Somebody stop me...

I am reluctant to admit it, but I'm thinking of selling my xj. Money is a minor factor, but mainly in my wife's mind. So what if I live on credit? That won't be an issue for years! Who wants to retire anyways? My real motive is time... two kids under the age of 6 equals very little Matti Time. Do I wanna be a guy that rides bikes, or do I wanna be a guy that works on bikes? It has sat mostly untouched since I rescued it from a barn a couple of years ago. Limited garage space, limited time, aaaaack! Reality blows! Another issue is the difficulty i have in finding a bike that meets my needs. I love 4 cylinder engines, but don't want a sport bike, more like a Yamaha Bolt with more engine. I don't really think that bike is out there... I dunno, somebody stop me?
SadMatti

 

I hear you brother. Same for me many years ago when my boys were little.
But a couple of nights a week after 9 pm I would work on a bike one night and ride on another . Just a bit of you time to keep you sane from the daily rush

 

Same boat as well with kids. Main question is do you want to be riding now? Took me almost 2 years to complete mine but I had a beater 750 to ride in the meantime. If you don't need to sell it and its the bike you want in the end, it costs nothing to sit on it until you're ready. I expect at some point soon the value of these will go up and it will cost more to acquire another down the road.

 

I hear ya, finding time for the bike with kids and everything else is tough! I have 3 under 6 and another to boot, and I am going to school to (finally) get a degree. I work on the thing like 15-20 minutes at a time. Maybe you could keep the bike around and work on it with the kids. One of the reasons I like having the bike so much is because of how little time you have to yourself, at least on the way to and from work you have a little something to look forward to before you get back to reality. Of course, I don't know your situation, but I'd probably do what I could to at least keep the bike, even if I had to let insurance, etc. lapse for a little bit. That way when you are ready again you have a bike you know and don't have to go through the hassle of trawling through online ads and dealing with all of the flaky PO's out there.

 

It's not my favorite xj. Not even my second favorite seca. That's another part of the problem. Once I get it right, will I be envious of the other boys' toys?

 

Matti, you are faced with a dilemma - happy wife, happy life is what THEY say.

Here is what I know, I won't even try to tell you what to do. But whatever you do, keep hanging out here!

 

I won't stop you. There will always be more bikes to buy. There will not always be young kids to spend time with.

 

I'll probably have most of them by then..... Lol

 

Gotta do what you gotta do.

 

My 2 cents;

If your kids are really young, maybe wait a little before getting back into bikes, but share the passion with them when you can, it's worth it.

As far as your present project goes, sell it, keep the wife happy. Sounds like it's not the bike you want anyways. No use putting $ and effort into the wrong bike.

Buy the bike you really want (in running condition) when the kids are a little older. There are plenty of great deals out there in Ontario and Quebec. Heck, find them a Z50 or little Yamaha PW50. Get them started on motorbikes.

I spend a lot of evenings with my son (he's now 22, I started him on a Z50 when he was 8) working on motorcycles in our barn. We go to shows/races and events together and he zips around on his 2008 CBR125R. We've also resurected an inexpensive '79 YZ125 for him for the trails (it's not pretty, but mechanically sound).

I've got my daughter going on a little '82 Suzuki GN125. She's now 18 and going to Post secondary school in Brockville (close to you in Cornwall) this year and it will be her transportation in the warm months. She started on that same Z50 I mentioned.

Nurturing a passion of motorbikes with your kids is something they will keep with them potentially for a lifetime. It gives "Dad" a common thread to share with them.

So, it may not really be a question of "my kids or my motorbikes". Just timing maybe?

 

Only Matti would try responsibility for his mid-life crisis.
It's not really a matter of pleasing the wife, everyone knows that's impossible. Only kidding, she wants me to have a bike. It's you guys I don't wanna let down! What would the group think if I sold a perfectly restorable xj for a modern, perhaps even fuel injected bike? Maybe even a Honda?

 

IMO this is the biggest risk in your entire decision-making process...........

 

Riding > not riding. If you need to get something newer in order to achieve that goal, then do it. JUst keep it in yuor budget. The only things you should ever borrow money for are real-estate, business, and education.

 

My thoughts for what it is worth ...

Family is first. The kids grow up very fast. My kids were infants "yesterday" and now the youngest of the four is going into high school. I have had enough time away with military duty, along with a single deployment,months of training away from the family, etc. I have no regrets, but I also put as much time outside of work into the family. Bikes will be there later when the time is right. If it isn't now, it is a small sacrifice that you will never regret. And you will enjoy the bikes a lot more when the time is right.