Motorcycling

When I was just a kid, I got into motorcycles hot and heavy. Love everything about them so far. Since the parents were (and still are, really) convinced that I should never own a motorcycle, when I was 25 or so, I picked up my first real road bike, a maroon 1981 Suzuki GS 550T…

Six months later, met my future wife, and between her, and the best friend at the time, decided it’d be best to go ahead and sell it to avoid the constant aggravation and whining. Worst mistake I ever made.

Now that the now-ex-wife is married to the former best friend, I’m back into developing a true love of the hobby, having had two bikes since October of 2007. The first, an Orange Honda VTX, the latest, a “Black Cherry” 2008 Honda Goldwing GL1800.

Now for the funny part. Starting around September of 2007, my dad and I were at a local flea market, reminiscing about how he would love to have a Goldwing. This, of course, lit my fire for a new bike, so I ran right out and picked up the VTX. Not to be outdone, dad calls me from Daytona Beach (Bike Week) and tells me that he bought a Suzuki 800 Marauder.

Over the next two weeks, we put on about four 200 mile days, which literally turned into a pain in the butt. The VTX was too small for touring for my fat ass, and his Suzuki just wasn’t what he wanted. So… On a pretty Saturday afternoon, he runs out and buys a 2008 Yamaha V-star 1100. Pretty bike, but about two weeks later, he realizes that he can’t sell the Suzuki, so he goes and trades BOTH bikes in on a Yamaha Road Star Midnight Silverado 1700.

Simultaneously and after a lot of thought, I had been researching Goldwing prices throughout the southeast. One Wednesday afternoon, I walked into the local Honda Dealer, said “here’s my price”, and he said “we can do that” (dammit, now I gotta buy a bike). The next day, I rode off on my 2008 Goldwing 1800.

Two days later, dad was having his bike worked on (new, louder pipes), when he noticed a red, 1994 Goldwing 1500 in the shop in great shape with 87,000 miles on it. Swapsies later, and dad owned his first Goldwing. Life was good.

There are a lot of pictures on my Flickr page which show the two bikes together, but alas, his was not long for his world. Turns out there was a mechanic / dealer nearby with a Silver 1998 GL1500 with 42000 miles on it in better shape, so now dad was back to owning two Goldwings. The red one he sold (the buyer now rides with us on weekends) and the silver one he kept.

Now jealousy is a funny thing…

Dad used to be a motorcycle cop in Huntsville back in the day. When he got back into riding, he met up with a bunch of his old motorcycle cop buddies. One of which has now decided he wants a Goldwing and to move up from his Harley. Two Mondays ago, off they ride to Cullman, AL in search of a new wing for the friend, when they happen upon a Jupiter Orange 2003 Goldwing 1800 with only 4200 miles on it.

Suffice it to say that dad is now on his sixth bike in 9 months, while I’m happily on my second.

Every weekend, you can find us putting 300 to 400 miles on the bikes touring, and it’s the closest I’ve EVER been to my dad, so I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.