I did St Paddy's Day in Dublin back in 1998 with a very naughty girl and got my whistle wet with the black stuff & the otherand far as i'm concerned the weather was warm all weekend
There’s an awful lot to be said for this. Until 2016 I owned an 1199 after only ever owning litre sports bikes and above. An epiphany came in 2016 when I decided I couldn’t keep riding the 1199 the way I did. Riding the same roads repeatedly and choosing to ride alone in the early morning / late evening as fast as I dared. Due to location, track riding isn’t viable and so I purchased an XDiavel. The XDIAVEL was to me ultimately unexciting and so after not too long I reverted to riding that as hard as I dared in the same pattern to get the same thrill as sports bike riding and regularly feared losing the front wheel / low siding. In choosing another bike, I fancied the V4 Panigale. I ultimately decided that its performance was nuts and whilst test riding one, I decided I would likely end up riding it as quickly as I dared most if not all of the time and I couldn’t do that to myself or my family. So, that factored in buying a Tuono. My test riding naked bikes late 2017 / early 2018 was a wake up call as my only other experience of Naked bikes was ownership in the mid 2000’s (Kawasaki Z1000 whilst owning a ZX10) when compared to sports bikes, naked bikes were awful. The Tuono is as close to a sports bike with flat bars as you’ll find. Owing to what it is I don’t feel the need to thrash it to get my kicks albeit I’m probably still rattling along whilst on it. Since owning it I’ve enjoyed riding as much as I’ve ever done. My access to off roading is also limited however, as others have said, it was brilliant fun when I had a spell at that. I’d do it all the time if I could. Trackdays similarly. I used to live an hour or so from 5 circuits and so was invariably at one of them. So, to the OP, give consideration about what you want from the Bike and maybe look to change to suit and see if it picks yer pecker up. Or keep your bike for another season. Bike change or otherwise, go one more year passed what you think is desirable and see then. If that doesn’t restore the mojo then perhaps consider selling up.
I've been many times, it's just different levels of crappy. (just the weather, love the place/people).
Or an s1000r (Lower seat height, better dealer infrastructure, 3yr warranty, 4K cheaper for same tech )
What I love about Ireland is the time that I was over there with family. I was taking the dog for a walk in very typical light drizzle. Passed two locals who both told me it was a lovely day!
I think many of us that have been lifelong bikers have experienced the periods of low use and questioned whether to get out but it can pass. Sometimes it can be affected by riding pals lives keeping them busy so you wait, or the weather never suits your mood to get out if you don't like the rain, your own life being eventful etc. I'd say if you can afford to keep it in the garage then either wait some, or grab it by the bars and take a solo adventure out on your own and meet new people. The chances are if you engage with others while sat with your coffee in a remote café contemplating everything, you could get to discover folk not so far away that meet up for a ride. I've been through this, whether a fading interest, surgery more than enough, thoughts after collisions, family concerns and pressure bringing me down for a while, but I've not let it get me just yet. I had a seven year stop way back, and a few unadventurous years but this year I made myself try to get out but unfortunately fate threw a Mercedes into my path so here we go again. So many people have said surely you're going to think about stopping, but actually no. Not just yet. This was the worst but it wasn't my doing, so I'll make every effort to get on again and did for a while last Sunday to see if I could, not so easy but hasn't put me off, it just told me I wasn't fixed yet. My2p is keep it charged, clean, and always ready to go, this is a must, for if it is, spontaneity will possibly pay off, and change your emotion into motion ;O)
It sure does. We had 7 weeks of unadulterated sunshine over the summer. Mind you, first time since 1976!
We don’t use after sun, 8 pints of Guinness has the same numbing effect. But sunscreen stocks sold out. Mind you it helped all the pharmacies shift that backlog of stock dated BB12/76