Build or Ride? Which Do You Enjoy More?

GoldenMotor.com

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
16,302
175
63
Littleton, Colorado
I'm going to bump this old thread because I was just setting in the garage, too cold for an evening ride, and realized how much time I spend just 'looking' at my bikes. To be honest, if I calculated it out I'd have to say that my 'looking time' outweighs my building and riding times.

I sit, kick back with a cup of coffee, or a beer if it's early enough, and just stare at my bikes. I engineer and come up with ways to make them better, more comfortable, faster or look better. I'll bet if I kept track of those hours I'd have many more of them than building and riding combined.
What about you? Anyone else enjoy their contemplation time?

Tom
 

Scootmeister

Member
Mar 15, 2011
243
5
16
North Carolina
I'm with you, Tom. Sorting things out is hard work and takes a lot of time, especially if you're customizing or designing something. I found that if you can visualize something, you can probably make it happen. There's something to be said too for just getting the satisfaction of taking in the fruits of your ingenuity and hard work!!
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
Oh yes, I'm with you on this Tom. I call it "creative staring"... sometimes it is problem solving, but mostly it's just looking at them and as I look other possibilities suggest themselves. Or I just enjoy their lines, appreciate things about them, imagine a different color or a different way to make the sidecar frame, or, or, or. And sometimes just looking without thinking at all, like being with an old friend, hanging out.
SB
 

tooljunkie

Member
Apr 4, 2012
663
5
16
Manitoba,Canada
as with many of my projects,i spend more time thinking about building then actually building.
my project car hasnt seen 10 hours of work in the last 3 years,but i'm sure i spent 100 thinking about it.
the bike is easier,with smaller less expensive parts,but still a lot of thought going into it,built the tank for the second bike,mounted the motor and now it sits.
riding the first one,gathering parts and planning the next step.
now its winter,so no riding,torn bicep still healing so not even wanting to risk further injury by doing something mindless and setting myself back.

i really want to try the bike in the snow with the big rear sprocket.bet it will be a blast!
 

rustycase

Gutter Rider
May 26, 2011
2,746
5
0
Left coast
Yes, Tom, I'll need to admit I'm with you...
That is, to say, I've spent my time out in the rain, hail, sleet, and snow, not to mention blistering direct sun across the desert, and dodging traffic like a liteweight gladiator on some metropolitan fwy systems! last one was the worst...

I've put more miles on kickstarters than many have put on their motorcycles.
I enjoy helping people sort through their problems with these little simple ones, and sometimes even puttering on my own.

Not much beer anymore, and only a cup or two of coffee each morning, but I'm pretty good at settin'. :)

Best
rc

.cs.
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,631
409
83
Dallas
Yep I'm guilty as charged. I spend more time looking than wrenching too. Riding time is a little different story though. I like long rides. Dallas is really vast, and I like to get way far into the jungle when I have time.
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,631
409
83
Dallas
I don't really need to wrench much though. The Atomic BB is really dependable. Usually the only tool I take on a ride is a little 3" long 10mm wrench, and my cell phone lol.
 

donb4103

Member
Oct 7, 2011
167
0
16
77
Chickasha,Oklahoma
I think that I am more like 60/40. I really love to build these things!! I love to ride them but I think I love building a little more. It has to do with creating something myself. Not just buying at the store and getting and riding. If that was the case I would just go down to the cycle store and buy a big bike and ride. That`s not how I am geared.
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,631
409
83
Dallas
What would really be great is if I could figure out a way that I could look at my bike while I'm riding it. The best of both worlds. I was always kind of fascinated with looking at my reflection plate glass windows as I'm riding by.
 

Scootmeister

Member
Mar 15, 2011
243
5
16
North Carolina
I'm the opposite, Biknut. My pot belley, grey hair and ratty riding shoes don't do that much for my bikes. Now if I could get my wife to ride them they'd look a whole lot better, but she'd rather ride her Yamaha Vino with all the amenities (electric start, turn signals, fuel gauge, under seat storage), all those things we don't need on MBs!!!!!!
 

OG-Whizzerdude

New Member
Nov 28, 2011
128
0
0
Blythe, CA
That creative staring is what keeps me sane. It's the riding that makes me nuts. That's one of the reasons I got rid of my last motorcycle. I'm 67 but if I swing a leg over I'm instantly an idiot 14 year old. All of it is just too much fun!
 

Nashville Kat

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2009
1,501
55
48
Jacksonville, Florida
Ah, "contemplation time" "creative staring"

It finally was, and is, like a curse

it started back in the day when I was racing. The guy I most hung and rode with was an incessant talker- used to bother me a bit on rides cause he was always there two abreast and pissing off cars.

But he lived a long time on a schoolbus out in a field with a wood stove for heating, and we were always sitting around stoned in the bus chattering about bike equipment. He kept breaking Campy crank arms cause he went up the steep hills of southern Indiana in such a big gear all the time-

Anyway, by the downside of my racing career I started feeling a bit too mesmerized by my bike stuff- when it was there in my line of vision I was either mentally reappraising it all or thinking about riding it-

It was all fine then still, but as I grew older- and tending to live in smaller not-the-most- expansive of dwellings- and that in part to my preoccupation and cycling escapism, I started to think of it more as my own mental liability somehow-

and now- when I can- I tend to try to keep the bikes out of my view- so I can better spend my time and energies on something else once and awhile

The motorbikes have been a real regression- I discovered them the Spring of 09, after being flooded out of my house in Indiana the summer before, and then landing in a small noisy overpriced second story one bedroom apartment in Jacksonville. I started peddling again more that Fall of 08 when I landed, because I was finally in a climate where that was more possible- there was a bike lane right outside my window- and within a year or so I had four bikes- two with motors- in the small apartment with me- so they were in view ALL THE TIME and I was spending probably too much money on bike parts perfecting the motorbikes I was then obsessing on as much as when I raced-

Oh well- They have been of great practical value and saved me a lot of fuel expenses as well as the pleasure aspect

And now I'm in a house again and they all have their own room so I can shut the door and not think of them and play guitar and keyboard more.

They only fuss when I forget to tuck them in at night.....
 

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