What did you used to ride? What are you riding now? Which one did you love the most? What's laying in a torn apart pile in your garage? Any stories behind them?
My first squidbike. Rode this thing EVERYWHERE, but then I busted the 2nd/6th gear dogs. Successfully replaced them, but it leaked oil from then on from splitting the cases.
My second less squiddy bike; I really loved the SV. Great handler after the RT prog springs and Penske rear shock were put on.
Number 3. I could never get the hang of riding this correctly. It wanted to go very fast and I didn't.
Number 3.5 (basketcase). Rode it, like, twice. Intended to restore it, but ended up giving it away for free. It was super dangerous to ride (i.e. brakes? what are brakes?).
Current (old man bike):
I'm new to motorcycles overall. I was always generally afraid of riding them, likely because most of the bikes I've seen were huge heavy monsters. I also strongly dislike a lot of the culture around it prevalent in my area: specifically midlife crisis faux 1%-ers and 20-somethings on crotch rockets that descend upon a nearby town once a year for a rally that just disrupts life in general. Many locals schedule their vacations outside of town around this time to avoid it. We also have some motorcycle "clubs" here that cause a bit of trouble. I say all of that to say I've found I enjoy "small" bikes.
I have been a bicycle fanatic for decades and use them for both transportation and leisure. In the past I've also enjoyed a couple of dirt bikes for brief stints. Recent events have left me car-less and my area is sort of sprawling with a lot of dirt roads around. I didn't really have the money for a new car so I ended up mustering the courage to go to the Harley dealership an hour away to take classes to get my motorcycle endorsement. Shortly after that I purchased a Honda XR150L and it's been my primary mode of transportation (save for a Honda Ruckus which was my gateway drug into motorbikes in general).
It's not been too bad. I've surprisingly enjoyed the little dual sport and I just picked up a service manual for it so I'll be able to do all my own wrenching with it, too. It's got some cheap parts on it and it's not very fancy but it gets the job done for sure. I love that it's relatively old technology without any computers or other garbage for me to deal with. Just a carb'ed two stroke.
The aforementioned XR150L:
And the ruckus (not technically a motorcycle but relevant):
Great intro story @hobbsc@lemmy.sdf.org. I'd count the Ruckus, I rode mopeds then scooters (Puch, Suzuki, Yamaha) before getting my first motorcycle, a very used Honda CB360T.
Motorcycle culture can be weird with all kinds of gatekeeping and cosplaying. The cruiser riders around here are mostly nice enough (we have a HD dealership) but there's a lot of brand hoorah along with a of lack skills and gear (also a noon 20 mile wobbly parade to a diner isn't much fun).
They certainly tried to load me up with HD gear and convince me to do the diner parades but that's just not my thing. The instructors were really nice, though.