I used to ride quite a bit, not group joy riding stuff, I used the bike to get places for the most part. I kind of got out of it a few years ago and the two remaining ones I have have been sitting in the shop. The big enduro, I'll get going on my own, other is a Triumph Bonneville which I had gotten new tires, chain, sprockets, etc., planning to do all that myself (have done all of these tasks on other bikes, just less entusiastic about wrenching in the heat now). So, trailered the Triumph in to the local dealership which sells Harleys and Kawasakis, I've known them for years, and got them going on getting it on the road.
Age is taking a toll on me, I won't ride without gear and that stuff is becoming uncomfortable to me when my tolerance level for being uncomfortable is dwindling. I figured I'd get it road worthy again, ride a little this Fall and sell it off next Spring, keep the KLR650 for when I want to do rural exploration around here and basically be done with bikes.
Never was a V-twin Cruiser kind of guy, just don't care for the riding position and the image those types like to portray, but this dealership makes their money on them and I got to shooting the breeze with the lead mechanic and the subject of the XR1200 Harley made a few years (looks like a flat tracker and built around that same 1200 EVO motor the Sportster uses) came up. He tells me they just took one in on trade, they were going through it and it would likely be priced pretty reasonable. Took me to see it, sat on it, started it up and dang if that motorcycling bug I thought had died didn't bite again. I really like the riding position, that 1200 EVO is a great power plant by everybody's account, and those are built with a chassis, brakes, etc., to take advantage of that much power.
I'll probably sleep on it enough to lose the spark while they're getting ready to put it on the showroom floor, but it sure did look like it would be fun for a while. It was apparently a bad seller for Harley, which seems to happen whenever they try to do anything different despite the rave reviews it got when it came out.
I think I'm probably getting too old and fat for a machine like that, but nice to day dream about.