Bike or Prime Lens.

Sell the motorbike and buy a big prime?

  • Sell the motorbike to fund the lens ...........

    Votes: 3 25.0%

  • Give my head a wobble and keep the motorbike ..........

    Votes: 4 33.3%

  • Just wait, knuckle down, save up and get/keep both ...........

    Votes: 5 41.7%
  • Total voters
    12
Dale.

Dale.

Bo Derek
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Name
Dale.
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Yes
A little toungue in cheek but I'm begining to wonder, if my biking days are done. Had a bit of a spill a few years ago and it's not been the same since. I'll save you all the details and story but I was very lucky to walk(limp) away.

Last year, my bike did 17 miles between MOTs, the year before 94 miles. It's a toy and not a neccesity.

The problem is though, it's not just any bike, it's a Honda CBR F4i (600), a 2003 model with under 15k on the clock. That's not a sales pitch, that is what it is. The real problem is though it's a Rossi replica, one of only 500 and released to celebrate Valentino Rossi's first 500cc world championship. I believe it's an appreciating asset, whereas a big prime lens would depreciate.

I do know for a fact, I'd get more use from the lens but I already have some very decent glass. I do have an itch to scratch though about owning a big white, 500 or 600 f4. I'm good at saving but that's increasingly difficult these days, for obvious reasons.

Just to be clear, bike is not currently for sale.



Anyway ..........
 
Hmmm, keep something you don't use because it might increase in value or buy something you want now and will use and make you want to get out more.

Then again my whole ethos is to enjoy life while you can because I've seen too many lose their heath too young. I've no problem ending up broke at 80, should dI make it there as long as I do whatever I can while I can

Lens all day long for me - and I love motorbikes as well!
 
I love bikes, but sold mine to fund a hobby.

I'm sure the lens will get you covering more miles than your bike :p

You don't need sweaty leathers for fast glass ;)
 
Hmmmm it’s a hard one I have often sold lenses ,cameras etc only to find that the replacement didn’t come up to expectations and then at a later date re purchased them ..
So will you miss the bike , will you get the use out of the lens . The other trouble is we all get older and although I’ve had bikes in the past I don’t think I would feel safe on one these days with pot holes etc and the general standard of driving . And is the current economic climate the right time to sell ??
 
OK so you keep the bike and currently don't have the lens you would like.
Then the day comes when you depart what happens then ? I assume the bike will be sold so the end result is the bike goes anyway .
Best sell it now and buy the lens , Keep enjoying your photography while you can.
 
Change the bike! I completely get that it's a bit special so you don't want to risk mucking it up, so change it for something that you don't need to think twice about taking out for a spin. Go for something a bit more practical and sling some panniers or other luggage on it so you can carry the camera kit. Keep your head up and ar5e down so you both slow down and "smell the roses"! You never know, if the bike's really appreciated like you think/hope, the change might leave enough change to give the saving for a fat white a head start!!!
 
Nod said:
Change the bike! I completely get that it's a bit special so you don't want to risk mucking it up, so change it for something that you don't need to think twice about taking out for a spin. Go for something a bit more practical and sling some panniers or other luggage on it so you can carry the camera kit. Keep your head up and ar5e down so you both slow down and "smell the roses"! You never know, if the bike's really appreciated like you think/hope, the change might leave enough change to give the saving for a fat white a head start!!!
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:plus1: :agree:
 
I sold my hand welded Merlin titanium mountain bike that was ridden in the 1992 World Mountain Bike Championship.
Had all the latest (at the time) weight shaved equipment such as Pace forks and Mavic Crossmax wheelset.
Apart from never riding it as i got older it always worried me it would get stolen if I left it locked up anywhere.

Sold it and got enough to buy some nice Canon gear that I couldn't have afforded otherwise.
So my advice is cash in, no more use to you than the cupboard queen cameras I often hear people have stashed away.
 
My opinion on bikes: You buy them to ride them, not to look at…. I’d love another bike, my 954cc FireBlade being my last, but it just wouldn’t get the use, and after being told that if my knee gets damaged again I may well be on crutches for life, I know it would do less than 100 miles a year.

Get the lens and get some enjoyment out of it. (I don’t think my back would put up with another sports bike either…)
 
Jelster said:
My opinion on bikes: You buy them to ride them, not to look at….
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My riding days are well past - I have a BMW R90S Daytona Orange which I have had for over 25 years - done less than 5,000 - I just can not bring myself to sell it
 
My last bike was a GSXR600 in the lovely Rothman racing blue, loved it but a nasty accident made me give up because every time a car would appear at a side road I'd be reaching for the front brake and tensing up - the enjoyment was gone.

I guess you have to weigh up what's more important to you at your current stage in life. Personally, I feel that time is the most valuable thing, so if you aren't getting any enjoyment out of it, or a few hours per year at most, but a nice lens will give you endless enjoyable then it's a pretty easy decision for me. Going to a dark hypothesis, the next idiot cage could end up destroying the bike and that's the asset gone anyway.

If you do end up selling it, perhaps either selling it to a collector or riding enthusiast would be a good option so that you know it will be fully appreciated?
 
Try putting a business head on and calculating costs. Keeping an asset that appreciates in value is good, but the cost of keeping it has to be considered too - insurance, servicing, storage etc.

With a lens, if you buy new you have the price drop, so could you buy 2nd hand? I know you don't get the warm feeling of having new, but you also don't have the niggle of the depreciation.

You then have to look at what you get from each. If you get great pleasure from having the bike and you polish and cherish it, that has value. The value from the lens is how much you use it and capturing the images.

Putting things on paper, side by side, can help you see the value of each to you. Then when you start to think of selling the bike (if you do), you can reassure yourself you made the right decision.
 
I always had sports bikes, last one a Honda Fireblade. In 2016 I only covered 79 miles on it and decided to sell, I bought myself a 500mm prime lens which I do use. Recently I bought a Honda CRF 300l for days out with some mates (they have similar bikes) for days out and some light greenlaning. However although it seemed like a good idea to get back into biking I find I don't have the enthusiasm to even wheel it out of the garage. I've done one 40 mile ride in 3 months. It was a toss up between the bike and a Nikon Z8 I should have gone for the nikon.
 
Nod said:
Change the bike! I completely get that it's a bit special so you don't want to risk mucking it up, so change it for something that you don't need to think twice about taking out for a spin. Go for something a bit more practical and sling some panniers or other luggage on it so you can carry the camera kit. Keep your head up and ar5e down so you both slow down and "smell the roses"! You never know, if the bike's really appreciated like you think/hope, the change might leave enough change to give the saving for a fat white a head start!!!
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Agree get a bike that you can carry your camera gear on and combine both hobbies, its what I do when the weather is a bit warmer
 
Perhaps keep the bike, save up for the new lens, ride out to a spectacular location on the bike and then photograph the bike...with the new lens! :D
 
plloydie said:
I always had sports bikes, last one a Honda Fireblade. In 2016 I only covered 79 miles on it and decided to sell, I bought myself a 500mm prime lens which I do use. Recently I bought a Honda CRF 300l for days out with some mates (they have similar bikes) for days out and some light greenlaning. However although it seemed like a good idea to get back into biking I find I don't have the enthusiasm to even wheel it out of the garage. I've done one 40 mile ride in 3 months. It was a toss up between the bike and a Nikon Z8 I should have gone for the nikon.
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Off topic here but despite your limited mileage how did you find the CRF on road?
I have a Suzuki Vee-Strom 650 which is fine but 2 shoulder operations have limited my usage over the last couple of years and I'm wondering about something lighter but not too small, and have always liked dual sport-type bikes - a few years ago in Spain I have a Suzuki DRZ400 which was great for out there as we lived up a dirt track and it coped well with 20-30 mile rides on tarmac..
In reply to Dale, it seems wrong to keep a bike like that for so few miles, how about something rat-bike mega cheap and the lens ?
 
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The bike has Michelin trackers fitted and it seems like I'm running over cats eyes, there is a slight rumble effect on the road but nothing too serious. The seat height is tall for me, I can just about touch the ground and the rear shock is awful even going over a bumpy road I have felt the bike "bounce". I do have a new rear shock which would solve the problem but it raises the seat height and that would require getting a lowering link. I found about 50 mph is fine but then that might just be me having not ridden anything for 10 yrs. I believe Suzuki are bring out a new DRZ 400.
 
plloydie said:
The bike has Michelin trackers fitted and it seems like I'm running over cats eyes, there is a slight rumble effect on the road but nothing too serious. The seat height is tall for me, I can just about touch the ground and the rear shock is awful even going over a bumpy road I have felt the bike "bounce". I do have a new rear shock which would solve the problem but it raises the seat height and that would require getting a lowering link. I found about 50 mph is fine but then that might just be me having not ridden anything for 10 yrs. I believe Suzuki are bring out a new DRZ 400.
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Thank you for that! Any 'knobbly tyre will give that sort of feeling from my experience, and I've got long legs so never had a problem with seat height.
There is a new DRZ coming but I'll be looking to buy used if I go for a change of bike, can't afford new...
 
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