I have to admit, I love trying out a different bikes.
I went to the Yamaha store a couple years ago and tried out their 1300 sport/touring (I can't remember the designation) Pretty dam fast. Adjustable windscreen, huge bags (fit a full face helmet), really nice bike. I didn't like sitting up and having my legs all scrunched up under me, but a fun test drive. I took it out on a really nice stretch of road and before I knew it I was doing 80 without trying... Can't imagine more than 10 minutes on it at a time though, made for someone with much shorter legs than mine, AND, I had the adjustable seat in the highest position.
I'm hoping to try out one of those Boss Hoss Bikes, that is Iconic. V8 Chevy, 350 or 454 big block, WOW!!

Speaking of "wants," I got a dose of my own medicine yesterday.

We finally had hopes for what appeared to be a few nice days, starting yesterday. While my wife lounged early in the morning, I took Betty out for a good long run before the gym. Bright sun, blue skies, it was about time.

However, after the gym the skies got cloudy. I took a brief jaunt over to a fellow gym rat's house to look at a new bike. He'd won a local charity lottery, and got a shovel-version of a Captain America custom. I didn't stay long. While we spoke the skies got threatening, and once on the road the "air" felt funny. Nothing serious, just enough to make a guy worry about brief showers--then again, ccould be another batch of serious storms akin to last week's downpour.

I found myself thinking selfishly about motorcycling here. No one 'needs' Black Betty. I wasn't going anywhere important--perhaps a big loop as I did on my morning ride. A few good blasts on the slab, a little sight seeing, and then a cuppa at the dealership before returning home. In other words, your basic bike ride shared by most of us on a lazy Saturday. It's why we built these custom bikes.

Granted, no needs, but a lot of 'wants.' Somehow I felt entitled to burn up some fuel because I had been 'denied.' Hey, work hard, play hard. Betty had been sitting far too long. But as I wiped her down my thoughts were essentially, "Precious, my Precious. No stinkin' hobbitt gets the Precious..."

LOL. At this age I'm supposed to be a mentor.

At any age you're supposed to have fun and just be you.

Oh, that I did today! LOL!

I had +six bucks in change today, and pretty much a full tank from yesterday. Beautiful sunny day, bright blue sky. I got up early and took Spinner to the gym. Made a quick stop at home to toss my laundry into the machine and hit the highway. To quote Meat Loaf, "I hit the highway like a battering ram." Strangely, Spinner's fuel tank is silver, which does make her a "silver-black phantom bike."

I made a loop, stole a cuppa from the dealer, filled up, and made another loop. Went home to throw raw meat at the mutts (and undoubtedly saved the life of some neighbor) and made a bigger loop all of the way around Madison. Coasted into the dealer again (on fumes) for more coffee, and then off to my home area gas station.

Oops. Nothing but nickels and pennies. We counted them out, and he put me on a "pre-pay pump."

I'm obviously home now, and did wipe Spinner down with my new sponge. But I do have about 3/4s of a tank left, and the highway is calling.

So far, I did 100 miles just going nowhere--my favorite kind of riding, and on a bike not designed for touring. Ya' know, you never see the sudden curve till it's way too late...

...well, the tank is now dangerously empty...

It was not filled completely when I got home earlier. Ahhh, but the weather was so perfect towards dusk. The sun was still shining, but it got that slightly cooler and very quiet stillness, like all of the wind and noise had disappeared.

I had to go out again!

The fuel warning light is not on--yet. But experience has taught me that something as mundane as rolling down the driveway is going to light it up!

But that's 130 miles on a Sportie with a suspension as rock hard as a spammer's indifference. My forehead is a bright shade of wind-burn crimson, and my wife cannot believe that all of her quarters are gone.

A very good day. Hey, I shut and rode...

I loved then came bronson... I use to wear my hat the same way, big deal if my ears almost fell off from frost bite, the dude was cool.

Since I bought Spinner I think a lot about the idea of that show. I'm not sure we are living out the concept of 'freedom' we claim is so important. The concept of Bronson was to seek a new path, and the show depicted meeting new people and seeing areas we had never visited.

Often when I fire Spinner up I'm conflicted about finding a new loop or trying a different route to get somewhere. I find a serious tug to just jump on the same road, go to the same destination, drink the same latte' and talk to the same people. However, once having done something different, I feel renewed somehow.

Not all loops are pleasant. The last big loop I took on Spinner showed me just how bad that section of highway had fallen into disrepair. But that's part of our experience, or it should be. I stopped at a gas station on that loop and met a preacher and his wife from Canada headed to Boston. With both bikes packed to the rafters they stated they would be in Boston by the following night. Strangely, my opening comment to them was, "Taking a trip...?"

There's an old song called "Left or Right on Oak Street." One of the lyrics that speaks to me is the refrain, "I wonder which takes more courage, the staying or the running away?" Now, no matter what I ride, I consider myself a Sportster guy. I never want to be a guy who just hacks off the sleeves of a brand new jean jacket without knowing why. And when I do loop back to the dealership for coffee, I want it to be because I found a new road.

Up until a couple years ago I used to take 2 weeks out and just explore. I'd pack the bike with camping gear and some staples (jerky, beans, stew, a bottle of Jack, and a road atlas ), I'd head out and just go.
Some years I never made it out of the state, others I'd find my self 3 states over... one year went coast to coast... Always alone, always with Bronson in the back of my mind.. That long lonely highway, doing things my way... riding helmetless at every chance. I had everything I needed and was enjoying the bike I always wanted. Life is good.

Then Came Bronson. never missed one show!