New R3 for an old-guy

Most riders I know older than fifty prefer a comfy, laid back couch on two wheels. Nothing wrong with that, if that's what excites them, but it's good to know there are some who still seek performance thrills. I plan to be one.

gseeger said:

Hello,

I picked up my new R3 two days ago. I love it. I have owned a number of bikes in the last 50 years, but this bike is a fun as any of them.

I have ordered a fender eliminator, flush turn signals, lower/straight clip-ons, and am waiting for the sliders I want to become available. Can't wait to install this stuff.

I'm probably a bit older than most R3 aficionados (65), but I am having a blast.

Any other R3 old-guys out there?

Greg

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I'm another Oldie out here at 63. I've been riding motorcycles since I was 12 (Just realized that's 51 Years! WTH? OMG! FCOL! and all the other ones, too!), I've always liked the smaller, lighter bikes and I also love the R3.

It's so effortless to ride and it doesn't tempt me to ride beyond my abilities like a liter bike would.

Glen

I'm close to 40, have been riding bikes for 20 years and my previous bike was a 2007 Honda cbr600rr. I really like the R3 and I really like the ABS, which my cbr didn't have. I like the fact that I get to RIDE this bike. I loved my cbr, but the thing with such a powerful sportsbike is that you don't get to use full throttle much on normal roads and somehow using full throttle is rather fun. The analogy I've used to explain my "daft downsizing" move to my friends is this: "Which is more fun to drive around a parking lot: a hot go-kart or a F1 car?"

Sam said:

"Which is more fun to drive around a parking lot: a hot go-kart or an F1 car?"

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So the age-old addage goes: "it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than to ride a fast bike slow".

I'm 54 , but the bikes my ladies , she's 51

50 here; plenty of road racers over 60 still doing AMA and WERA races. Hope I can still do sport riding at 65. Age didn't stop Burt Monroe ("The World's Fastest Indian" Movie. Based on the real life land speed record maker from New Zealand).

I'm 52, been riding off and on since 14 years old. I had the big couch on 2 wheels at one time, a Harley Ultra Classic, it's nice, but wasn't as fun as my Ducati or my R3.

gseeger said:

Hello,

I picked up my new R3 two days ago. I love it. I have owned a number of bikes in the last 50 years, but this bike is a fun as any of them.

I have ordered a fender eliminator, flush turn signals, lower/straight clip-ons, and am waiting for the sliders I want to become available. Can't wait to install this stuff.

I'm probably a bit older than most R3 aficionados (65), but I am having a blast.

Any other R3 old-guys out there?

Greg

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Congrats on the new bike and welcome to the forum!

I'll be 63 in July, been riding since I was 14, and this is the first sport bike I have had. I got away from the big bikes a number of years ago. I went to something to just zip around town on, first a TU250 to see if I would like a bike that small. I did, but I am a Yamaha guy so I bought a SR400. Great bike, but with it being kick only, got tired of that pretty quickly. Then I read about the R3, and how every review I read talked about how upright the riding position was. I had to find one and have a sit. Loved it, and bought one 2 days later. Now I am thinking of taking the novice course over at COTA. I think that would be a hoot.

That is how I felt when I sat on one, which wasn't easy to do, they were hard to find for a good while.

I'm also going to be taking mine out to COTA.

cwmoss said:

I'll be 63 in July, been riding since I was 14, and this is the first sport bike I have had. I got away from the big bikes a number of years ago. I went to something to just zip around town on, first a TU250 to see if I would like a bike that small. I did, but I am a Yamaha guy so I bought a SR400. Great bike, but with it being kick only, got tired of that pretty quickly. Then I read about the R3, and how every review I read talked about how upright the riding position was. I had to find one and have a sit. Loved it, and bought one 2 days later. Now I am thinking of taking the novice course over at COTA. I think that would be a hoot.

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Im 52, been riding since I was 8, mostly ag and dirt bikes on the farm when I grew up, my whole family rides, wife and two sons, We have a MT07, MT03 YZFR15 and Now A YZFR3. Im a big fan of small to medium displacement bike. You cant get into too much trouble with 50hp or less, makes you a better rider tooling around on small bikes. The R3 almost has 3 personas , below 5 grand its a great city bike and easy to manage, 5 to 8 grand ist a fast and capable cruse bike for weekend comfy rides and 8 to what ever its a hill and bend carving sprinter, seriously considering ditching My MT07 and buying a R3 for myself, but hey I can always steal the wife's

I'm 68 and have been riding continuously since I was 17. I also have a '14 R1200RT. I did a test day with the Motorcycle Consumer News guys a month ago riding the R3, the Ninja and the KTM 390. I'm the one riding the R3 in the magazine pics. We had so much fun riding these little bikes that I couldn't forget about it and the R3 in particular. When the article came out I read it and it got me going again so I went down and bought one the next day. It's an absolute blast! I've had a lot of bikes over the years. Here's a link to the list and a little story about each one:

My Bikes

Marc

That was a sad ending, but your riding history is absolutely amazing. Welcome to the forum.

Holy Cow! So, what is the highest number of bikes you have owned at one time?

Mike-the-Bike said:

Holy Cow! So, what is the highest number of bikes you have owned at one time?

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I've normally had no more than 3 at a time including a dirt bike and for years only two. I ride a lot so they definitely get used. My current RT was picked up on Oct 9 and has 27K on it Where I live you have to go 100 miles just to get to good roads so an average day is about 350 miles and I do that about twice a week. Lots of tires! Tomorrow is an R3 day

Marc

I'm 56 had a few bikes... mostly larger, coming from a V-strom DL1000. This thing is a HOOT to ride and my new love, but I am fickle. If I quit having fun, she's a goner. I've been looking forward to something smaller for a while... Anymore my riding is commuting (a 50/50 mix highway and city) and a couple hundred mile jaunts a few times a year. So this is it... for NOW! I swear it looks like I tried to swallow a coat hanger, you can't wipe this smile from my face.

I just posted my introduction...so far, got you all beat. I'm 70.

Can't believe I have the same bike as one of my motorcycle gods, Marc Parnes. Wow! The comparison test he wrote about is the reason I have my R3. Thanks for all your writing, Marc.

Thank you, Tom!

Marc

Well, another "geezer" here at 65. Been riding since 18 - 47 years now. Have owned most every type bike out there.
But I find this R-3 fills the bill nicely as far as reasonable comfort, great handling and remarkable power. Love running through the canyons.