license, bought a KLR650, started taking some longer trips. I found the KLR lacking for more serious offroad, bought an XR650L. Starting later in life I have more respect for the road. ATGATT. I still have all 3 bikes, full insurance, and a great new hobby. I found my local club, participate in local rides, just recently did my first overnight trip. With summer around the corner, I look forward to more adventures.

Started when I was 53 in 2007. Never rode before that.

1. What was your first bike?
1982 Honda GL500 Silverwing Interstate

2. How do you feel about starting so late?
Kids are grown, plenty of insurance, wife finally gave the ok (former ER nurse). I ride them all. Gone to Key West, Blue Ridge Pkwy. Planning a trip to Alaska. I love to ride and have alot of catching up to do.


3. What bikes have you progressed to / thru?
ADDED: 1983 GL650 Silverwing
1980 GL1100 Goldwing (naked)

I'll phrase the first question in my Mom's exact words, "WTF were you thinking?" (5 years later her opinion hasn't changed)

Always wanted to ride, but it never worked out. If it wasn't my parents saying no, it was marrying young and having kids a few years apart.

2. What was your first bike?

Took the MSF course a month before my 37th birthday in late 2007. Less than two months later my first bike was a 2003 Honda VTX1800S (I'm a bigger guy.)

3. How do you feel about starting so late?

Of course, I wish I had been riding sooner. But better late than never.

4. What bikes have you progressed to / thru?

A touch over two years later and I still ride the VTX, but added a 2008 ZX-14 in May of '09. Getting tired of trying to make "daily riding" bikes into long distance tourers, so a FLHX, GL1800 or a big adventure bike is on the horizon.

that's what my mom said 5 years ago too. ok mebbe not the WTF part.
so this thread has been running for longer than i have been riding .

2. What was your first bike?

'99 BMW F650

3. How do you feel about starting so late?

no biggie; i am always looking for something new to learn & there is always some way to learn ride better.

4. What bikes have you progressed to / thru?

i guess i am a bmw girl.... '99 F650, '07 F800, and now '02 R1150GS.

i started riding in march 2009 at age 31. i am now 32 with 17000 miles under my belt. it has been fun.

I'm old enough that Mom is not around now. Got hooked last year at 51 yrs. When I ride and get the various flashes of doom (d*** cage drivers !), I remind myself that all 4 kids are grown enough that I can offer them little now except some more college tuition.

I am glad that I am old enough to understand risk and reward. I hope that helps keep me safer. Got more than a few years of downhill skiing behind me also so I don't mind hard objects going past at high speeds.

My first ride was an '82 Magna 750, shaftie too. Rebuilt her from the frame up last year which is a great way to start out but it makes for a late start to the riding season.

Bike #2 is the '01 R1150GS. It's what I wanted the Magna to be when she grew up.

Need dirt bike riding lessons now.

1
Got my license last spring, at 46, never ridden on a bike before. Got into as I have a long commute to school and wanted to save gas, also that I found a reasonable bike for sale cheap.
2
My first bike was a 1983 Honda Shadow, I bought for $500, not running. Did not even know at that time whether I would like riding.
3. It was a bit of a challenge, wish I had done it a lot sooner. I do worry as I am the only parent of my 12 year daughter, but figure I still need to live as well, and she loves riding on the back. Great excuse for short road trips.
4. I sold the 83 Shadow, and bought a Suzuki 650 Vstrom (04), also not running but didn't take my long to get that bike on the road., much more comfortable bike for me and my daughter.

I started riding just in time for my 30th to ring in a whole new decade I'm riding a GSX400f which a mate helped me put together and get running (actually, he donated it to me ).

Started last May, aged 40 - seemed like a good idea at the time. Made the decision, bought a '99 Virago 250. SO and I then went and did our licence course.

At this point in time the stable includes:

'99 Virago 250
'00 Suzuki GSF250V
'98 Kawasaki KLR650
'06 BMW F650GS DAKAR

Started at age of 56. Two years later with over 60k under my belt, I'm loving every moment on the bikes. Took my learners on a Goldwing as I had added an electric shifter due to a below knee prothesis. After having a 05 Honda Areo 750, 07 Yamaha 1100 and an 04 Road King, I still have the Goldwing, having since removed the electric shifter as I have customized a heel/toe shifter so anyone can ride her.

Ride to work everyday here in Vancouver, BC, and look forward to weekend warrior rides through the absolutely stunning PNW. I particularily love Washington and Oregon states for weekend getaways. My wish is for BC to get their act together and try to meet the standards for recreational camping that I have experienced in my junts through the PNW. Kudo's as always to good folks below the 49th parrallel.

Jim

Just starting, at 53, almost 54. When I was 40. I told my wife "I've got to get a motorcycle". She said (holding 2 kids and another on the way), "you do what you need to do". After 15 minutes, I walked back into the room and said "Well, now that I've gotten permission, I don't need to do that nany more". Last fall, she and I both took the local MSF course and got our licenses. This spring, after a refresher, she plans tp get a Honda Rebel, and I plan to get a BNW 1200. We look forward to starting out trailering to interesting locations and learning how to ride. Can't wait.

David

I rode for the first time just two years ago, at age 66. I'll be 69 in a few months and can't get enough of riding. Began on a 620 Ducati Monster that I still have and enjoy often, and added a Dakar 11 months ago hat I take on long rides.
My wife fully supports my new love of riding, and hasn't even upp'ed the life insurance.

I am 42 and just started riding a year ago.

My first bike was a '79 R65 that I just sold. I out about 4,000 miles on it. I decided I was going to ride and took the MSF course before buying my first bike.

I am really really conflicted about starting so late. My oldest brother was killed when I was a teenager when a person ran a red light and unseated him from his Z1 in 1979. My Mom made my other brothers and I put our hands on his coffin and swear not to ride on a motorcycle ever again. I was 13 then I think so it took me until last year to get up the nerve to learn to ride. I used to ride pillion with my brother when I was a kid and those are some of the funnest memories I have. I have always been fascinated by bikes and riding seemed to be like it would be really fun. I was right and riding is something I love doing. I have really been surprised at how much "technique" there is to riding a bike and how much you have to practice to get it right. I am however fighting terrible bouts of guilt over riding and I hide it from everyone I know with the exception of my wife who is very supportive. I am terrified my Mom will find out and I know that makes me a punk but I can't stop riding and I am not up for the fight that will ensue if she finds out.

I now have an '08 Honda XR650l that I ride a good bit as there are a good bit of crappily paved country rodes around where I live. I also have a '76 BMW R60 which is awesome. I really like the BMW the most. I don't know why other than it feels really solid and is smooth. Riding my Honda is like riding a tractor.

I'm right on the bubble for this one by starting at 29. I took the MSF course and got my license in the spring while researching bikes and trying to save some cash.:ddog Found my bike by the fall and got hooked right away.


1. I'll phrase the first question in my Mom's exact words, "WTF were you thinking?" (5 years later her opinion hasn't changed)

I was actively searching for previous life experiences I had bypassed for lack of resources, age and/or experience. I ended up watching a movie called "The World's Fastest Indian" and remembered how much I always wanted to ride motorcycles but had held back to satisfy the will of the family. I didn't want to set records on the salt flats but I did want to get out on the back roads and twisty blacktop encompassing East TN.


2. What was your first bike?

My first and so far only bike is a 2003 Yamaha TW200. It's a great bike that fits everything I need out of a bike right now (paid for, inexpensive to maintain, great gas mileage, & dual sport). It is great bike to learn on which is why many MSF courses use them for training. I knew most of my riding would be on blacktop but I wanted the ability to go off-road too. I don't have much interest in riding on the interstate with all these great back roads so the limited top speed isn't much of a factor.


3. How do you feel about starting so late?

I'm actually glad that I started this late. Getting some wheel time in a cage made the transition to riding a bike smooth and logical. I improved my riding and driving skills when I started getting serious about riding a motorcycle. Riding the motorcycle brought the joy of driving back and helped me calm down in the cage too.


4. What bikes have you progressed to / thru?

I haven't picked up another bike yet. I'm still interested in the dual sport bikes and I really like the motards. I've got other obligations right now but plan to start a new bike fund soon. I'll be filtering through the forum to help figure out the next bike.

I started riding when I was 10, on an XR80.

I rode a CB350 with apehangers through my late teens and much of my 20's.

Finally, in my late 20's I got an R90/6 so I could get out into the country better.

It wasn't until my 30's that I started figuring out what I really like about riding motorcycles.

My brother has been riding for years and was moving to TX and had a BMW R100/7 that he was going to take with him. He gave it to me. I got it running and took the MSF rider course that was in May 2005. I was 37 at the time.


2. What was your first bike? 1978 BMW R100/7 rode it for a few months and bought a brand new 2005 BMW K1200LT.

3. How do you feel about starting so late? Kinda bummed that I missed this sport but also knew I was not mature enough to attempt this prior to 2005.

4. What bikes have you progressed to / thru? <!-- / message --> <!-- sig --> ___R100 to K1200LT to R1200GS

I also successfully passed the MSF rider coach program and teach here in CT during the summer. I am also now a site trainer here in CT.

My first bike was a Yamaha 650 Special. I bought it used and it only lasted two weeks before it died - it was a lemon. I remember my first ride on it though - I rode most of the night. I never felt freedom like that before. I had turned 30 just a few months before.

My second and current bike is a Honda Shadow A.C.E. 750. I have put over 50,000 miles on it, most of that in the last two years through road trips to the States (I'm from Canada).

I do wish sometimes that I had started sooner, but I seldom think about that. I have lived more in the last two years than in all my years prior to that, and that is what I focus on and why I continue to dream and do more trips. Let's put it this way, my life changed so much that my bike travelling is the focus, and I schedule other things in my life around it.

It allowed me to connect to people in ways I could never dream of. I don't know what it is, but having a motorcycle removes barriers between people. It's given me the capacity to dream again, something which we all sometimes lose in our hectic lives.

Youth has reflexes, old riders have experience. New old riders have neither. Not that 30 is that bad. But the baby boomers, that finally paid the house off, can be.