You'd think I'd learn...another expensive error in judgement

Downeaster

Downeaster

Everything in XS
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I finally got the Zook all nice and legal with plates, insurance and an inspection sticker.

Took it to the local gravel pit for a test ride and after about a mile of really tame trails I said to myself "This is not fun, this is WORK!" I'm just too damn fat and old to be screwing around with dirt bikes.

I guess I'll make a present of it to one of the grandsons, there's no point in me keeping it.

Shit.
 
DANGIT DownEaster....now will you get another XS?

BTW, I know another forum member who fell for a Dirt Bike Delilah a little while back and only kept the new mount for a short time - so you are in good company.

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I never did understand the off-road vehicle thing, even when I was a kid. The road bikes were always the lure for me. I could never understand riding in small circles. I wanted to go somewhere, OK, I wanted to make bigger circles. I really could not understand going like a bat-outta-hell somewhere that I had never been before. I watched my friends screw up their bones and muscles, didn't seem enjoyable to me. The road is predictable and relaxing without any teeth grinding.

Scott
 
I grew up riding dirt bikes in the Arizona desert. The bikes weren’t all that sophisticated then, mostly Japanese small bore two stroke enduros with the lights removed. The bikes were light enough, not much suspension , not much power, it was hard to get into too much trouble. We mostly explored open desert and rode on cow trails, it was great fun.

Fast forward 40 years, I bought a Suzuki V-Strom 650, mostly to commute back and forth to work, but they sell it with the pretense that it’s a modern day enduro that is off road capable. I took it off road exactly ONCE , and I didn’t take it on a pleasant little dirt road. I stupidly went really off road with it, and the damn thing just about beat me to death. I was never so happy to get back on the pavement. That bike was way too heavy to be a good dirt bike and I was too old, with bad knees and a creaky back, and I was lucky that I didn’t leave my bleached bones out in the desert!

I feel your pain DE, our brain still thinks we’re young, and unfortunately it’s in charge. :D

“Son, your ego is writing checks your body can’t cash! “
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....you screw up - just THIS much...and you’ll wind up flyin’ a cargo plane loaded with rubber dog sh!t out of Hong Kong!

Truly one of the best “sorting out / frank & open” old guy-to-young guy lines ever.
 
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Finally got around to making an offer to my younger grandson. He bought a KX250 that is WAY too much bike for him, so I told him if he was interested, he could have the DRZ, sell the KX and split whatever he gets for it with me.

He's gonna come get the DRZ and check it out, but seems to really like the idea.
 
mrtwowheel said:
I never did understand the off-road vehicle thing, even when I was a kid. The road bikes were always the lure for me. I could never understand riding in small circles. I wanted to go somewhere, OK, I wanted to make bigger circles. I really could not understand going like a bat-outta-hell somewhere that I had never been before. I watched my friends screw up their bones and muscles, didn't seem enjoyable to me. The road is predictable and relaxing without any teeth grinding.

Scott
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I was talking with a former coworker yesterday and he told me that after they witnessed a bad accident with a guy on a Harley while he and his wife were on their own Harley they got home and his wife insisted he sell the Harley as it was too dangerous. He did, which he was nearly killed by a tractor soon after but that's another story. Anyway, after telling me about selling the Harley he recited the lengthy list of broken bones he's received riding dirt bikes and four wheelers which he still does.
I'll stick with the street myself.
 
Downeaster said:
I finally got the Zook all nice and legal with plates, insurance and an inspection sticker.

Took it to the local gravel pit for a test ride and after about a mile of really tame trails I said to myself "This is not fun, this is WORK!" I'm just too damn fat and old to be screwing around with dirt bikes.

I guess I'll make a present of it to one of the grandsons, there's no point in me keeping it.

Shit.
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What's a Zook?
 
funny thing old age.... it sneaks up on ya without warning .

One day you're a young bloke tearing up the road flat out without a care in the World ..........:bike:

the next day you're pootling down the road trying to remember where you were going and anxiously looking out for bits of debris,pot holes and stretches of gravel thinking.... jeez I'm getting too old for this crap :(
 
Downeaster, you want a 1978 XS650 90% ready to be on the road? Just need to get the title in my name, replace rear tire and install a new battery and a couple odds and ends. Not showroom condition but it did run last fall.
 
kshansen said:
Downeaster, you want a 1978 XS650 90% ready to be on the road? Just need to get the title in my name, replace rear tire and install a new battery and a couple odds and ends. Not showroom condition but it did run last fall.
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Thanks, but my wife would kill me with a dull, rusty butcher knife. No more buying ANYTHING for a while...
 
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