POLL How Long Do you Own a Bike?

[Ernest T]

How long do you keep a bike?  For the sake of this exercise lets consider your primary transportation if you own more than one bike.

For example, I normally own between 5 and 10 bikes and have had one of them for 25 years.  However, my primary two wheel transportation is currently my Trophy, and before that it was a Gold Wing.  I owned the Wing for 8 years and will keep the Trophy about the same absent a catastrophic failure or another bike coming along that blows my socks off.

[w8d4it]

I answered but you may like to know there is already a similar poll being run under Two Wheel Chat.

[janfmiller]

4 to 8 for me, can't answer the poll, just keeps saying an error occurred...

but, I had an '81 Suzuki GS1100EX, from '82 through 2003, just wasn't anything else I wanted that I could afford...  Didn't ride as much in those years, kids and all, but put 77,000 miles on it with only a blown stator for troubles, did replace a bunch of chains and sprockets and tires.....

[Ernest T]

Originally Posted by w8d4it

I answered but you may like to know there is already a similar poll being run under Two Wheel Chat.

Oh well, I don't go there.

[Bludy L]

I put myself in as 2 to 4 years but there is a reason for that. I'm a pretty new rider, only 7 years. The first few years I was wandering in the motorcycle wilderness not having any idea what I wanted. I stumbled on to the Honda NT700V or Deauville. I kept it three years and if my wife didn't want to transition from rider to passenger on long rides I might still be on it. That said I love the Trophy and I'm coming up on two years of ownership. While I still had the NT700V if stumbled on the the Bonneville and I've hat that for 3 and a half years. I don't anticipate changing out the Bonnie or Trophy at all. The only reason would be to update to a newer model.

[janfmiller]

Put 4-8 but that's an average.

I've had 18 or so bikes.  Early on, I traded up as soon as I could afford it, 8000 miles, maybe 2 years.

Finally got to an '81 Suzuki 1100EX.   I mounted a Vetter fairing and Krauser luggage and rode that bike for 20 years.  There just wasn't anything I could afford I wanted more.  Sold it in 2003 when I could finally afford a BMW R1150RT which I sold when I bought a used 2004 RT ( for the Twin Spark engine which later on after a couple of final drives, etc. wondering if I shouldn't have kept the Suzie )...

Rode the RT 50K then bought a used '07 Honda ST1300 in '2010 I think.  Loved it, thought I'd ride that bike to my grave.

Then I went to an IMS show, saw a TTSE, sat on it, took a test ride, and ... that was that...

How long will I keep the TTSE??  Hard to say, right now I'd say 'until I can't hold it up' but that's what I'd have said about the ST.   

We are fickle and easily seduced by new and improved bikes...

[Zebraranger]

Usually 2 to 4 years for me too, that's about how its worked out for me. I think its partially because I might get bored with a bike after a while, and sometimes its because its something new that has come out and sparked my interest. In over 35 years of on and off riding, I've never had a bike more than 3 years. I'm hoping the Trophy will be the one to break that streak.

[gfxmonkey]

For me, its usually 80,000 miles which usually equates to about 6 years riding.