What Makes You Feel Young?

YamadudeXS650C

Central New York XS650
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Tonight I suggested that we shut down the "Old Fart" thread I started in 8/17

http://www.xs650.com/threads/how-do-you-know-when-youve-become-an-old-fart.50350/page-16#post-604560

....I'm thinking that us "older" gents might be better off focusing on that which makes us feel young at heart.

For me, riding my vintage bikes makes me feel young. I ride at every possible opportunity this time of year.

What makes you feel young at heart?

75.Ride 040.5.jpg
 
Riding my bikes and the fact that I still get a “reaction” from looking a pretty girl.

It may be old, but it still works very well thank-you!
I had a bet going that you would be the first to reply, Pete, cuz you are one of the most youthful thinkers at this website.
 
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Riding my bikes and the fact that I still get a “reaction” from looking a pretty girl.

It may be old, but it still works very well thank-you!
Reaction? (I know low brow humor)
I'll have to be blind not to see the pretty ladies
 
As some of you know, I’m an engineering prof and so I am surrounded at work by people who have....shall we charitably say....a rather under-developed sense of humour and an over-developed sense of their own importance. All they care about is writing papers (as many as possible) with little or no regard for how useful the paper might be or how many people might read it - let alone understand or use the knowledge it contains.

Basically, it’s research, research, research,....all the live-long day.

So, one day I put the following cartoon (which had been clipped from. Montreal newspaper back in the ‘80s), on my office bulletin board......

B7C4A078-39C4-479B-B805-4C1A33853769.jpeg


Oddly, nobody commented upon it except one chap who, after studying the image for a few minutes, excitedly exclaimed, “You know Pete! - that creature is a satyr!”

“Uh huh” was all I could muster in reply, but I was thinking, “if you can’t take a joke - be one”.

Live a long time or a short time - for God sake - LIVE!
 
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Like a lot of other like minded members here, riding my '80SG brings me back. I've had her only the last 10 of her 39yrs of existence. I was Stationed at RAF lakenheath when she was built back in Feb of '80. Also reading my old issues of "Iron Horse" and "Easyrider" for the 50th time....
 
Losing 55 lbs makes me look and feel younger... clothes that used to not fit now fit... converesely , clothes that did fit no longer fit...My shirt size has gone from XL to Med. and my waist went from 36" to 31".
Riding a motorcycle also enhances the quality of life... It negates age to a certain extent .. theres not a greater means of conveyence than that of two wheels and the feelings associated with it.
 
And yet again I too feel younger when riding. Also when working on these older machines with younger guys in our group gives me a feeling of youth. Passing on the knowlegde to keep them running and sparking the interest of the next generation. And of course the young ladies at the rallys and shows always get my attention!;):devil:
 
Like everyone here (why else would we be here...) riding helps a lot, especially on a good day.

I have two grandsons in their 20's. The older one is 28 and I was the primary father-figure in his formative years. He still likes to hang with Gramps and often asks my advice. Doesn't always take it, but at least asks. Those occasions when we just hang out and shoot the shit are good for my self-esteem. Now that he's a family man he understands a lot of things that frustrated him when he was a kid. Great to see the light come on!

Younger one is 21 and he also seeks my advice and assistance regularly. He is a little more likely to listen the first time but like all of us has to pee on the electric fence for himself from time to time. He and I will hit the gravel pit and turn a lot of perfectly good ammunition into smoke and noise several times a year. It's been a great trip watching him turn from a timid, somewhat isolated kid into a self-confident young man and father.

It also helps a lot that I've never really been all that concerned by what others think of me. I've never been afraid to do something just because it was fun. Example: I was in my late 20's, married with three kids and stationed in Japan. Our housing unit backed up to a pretty steep drop-off. Saw the kids racing trikes down the hill and said "Gee, that looks like fun" so I joined them. I could see the neighbors looking out their back windows, no doubt wondering what I was smoking...
 
Taking one of the bikes way, way out into the countryside, on impulse.
No plans.
Trying hard to get lost.
Stop in a small town somewhere, and pick up a conversation with a local resident,
then make my way home using only the sun and my general sense of direction.
 
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