Once, after being involved in an accident in Mexico, a friend's bike was
"confiscated" by the "authorities".

The wreck was not his fault, no one hurt. When he refused to pay a bribe to be on this way .. Policia claimed they were impounding his motorbike (an old, beaten down XT500 Yamaha from the 80's.)

Policia took his bike to a wrecking yard. No luck trying to talk them into giving it up or buying it back.

So ... friend (with a partner) returned to wrecker that evening, bribed the lone worker there ... proceeded to DESTROY the bike. They smashed the engine with hammers, tore Carb off, smashed it, cut wiring harness, smashed side cases, lights, everything. They walked away, left it without remorse or sad feeling about destroying his beloved former traveling companion.

He wanted to make certain the thieves could not benefit ONE PENNY from the theft of his bike. Mission accomplished.

So this brings up a topic I've been thinking about lately. Why do some travelers become so attached to their motorbikes?

Are you willing to spend THOUSANDS shipping your motorbike across continents? ... and Back? Or, are you willing to sell it off at trips end?

When you start a trip, are you willing to spend THOUSANDS to ship your Prepped Jewel half way round the world to your "Starting Point"? Could you not "Ride There" or take a different route ... or God Forbid, buy a bike somewhere near your start point, prep it best you can ... and go!

I understand the temptation and the connection of taking care of your faithful traveling companion. But ... it's just a machine, made in a factory on an assembly line along with thousands of identical bikes.

Do some honestly "fall in Love" with their bike? Now what about that? How does this happen?

Yes, many spend money and MONTHS (or longer!) lovingly prepping and customizing their bikes for RTW travel. So naturally, when faced with having to give up their beloved machine (partner?), they resist ... and some are willing to spend a year's worth of travel budget on shipping their bike onward ... or back home!

Does your travel money come to you that easily that you can burn a HUGE portion shipping a clapped out, busted up old nail back home? Aren't there newer, better bikes back home ... or somewhere along your future route.

I guess it comes down to what is your travel about? Is it mostly about the bike?
What motivates travelers to travel relates to how much they are willing to sacrifice to hang onto their machine.

We spend so many months or years caring for our bikes during the trip, storing them, keeping them from being stolen, constant maintenance and hundreds of hours doing modifications ... that the very thought of leaving your bike behind or selling it is tantamount to jumping off a cliff.

We are all taught to take care of our stuff and then there is the habit of treating machinery like a horse or pet dog or something.

Personally I don't do it. Bikes are tools. I've only done trips looping out from the UK and back. It makes sense to prep the bike in a place you have facilities and contacts. I've had enough hire cars and hassle with warranty claims not to want to try it in a foreign language, but given import can be as painful there are some trips I would do that way. I'd love to buy a Bullet in India but there is no way I'd want to present it to the UK authorities, hardly any of it would be left after making it legal.

I do have the screen off my old Bonneville and the numberplate off my first MZ as souvenirs but the bikes are too big to keep as ornaments. Its fun to see what visitors make of the DDR sticker etc. Photos from back then were much rarer and film almost non-existant.

Andy

My buddy Frank from Berlin used to keep an old Trabont. He sold it off 10 years ago and now wishes he'd kept it ... collectors item now, apparently, ($$$$) just like those crap old VW Syncro Vans from 80's. (worth a bloody fortune around here now!)

Part of thr reason I have not bought a new bike recently is because I already have three I cannot get rid of, two bought new and one the second owner of. I have done about 350,000 miles on them, still use at least one every day and am not so precious about them that I wouldn't take them travelling but doubt if I will ever sell any of them.

That's a lot of miles!
What brand bikes do you own?

Never Sell? "Ever" and "Never" is a very long time. Funny how perspectives
shift over time ... and decades.

Roughly even distribution of miles between them ... or ? Favorite?

If one of them broke down 5000 miles from home ... would you:
1. stay there for months waiting for parts to rebuild?
2. Ship it home as is?
3. Sell it for scrap locally (or give away) and fly home?

We see a few here on HUBB who at trips end just walk away from there bike or offer it up for FREE.

Usually inexpensive Chinese imports or such. Others sell them off very cheap,
but hard to do as not everyone 100% trusts these bikes even though hundreds tour all over on them.

I wonder how many bikes listed in For Sale forum here never sell? Seems a lot of KLR's may end up in the hands of
either local Aduana officials or in a local work shop. My Kiwi buddy gave his KLR to his mechanic in Bolivia. The guy had helped him on his way South, so, on the way home North, he just gave the mechanic the bike and flew home.

Surely not all bikes listed are sold? out of the HUNDREDS that have been
offered for sale over last 10 years? ... mostly in S. America.

Over the last 25 years I've owned maybe 12-13 bikes. I don't get too attached to my bikes; I tend to own one for two or three years, then get a bit bored with it and want to move on to something different. For that reason, I tend to buy cheap used bikes so at least I won't take a huge hit on depreciation like I would with a new bike.

Some bikes I like more than others and hang onto for a while, but others I realized after as little as a month that they were not what I really wanted for one reason or another. I think the longest I've ever owned any one bike is about four years.

__________________
Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

I guess I am in the minority here, the bike I am currently planning to do my trip on I searched for 5 years to get. That does mean I will have to make sure every piece of paper is in order and a few "donation" dollars for the periodic corrupt civil servant but I believe it will be worth it.

yes, after 10 hours in saddle I am very attached to my bike, cannot even get off easily


But seriously, yes it's really hard to me sell any of my bikes. They're just like horses for trapper from Wild West...
That's why renting is a problem because you get bike you don't know and you don't trust.

I've had many bikes over the past 35 years and if I think back the ones I became attached to were the older models and not the shiny new bikes I once owned.

For example - In 2002 I bought a new HD during a mid life crisis and although I liked it and toured UK and Europe, I never really became attached to it and soon sold it

At the same time I also bought and old MZ 250 for £100 to commute on and rode it for several years as a mat black Rat bike. I loved that old 2 stroke 'Ring ting ting' which got a lot more attention than the Harley ever did! Sadly an un-insured immigrant tee boned me and broke both me and the MZ! otherwise I'd probably still have it now

I bought an old low mileage MK 1 fazer 600 seven years ago to see me through the winter commute and have since put nearly 60K miles on it.. It's great for touring and commuting so I guess I've become a bit attached to that one as well.

Wow! 5 years to find the bike of your dreams? What bike is it? Are parts readily available for it as you travel RTW? I don't mind passing borders ... what I object to are huge cost to ship bikes across continents.

These big cash outlays to keep your bike with you simply forces travelers (operating on modest budgets) to sell off their beloved bike and buy something once they get to new country/continent.

I get the attachment too, have become attached to various bikes I've traveled on for years and tens of thousands of miles.

I've had my DR650 since 2006, done 60K miles. Love this bike. But if it died far from home I'd simply unbolt my Ohlins shock ... try to sell it locally or just walk away. It's hard but sometimes must be done in interest of sanity.

Buy another once back home or in next country you end up in. With smaller, less expensive bike I would never hesitate in this regard. Leave it. Buy another later.

I've rented lots of bikes (EU, but mostly on 3 Thailand trips) and yes, it's weird at first but if you've picked the right bike, you get used to it in a few days. If not? Take it back, rent something else!

I was stunned how much fun I could have on a 125cc bike!

Its a chang Jiang 750 (pretty much a 1938 bmw r71 with 12 v electrics) Par of my budgeting includes being able to ship it anywhere nesesary plus with a sidecar I can carry most spares also since, its a flathead engine its simple enough for me to do a total rebuild with a day or so. Great bikes, rather dated technology but they don't die.

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Hi Mollydog and others,


yes I am attached to my bikes, and I spend too much money on them and I have too many.

1. Yamaha XT600Z Tenere 1987, RTW bike, 270.000km, at the moment being restored to new conditions with some upgrades. Price for the restauration is that of a new 660 Tenere. Not used since 2005.

2. Suzuki DR350 1992, Asia and Africa bike, 150.000km, spend too money on shipping and powdercoating, about three times the value of the bike. Used every day.

3. Honda Africa Twin 750, 1995, Europe and South America bike, 240.000km. Needs some care as I did not use it for more than three years now. Have the idea of selling it next year.

4. Suyuki DR650SE, 2005, South America bike, 45.000miles. Did a complete overhaul in 2012 and it has been used by friends and as a daily bike. Needs some care now.

Bikes no. 1 and no. 2 will never (I know its a strong word) be sold, one day they will be just given to somebody. Bike no. 1 will be used for the next couple of years by a good friend. Bike no. 3 will be sold, if the right person offers the right amount. Bike no. 4 will be for friends and the odd long distance journey.



Sure I can always buy bigger, faster, newer, better ... the shops are full and buying new is easy, but the question is, *do I need bigger, faster, newer, better?* and my answer is no.



I think I would have bribed the junk yard guy and taken my bike back out and replaced it in the junk yard with another crappy bike.



I am attached but not in love, as it is just a machine.



Thanks for posting the questions here Mollydog, as I have been asking myself the same questions.

mika

I've not been lucky enough to have had the time or money to do more long trips but back in 1991 we bought our R100GS and set off from the UK to South Africa. We had planned to sell the bike in SA but after a year we'd become very attached to her (Flossie). 25 years on she's still serving us well, we generally do about 5 to 10k miles a year touring around Europe.

I have two other bikes in my collection (of 10) which will never be sold. I bought my 1954 BSA A10 in 1974 just 5 minutes after the then owner had blown the engine - nowadays it's just fun to ride on a sunny day having been rebuilt several times it's a right old bitsa but very much MY bike. My 1979 Moto Guzzi Le Mans is a bit ridiculous really as I'm not really flexible enough to ride it much these days. The next refurb will probably be just to return it to as new condition and park it up.

I've had many other bikes, some of which I like so I keep, others are just machines and never really make the grade.

Yea, you've spent lots of money on your bikes. Just proves how GOOD those bikes are as travel bikes! Yes, lot $$$ but when your bikes are BETTER than many new bikes, it makes sense.

But to me, your bikes are valuable. Purely subjective, but after all, this is HUBB. So to me a really well set up dual sport is the pinnacle of value regards travel bikes. Some love the Honda 110 Postie ... others go for Old GS's. The bikes you have are some of my all time favorites after 50 years riding.

Your old Africa Twin is now quite collectable $$$ ... smart to sell it off while it's popular and market is pretty strong for that model.

Love your idea of lending or giving away bikes to friends. Excellent.

The smashed bike in Mexico? ... (apparently) the guard would not let them take the bike out ... but was OK with them "modifying" it a bit (for a price)

At one time in 1980's I had 8 bikes. No way to ride them all and for me, no way to keep up on maintenance. But main issue then ... and now ... is storage. No room for so many bikes. I need more nearby friends with empty garages! I now am down to only 2 bikes ... but looking to buy a 250 WR250R soon. No idea where I will put it!