This post by @jacobts reminded me of the bikes I had. I got into motorbikes fairly late, in my 20s, when I needed transport. I bought this little Yamaha to learn on. It's basic, but was fairly cheap and as a 100cc the insurance was cheaper than a 125cc, which was the maximum for learners. Such bikes were all limited to 12HP anyway. You may notice that the seat is a bit bent. This was due to someone running into me just after I passed my test. I stopped and the car behind didn't! No damage to me, but the bike had a load of repairs on the insurance.
Next I wanted something bigger. A guy in the bike club was selling this old Honda 400/4 fairly cheaply. This was definitely retro. I never even fitted indicators to it. I found it was smoking a lot and ended up fitting new pistons, which took a while to do. It was a fun bike to ride and got some attention. This is when I was setting off for one of the many bike rallies I went on. I joined local bike clubs and had a lot of fun with them.
I don't seem to have a picture of my next bike, which was a Honda XBR 500, but I found this one on Wikimedia. This was a bit more modern, but different in being a single cylinder. It had a distinctive sound and feel. I fitted a half fairing to it to get some weather protection.
My final bike was a Suzuki GSX600F. This was by far the most powerful bike I owned, but nothing special compared to real sports bikes. I just wasn't that fussed about being super quick and wanted good economy for getting to work.
It must be about 15 years since I regularly used a motorbike. Why did I give it up? It was largely about the risks. The roads keep getting busier and people just don't notice motorbikes. I was fairly careful, but still had a few scrapes. I was lucky to get away without any injuries, but I've known people who died on the road. I had a family and didn't want to take the risk. I still might be tempted to go for a ride for fun, but I'm happier in the car for getting to work. I also put up with a lot of bad weather. I was cold and wet a lot of times, despite all the layers of clothing.
Mine cryptocurrency in the cloud at Eobot, including Steem. You can earn as you chat using WowApp. If you use these links I get a small reward. You can recruit others to do the same.