[Geeto67]

I'm bored.

I like riding but I am starting to resent the fact that I am working on a ton of bikes all the time and not getting anywhere. I think I am burned out on it being the primary thing in my life and would rather focus on important stuff like a career and family.

Anybody else feel this way? What do you do?

I think I am going to take a break from bikes and bike message boards for the rest of this week and see how I feel about it.

(of course I wouldn't give up riding, I'll still keep old blue. Just the amount of wrenching).

Gimmie your thoughts...

 

[ProTeal55]

The best thing you can do when you get burned out is walk away 4 awhile. It is nice to just park what you have and pursue other hobbies/things/etc.. Thats why I like having my 55 so much, so when I dont even wanna look at my bikes I can hop in the car and go for a cruise.

You need to do whatever it is to keep ya calm, becasue if you are fed up with something it isn't fun anymore...

ProTeal55
Member: Ton-Up Club Chicago
1972 CB750 Hooligan/Street Fighter
1974 CB/CL450 Cafe/Bar Racer

 

[catboy]

...i feel your pain, broseph.

i burned out on racing bicycles almost three years ago. it's an all consuming endeavor; training 20 plus hours a week to be competative, wrenching my own rides, traveling back and forth across the state every other weekend for races, the high cost of equipment, travel, lodging, licenses. it took a heavy toll on my marriage. it took a heavier toll on my mind.

last year, i traded my primary race bike for a new (to me) motorbike. i couldn't be happier. it requires less time, energy, and so far, fewer $ resources. our second daughter was born last year and the time afforded me with pursueing motorcycles again goes right back to the fam. my marriage survived, my kids are happy, my wife is able to dedicate more time to her music and is subsequently happier (which means i'm happier in tow)...things are good again and ditching the racing/training/consumption-therein helped get it all around...

of course, in the same breath, i'm also a certified obsessive freak and need SOMETHING to wholey devote the remainder of my life to. my wife asked why it couldn't be something like home improvement, or painting, or cooking. and i think in the end, the thing that really makes it all work is that's it's mine and only mine and returns only to me.

N.C.N.R

 

[cafeteria_racer]

The more stuff/projects you have the more overwhelmed and burnt out you get. It feels awesome to finish projects, but if you sell some projects and get them out of sight, that feels pretty good too. All you really need is a good runner, one project that you can focus on, and at most one or two others that are nice to look at. I know that when I get back East I am selling one bike right off the bat. Partly because I'll have another one in my car, but at least I'm planning ahead. Unload some shit.

 

[borzwazie]

I'll be happy to give any bikes you're giving away a good home <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

Simplification is never bad. If it's too much like work, it's no fun.

 

[JackC]

BW is kind of right. With a bunch of projects you just get overwelmed and don't know where to start! This weekend I had 3 bikes with dead, non chargable batteries and the budget for none. bit the bullet and got one for the sporty---$75.00 Ouch!

If I didn't like them all so much I would thin the collection, but I just can't do it. A dentist friend stopped by to see the race bike and I may trade him the Ariel for 2 new front caps--thats a good deal, but it seems dumb to trade a cool bike for teeth....

 

[kenessex]

Geeto,
Get out of the wrenching while you can!!! You can always go back to it when you feel like it. If I were you, keep the daily ride. It will give you enough wrenching to keep you happy and you can always make some mopds to it if you feel the need. Find some thing else to do for a while. My selfish suggestion here is that you do some more writing of articles. I think there is an audience.

I got out of bikes for a while and got into guns. Now I am back into bikes, I just dabble in guns for my own entertainment. It is good to have several serious hobbies to go back and forth with.

Ken

AHRMA 412
Vintage racing - old guys on old bikes

 

[rat]

Making a "hobby" into "work" always sucks the fun out of it. It's been the only thing holding me back from going fullbore on leatherwork.

I'd keep one ride, sell the rest. Wrench on that ride just enough to keep it running well... 'swhy I ride ratbikes. No effort whatsoever put into making them look pretty... just fix what needs to be fixed, and ride. That's the fun part anyways, right? Everything I ride eventually turns into a ratbike.

I've noticed that with my frankenhonda build... the second I told myself I was gonna work on it for a few hours every Sunday, I didn't want to. When it was "I'm bored, maybe I'll go work on it", it was easy and fun.

But I'm lazy that way.



One man's story
is another man's shame,
Ain't bound for glory
I'm bound for flames

 

[rdrce698]

I'm feeling it as well. I have been slowly getting rid of stuff and will continue to do so. The less is more thing is working for me. Good luck.

Pete

 

[fuzzybutt]

i know just how ya feel...........many many years (and pounds) ago i was riding my horses competitively, shows every weekend, many many hours of training during the week, it got to be just like work. i sold the show horses and wasnt around em again for 2 years. now i keep a nice ol' trail horse and i ride when i want.

some people are like slinkies, basically useless but they still make me smile when i push them down the stairs

 

[joe c]

buy a boat.



jc

aaron sent my wheel!

 

[Psyco Diver 69]

I understand too, after I blew the engine in my 442 I was burned out of for a while, I wasn't enjoying it anymore, my car sat for about6 months and finally found a deal on a engine and boom, I built it dropped it in and remember how much fun it can be.

If you want to, sell of some of the projects or store them away for a while and get out there and ride, you may have lost the original reason for all this, its to get out there and ride them, not work on them

22/m
1980 Honda CB750
1972 Oldsmobile 442

 

[magnetoczar]

I used to have almost two dozen bikes, including all the different race bikes for all the different disciplines, plus two racing sidecars. Slowly I thinned the herd until I am now down to three Triumphs and one modern trials bike. I'm happy, but I'm also happy that I had and enjoyed all those bikes, they were all great. Plus, I had a bunch of (ho-hum)project bikes which went.

I still find I must wrench on something, but I think the key is to wrench on the one that is your greatest passion and get rid of the rest. I'm still working on my bobber, coming along nicely, but it's the project that I wanted to do the most, and now with the pressure of working on the ones that I really wasn't that excited about gone, I really enjoy it. My other project that I'm gathering for to start this winter is a 30 Model A roadster pickup on a set of 32' rails powered by a V8 60 flathead Midget engine.

Keep your ride, and then keep the one project that you REALLY want to do. Work on it at your own speed. Do a little something on it everytime you work on it, but designate one night to be the night that you do it. People ask me when the bobber will be done and I tell them, I don't know, when it gets done, I guess. See, when you have no "schedule", you enjoy the work, time stands still and you just create for the shear pleasure of creating.

Actually, the build is the best part for me. People who look at building as "work", are missing the point. A hobby is more about having a focus point to think on while you are toiling away at your "work", thus giving you something to look forward to.

My Two Cents,
Dgy

 

[oldschoolorange]

I know of a few people myself included that work on bikes and ride as well, It takes a lot of the enjoyment out of things. I wouldn't sell all of your stuff but take one or two bikes you want to work on and then just do them one at a time when you have some spare time and leave the others parked

Hey someone pas me the wrench........ Ahh screw it where is the torch

 

[Diamondj]

Geeto,

It's obvious those Suzuki T500's you own are fouling the harmony of your previously Honda & Kawasaki filled garage. You need to get rid of them. Fortunately there is a madman that lives out towards "the ass end of Jersey" that has spent years building a resistance to the effects of these old Suzukis. I recommend you drop these bikes off there (next Sunday's weather looks good) and don't look back. I'm sure your life will dramatically improve immediately afterward.

All kidding aside, I think you probably just have too many projects going at once. You are at the point where it's too easy to find interesting projects (bikes and cars) and too hard to find the time to work on them after you've dragged them home (or to a friend's or family members places for "temporary" storage). Maybe you need to cull the project bike herd a bit and focus on one bike at a time?

Happily I don't these issues and I can stop buying old Suzukis and parts any time I want to. I just don't choose to do so yet... Yeah that's it....

Jim

 

[LiLBull]

well bad time to pick a week off from bikes,all these love messages will get to you late.Thats it GTO get rid of most bikes and stuff you have on ebay get rid of it .It slowly gets into your mine all the projects.Take a break from it .Then come back and par down your work load thats the true secret ,you have been on every little aspect about bikes.You only need two or three bikes that you really love and cant live without.get rid of everything else ,spend time with friends and family take a break from all things mechanical.
I was burnt out on sports car restoration after over 20 years of rebuilding everything.COLD TURKEY closed shop and moved.
Building bikes is just so much easier less space less money and I only work on one or two at a time.keeps me active but not busy or over whelmed.
Its all those unfinnished things in your head that wont shut down and you need to draw a line in the sand and just DO IT.
For your own personal sanity.

Now guys dont kick a man when hes down ...whispers he has a lot of shite offer him a fair price help the man clean his garage and his sanity.

Im so far behind ,that I think Im in first.

 

[parks61]

i don't know if you have a space problem, but only get rid of the bikes that will continue to bum you out for a long time. i suspect that many have work to do which require big bites of gumption (sp?) but can be done with focus. too many projects guarantees lack of focus. cover them up with sheets so you can't see them for a while. do the break thing. love your family. love your life without projects. then (next fall) pick ONE bike and do it at a comfortable (fun) pace. get it done before the next one is bitten into. and take a break between projects to get hungry. the sheet thing makes the start of the next bike a bit of a present opening occasion. you loved it once and like an old girl friend seen after a long spell, the tingle of the initial lust will always be there and will get you going. at least most of my old flames make smile that special way when i see them again. of course don't ride that metephor too far...old girl friends got broken up with, old bike flames never need to go away.
parks



Edited by - parks61 on Apr 25 2007 6:42:16 PM

 

[joe c]

i have a 70 cb750 to unload. papers, runs. looks decent. 500 bucks.

before any of you bomb me with email.....im kidding!




jc

aaron sent my wheel!

 

[Geeto67]

I have a 76 cb750F to unload with papers for $750 negotiable. It is a project but it is 95% all there and turns over.

 

[jerseygirl]

Years back, my dad got out of motorcycles and racing for a year or two. He took up sailboats. No offense to anyone, but to drop racing motorcycles cold turkey and buy a sailboat, it was to slow for me. Needless to say he eventually came back to motorcycles and ended up doing very well racing.

I have seen an old friend who loved to ride get burned out wrenching on bikes. He works six days a week as a motorcycle mechanic and doesn't care to even ride on his day off. He was once a good racer too, but doesn't have time to do that either. Do what you need to do to keep yourself happy and sane!