Lots has happened the last few months. Way way good things.
I had a good discussion with my brother my last ride. My father always mentioned a person going through their “gethsemane” as it were. he had his, I’ve had mine. you get past it. I don’t want to dwell on it. Its part of life. You either rise and fight, or you get run over. i’ve never been run over my whole life. I truly value that experience. it formed me in a good way. bla bla bla. Too much of my blog has been my dumping ground from that, and I’m way past it. Time to focus on the good things. Are they not everywhere?
So my bike is still in the garage, but It’s out of registration and I won’t ride it again. Started thinking about a new blog, and I won’t do that either. It’s just a bike. I made it, it didn’t make me.
been looking at other bikes lately. My bike was hella expensive when I bought it. nearly 30 grand. I look back, and I’ve had nearly as many good memories on 1500 dollar bike, back in the day.
Sure, I can’t wave to the harley bitches in their fingerless gloves and assless chaps. I found a bike today I could pay 3200 bucks today that had less miles than my bike, and I bet that owner felt the same wind that I did. He did. If you don’t wave to me, I could barely give a fuck. Wished it was American, but I won’t wait. Owned three harley and 2 jap bikes in my day. if its 3 to 3 and you think i’m a poser, then point that bike toward the midwest and lets see who sleeps first.
I respect the Lone wolf. I wished we had more. I tried to join a few things, but at the end of the day I left the patches, and the clubs. My convictions havent ever changed, and I don’t need an insignia to tell me what I stand for. I can do that on a vespa. Hell, I can do that in my saturn. it’s just not nearly as fun.
here’s my question to you: Does your bike define you?
No sir it does not.My bike and my body are only vehicles,one to transport my body from one place to the next.Both to transport my soul.I have a hunch that you know what I mean.Harley,Jap bike,vespa,saturn,shank's horses,you are the man that you are because of the content of your character,not because of your particular mode of transpotation!Without any thought of how one was going to where he's going,my Grandfather told me one time when I was just a pup,he said "wherever you go,there you are".From that statement and the miles between then and now,I gather that "you are what you are,no matter where you are" and not that it makes any fucking difference in this world how you got there!!Pinky,whatever you ride makes little difference to me,I'll ride beside you til the bitter end,and if we need to,we can walk the rest of the way from there!!
Only if you let it. The whole Harley/ Club/lifestyle thing is fun but it shouldn't define your life. I look at bikes more for what they can do than what they represent. Get a used KLR 650 or similar. There has to be tons of dirt roads/old mine sites/ghost towns to explore and photograph for the blog. Get an adventure bike and roam where you would of never dreamed of taking the $30k RG. I know you like old structures and roads. Its all over the web site. The whole american vs. japanese argument goes out the window when you buy something used. Get a used jap bike. I guarntee it won't eat a cam bearing like the HD did.
Fuck 2010, and 2011 for that matter. You found a good place to live and your taking care of the family. Now you can get back to writing and roaming the globe. Bottom line, your a creative writer and photographer and you can get there on just about anything that rolls..
Not at all. It makes a statement about me but it does not define me.
Ten years ago, I could not have foreseen that I would ever be inclined to write what I am about to write. I got interested in motorcycles only when I read about a Triumph sport bike that suddenly made me realize that I had a dream to fulfill. Along with getting me into riding, that Triumph would be my statement to the world that I could appreciate the fact that somebody besides the Japanese could make a world-class bike. I hated the thought that virtually all motorcycles I saw on the road were Japanese, or so it seemed, and the thought that Triumph had come back from the dead to challenge the Jap bike makers just warmed my soul. The problem was that I could not afford to fulfill it as I went through one employment upheaval after another. I wanted that Triumph very badly, because no Jap bike was going to do it for me, but I just could not swing it, and used Triumphs were not available in my area. My wife — who is the most selfless person I have ever known — was willing to sacrifice so I could buy it, but being a good husband means being a man who makes responsible decisions, so I let that Triumph go.
A short time later, I did find a bike my modest finances could afford: a late-90s Honda Magna. I did not want a Japanese bike, let alone a Japanese cruiser, but it was what I could afford at the time. I bought it, and tried to ignore the feeling that I had settled, even as it endured my clumsy first attempts at riding and faithfully kept coming back for more.
That was almost six years ago. I still have that Magna. The difference is that I no longer view it as a temporary measure. In fact, I can't bear the thought of parting with it. Most of my riding friends have traded one bike after another in search of that elusive something that makes a bike perfectly suited for the rider, but I still have that bike, even though I bought a VFR a year or so ago to get something sportier. I now belatedly realize what good fortune I had to get such a great machine as my first motorcycle. It was not what I wanted when I bought it, but it was what i needed then and it makes me smile every time I get on it now.
More importantly, I no longer look at the Japanese bikes as the evil invaders that nearly destroyed the Anglo-American motorcycle industry but instead as a godsend of value that brought the world of motorcycling within my reach.
So, no my bike does not define me, but it does say something about me, and that is that I have come to appreciate the reality of riding over the image of riding.
If all you can swing is a rice burner, be glad those rice burners are there and can be had so cheaply and that you can keep them running without bankrupting yourself, because it is not what you ride but the fact that you can ride that counts.
Much L&R out to you mike. Rode 2 hondas around the western US till the wheels fell off, and never got over the irony of it. I remember distinctly outside of barstow CA a harley guy buzzing me and passing 1 foot in front of me. I bet riding around in the later years that dude waved to me, pulling out of his dentist office somewhere down the road or maybe even watched easy rider for the first time and gave me a wave.
Reality is reality. I'd rather have wind than not. All good right? Thanks for your post dude. Love to buy you a beer some day.