i live in suburbia west of chicago. have an ultra. do a lot of 'joy riding' in the surrounding areas. 300 - 500 for a days ride is common.

so the other weekend was out with buddy john, just cruising around. headed west from where we live. passed lots of other riders. of course, lots of harleys, but other brands also. it was a nice day so there were lots of bikes out. and i mean lots.

so we pull up to a stoplight and john turns to me and says "does anybody under 50 ride".
i cracked up laughing because is seriously seemed that everbody we passed was over 50.

well maybe not everybody, i think there were 3 that were younger.

and it didn't have anything to do with the bike they were riding

i just found it pretty humorous. i might think it has something to do with stages of life. like i don't have to worry about going to little league or AYSO games, etc.

 

Income has alot to do with it.

 

Unless you ride with a full face helmet or a good windshield riding will age you quickly. The sun and wind on your face will turn your skin tan and toughen it up. It won't be long before wrinkles set in and the sun bleaches out your hair, eyebrows and whiskers. Bug splats on your face will leave juice that will eventually make dark spots. Those over 50 riders you though you saw may have only been 30 years old or so.

 

That's me, bleached hair and liver, er, um bug splats......but I'm not gonna tell which anniversary of my 49th birthday I celebrated.

 

I know having little and young kids makes it hard to put on as many miles as I used to or want to. I still manage around 8K/year but it's not like my 15K years. I know that by the time I'm 40 the kids will be old enough to fend for themselves, and by the time I'm 50 there better not be a one of them left at home. Then I'll be one of those 50 yearolds with lots of time to ride, just like when I was 20.

 

 

Some people get a late start in life.

 

Let me know we should ride sometime. I'm one of the young punks (I'm 30) you might find heading west toward open roads.

 

I see tons of young guys on sportbikes around here, but never out in the desert joyriding or going out of town. I usually see them on the highways in town or up in the twisty roads riding back and forth through the same 3 miles of curves over and over again. It's a different culture, for sure. Not better or worse, just different.

 

I've been riding since I was 18, got my first HD at 30. But I always wear a full face helmet, so you wouldn't know it if you saw me. Regarding a thread from the other day, I'm tall and skinny, too.