my best friend, his dad and i went riding today. i have a really good gut instinct on things, and today just didnt feel right, getting things ready in the morning went TOO well, the weather was perfect though, so i kind of just dismissed it. well we drive 2 hours, and we start riding, only to find my rear brake isnt working. went back to camp and got it fixed, never figured out why it wasnt working though, it kinda just fixed itself i guess? well after that i just never got comfortable on the bike today, i was just real tense.

then around 1:30 my friends dad had a weird crash, i didnt see it happen, i came over a hill to see him laying on the ground. he has no idea what caused him to crash, and there was nothing visible on the ground that could have caused him to fall. anyway, he ended up with a broken collarbone, not that big of a deal but still. this was his first dirtbike related injury, and i almost never see this guy fall, maybe 2-3 times since ive been riding with him, hes in his late 40's.

anyway, it kinda got me thinking, i really havent been enjoying riding lately like i used to. ive only been getting to go every couple months, and theres almost always something wrong with my bike. it never wants to start for me, yet anyone else can get on there and start it the EXACT same way and it will start right up. even the brake problem today my friend somehow fixed, and he didnt even do anything. ive spent WAY too much money fixing things on it, and i think thats part of the reason i dont enjoy it anymore.

i think im going to sell both my bikes, and in a year or 2 get a KTM. id love to have e-start, and direct injection should be out by then as well.

04_edge said:

?????

04_edge said:

How can you not enoy riding "lately" if you only get to ride every couple of months? It sounds to me that in all reality dirt bikes might not be your thing. As for your bike always having problems and spoiling your rides, a new shiney KTM will have its own problems once the new wears off.

Im not trying to be mean in my post at all and I've seen this before where friends think a new bike will make all the difference in their riding enjoyment but they finally concluded that riding offroad motorcycles just was not their thing no matter how much new motorcycle stuff they bought. Maybe step back from riding for a little while (which seems what your thinking of doing by selling your bikes) and really see if thats what makes you happy and enjoy before you invest anymore money into it.

crabbcakes said:

all we did was take the master cylinder cover off, my friend didnt believe me when i said it had enough fluid. we put it back on and it suddenly started working again. i dont see how that could have fixed anything? but it did.

BBA said:

i enjoy it still, but like i said, theres always something wrong with my bike, and its really starting to get annoying and taking away from the fun. after i bought i heard stories about the guy who owned it before. apparently he blew the engine in it 4-5 times, which i believe because when i bought it the airfilter looked horrible. i think part of the problems im having with it is because of that. and money right now is tight because work is slow, and im starting school in soon to..

i think that if i got a new bike, id know what im getting into and id be able to keep up on the maintenance to where things like this wouldnt happen. if i got to ride more often i dont think it would be as big of a deal, but riding once a month, or every other month, and having the little stuff go wrong or break...its just frustrating.

sooo, how old are ya? And how are your grades?

Not tryin to be a smartass, just diggin for more info. Nearly all people at different times of their life have to re-evaluate their situation. One of my friends got married, had kids and dropped the sport altogether, decided it wasn't in his cards. He was a good rider too. I took several years off without a bike to ride and a woman that wasn't into it. Although I won't do that again, I did spend that time getting other parts of my life in order. Nowadays, I spend every loose nickel on my passion, and the woman lives in another part of the city.

Lotta the problems with your bike are related to the "only getting to go every couple of months". Setting is harder on them than riding a lot of the time.
Also sounds like you need to get it out and do a pre-ride check on it the day before you plan on riding. Find the problems and fix them ahead of time.
If I'm off my bike for a couple of weeks or so, I find the first ride is pretty unsure too. Go every weekend, or better yet two days in a row and I ride way better and feel a lot more into and in tune with it.
What your feeling is probably pretty normal with not much seat time. But you can take away the bike problem factor by prepping your bike ahead of time, and at least being mechanically ready come ride day.:thumbsup:

I get the same way. When i havent raced for a few weeks i feel that i dont even want to do it anymore. As soon as i get to the track i remember how great it is. You just have to try to find some more time to ride and you will enjoy it like you used to.

Yeah....I get kinda burned out once in a while too, but heck, I'm 52, and I get burned out on everything! The burnout goes away when I get out on the track or trails and I don't have time to be 'burned out' as I have to fully concentrate to keep from crashing my old brains out!
Heck, I have gone to the track or trails on days when my back hurt so bad, I couldn't tie my shoes in the morning, but at the end of the day, my back still hurt but I had an awesome fun day!
Wait till you get to be my age before you get 'burned out'; ride every weekend you can, because if you miss a chance to ride, it doesn't get added on at the end; it's just an opportunity missed to do the most fun thing in the world!