Bike mojo, where is it?

[Bri w]

Diz, check down the back of the sofa...

Don't worry, just like lost keys, it'll turn up and you'll be happy to see it when it does.

so tigers eye is a rock/mineral?

never leave home without a st christopher myself, dont actually think it will stop anything bad happening, but been wearing it for about 17 years without barely ever removing it, so darent even try now

know what you mean about mojo, I simply cant be bothered this year, use my bike daily and only cover 40 miles a week, but fun rides, dont get the chance much, and when I do go out wish I hant bothered except for the odd 5 mins.

I was losing mine until yesterday.

I went out in the blasting wind and on/off rain. I didn't expect anything of the ride but it was just great. I wasn't really fast, in fact quite the opposite. I concentrated on controlling the bike, being smooth and the correct use of throttle in corners. I did about a hundred miles before I knew it and was tired when i got in but satisfied with myself.

Take the bike out when you really fancy it and try a few different roads, I reckon you'll get it back!

i have to say ive lost me mojo,every corner i freeze despite telling myself tip it in it`ll go round i run wide ride slower than a vicar except when i get on a556/a54 roads i know really well im back up to speed

Originally Posted by bodget

i have to say ive lost me mojo,every corner i freeze despite telling myself tip it in it`ll go round i run wide ride slower than a vicar

Go read twist of the wrist 2 if you're struggling with all aspects of bike mojo and fun. I just did. It made me want to ride!

The sensibilities of motherhood added to the normal increase in caution that comes with age, seem to combine more aggressively if you are having children in your mid thirties and onwards. Causes you to loose interest. Sandrine's lost her pillion mojo too. She's not scared of getting on the bike per se, but she's perhaps a little more mindful what could happen if both of us were in an accident. She's just lost interest in getting on the bike, and if I give it any beans at all she gets travel sick, though she is not consciously 'scared'. Her helmet gets used about twice a year nowadays. I also have a few female friends in their 30's and 40's with kids who used to love pillion, but they've pretty much all lost interest, haven't been on a bike for a few years, and no longer beg for a joyride on the pillion whenever they come round for a BBQ on a sunny weekend.

Age has an effect on you that causes you to ask "what if". I hope I'll never loose my biking mojo, but I've lost my fast riding mojo, which is a good thing 'cos I needed to loose it and stop crashing! I see some of the younger guys on rideouts and I cringe as they fly over blind crests with complete abandon, that have me on the brakes and straining my neck to see over the top, and they fly round corners where I am holding back because I can't see far enough round to stop if I find something stationary in the road. Always asking "what if" there's a broken down car on that bend, or a stationary JCB on the other side of that blind crest? Though some of the younger riders now make me cringe, all I am seeing is the way I used to ride myself.

I'm not slower because I'm scared or have lost the ability to ride fast though, I can still keep with the young guys if I want to have some fun, but after a few miles of that the head tells you that kind of fun is dangerous, and you throttle off again. I'm just quite happy to bimble along nowadays, I don't have the desire to crack the the throttle open the same as I used to, but I still ride pretty much every weekend and still do several long trips every year.

With women who've reached an age where sensibilities kick-in so thrill seeking or adventure doesn't push them towards the bike, and they have kids and so don't get much time to ride the bike, lack of use seems to turn into a complacency towards the bike, a loss in interest in the bike, and so a lack of motivation to then get on the bike and ride it. It's seems with biking mojo, that if you don't use it, you loose it. That's what I think you, Sandrine, KellyJo and KitKat are suffering from. You can each slap me later

[rictus01]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Age has an effect on you that causes you to ask "what if".

speak for yourself, i still have the enthusiasm & passion and get the same excitement and adrenaline rush I had 36 years ago from riding, about the closes I've come is the frustration of having to learn to ride again.

Lou you're more than welcome to some of mine, I've bags of the stuff, or if you prefer just shout and I'll pop up for a play day, no testosterone or heroics, just give me a couple of hours and I'll make you feel right at home on the bike.


I love the enthusiasm of new riders or those wishing to improve (matches mine) both in riding skills and mechanical understanding and am more than happy to give my time to both.

I realise most people get a jab of excitement from biking every once in a while and that's enough or they "mundane" it for the commute to work, but not me, it's an IV in my case; i've ridden in every weather condition and known just about every kind of mishap, but loved it all, sure I'll one day be incapable of riding and on that day I'll turn green, no not becoming some angry Hulk like creature, more green with envy for all those that still can and do enjoy riding.

As they say "life is but a journey" and "no one gets out of it alive", I'm in no rush to reach the destination, but I'll try my damnedest to have fun on the way.

Cheers Mark.

[Messie]

I know exactly how you feel and asked the same question last year

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=148167

Turns out it was down the back of the sofa!

I don't feel like riding as much as I used to, but it doesn't bother me any more. Go with how you feel and don't put any pressure on yourself either way - you will or you won't - either is ok

Dont know if you want my 2penneth... anyways

Firstly you had a cracking time over to whitby yea? great. Bet you and smudge had a nice time last time you were oout? i dont know but you appeared to. It all felt a bit wobbily and as though you were going to drop it at the weekend? didnt want to push it and risk anything? yup been there done that and got the tshirt.

Youve had some time off the bike and your getting back into it. I dont think you can expect to be as good as you were 18 months ago after jumping back on the bike. I see it as a sport (like my skiing or snowboarding) and i only get to do that once every year. It takes me time to get back into it every holiday a bit of practice is needed because all of those muscles ive not used for ages (yea im not 100% flab just yet) need to get going and get their "program" back. As you say i bet you would have been much happier on suzy because your body would have felt more "programed" to the bike. I think the body has a long term memory and changing bikes means you need to put some real time into the new bike to get yourself and your subconcious used to it. I hope that makes sense?

Sat wasnt easy. it was wet and very very windy. You almost ran out of fuel and yes i was tired too by the end of it (i was living off those energy drinks!) getting back into it isnt going to be helped with conditions like that. If i had had a few months off i would have been struggling like buggery. I know some people wont and thats just great but personally i would have been leaning back in the corners, hitting the breaks, not feeling right.

Following you you changed 100% from going over the tops (no fuel, light front end, sheep, ditches scary times) to the main roady (if you can call it that) where by your lines were great, you were tipping the bike in more, much faster and smoother (could just about keep up) so no you havnt lost your mojo its just in that waterproof/windproof pocket imo.

Get a nice day and go out. Bet its there!

[dizzyblonde]

Originally Posted by Jackie_Black

Take the bike out when you really fancy it and try a few different roads, I reckon you'll get it back!

Unfortunately I am not blessed with being able to take it out when I want. I have to go through a great big co ordination challenge getting someone to look after the kids, and follow baby instructions to the letter. If I could just go out, then I would be perhaps be happier. I also have another biker in the house, who is at work all week, and wants to go out on his day off too....but both of us can't most of the time, its either him or me, or neither

Originally Posted by Jackie_Black

Go read twist of the wrist 2 if you're struggling with all aspects of bike mojo and fun. I just did. It made me want to ride!

errrrrrr NO (no offense). I don't want to read a book on how to ride a bike like a riding god, it appeals to a certain type of rider, and I'm not it. I've been tortured by hearing YC bang on about it, and he still hasn't got the fact that me and Peg are completely different in the riding department, and have been riding a rather large combined figure(that adds up to an age older than him). We don't hoon, we're seasoned 'tourers' if we had Goldwings, the picture would perhaps be clearer! We're not of the gang who is completely bogged under with getting a knee down, riding out of a book to be technically brilliant, reading so much info that everything is down to technique. Start reading bumf like that at my point in riding, I like to look at whats around me, not hone in what someone writes I should be doing....if that makes sense. In my book, track riding has no influence on road riding. But thats another arguement in itself, and I shan't be saying any more about it.

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

The sensibilities of motherhood added to the normal increase in caution that comes with age, seem to combine more aggressively if you are having children in your mid thirties and onwards. Causes you to loose interest. Sandrine's lost her pillion mojo too. She's not scared of getting on the bike per se, but she's perhaps a little more mindful what could happen if both of us were in an accident. She's just lost interest in getting on the bike, and if I give it any beans at all she gets travel sick, though she is not consciously 'scared'. Her helmet gets used about twice a year nowadays. I also have a few female friends in their 30's and 40's with kids who used to love pillion, but they've pretty much all lost interest, haven't been on a bike for a few years, and no longer beg for a joyride on the pillion whenever they come round for a BBQ on a sunny weekend.

Age has an effect on you that causes you to ask "what if". I hope I'll never loose my biking mojo, but I've lost my fast riding mojo, which is a good thing 'cos I needed to loose it and stop crashing! I see some of the younger guys on rideouts and I cringe as they fly over blind crests with complete abandon, that have me on the brakes and straining my neck to see over the top, and they fly round corners where I am holding back because I can't see far enough round to stop if I find something stationary in the road. Always asking "what if" there's a broken down car on that bend, or a stationary JCB on the other side of that blind crest? Though some of the younger riders now make me cringe, all I am seeing is the way I used to ride myself.

I'm not slower because I'm scared or have lost the ability to ride fast though, I can still keep with the young guys if I want to have some fun, but after a few miles of that the head tells you that kind of fun is dangerous, and you throttle off again. I'm just quite happy to bimble along nowadays, I don't have the desire to crack the the throttle open the same as I used to, but I still ride pretty much every weekend and still do several long trips every year.

With women who've reached an age where sensibilities kick-in so thrill seeking or adventure doesn't push them towards the bike, and they have kids and so don't get much time to ride the bike, lack of use seems to turn into a complacency towards the bike, a loss in interest in the bike, and so a lack of motivation to then get on the bike and ride it. It's seems with biking mojo, that if you don't use it, you loose it. That's what I think you, Sandrine, KellyJo and KitKat are suffering from. You can each slap me later

Ralph, you've pretty much hit it on the head. The crest scenario is actually a very good example. The problem is, why is it happening after child number two, when it didn't even rear its head with child number one? Lack of use, really does give a negativity towards the bikes. I'm not no willy waving 20 something with a point to prove, I bimble along now pretty much as I always have, well, slightly more grannyish some days, like Sunday! I've got a different agenda in life to those who want to ride balls out. You go out and ride like a tw4t( from where I'm sitting) but I'm afraid I ain't going to follow you, as I know at some point, yer going to hit a tractor, and it ain't going to be pretty......bimbling has its uses!

Originally Posted by rictus01

speak for yourself, i still have the enthusiasm & passion and get the same excitement and adrenaline rush I had 36 years ago from riding, about the closes I've come is the frustration of having to learn to ride again.

Lou you're more than welcome to some of mine, I've bags of the stuff, or if you prefer just shout and I'll pop up for a play day, no testosterone or heroics, just give me a couple of hours and I'll make you feel right at home on the bike.


I love the enthusiasm of new riders or those wishing to improve (matches mine) both in riding skills and mechanical understanding and am more than happy to give my time to both.

I realise most people get a jab of excitement from biking every once in a while and that's enough or they "mundane" it for the commute to work, but not me, it's an IV in my case; i've ridden in every weather condition and known just about every kind of mishap, but loved it all, sure I'll one day be incapable of riding and on that day I'll turn green, no not becoming some angry Hulk like creature, more green with envy for all those that still can and do enjoy riding.

As they say "life is but a journey" and "no one gets out of it alive", I'm in no rush to reach the destination, but I'll try my damnedest to have fun on the way.

Cheers Mark.

Mark, the reason you don't get like that is cause you have gone over the hill with regards to the kids, yours are all grown up, and they are big enough to go their own way, you've done the daddy job, and now yer just plain old dad (if that makes sense)
The Hulk used to come out with me, if I couldn't go out on the bike, I used to be right royally peed off, I'd be climbing the walls if I couldn't go out, but recently, I really couldn't give a monkeys.
Its always a pleasure to ride out in the sticks with you, I enjoy every minute of it, theres very few people I like to ride with these days, only other one is Pete TBH, and a couple of others I don't see often.

Originally Posted by AndyBrad

Dont know if you want my 2penneth... anyways

Firstly you had a cracking time over to whitby yea? great. Bet you and smudge had a nice time last time you were oout? i dont know but you appeared to. It all felt a bit wobbily and as though you were going to drop it at the weekend? didnt want to push it and risk anything? yup been there done that and got the tshirt.

Youve had some time off the bike and your getting back into it. I dont think you can expect to be as good as you were 18 months ago after jumping back on the bike. I see it as a sport (like my skiing or snowboarding) and i only get to do that once every year. It takes me time to get back into it every holiday a bit of practice is needed because all of those muscles ive not used for ages (yea im not 100% flab just yet) need to get going and get their "program" back. As you say i bet you would have been much happier on suzy because your body would have felt more "programed" to the bike. I think the body has a long term memory and changing bikes means you need to put some real time into the new bike to get yourself and your subconcious used to it. I hope that makes sense?

Sat wasnt easy. it was wet and very very windy. You almost ran out of fuel and yes i was tired too by the end of it (i was living off those energy drinks!) getting back into it isnt going to be helped with conditions like that. If i had had a few months off i would have been struggling like buggery. I know some people wont and thats just great but personally i would have been leaning back in the corners, hitting the breaks, not feeling right.

Following you you changed 100% from going over the tops (no fuel, light front end, sheep, ditches scary times) to the main roady (if you can call it that) where by your lines were great, you were tipping the bike in more, much faster and smoother (could just about keep up) so no you havnt lost your mojo its just in that waterproof/windproof pocket imo.

Get a nice day and go out. Bet its there!

Yeah I get what your saying Andy. Whitby was fantastic, I was freee of the 'Alien' that had taken over for 9 months! When I went out with Smudge, he'd just got the 955, and was as wibbly as me! We had a right laugh, as hes joined the self preservation society, and although will wizz off in the distance at times, reels it back in to watch the scenery, as he feels his mindset has changed rather a lot since his recent accidents.

Wibbly wobbly, I don't like, I put up with it, but i don't like it. I'm not as strong as I used to be. For a small bird, I'm somewhat built rather well, but the baby has taken things out of me in a way I wasn't expecting. Its like my middle has disappeared!
Top half works, no good if the middle don't eh! Strong I may be, but I'm a bit broken from other injuries, so adding a baby in there seems to have just made little old me even more buggered than what I was before!

With Suzy, I was at one with my bike, I moulded to her, as I've said, I'm very comfortable on the Raptor, but still learning to be at one with it, I'm pretty much nearly there, as you've noticed, I think certain stresses took its toll on Sunday....all at once!!
Nice shot in a bottle, got me home that