A Tale of Three Motorcycles

The past year has been a good one for us, all things considered.

We did learn this valuable lesson: don't sell your motorcycle unless you're sure you're done riding.

Last summer, Cliff got to thinking about the dangers of riding a motorcycle; then he started having some peculiar "light-headed" spells, and began to imagine what might happen if he had such an incident while on the motorcycle. He told me more than once his biggest fear was that he'd end up hurting or killing me in a wreck.

So he put our lovely blue Gold Wing up for sale on Craigslist, where it sat for a month without our receiving a single inquiry. Then out of the blue, we got a call from an interested party. He bought our bike. Cliff let him have all the extras that went with it: luggage, cover, the ice chest he'd rigged up to go on the back... everything.

The next weekend, Memorial Day weekend, Cliff and I sat brooding in the living room listening to motorcycles roar by on 224 highway. We knew we'd made a mistake. Oh, and the "spells" Cliff was having? Whatever the cause, a little pill prescribed by the doctor put an end to them.

I suggested we buy an older Gold Wing, so there wouldn't be so much money invested and we could ride. We found one, and were on the road again. Picnics, museums, all the stuff we'd been doing on our other Honda. I noticed that on this 1100 cc model, my knee bothered me more if we rode very long. But at least we could ride.

Cliff's cousin had purchased a 1998 Gold Wing earlier in the summer and found out he couldn't handle it, so he'd put it up for sale almost as soon as he bought it. The older Gold Wing we now had wasn't as comfortable a ride as the one we'd sold, nor did it have the power to which we'd been accustomed. It was noisy by comparison, too. And Cliff's cousin sure did need to sell his white motorcycle.

So we now own two Honda Gold Wings.

Since I was the one who strongly urged Cliff to get back into the motorcycle business, he says he no longer worries so much about hurting me. It's like, if something happens, I practically forced him to get another motorcycle... so it isn't all on his head. It was my decision. Sounds silly, I know. But whatever it takes to let him enjoy riding, I'm all for it. Am I sorry we sold the blue bike? In many ways, yes. Had we kept it, we'd have saved a small fortune. But it was a good thing, too. People really don't appreciate what they have until they've lost it, and it took that holiday weekend of sitting helplessly at home for us to realize how much fun we'd been having. I've had several people say, "You can get in the car and go for long drives, just like you do on the motorcycle."

I guess you have to be a biker to understand why that doesn't work.

What's on that antenna?

Cliff and I rode the Gold Wing to Hub Cycle today; one of the brothers who owns the place has an 1800 Gold Wing, and I noticed some sort of "growths" on his antennae.

See, down toward the bottom of each antenna?

Wait, is it.....

It's a woman, climbing up the antenna!


Cliff really liked these. And no, we will NOT be getting a set of these for our bike.

My latest project

Thanks to digital cameras, I have taken literally hundreds of pictures during our motorcycle adventures.

Using Windows Movie Maker, I'm in the process of compiling the best ones and putting them in order on a DVD, for memories.

It will tell the story of how we got the fever for a Gold Wing from start to finish.

I'm pondering on what music to use as a background sound. I hesitate to choose the obvious "Motorcycle Song" by Arlo Guthrie, because it's seven minutes long and tends to grate on the nerves after awhile. Perhaps I'll use several shorter tunes, depending on how long the DVD turns out to be.

I even have a video I made once of one of our trips to Subway on "Two-for-Tuesday". I may incorporate that in with the still pictures, somewhere.

It's going to take awhile. Wish me luck.

passing along our motorcycle dream

There you see Bobby, the new owner of our Gold Wing Honda. As for what's going on in this picture, he just found out he can listen to the radio VIA his helmet, and he's jamming. Cliff is laughing. We feel bad to see our riding times gone, but we're very happy to see another couple so excited about getting our baby. Bob is 59, about the age most people seem to be when they buy a Gold Wing.

God bless them.

Motorcycle expenses

Cliff isn't too interested in horseback riding, and he reminds me often of the high expense involved in keeping a horse. It's true, there's plenty of money involved in Blue's upkeep. Plus the ever-present danger that he could get injured or sick and require lots more time and effort.

Well, paybacks, as they say, are hell. While I thoroughly enjoy our trips on the Gold Wing, the Honda is chiefly Cliff's baby. I'd even say it's his passion. So when we have to unexpectedly spend money on it, it's my turn to rub it in.

The motorcycle developed a little problem. Whatever it was, it involved "forks" and "hydraulic oil". I think.

The cost to fix it is $300. Why, that would keep Blue in shoes for most of the year! And he doesn't require $3 per gallon gasoline, either.

Since I don't drive, our daughter came over to follow the motorcycle in the car and bring Cliff home. I wasn't in the mood to ride the motorcycle with Cliff, so Natalie took my place. Her first real, going-someplace-as-a-destination ride.


Ready to roll.

We laughed at the way Natalie leaned to the right if the motorcycle leaned to the left.

This shot is a little dark, but Natalie turned to wave at us.

We did a little window-shopping while we were there. The girls liked the four-wheelers. Cliff and I priced a new Gold Wing with GPS, seat warmers, and handle-grip warmers. $20,300.

I think I like our old bike just fine.

I certainly hope we didn't turn Natalie into a biker babe.