When do you call it quits?

This is true. Throughout my life I was involved in so many things, each of which I thought I could never do without. But time and situations move on. I've been through motorcycles (in my youth), snow skiing, martial arts, then college and a family pretty much ended all that until we were established and my kids old enough to be involved and then I got in to waterskiing. In the meantime I had picked up basketball and have played about 3x per week for the last 35 years or so. Photography and woodworking and building a house all kept me busy and interested. I had sold my motorcycle after getting married and my wife said I could get another after we had bought couches, but then her friends convinced her motorcycles were a bad idea, so I didn't. I did finally pick up a TS185 at a garage sale for $100 40 years ago, and mostly used it to ride to work when we only had one car. My kids all learned to ride on it and each takes turns busting it up, but no on-road riding. Even though I'm an experienced on-road rider it concerns me (and my wife even more) to think of having my kids out on the highway on motorcycles. In the last few years the kids wanted to ride more and I finally made the plunge when my nephews friend had an XR600R for sale. Though I'm old and my kids all grown we have a set of bikes now only for off-road trail riding, so I've come full circle back to motorcycles. I feel my life slipping away as more body parts fail. (I'm on a wait list for dbl hip replacement at the first open scheduling opportunity). I can still ride and it hurts less than basketball, but lifting the leg over the bike is really painful.

I guess my whole point is there are a lot of things in life to do. Don't get stuck on one and feel like your life is over if you can't do it anymore. (I'm struggling to accept this advice myself, even though I know by experience it is true.)

Mr. Bones - been thinking about your post. Tough call, but there are a lot of options. Maybe look through the list of forum interests, and see if there is a new spot that gets your interest. Wrenching, vintage, dirt, trials, hacks, etc. all offer a lot of moto alternatives to consider.

IMHO most of you guys worrying about riding try to think yourself through an emotional matter.
Stop thinking but start feeling it.
The best decisions are made in the stomach, not in the head, no matter what consequences will or won't follow.

Thinking yourself through should I ride or not ride can lead to the classic biker thing of "explaining things away". buy that I mean coming up with an explanation that
makes you believe the problem is no longer there or leading that you will be invincible or will be able to deal with situations that in reality can not even be handled bu a MotoGP racer.

Sometimes "the stomach" so to speak is more realistic in it's reasoning than the mind when the mind is tainted with riders over estimating their skill (however well skilled they might be) and
the enjoyment of riding that fogs the mind too.

You are really going to be in a pickle in about 20-30 years. Dang!!

Bet that's cheered him up no end.

Ha ha ha

I concur with DaFoole . There will be a time and you will know when riding again will be right. But as for now perhaps take solace in loving those who are loving you.

When I was very young and stupid, I used to surf I wiped out and was hit in the head by another surfer. I woke up in an ambulance where one of my buddies told me that everyone thought I was going to be fish food. I walked away from it and right there sold my board and swear to myself "never again". That was 34 years ago. Im a bit too old and live too far from the ocean to pick up surfing again. Theres not been a single day that I regret selling that board.

I started riding in 1971 @ 13, rode till 1982, mostly dirt, should have been killed in 1976 when I T boned a Buick on a Kawasaki H1 at speed. 1982 brought marriage and 1983 brought the US Navy into my life till 1989 during which that time my riding amounted to Dirt Bike and Motocross Action magazines and I realized I'd devoted a lot of time to a fruitless endeavor. I got out of the Navy in 1989 and one year turned into many as I kept thinking I'd buy a bike next season, summer, spring, and never did, but I was a single parent. I finally got an airhead R100 in 1995 and rode that for a few years, then the 1150GS in 2000, rode that till 2006, bought a KLR wanting to do something more serious off road, but not wanting to deal with the game of trying to street legalize a KTM in NY. Rode that for a few years, bought a Yamaha WR250R in 2008, realized the KLR had more balls than the WRR and never rode it, and haven't had a bike since about 2010. Got seriously bitten by the photography bug and started shooting a lot of MX. Both stretches in my life, 2010 till now, and 1983-1995, I never felt like I wasn't a rider. I wasn't any less or more interested in it, I was alwasy obsessed with it. Spectating racing is really cool, my days of being even remotely competitive are LONG gone I'm 59. I'd rather watch this game has passed me by with double and triple jumps. ain't happening. There is a motorcycle museum in town one of the top 4 in the country, he's got well over 500 bikes, mostly old Harleys and Indians and Hendersons, etc etc etc. I know the guy he's got more money than god and he does. not. ride.

I'll get something sooner or later, I look at TW200's, 1100 Virago's, VFR's, ZRX's, Sportsters, who knows, no rush.

I don't think owning and riding makes you any more a rider than not owning and riding. You either are or you aren't and if you're reading this you are. If it isn't the right time in your life to have a bike, so be it its not like being married or in some heavy relationship so anyone who is agonizing over if they should or shouldn't probably shouldn't for now.

On the fence myself regarding time to hang up my helmet. Wife wants me to get a trike, not sure at this point what i am going to do. Yes, I too have had days when that voice said to take the truck today. Which I did.
Oh FYI just turned 72 last month. Bike is put to bed now until springl

You must really suck at riding!

All that stuff will likely stop you from doing a lot of stuff later on in life.
Being a giant mass of pain can really restrict your options.

I went to an aviation safety seminar a while back. The presenter asked the audience, "Who here thinks that flying an airplane is safer than driving a car?" Everybody there (pretty much all pilots) raised their hand.
The presenter said, "Actually, flying a light plane has about the same risks as riding a motorcycle..."
I'm thinking, "Oh great, I'm screwed..."

I think I suck at crashing more than riding but thanks for the boost in confidence

Am looking at the new AJP PR7 when they arrive in Australia. Between that & my track bike I should fall back into a comfortable riding rhythm.

I am going to concentrate on offroad adventure & some track work. I can't see a replacement for riding in my life so will still ride. But less road K's and less on edge riding.

This is a very interesting thread. I've taken a lot of safety/performance courses, but still have a lot to learn. I'm 67. One instructor, who was also a pilot, observed that riding well is a lot like being a fighter pilot in terms of situational awareness. In particular he mentioned the difference between pilots who are instrument certified (I think that was the term) and those that can really only fly in good weather. The clear impression was that only the former were real pilots. David Hough has a recent article in Motorcycle Consumer News where he says that only about 2% of the population is willing to be a serious rider. The problem is that about 4% own motorcycles. For me it will be time to hang it up when I don't think I'm any longer in that 2%.

Do lots of Yoga..... It works wonders for "seniors". You will be amazed at how it will help everything involved with riding.

Don't get a trike.... get a real nice convertible sports car. BMW z3. Trikes are not bikes and they are awful cars.

Been riding 55 years and remember how I always felt I had a bull's eye on my chest and back. The bike seemed to slide out from under me on a more or less regular basis. Somewhere between age 35 and 40 I noticed that the tires stayed on the pavement, and that other vehicles didn't seem to be aiming for me anymore. Thought about it and came to the conclusion that i was riding more like I drove a car (reasonable speed, not adding 25 to 30 mph to curve signs, etc.). I also remember the old adage that I heard years ago: There are old riders, and there are bold riders, but there are no old bold riders. I think that's something for us all to remember.

Once I got through the teenage "fast everywhere" years I met some BMW tourers from Germany on their airheads doing a UK jaunt. We got talking and they said smooth is the way. Don't accelerate hard from one corner and then brake hard for the next. That is racing, not road riding, especially long distance. Most of them were two up as well and they said that the passenger should only know that you have changed gear from the exhaust note, not feel it at all. Because I wanted to do what they were doing, touring, I started to practice this and have more or less kept to it ever since.

I am not fast anymore, if I ever really was, nor do I try to be, but I still aim for smooth. Getting that smooth flow going seems to eliminate dramas, from both within and without, and also makes the whole thing much more relaxing enabling me to ride longer at my age. There are more elements to motorcycling that just being the fastest.

Two years to go until I am 70 and still looking for my next bike. Will I ever learn?

My first bike was in 1969 and i 've had many since. Im not fast anymore but i am smooth. Every spring i lay my bike down on the lawn and pick it up, so far. My rule is when i can't pick it up i quit. Some days i don't ride because i don't have the feel. some of my friends in their 70's and Ben at 84 only ride when it's good.
There my two bits worth.

If you got hurt at work would you never work again?