How long does it take to pull the trigger on a bike purchase?

[Lightcycle]

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Cars and trucks... I don't much care. If it doesn't have any glaring faults, eg. Transmissions that fall out of them at 150,000km... I research those, because they are a necessary utility, and I keep them long term.

100% for non-toys.

We arrived back in Canada in late August 2019. By the beginning of Sept, we were driving from ON to BC in a brand new Tacoma.

I don't care too much about cars and trucks, so whatever's got good reliability, got all the features I want ticked off, then it's just put-the-money-down-and-drive-away.

Bikes seem to be a lot more personal and I like to take the time to know what I'm getting has been thoroughly researched. I pretty much know all the known issues of the motorcycles I buy, and if and when it does happen to me, I'm not surprised and I know the fix beforehand.

If the ordering process involves customization, I almost always go that route, if I can't change it aftermarket or it's too difficult (like custom suspension). I can wait for a bike or sports car built to my specifications as opposed to being impatient and buying a spec model off the lot. I know exactly what I want and I'm willing to wait for it.

I think that's the reason why I tend to keep bikes for a long time - because there was considerable time and effort in researching whether it would be a long-termer for me, instead of an impulse buy followed by buyer's remorse.

 

[Priller]

For me, it's hard to define. For my street bike, it starts with a sense that what I have isn't working for me anymore. From there, when I see 'the one', I usually know it right away. Then I'll spend a month or two researching and comparing alternatives, invariably only to come back to the one I fell for in the first place. I suspect it's just self-justification, but I pretend it's due diligence. From there, I'll start shopping and try hard not to fall for a particular bike, but I usually do anyway.

So for the switch from Tuono to Griso, it started with me finding I wasn't riding nearly as much, and coming back from rides with a sense of slight frustration that the rides were too slow and the tire edges were starting to collect dust. From there, I saw a Griso video on YouTube, a bike I was peripherally aware of and liked when they were new, but never looked too closely because they weren't sporty enough for my wants at the time. Instantly fell for the bike as an ideal sport-cruiser with Italian style for what I wanted, but then started second-guessing myself and began looking at the sport-tourers I've always admired, like VFR800s and Sprint ST 1050s. Spend a month or two navel gazing, and also not wanting to give up the Tuono because it used to be perfect for me.Eventually circle back to the Guzzi, sell the Aprilia, and start shopping for real. Find a clean bike, pretend to the seller that I'm willing to walk when I'm not really, knock off a few hundred in the usual song-and-dance, and go home with my new-to-me ride, wondering why it took me so long.

I went through the exact same process switching from the ZX-10R to the Tuono, and skipped the bit where I didn't want to sell the old bike when I switched from the ZX-14 to the ZX-10R...

I'm a bit different than many here, though, in that I prefer to keep a single street bike rather than have multiple. For the commuter and track bike, it was all about finding a deal that fit the needs list, so I was much less tied to a model...

 

[Lightcycle]

I'm a bit different than many here, though, in that I prefer to keep a single street bike rather than have multiple.

I try not to have too much overlap for the fleet.

I have local dirt bike.
I have a travel dirt bike.
I have a bike that looks like a dirt bike but is really a street bike...

Hm... ok maybe there's a *little* overlap...

But in all seriousness, if I had a larger garage and a much larger wallet, there'd be overlap all over the place. Would love to have a cruiser, a power cruiser, a retro, a restomod...

Definitely the budget is the constraint here.

 

[Priller]

I try not to have too much overlap for the fleet.

I have local dirt bike.
I have a travel dirt bike.
I have a bike that looks like a dirt bike but is really a street bike...

Hm... ok maybe there's a *little* overlap...

But in all seriousness, if I had a larger garage and a much larger wallet, there'd be overlap all over the place. Would love to have a cruiser, a power cruiser, a retro, a restomod...

Definitely the budget is the constraint here.

Weirdly, for me, budget isn't the constraint (though it is a factor, as we basically spend the equivalent of a decent used bike every time we go to Italy). I just kind of like only having one street bike, not really sure why.

I get that this sounds silly considering I also have a track bike and a commuter/scooter, but weirdly I bought both to protect my last main street bike from my worst impulses. The scooter didn't get ridden once this year, so will be up for sale in the spring, and the track bike is sitting until a weird stipulation in my recently renewed life insurance policy runs out.

This does NOT apply to the rest of my life, having owned somewhere in the region of 18 bass guitars all at one time and now owning 11 watches, I have the worst of the collector impulse when I get bit by the bug.

But for bikes, it doesn't seem to apply. Not casting shade on those who own many, though! I have a neighbour with now somewhere close to 60 bikes of varying ages, and I'm always keen to see what weird bit of motorcycling history he's picked up lately (BMW K1 and Ducati Paso are two more unusual recent examples). But for me, I've always kind of liked making one bike do lots of stuff, from touring on a ZX-10R to the inevitable track day on my Griso...

 

[Lightcycle]

This does NOT apply to the rest of my life, having owned somewhere in the region of 18 bass guitars all at one time and now owning 11 watches, I have the worst of the collector impulse when I get bit by the bug.

Oooh, do we need to start a "show us your musical instrument collection" thread?

I mean, we already have a watch and knife thread...

Sadly, most of my guitar collection was given away when we went on our trip, but I managed to save a few of my favorites. Also sold my drum kit and a synth, never did manage to rebuild the collection to its former glory! Something about budget, money, space, blah blah...

 

[Jayv]

Huh.

I'm very much in the minority, it seems.

Don't worry Gene, you are in the same boat as me My current ride is a 2015, and i am still trying to figure out what i should replace it with.

I am even worse when it comes to selling bikes, listed way too many bikes and then delete the ad's the next day.

Buyers remorse ,sold a FZ1 a few years ago then saw the bike listed on Kijiji 6 months later and i had to buy it back. When i finally sold it a second time one of the conditions were that he couldn't sell it back to me.

Track/Race bike i fall into the same category as you with four wheels. No thought process what so ever, buy immediately.

 

[Lightcycle]

I am even worse when it comes to selling bikes, listed way too many bikes and then delete the ad's the next day.

Me too.

I'm not sure how it's possible, but somehow I've bought more motorcycles than I've sold... by a margin of 2-to-1...

Don't worry Gene, you are in the same boat as me My current ride is a 2015, and i am still trying to figure out what i should replace it with.

Thank you!

Reading everyone's replies, like, "Oh yeah, I just think about getting a motorcycle and 30 seconds later it's in my garage! Doesn't everyone do that?"

And I'm over here thinking, TF kinda mega-ballers do we have here on GTAM?!?!!

Srsly...

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