Any audiophiles into motorcycles


As its just getting into motorcycle season here in the great lakes region, motorcycling is beginning to supplant audio as my primary preoccupation. I recall there being threads as to car ownership, don't recall a motorcycle thread. And so, lets hear from the audiophile motorcycle enthusiasts out there; tell everyone about bikes you own, or have owned, and lets hear some motorcycle tales.

As for myself, I started riding around 12 years of age, little Suzuki 50cc trail bike, purchased Sears Allstate (Puch) 250cc street bike at 15 so I'd be ready for street legal riding at 16. Over the next 25 years too many bikes to list, mostly 650cc bikes and larger, migrated to super sports over those years, I was doing a lot of sports touring in those years, strap a tent and sleeping bag on bike and go for up to three or four weeks, mostly around great lakes region. I did great lakes circle tour: southern Ohio and West Virginia was a yearly tour, up into Adirondacks, northern New York, Vermont was always nice. Ontario, Canada was also a pretty common destination as was upper peninsula of Michigan. These days I  find myself pretty much sticking to weekend rides with my nephew, a budding audiophile with his Aprilia RSV4. I've been riding my little pocket rocket KTM RC390 the past few years, fun bike but lacking the thrill of bigger bore bikes such that I've now purchased 2021 Ducati Supersport S in silk white, expecting delivery next Wednesday. So, at this point my ownership of bikes includes the KTM, Ducati, Suzuki DRZ400S and 1973 Yamaha TX500 I'm in process of making into cafe racer.

My passion for motorcycles (and cars, but that's a different story) has certainly impacted my audiophile life. I don't have as much disposable income for audio, and bikes replace audio as my primary preoccupation in summer, but having passion for both sure makes for a richer life!
sns
Currently riding a Honda ST1300 and a Suzuki Vstrom 650.  Both great bikes and perfect for old knees.
Riding since '66.  
1977 Yamaha XS750 triple, then 20+ years off for kids and marriages.
200X Suzuki C90 Boulevard, great cruiser, decent tourer
2011 Harley Road King, root beer w/white walls
2017 Triumph Trophy SE
Started touring with the Suzuki, Rockies plus Mississippi River and Tail of the Dragon. Did a bunch on the Harley, Overseas Highway, Beartooth, Road to the Sun and Grand Canyon stand out.
Rented and rode a Harley one day up the Baja from Cabo.  Rented a Harley in Buenos Aires and rode over the Andes to Chile and back.  Guided tours on Sicily and last year two weeks in New Zealand, those were on RT's.
@chicagoblue1977 -  Aprilia  Can I buy one here in the USA? Or even import one?

One of the most fun bikes I rode was a modified RS250, I ran an 1100 and kept up with it no problem. And it felt so light and nimble, however I'm scared to ride in West Texas, these drivers lack discipline.
Instead of getting angry now, I just praise them for playing the local game, "guess where I'm going?" because I am terrible at it. I tried driving around not using turn signals, lane creep taking racing lines on turns in multi lanes and well, I just felt stupid and guilty that hour or so. Oilfield traffic here is Russian Roulette, the most dangerous thing is to drive here. The only place worse than West Texas I've driven in the world, was Greece (Southern Peleponnese).

I've had mostly dirt bikes and the road bike I owned nearly had me killed (Australia) by drivers of cars who weren't looking too hard, and no respect for two wheels.

@jrrvjr - North or South Island NZ?
No longer a two-wheeler (except under my own power). Reflexes at 65 aren't what they used to be. Still love speed, though, especially in the twisties. Current fave: 2003 Honda S2000 with modified suspension and air intake. Lots of back roads around here (California Central Coast).

I've got a nice biker story, though. Years ago, when working for a big LA law firm, I ran out of gas on a Sunday around midnight in Hollywood (had to be at work early Monday). Pulled into a famous diner (sorry, I forget the name of the place; Norm's, I think), with a biker gang's hogs in the parking lot. Headed inside, mentioned my plight, and a tatooed denizen of the place asked the waitress (Heidi) for an empty glass. We headed out to the lot, he siphoned gas from his Harley into the glass, and poured it into my tank. Got me to a gas station. AND THEN...I spilled around a sandy curve on Mulholland Drive on the way home. Another biker came to my aid. As he helped me up, he told me there's just two kind of bikers: "Them that's been down, and them that's goin' down." I was happy to have paid my dues that night!
Nice to see people here are fans of two wheels and not just four. I grew up racing motocross so riding bikes on the street is a total no-no. That's not because I don't enjoy it, but because I grew up racing corner to corner as fast as possible and quickly found myself doing 90 on a 35mph winding backroad. So motocross and mountain bikes is where I stay. The best part is I still get to ride with my dad and he still hauls ass for being semi-retired (65 and still working). The worst is when he texts me photos of riding out at the track while I'm buried in paperwork. It is a nice balance of hobbies between a sedentary one mostly done by myself and exhausting workouts done in big social gatherings.