i am 63 and also was away from riding for a long time.i went threw 8 bikes in 8 years to find out a z 1000 is what i was looking for. i have a very nice 04 [ green]. a z 1000 will do almost everything a crotch rocket will do except beat your body up. it is not fun to be REAL un comfortable riding. race replica bikes do not do it for me.