Quitting Road Riding

I've finally come to a decision to quit riding on the road, I just don't enjoy it anymore, I'm not giving up biking or giving up my mille! as I still want to do some trackdays next year.

I'm sure i'll miss it, but I can't do it anymore, the risks are far too great and just not worth it.

Its like you've got dodgy drivers, loads of traffic, bad tarmac, road kill, cameras, police (loads of unmarked cars/bikes about now) and also crazy pedestrians all to look out for, its more stressful than anything else.

Anyone else just ride on track and feel the same way?

Many a time I have thought about giving up road riding for pretty much those reasons !.
I worked out that if I gave up road riding I could do 1 full track day a month with out any additional costs plus the odd evening one thrown in.
In fact I had almost converted the R1 to a pure track bike earlier this year and may convert the RSV depending on what happens between now and summer (?)

If I was closer to a race track here I would give road and go racing.......Again

V_senna said:

I've finally come to a decision to quit riding on the road, I just don't enjoy it anymore, I'm not giving up biking or giving up my mille! as I still want to do some trackdays next year.

I'm sure i'll miss it, but I can't do it anymore, the risks are far too great and just not worth it.

Its like you've got dodgy drivers, loads of traffic, bad tarmac, road kill, cameras, police (loads of unmarked cars/bikes about now) and also crazy pedestrians all to look out for, its more stressful than anything else.

Anyone else just ride on track and feel the same way?

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I have come to the same conculsion to mate, i trashed my road bike and i wont be getting another. Its gonna be a minium of at least 6-7 months till my shoulder is work again, so im saving me cash and getting me a old-ish Gixer 600 or R6 to track. Im quite lucky i live in the midlands and have Donny, Oulton, Mallory and Silverstone all about a hour or so away................. GOOD TIMES !!!

it does make more sense to go on track, I live 20 minutes away from brands so doing that once a month would be ideal.

my car insurance isn't too bad so will have to start looking for a nice car too, want a beemer for some reason

Can see where you're coming from, but no..I really enjoy getting on the bike and heading somewhere, not just round in circles or to the nearest bike meet. But the cameras and cops are ruining the pleasure and are making me very anti police which I never used to be..

V_senna said:

it does make more sense to go on track, I live 20 minutes away from brands so doing that once a month would be ideal.

my car insurance isn't too bad so will have to start looking for a nice car too, want a beemer for some reason

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Dont bother with a Beemer M8 I had a few and think they are *****.

Go for an AUDI or a older Merc.irate

AREESSMILL said:

If I was closer to a race track here I would give road and go racing.......Again

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:dunno:dunno What give up all those loverly french roads,less traffic than over here,drivers that actualy see you and move over.id give up road riding in England and just ride in france :biggrin

AREESSMILL said:

Dont bother with a Beemer M8 I had a few and think they are *****.

Go for an AUDI or a older Merc.irate

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oh didn't know they were ***** lol, 2 of my mates have beemers, 1 has a 3 series, the other has a M5, my uncle has a 3 series also and swears by it, why are they ***** then? lol

go for the 3.0L diesel beemer mate,theyre fantastic.
my dads on his 3rd,a 530 td touring with m sport pack and its amazing,the combination of power,performance and mpg is 1st rate.
equally the 320 cdi merc or audi a6 2.5 tdi are equally good.

i sold my mille cos i got back off holiday on the saturday dying to get on the bike,went out all day sunday and just didnt enjoy,scameras and cops everywere as well as very very bad drivers,who seem to get worse imo.

ive had enough of sports bikes,i enjoyed my xjr1300 more than i did my mille tbh.
ill have another but it wont be a rce rep im afraid.

I guess i am fortunate to still love road riding, the thrill of the open road and all that, it still rocks my boat and is nice to just nip out for a steady hour or a rapid 1 and come back chilled out.

V Senna what we talking size wise on the motor, i am a big audi/vw fan not keen on bm but all depends on what you want, dont rule out an alfa but dont expect a big return financially.

supertedlover said:

I guess i am fortunate to still love road riding, the thrill of the open road and all that, it still rocks my boat and is nice to just nip out for a steady hour or a rapid 1 and come back chilled out.

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Agreed mate:thumbup

Never done a track day myself ( hopefully next year ) but now i'm back on 2 wheels after a 4 yr needs-must break I don't think I could go without my bike now.

Like today just rode home from college with a mate on his CBR600 nice and steady down some lovely rural b roads. Yep theres some cow **** about, few pot holes, a driver or two with his head up his arse but that's all part of it. I just look out for it all the time and deal with it.Being out on a bike is my 'me' time to enjoy something i'm passionate about and concentrate on enjoying my riding and forgetting about all the other **** in life.

I'll have a quick hoon if the conditions are right and it's safe to do so, but if not then I'm quite happy to plod along until they are. There's a risk with lots of things in life and god only knows I could keel over in the middle of the night or something like that. Yeah I could ride around public roads like a nutter and burn my licence up or end up in bits but i'd rather compromise and ease off and wake up next to the other half instead of in A+E next to some other fecker in the bed opposite :biggrin

Guess it's all down to what we want at the end of the day so the choice is very much an individual one :thumbup

I was only after like a 318i lol, im 22 yr old, so insurance will still be 700 odd quid even on that.

something like this

agree with superted,im also a fan of vw's.
ive just got the 2003 golf gt tdi 130bhp,and had it re mapped to 200bhp and over 300lbft torque and it goes like a *******,still returning 50+mg too.
the build quality is 2nd to none too,no squeeks or rattles ect.
i miss my bike more than i can put into words and ill not give up riding,it feels like your right arms missing,but i think im passed race reps now.
want summat more of an all rounder tbh.specialy as i mostly have the mrs on the back now as all my mates are tossers and darent take there shiny new superbikes out,puffs.

lol got to say im not a big fan of Golfs, i've hated them for years saying theres too many about etc, it would be a sin if I got one, but I may think about a TDI passat.

Like bigun said really

I was on the VAG scene alot and had a number of TDIs, I had a 320D BMW and it had nothing in it, not even a CD player!! Build quality is nice but alot of money for not a lot, unless you go for a Higher spec car.

I would look at either a Passat or an Audi A4

yeah I dont mind the A4 actually really like it, not going down the alfa route simply because of reliability, they look nice but just want a solid car and 'zee germans' seem to have done it properly.

I'm gonna jump in here on both aspects of where the thread is at.

Bike-wise, I've been on them on & off since I was 10, with a few shitters out the back of the house and then when I was 16 / 17 I was on knackered old 2 strokes, my pride being an RD 125LC @ 18. Then I broke my leg on that due to some knob in a Sierra forgetting to yield to the right on roundabouts!
Passed my car test, had no bikes from 18 until 28. (In which time I think I had every hot hatch / coupe going - I think I've had 29 cars now and I'm only 32.) Did my bike test and loved it, having a couple of bikes over a couple of years, then got skint and the bike had to go, so did my pimped up 525i.
Had a miserable 3 years without a bike until 18 months ago when I got another - I worked my way up from a £700 VFR750 from an auction, to my RSV recently and I won't be giving up a road-bike anytime soon!
It is "me time" as one of you say - and while I haven't done a trackday yet, you can have the same fun on the road, OK you can't give it 100% on bends as you have to think of others and the tractor or diesel or pile of **** round the next corner, but that is part and parcel of living on a cramped Island. You just have to go out for the day and go somewhere new, not doing what the local bike-club patrons do, spend 6 days cleaning their bike to take it ona 20 mile round trip to park up, talk and show-off their minters. Even riding home 8 miles and being able to hop the traffic and get home 5 minutes quicker without trying to sorts my head out after a **** day.
I feel more that it isn't worth having a quick car living here these days, 8-10 years ago there were less other cars and less cameras about, but probably actually more Police cars to worry about. You can't get anywhere quick in a car now really.
Re: the BM debate - I've had a few and probably won't have any more, unless the 6 numbers come up and I can buy an Alpina or an M series without worrying about 20mpg!
All the low cc BM's are badly specced and pretty slow, only the 2.8's upwards have the performance to nearly justify the low MPG. I toyed with a 3.0D but even they only yield about 30 odd mpg, I do still LOVE the look of a 5 series E39 with disjed rims though!
I too am a happy VW owner too now, got a Passat 130 TDi Sport, well made, well specced up, great MPG and goes OK too. Gave me 48mpg to Donnington and back and does no less than 28mpg even if you rag it around locally.
Any VAG motor is worth a look, Skoda / Seat being pretty good value for money too if you aren't a badge snob.
My 20 p's worth fellas.
:thumbup

The Seat Leon TDi's are stunning I wouldn't mind one of those either, but no way am I ever going to own a skoda, lol.