Future of Old Britts Technical Articles (2018)

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Well..I've pretty much lost any real interest in riding motorcycles. We bought a couple of bikes in England in '18 but a few weeks ago bought a Mini Cooper and plan to sell the bikes. Frankly, it's a lot more trouble to ride the bikes than to use the car. Heck, it takes 20 minutes of putting gear on to ride a moto as opposed to just getting in the car and driving off. ;) I just don't really enjoy it anymore - the Mini Cooper is more fun for me now. Sad but true! :(
 
MexicoMike said:
Well..I've pretty much lost any real interest in riding motorcycles. We bought a couple of bikes in England in '18 but a few weeks ago bought a Mini Cooper and plan to sell the bikes. Frankly, it's a lot more trouble to ride the bikes than to use the car. Heck, it takes 20 minutes of putting gear on to ride a moto as opposed to just getting in the car and driving off. ;) I just don't really enjoy it anymore - the Mini Cooper is more fun for me now. Sad but true! :(
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You gotta keep just one! Sure as eggs is eggs you'll be out dragging your *rse along the ground in the mini (is it an 'oldie?') and some hooligan will scorch by on his smelly, noisy, motorsickle.... and you'll heave a little sigh and think 'I used to have one of them'
I only use mine sporadically now, it's there solely for enjoyment, done the commuting and shite weather brownie badges so it's there when the mood's right to enjoy.... And no Mini will ever polish up as pretty as a Commando, no??
(Spent many a mile in the passenger seat of a late '60s Innocenti Cooper back in the day, sliding windows, steering wheel the size of a postage stamp, starter button on the floor and your backside six inches off the tarmac :-) )
 
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I will absolutely be keeping the Commando should the "need" to ride occur but the other three bikes will be sold. My wife's doing the same - keeping her Ducati Diavel for those occasional rides but selling her other two bikes.

No, not an old Mini...those were cool but a little too mini! ;) This is a '19, just the standard Mini Cooper 134 HP...30 less than my wife's Diavel! :) Handles really well though! I'd like to drive a John Cooper Special!
 
MexicoMike said:
Well..I've pretty much lost any real interest in riding motorcycles. We bought a couple of bikes in England in '18 but a few weeks ago bought a Mini Cooper and plan to sell the bikes. Frankly, it's a lot more trouble to ride the bikes than to use the car. Heck, it takes 20 minutes of putting gear on to ride a moto as opposed to just getting in the car and driving off. ;) I just don't really enjoy it anymore - the Mini Cooper is more fun for me now. Sad but true! :(
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That is very sad to read, I somehow never imagine losing interest in riding motorcycles, although as I am now into my 60's I doubt I will be riding my Ducati Panigale V4S for too many more years, so plan to buy another old brit project bike to add to my commando and use the Beemer GS some more, but each to their own........
 
I have done many things in my life that I lost interest in and moved on to doing other things. Some of them occurred in my 20s! The main issue I have with riding nowadays is the pressure - somewhat self-imposed, I guess, to wear all that gear and the time it takes to don and then, for the rest of the day, walk around wearing it/carrying a helmet/whatever. Our riding consists normally of a ride to someplace to visit, walk around, have lunch, etc. So dealing with that gear is a total PITA. If we were riding JUST to spend the day riding the entire time, blasting through the twisties, that would be a different thing but although the twisties are always part of our rides, we usually spend a good bit of the day NOT on the bikes.

Before we were obsessed with wearing all this cr@p, I grabbed a helmet, gloves and rode off. I didn't wear any special other gear, just whatever I was wearing. I rode to work every day the same way - helmet, gloves and my work clothes - slacks, shirt, regular shoes and, if I needed it, a jacket. I could walk out the door, hop on my bike and leave easier and quicker than I could with a car. Now it's the opposite by orders of magnitude! ;)

I realize that nobody is forcing me to wear anything other than possibly a helmet, depending on local laws but I will admit that I have become a bit of a weeny nowadays re possible injury. Somewhat related to that is the fact that I taught my wife to ride many years ago and insisted she always be "properly" geared. I worry far more about her getting hurt than me getting hurt. So I can't very well ride without all the gear while I insist she wears it!

Of course, this could be a passing phase! I have a lot of interests and often "rotate" through them as the mood strikes me. Maybe I'm just "in a mood" right now... :)
 
I found armoured denim and open faced lid transformed my riding enjoyment, now gotta find a way to transform the Mk3 seat lock into a helmet lock too....
 
MexicoMike said:
I have done many things in my life that I lost interest in and moved on to doing other things. Some of them occurred in my 20s! The main issue I have with riding nowadays is the pressure - somewhat self-imposed, I guess, to wear all that gear and the time it takes to don and then, for the rest of the day, walk around wearing it/carrying a helmet/whatever. Our riding consists normally of a ride to someplace to visit, walk around, have lunch, etc. So dealing with that gear is a total PITA. If we were riding JUST to spend the day riding the entire time, blasting through the twisties, that would be a different thing but although the twisties are always part of our rides, we usually spend a good bit of the day NOT on the bikes.

Before we were obsessed with wearing all this cr@p, I grabbed a helmet, gloves and rode off. I didn't wear any special other gear, just whatever I was wearing. I rode to work every day the same way - helmet, gloves and my work clothes - slacks, shirt, regular shoes and, if I needed it, a jacket. I could walk out the door, hop on my bike and leave easier and quicker than I could with a car. Now it's the opposite by orders of magnitude! ;)

I realize that nobody is forcing me to wear anything other than possibly a helmet, depending on local laws but I will admit that I have become a bit of a weeny nowadays re possible injury. Somewhat related to that is the fact that I taught my wife to ride many years ago and insisted she always be "properly" geared. I worry far more about her getting hurt than me getting hurt. So I can't very well ride without all the gear while I insist she wears it!

Of course, this could be a passing phase! I have a lot of interests and often "rotate" through them as the mood strikes me. Maybe I'm just "in a mood" right now... :)
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I think you speak for many there Mike. There is certainly some core element of the carefree nature of riding that is lost by donning the gear at times.

However, on the flip side, we’ve never had it so good in terms of the offerings we now have, from armoured chinos to waterproof and armoured lumberjack style shirts and everything in between. If that’s too ‘hipster’ lots of the big manufacturers now offer lightweight and stylish motorcycle jackets these days, one of them and some armoured kevlar jeans does indeed change the feel of things a lot.

There are more sellers offering all sorts of dedicated motorcycle casual wear these days. It’s worth doing a bit of a search.

In fact the offerings these days are so good, that when I see folks walking around at the seaside in the sweltering heat with their hump backed full race leathers, they really do look a bit odd to me these days !
 
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Fast Eddie said:
I think you speak for many there Mike. There is certainly some core element of the carefree nature of riding that is lost by donning the gear at times.

However, on the flip side, we’ve never had it so good in terms of the offerings we now have, from armoured chinos to waterproof and armoured lumberjack style shirts and everything in between. If that’s too ‘hipster’ lots of the big manufacturers now offer lightweight and stylish motorcycle jackets these days, one of them and some armoured kevlar jeans does indeed change the feel of things a lot.

There are more sellers offering all sorts of dedicated motorcycle casual wear these days. It’s worth doing a bit of a search.

In fact the offerings these days are so good, that when I see folks walking around at the seaside in the sweltering heat with their hump backed full race leathers, they really do look a bit odd to me these days !
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I can agree with Mike although I would feel pretty stupid if I had a mishap and my protective gear was sitting in my garage. I see these guys riding their full dressers with shorts and sandals and think that pain hurts.Like Nigel said the offerings out there now are vast and I feel better riding with my gear on.
 
YING said:
I can agree with Mike although I would feel pretty stupid if I had a mishap and my protective gear was sitting in my garage. I see these guys riding their full dressers with shorts and sandals and think that pain hurts.Like Nigel said the offerings out there now are vast and I feel better riding with my gear on.
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I agree, but I still wonder how I managed to survive so many get offs in my Lewis leathers double breasted jacket, fibre glass helmet and jeans. The pain fades but the scars remain.
Dave
 
cash said:
I agree, but I still wonder how I managed to survive so many get offs in my Lewis leathers double breasted jacket, fibre glass helmet and jeans. The pain fades but the scars remain.
Dave
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The pain returns with age Dave…
 
Good points guys re modern clothing. And I apologize for hijacking the thread - I think the loss of OB triggered some of my "It aint like it used to be :(" feelings.
 
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