Ok, I did what I said I would not do. I told myself I would not get another motorcycle, but yet again, here I am with another one. The age-old rule of n+1 has struck again, where N is the number of current motorcycles in possession and where the rule never seems to stick.
I became caught up in the n + 1 principle even though at the time I I did not know it had a name. From my beloved, reliable, do-it-all Honda Shadow, I convinced myself that I needed a big touring Harley. Today, I convinced myself that I needed a sporty bike to “keep up in the twisties”. Here it is, the sport touring bike! I got the famed Honda ST1300, a big heavy beast well known for being a fast police bike.
As motorcycles became one of my central activities, more bikes also caught my eye when I was out on the road and began to push my limits. To be honest, now that my stable has 3, I do feel quite satisfied. I do struggle to ride them all equally. For all the motorcycle enthusiasts out there, I recommend 3 bikes if you have the space and time. Below I will explain.
- Your do-it-all bike: This should be your most reliable bike that can do it all. If you had to keep just one in case your future wife/husband forces you to sell all your beloved bikes to get a minivan. For me, my ole’ reliable is the Honda Shadow.
- Type specific bike: Whether you love to tour, go off-road, or carry a passenger. This bike will the job well. For me, I love to do long distances with my Harley Ultra Classic. It is also big and comfortable enough to carry a passenger. If you ride solo and love to go off-road, you should check out some Adventure (ADV) bikes or Dual-Sports.
- For-fun bike: This is your lusty mistress. This is the bike that you will probably drop a bunch of time and/or money on. Whether it be a project bike that you tinker with on the weekends or a super sport bike for you to do track days, make this bike count. Hopefully, you won’t lose your entire wallet.
At the moment, it’s winter and I can’t ride each of my bikes enough to truly justify owning them all. But I continue to keep them as an act of indulgence. They were all pre-owned so I bought them with cash in full. Once the weather warms up a bit more, I’ll see you on the road!
