I see people refer to their bikes as toys on this board a lot. And the bikes are the first things to get liquidated when money gets tight. It seems like their boats, sports cars,SUVs, and 4WD trucks come first. I started riding dirt bikes at 10 and when I got my liscense at 15 my bike quit being just a toy and became transportation too. Since then I have been without a four wheeler at times, but always maintained one or more two wheelers. Motorcycles have always been a big part of my life, through marrige, divorce, child raising, and job loss. I never considered being bikeless. I don't care what anybody says, without a bike you are not a biker. I get a laugh from bike ads when the seller has had the bike less than nine months and is selling because there is a child on the way. Did'nt they know that before buying the bike? Or selling because of marrige. If they need the money that bad they are not financially able to get married yet in my opinion. I think what happens sometimes is a person watches those biker build offs and SOA, buys a bike, realizes it isn't as easy as it looked on TV. Then gets a scare or crashes, parks it in the garage, then decides to sell it "because I'm just not riding it anymore" and won't admit he is afraid of it maybe biking is not for them . Maybe it would have been different if they would have learned the basics on a small bike first instead of buying the biggest most expensive bike they could afford. Or maybe they are bored and are moving to the next big thing..

 

I've never considered my bikes as toys. I take offense at the blanket statement that bikes are toys. Others might consider theirs only a toy, but not I.
I've owned at least one bike since 1972.

 

No, I don't consider it a toy because I am not rich and can't afford $20,000 toys. I don't have a boat, suv, rv, etc, and we live in a small house - way TOO small for a family of six by today's standards. I bought a Harley because I wanted to ride (for many reasons) and because there was no other option besides H-D for me. Also, I wouldn't sell my Harley unless the family was starving. If it came to that, tho, I suppose there would be no market for it...

 

I agree with the above. I've had Harleys for almost 40 years, and never considered them to be toys. Too much an integral part of my life and too important. There is a lot of other stuff I'd part with before the bike went.

 

Since it currently is my only reliable form of transportation I don't consider it a toy. When I had a nice car the bike was somewhat of a luxury item, though I never considered selling it. Case in point, I sold the car and kept the bike when things got a little tight.

 

Same here! Mine is my choice in transport. When I am not in a department vehicle..this is my personal transportation.

 

Of course they're toys.

For $30K you could buy a vehicle that is more economical to operate, costs less to insure, has tons more cargo capacity, can be driven 365 days/yr, doesn't require a 'Stage 1' upgrade to remove the heat to make it enjoyable to ride, or doesn't require $10K worth of quick detach/blackout/billet/shortened/extended/polished/anodized crap. You would also get a better warranty and a manufacturer that will sell factory parts to independent garages.

He who dies with the most toys is still dead.

 

Mine is sitting outside here at work, it's not a toy, it's high class transportation. Toys have ****.

 

Mine is my only long distance reliable transportation. Because being broke and in my 20's its the only way i could afford one. I wouldnt have it any other way

 

My bike is my psychiatrist