How old are we??

[MarkD]

Hi everyone. I wonder if anyone is curious as to how old we XS1100 owners are. I guess I am. I started riding motorcycles in 1970 on a used 1968 Harley-Davidson Rapido 125. In the 80's, I took a few years off riding, but of course, now ride the best bike on the road. This is just for fun, and I guess you could add your age, too, when you comment. Thanks, and by the way, I am 58. Mark D.

[Schming]

This, probably, should be in the Members Lounge Section

[motoman]

Older than dirt and half as useful.......62. Riding since thirteen. Early 70's, got into the early days of the moto-x scene. Had a winning success till life/marriage got in the way in 77'. Changed over to single trac/trail riding camping with groups. 1981, bought the Venturer before kids...lol. Sold it in 91' as I didn't ride it much having a family by 83'.

1999, got back into moto-x and was a good excuse to 'monitor' my two sons who were dirt bikin'/moto-x by then. Good success with a 'comeback' ability that put me in the winners circle with an overall win of the RMXA series(50+class) in Colo. in 2003........successful 'comeback' without injuries, counted my blessings and sold the bike(YZ250).

Had bought the ST in late '04 and bought back the the Venturer in '05 as it had showed up where I had moved to decades later after apparently spending alot of that time in the Phoenix,Ariz. area. After selling it, the last thing I thought would of been that it would make a full circle back to original owner decades later!

Most memorable times were the LD rides on the Venturer decades ago.

With the last nine yrs. of ownership, thanks to this site and the helpful folks here, I've learned this bikes fixes when it's mis-behaving. Fortunately, its first ten years of life were totally trouble free, and it never saw the dealers door once it left there new(although I did ride it the 170mi. south to same dealership for my one free carb-sync........25yrs. later, which they honored).

Ride SAFE.....ATGATT!..

[Tat2demon]

35 here. Damn kids and their rock and roll music!

[jetmechmarty]

This subject gets revived periodically. Our group keeps getting older. It seems yesterday the majority was in their 40's and 50's. Today, I'm pretty certain the bulk of the group is in their 50's and 60's. I'll go so far as to guess the average age is about 57+. I am 55 and I hope I have a good many miles ahead of me.

[IanDMacDonald]

I'm 28, 29 in May. My dad had a Triple, so I continued with the XS interest after his passing.

[D0wn5h1ft]

21...started with an 1981 XS400 back in June. Fell in love with the XS line.

Grew up riding dirt bikes/atvs

[jetmechmarty]

21...started with an 1981 XS400 back in June. Fell in love with the XS line.

Trivia: The first of the XS line was actually not designed in house. At least, the engine wasn't.


Horex

[MarkD]

Keep those responses coming, guys! I, too, raced MX in the early/mid- 1970's. Bike of choice was a 1973 TM125 Suzuki. Did not ride too much from 1978-1985, got an RD 400 Yamaha, graduated to the XS1100 from there. Love my XS11.

[Courtney]

Well I just turned 60 in Feb. Rode my first time on a friends Honda 50 step through at the age of 14 and was hooked. Got a new 1970 Suzuki Honcho for my birthday, then traded it for a 69 Suzuki Rebel 350. Sold that and moved to Vancouver where I bought a Hodaka Ace 100 to commute to college and my job on a bird sanctuary. I won't go into the 6 hippie chicks I worked with there that were often topless through the day in the summer sun. ;-) Motocrossed in the 125 class on a Husky, then moved up to a 73 Montessa Cappra VR which I never got to even ride, because I took a street crash on a Kawasaki Mach 1 I was tuning up for a friend. Got hit head on by a drunk driver. Spent 4 months in traction, got out, rebroke a week later, spent another 3 months in traction. All together a year and a half in hospitals. Got out of that and attended university until 80. As soon as I graduated I bought a 1979 Yamaha XS400 which was a great little bike. Owned it a year and bought a 79 XS1100 Special. Owned it until 1984 when wifey said I'm preggers, so I sold it to become repectable. Couldn't stay away though, so in 88 I bought the current 80 Special and have ridden it ever since. Guess I'll die still riding that beasty since it's now 26 yrs I've owned it. :-)

[BA80]

I think we'll find that the majority will fall in the 50 - 59 area because we were late teens - early 20s when these 11s came out. They were the crotch rockets back then and anyone who rode either bought one and never got rid of it or always wanted one and couldn't afford one until later.

I personally fall into the latter category. I'm still gonna get me an MNS sooner or later.

[DGXSER]

I'll do my part to lower the average....a little. I was more into muscle cars in the days these were made. Got into the XS series with a 750 back in the late 80s.

Took some time off riding till 2008, that's when I got my first XS11. Thanks to this site I have learned an amazing amount about them.

So at 47 (for another week or so) I am just getting started again in my riding years.

[madmax-im]

I'm 61...as a kid at 10 yrs old all my neighborhood friends has cushman mini bikes with those briggs and Stratton lawnmower engines with the rope pull start... My parents would not allow me to have one but one day my neighbor gave me one of his older homemade mini bikes...it didnt run well or for long due to a bad float in the single carb...he told me how to take the float bowl apart and shimmy up this metal tab that keeps the float at the right height. After reassy...it would start and run for about 3 or 4 mins then it would die...just enough time for me to ride one circuit around my block and it would die just as i got back to mmy driveway...My Dad saw me working on it before i had it run and he said I would neverget it to run...30 mins later he's looking out the window as i;m riding it away...my Mom went ballistic...
Rode dirt bikes in late 60's Honda Trail 70's and 90's...not until 1976 did i finally learn to ride on a legal street bike...back then in tucson...you didnt need a helmet...insurance or a special endorsement on your license. I learned to ride on a mid 1970's Yamaha XS650 Herritage...a borrowed bike of a friend who tricked it out...turned it into a chopper with a raked out fork...king/queen bannan seat with a high back sissybar and worst of all a trigger clutch...a clutch that has no friction point...its all gas and let go or you stall...if you get it right you better hang on cause you're gonna really launch...this was my beginner learning bike...not easy but i did get it..oh the fun...
In March of 1983 working for the state of nj fresh out of college i had a pocket full of cash and went looking for a new bike...wound up at Mt holly yamaha in NJ where i bought my leftover model of the 1982 Yamaha xj1100 Maxim... the very last one that dealer ever sold brand new...it was in a crate in the backroom and i watched it uncrated and final assembled and started! They had one fully assembled on the showroom floor but while i was ooogling over it a salesman stuck a sold tag on it...so i thought i was out of luck until he told me thay had one left in the back...
I kept it 29+ yrs...now onto its 3rd owner somewhere...wish i could get that one back...
In the meantime 2 ST1100s have been i the stable and several other XS1100s and now i have Swampthing ... Through all these yrs I have had some great rides but since joining the online forum groups my riiding experiences have been greatly enriched...

[Crusty Snippets]

Sixty seven

67. 68 in July. Got my licence in 1961.
Have ridden most everything that moved.
Several years on the road race tracks, with good results against the experts of the day, like Steve Baker and others. Several years at motocross where I was not that great. Several years at cross country racing where I finally started doing well.
Off the bikes for a few weeks while my wrist heals.

Unkle Crusty. BTW, do I win a prize if I am the longest riding, and or the oldest dude?

[Garagamus]

43 and been riding since I was 14, (do mopeds even count?). Moved quickly to a used '78 KE175 to burn up my youth on the backroads around the cottage. Had a family friend insist she could ride and promptly wrecked that bike. Only got back into owning another in my 30's, now I have a couple in the stable and the XS on the workbench. Not much into the "hipster" set...but i do like my cafe bikes.