My dream bike (for now).

My next dream bike

My Journey

I have never sat down and looked back on this journey into the realm of motorcycling. So now is the time to catch up with my present status. The date from which I will look back will be June 1st, the day I passed the Team Oregon course. The events prior to this date are as follows:

I cannot say for certain if there ever was a love or interest in motorcycles prior to this date. I know that I saw a motorcycle here and there and I looked upon those who had bikes as dangerous, reckless yet bold. I guess I had a fear of them because they were something that had more power on two wheels that I could ever imagine.

My first encounter with a motorcycle was a mini scooter that a friend of mine had. His dad made it from scratch and it was powered by a used lawn mower engine. It could not go very fast, but at that and that it was faster than my bicycle, it was fast. He also had a go-cart and I rode that, but I was not about to get on that scooter. Beyond that I cannot remember too many other incidents as I grew up.

It was not until my college years when I final took a test ride. My wife at the time had made friends with a gal at work, Terri and her husband Tom, we came to find out was a dirt bike rider. He and I got to know each other and as time progress my curious mind began to ask questions now and then about his bike and where he rides it. Then one afternoon he asked me if I would like to ride it. Sheepishly I agreed to try. Off we went to the near by school parking lot and Tom gave me a run down of how his bike worked. For the starter run, I just rode down the lot and back in first gear. So all I had to know was how to let out the clutch and use the throttle to give it gas. But for some reason that was enough for me. I did the one run and that was all I could handle. I was an avid bicycle rider and the thought of all that power in the twist of the wrist was more than I wanted to handle in this life time. That was the last ride I ever took.

After that, motorcycles were either a mystery or a nuisance. I never gave it a thought. In 2000, my wife and I divorced. Months after the divorce, I caught wind from my kids that my now ex-wife was intending to get a motorcycle. I soon found out that this was just talk. However, around that same two things began to happen. The first was the beginning of the show, “American Chopper.” I became addicted to the show and watched it every Monday night. As much as I was fascinated by the bikes, I never saw myself as a rider; it was an elite club that I did not have the DNA. The second was just a little thing, but a co-worker for some reason started to call me “Motorcycle Michael.” I guess it was the way it rhymed and the speed at which he got his answers from me. He later became my insurance agent.

I had another friend named Tom and when I found out he rode, my outlook of him changed. I stood back from him thinking he was a little edgier than most people. But over time I realized he was no different than the rest of us humans sharing this planet.

Thus ends the early years.

My almost…

Sunday I found myself at the Harley-Davidson dealership…ok I went there on purpose. I wanted to just look around and sit on bikes and just be a part of the happening things at the H-D dealership. As I was looking around a young salesman intercepted me and got into the conversation my looking. He showed me a Honda 750 and it was a beautiful bike. But $2000 more than I want to spend. It also was not the time for me to buy. I made a commitment since I started this journey that I would not buy or look intensely until after rider safety course. On May 29th that will happen. The thing the salesman kept reminding me of is the notion that it may not be around in a month. He then showed me a Suzuki (as shown above) and it had only 175 miles on it so really new. But I had to walk away from the whole thing. The bike was $3800 and I might have been able to swing it. But it would disrupt the flow of the journey that I have been on. So alas, I am still bikeless, but that happens when the time is exactly right. The right bike…hmmm, sounds like what some friends have said about dating and finding the right woman. Is there a correlation between dating and motorcycles? Nah. A bike is sweeter!