Feeling my age at 44.

Wife accused me of having a second childhood, cheeky mare!

So I said I can't be having a second childhood, as I haven't finished my first one yet ;)

soon to be 36 this year,feel in pretty good shape, no extra weight to lug around. love the good beer in Belgium especially HOEGAARDEN,it's a white beer.
i allways claim that that's what keeps me fit and good lookin' thrue the years, instead of drinking "shite" beer...
been riding since i was 12 ,starting with mopeds (does that count :o ) and from 18 on,allways had road bikes and a few supermotards in between like husqvarna 610 ,suz DRZ kitted 440cc, and husaberg fs 550,loved that one!!
i do ride vespa GTS 250 too for commuting.
and now ec 300 ('00 and not such good shape) and just recently got a pretty 2001 ec 200 that runs and allmost looks like new.
still have to test it good and setup suspension (all stock).

i feel like with the youngest guys out here, most of you guys are over 40 (i know,i'm not that far off)
too bad most of you guys live across the globe...don't know any other gasser riders in the area.
plus there are NO possibilities to ride in my part of the country,gouvernment won't allow :mad:
need to ride illegal tracks (MTB) when it's not too crowed,no other option but that or take the bike on a trailer and ride for 2-3hrs to get to a special enduro-track and still have to pay, so by the time i get there, it's fairly pricey :(

anyway, allready got alot of info here on the forum,cheers for that!!

ciao, Hannes.
BELGIUM

started at 16. on a 50cc, put a bore kit in it to 80cc, started laning ever since then, went to a dt 125 at 17, passed my test and now on a ec 250 at 17.
& love it round a track/through lanes!

Average age
 

53 Years old now. 1st bike; Sears 2.5 hp rigid mini bike.I got it for cristmas after much begging and promising.It snowed 2.5 feet christmas eve,so I sat on and looked at that bike in the garage for 1.5 months untill enough snow was gone to ride it (pure torture).I still dont know where my dirtbike obsession started. No one I knew rode or had a bike then. In fact, my first motorcyle ride was on the back of a family friends streetbike at about 8 years old with a very conservative rider, yet I remember beign scared to death- still the bike obsession flourished. Next bike; binelli 65cc "real" mc with clutch, 4 speed, swing arm and telescopic forks WOW ! The rest is a 43 year whirlwind of approx 50 dirtbikes : MX, enduro, hs, trials. Riding, racing, friends, memories and good times, injury, recovery, trimph, and failure, good and bad results, a splendid journey. As I read everyones stories I start to wonder why this is so firmly rooted in us. For me the answer is that as I finished preping my new (to me)
2008 GG EC250 for this Sundays hare scramble last night, I realized that the feeling I had looking at my bike now is the same one 9 yr old me had waiting for my first ride on my sears 2.5... Excitement, admiration for the engeneering of the machine, pride in knowing (thinking?) that the machine has been prepared, set up, and maintained meticuliously. Thank god my parents relented and got me that mini bike, it has given me direction, identity, goals and sense of resposibility and purpose that took me from boyhood to today and has no doubt made me a better man.I owe all this to my father who trusted me enough to get me that first bike, thanks dad.

Nice post. Very inspirational. She's more than just my bike; she's my friend :D The amount of time spent in the shed cleaning, maintaining, prepping, admiring, only to ride it and then do it all again. I call it a hobby but its honestly more of an obsession.

Started riding at 7. I am 45 now and riding my 1st Gas Gas. LOVE IT!!!

40th year
 

39, not too long to 40.
Got my first bike when I was 7 shared it with my brother. a rm 100 big wheel. I could not touch the floor so my day had to sit on the back until I was moving. Raced MX for a long time after that. Stopped racing when the family broke down and sold my last dirt bike in about 1992. Substituted it for meany years with road bikes (did nto like that too much) and MTB (I do love this), but now finally owned up to the fact I can't do with out one any more. So me and my brother have been out again and are now looking round for bikes.

56......act like 18 according to wife (married 32 years). Been riding since mini bikes at 14. Not really good but seldom crash.....never on my CR 250 (had it 2.5 years, part of the trade for the 450 ), never on my KX 125 and only 3 times on my XR250 in 16 years, and not yet on my 300 in 5k miles. Ran into a tree I forgot about on the 450.....a stupid thing. Had been riding around it for weeks. Was paying attention to the ravine and forgot it was across the path. I love our GG's.
I hope my body lasts a little while longer, I'm not near ready to stop riding.
HD

I just turned 68 I've been riding for 56 years have had a bunch of bikes through the years way to many to list.

Harold

I hit 47 this past summer, my brain still thinks I'm early 20's ... my body does not share this opinion!


I love riding, it's my addiction and hope to be doing it for another 30yrs! :cool:

I am 52.
Have owned and ridden bikes since I was 13-14, but when I got my motorcycle driver's license at 16, I went out on the roads. Started out touring, and later moved towards tracks and trackdays. Didn't start with offroad bikes until a few (less than 10) years ago when my kids started riding MX bikes. Then I bought a '00 RM125 that we all used for MX practice. Later, my sons bought their own MX bikes, and my daughter and myself shared the RM. Now, both my sons (23 and 29) have EC300s (a '08Racing and a '09 SixDays) while I have an '06 EC200. The RM is still with us, my daughter (25) still rides it occationally.

Just bought mine after riding a few things off road, decided I wanted the best I could get for my money, so bought a 2002 EC300, and I am 24...saw sense at an early age

I turned 63 last month. Been riding street bikes since I was 17 but didn't get into riding dirt bikes 'till I was 54. I just didn't know anyone who rode dirt back then. I can't think of anything more fun or challenging than riding singletrack!

Im in the minority, 26 and Im actually on my 2nd GasGas, this is the 1st one I purchased myself though.

I am 47.. going on my third year with my 08 ec250 the best bike I have ever had .:D

54 n Riding
 

I just turned 54 and I ride once a week if possible . Stopped a few times to raise a family and start a business . I am going to start to compete this year in ecea events . I have a 2005 xc200 any suggestions as to what class I should start in ? :confused:

Classic!!! :) funny!!! ....and I'm 53. All the other addictions have fallen away. Now riding the only one and is my best defense against Diabetes and heart problems. I don't want to excercise but I want to ride.. and I might want to excercise so I can ride better..and get healthier. That over 50 class is a very competitive class. .. It's the third or fourth quarter after all. ..not a kid anymore even though I feel like it and act like it.. in the trails anyway. Aug 15, 2011 my best friend and cousin passed away. I had given him the 300ec gasgas that I have back right now about 7 or 8 months before. He was super happy with the bike and I was thrilled to have my brother in the trails laughing and enjoying the greatest sport. We rode Aug 14, 2011 at our riding park out at Kahuku and had a blast . The next day he said he didn't feel good and would stay home. He passed away in bed from cardiac problems. Tracy Paiva.. He was 47. Gotta appreciate it. There's no guaranty. I know a bunch of you have similar stories. Sorry I didn't want to make it heavy. but I guess my just being in this forum is related since I got the bike back. Just have to be happy that we're out there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvqaGhuhGZk

Damn it! I'd swear I just turned 30...Oh yea, that was a while back...way back:D Youth is definitely wasted on the young.

Get well and take care of that knee. I sure wish I was close to you. I had a 82 husky 430xc and might have taken that off your hands.. I have a great memory of that bike and all the racing I did with it and I learned how to ride without brakes with it too!!!

I guess this is like voting 4 times, I'm 55, I've been riding a 2007 200 for years, My son is 22 and has a 2011 XC250, My brother is 50 and rides an 08 300 and my son in law is 25 and rides a 2011 300 Six Days. When we go harescramble racing everybody knows the gasser boys are there.

That is very cool.

Experience
 

I'm 52 and been riding since I was 10 yrs ,Had seen motorbikes and loved the look of them .then rode the neighbours Honda 65 Cub which I have since bought and started to restore . We had a Honda QA 50 and then after a tranny issue traded it up to a brand new Honda Z50a . Then a poorly chosen CB 125 which just didn't cut it on the farm. Then straight to dirt bikes . 75 DT 125 (poor bike compared to an XL125 which I should of bought),81 yz125H raced for part of one yr (till shoulder injury that needed to be pinned ) traded straight across for a 81 xr200r of my cousins , 85 Xr 350 ,85 Xr 500 ,YZWR250,95 KDX 250 ,2001 KTM EXC 300. 2011 EC 300 ,and a 2012 Chrisitini GG 300. We still have the XRs the KDX and the KTM in the family .reliable fun bikes . I bought the KTM back when almost no one knew what they were and I guess now that is the same with this new Spainish vino.
On the beverage front I'll take a darker even Micro beer something from say Moab Brewing . Punk

44 here. Waiting on my first Gasser 300 to come in a few days. Been riding since I was 14, off road now for 10 years. An assortment of 4 strokes only...this is my first two stroke experience. I'm really looking forward to it :D

Just turned 40 at the end of February and started out riding a Honda 50 monkey bike at about 8. First real bike I rode was my uncle's mid 70's Bultaco trials bike, a 250 I think. It was HUGE, my arms would just about stretch to the ends of the handlebars and I had to start and stop beside an upturned milk crate so I could get my foot down. I got a TY80 Yamaha trials bike for Christmas when I was 9 and kept it for a couple of years but I really wanted a motocrosser but my parents wouldn't buy me one so it was sold to fund a BMX :confused: just so I could race something. A long break from bikes of any sort from 17, when I got my driving license, to 31 when I got into mini-moto racing on a ZPF 203F. Had some fun, spent a lot of money and had a lot of crashes leaving me with knackered shoulders and a dodgy wrist. I got my motorbike license just when supermotos were really popular and got myself a KTM 640 LC4 (my 1 and only katoom). I met a couple of fellas who used their KTM enduro bikes as dual sporters and rather than put dirt wheels in the 640 I bought a '99 YZ125 for off-roading. The LC4 was traded for an '07 Husaberg 650FSE :eek:. A mint '97 CR250 was next after the YZ blew up. The CR wasn't road legal and dodging the cops on the road between trails was getting too chancy so it was sold and a clean '04 Husaberg FE450 was next, followed by a year old '08 one which had only 5.4 hours on it when I bought it! By this this time I had started competing in local 2-hour XC races and found that the big Berg was just too much for me. Being a 2-stroke man at heart this led me to the 2010 EC250 which I bought in June 2011. This bike fits me to a T and I absolutely love it. Still doing local XC races and selected Irish Championship timecard enduros which are fantastic. Ours is a great sport, you can still have fun and be competitive when you are considered 'over the hill' in many other sports. It keeps you fit and want to stay fit, and the laughs you have on a day's trail riding with your mates will stay with you forever. I just hope that in 25 years time we 40-somethings will still be fit enough and allowed to ride the places we do now. Mine's a Guinness by the way, cheers
Current bikes:
ZPF 203f mini-moto
'99 YZ 125 in bits
'07 Husaberg 650 FSE
'10 GasGas EC250

My average age is about 36. My actual age is 49. I have this belief that enough liquor preserves a man. Kinda pickles you, so that's taken a few yrs off. Take my advice, buy better liquor! It helps.

Then I believe that riding dirt bikes real hard and fast both ages you and un-ages you. Every time you really get hurt and have surgery, you age an extra year or two. Each time you come close to a major crash but don't, you age a few months, between 3 and 12 months, depending on the closeness of true disaster. But then, just riding and having fun turns back the years. Doing well in a race series takes off a year or two, several really good fun trail rides removes a few months, maybe even a whole year on occasion. Spending as many hours working on your bike as actually riding can either add or take away, depending on if you can fix the problems or not, and the cost. Getting a new bike takes off a couple months. Getting a nice used bike takes off a month or so, unless it's a real problem bike and you hate it, then add some. When you sell it and get another, you just kinda have to guess and adjust on the age-benefit/cost.

When you get really hurt and can't ride for a year, you age roughly 2 yrs. But if you come back 100%, and have a couple good years without serious injuries, you get back about double age. Depends on the person. You kinda have to put the calculator to it.

Bench racing, which I call campfire racing, cause I never once have seen anyone bench race on an actual bench, usually takes away some age, unless you happen to end up BSing with some guy who has finished several ISDT-Es, has ridden with the legends or is one, does the Roof of Africa for fun, you know, the smartass sumbitches who make you feel older.

Overall, I think I'm about 36. If I was one of those "Hero" type sumbitches, I'd only be about 29. Don't remind me I'm almost 50. I'll punch you in the nose so hard you'll gain a few years. I'll hit you so hard you'll travel back in time to tell the young you not to piss me off! Wait, I can't punch that hard anymore. They say laughter keeps you young, so who knows? You might gain some time laughing at my old ass after I hit you.

What the hell, I'm old and tired. Better turn in and get my geezer nap.

I am 57, started motorcycling at 52, took up dirt riding at 56.
I have broken ribs and hurt myself several times, the learning curve has been
tight and steep. My most recent sudden educational experience has left me with a black and blue ass, (and a bruised ego):o but the worst part is that my bike is broken and waiting for parts:( and I have not been able to ride for 3 days now and I am in withdrawal. I am totally addicted and love this sport. My only regret is that I did not start doing this when I was younger. But as they say there is NO FOOL LIKE AN OLD FOOL!! :D

41, been riding 33 years, started on a 1978 XR75. I still have it, but is torn down and in pieces. One of these years I will finally restore it.

53, riding since I was 12. Started on a home made minibike.

2011 300 GG Race*
2009 ktm 250 SX*
2005 300 GG*
*Still Own
2005 300 GG
2006 YZ 250
2005 YZ 250
2004 KTM 200 EXC
2003 KX 250
2003 YZ 250
2001 CR 250
2000 KTM 250 EXC
1998 KX 250 All Time Favorite
1995 CR 250
1993 CR 250
1992 CR 250 Stolen
1990 CR 250
1987 CR 250
1986 KDX 200
1984 IT 175
1982 IT 175
1980 IT 175 Worst Reliability
1978 PE 175
1975 Can Am 175
1974 KE 175 -Started Racing
1969 YAMAHA 100 Rotory Valve single with trials tire
Hand made Mini bike

My age group is well represented on this site...good to know! I'm 52

GSXR1000KI had it 6 years.

06 TTR600RE 3 years

06 610 Husky SM 6 years

03 EC300 2 mounths...only been out for a proper ride once,it's been in bits ever since.

I'm 37 ....well I guess still 36 when I decided to get the GasGas to be different then the orange crowd.

25 here. Have been riding for only 5 years, late starter.
My first bike was a 2008 CRF250R. As soon as I saw the 2012 EC300 I knew what bike I was going to be buying next. Really happy with it apart from the jetting which I'm in the process of sorting out.
Love this bike and I hope once the jetting is done I will love it even more.

That reminds me of delivering papers in our rural village on my 84' KX125 when in 8th+ grade. I only did it every so often due to no kick stand. My route was about 34 papers and 7 miles long. Good ole days!:)

I'll be 38 in June and been riding for 30 of those years off and on road. I took a few years off riding off road but back at it as of last year. I'm riding again with my first riding partner, a child hood friend, that we spent countless hours (age 7+) riding a Honda Z50R & CR60.

Bikes over the years
83' Honda Z50r
Kawi G5 100
80 KDX80
84 KX125
Polaris Cyclone
Polaris Scrambler
Honda ATC's
Honda CT 70's
95 Kawi ZX6R
02 Kawi ZRX 1200r
85 Yamaha BW200
86 Yamaha BW80
75 Kawi MT1c
2000 XR650R
85 Quadsport 230

40 and still loving it!
 

Started riding when I was about 15 I guess. Nothing like the soreness in the shoulders after an all day ride on the 300! I love it as much as did when I was a teen and still get excited putting on that gear.

2012 GasGas EC 300
2001 KX 250
1998 KX 250
1986 CR 125
1981 YZ 125
1980 YZ 125

39 here. Been riding since I was 7. Started out on a 1974 Honda Elsinore MR50.
Never been on the pavement ( can't imagine hitting a deer @60mph).

42 here.....had a bike of some description in the garage for 26 years.

Only been off-roading 10 months though, and this is my first 2-stroke for 20+ years.

AND IM LOVING IT :D

41 next month. I still have my first bike, 75 ish Indian 50 mini. I rode it a lot as small child 4-7 years old. Then didn't touch a another dirt bike until I was about 28. Been racing Enduros and Harescrambles off and on for the last 10. This 12XC300 is my second GasGas, I had an 05 EC250 back in 2007.

Coming back to 2t. Rode crf250x then drz400 now GG300 2t 55yrs been riding 45 of them.

started riding bikes about 4/5 months ago age 26 had a 95 kx 125 done one hare and hound on it then bought a 07 ec 300 4 weeks ago doing my first h&h on that next weekend ...:D

Turning 43 this summer; started riding at 9 on a YZ80 and busted myself up on several occasions :o

Took a hiatus from the dirt for ~31 years and only had street and track bikes; I'd guess 100,000+ street miles and 11 years on the track now.

My awesome wife surprised me with a YZ450 as an early 40th gift - rode that bike 3 times until I realized it was going to kill me...lol. Sold that and picked up a KTM 300 and put 110 hours on it in a year. Had a fellow member clue me in on GG (firffighter) and I'm hooked. So much so that I sold my wife's orange 250 and I'm on the hunt for another 200 :D

I've had so much fun getting back into dirt riding that my wife followed suit, my 66 year old mother-in-law picked up a CRF150, and my brother-in-law is on the hook to get a bike too. We have two boys (2 & 4) who really don't stand a chance when it comes to bikes - we've been hauling them to the track since they were born and now we drag them out to the woods to camp and ride.

http://www.pbase.com/liv2day/image/124679423.jpg

For me, there's nothing better than riding on the trails.