The Great Motorcycle Chase
by
Dick Prosapio © 2004
I think it's safe to say that every red-blooded
American boy, maybe every boy everywhere, at one time or another
would like to have a motorcycle.
OK, maybe it's not "safe" to say that, but I said
it anyway.
Yeah, I know I left out "girls" but, really now,
what percentage of girls wants a motorcycle in comparison to boys?
Maybe 10% huh?
I'll give it 20 and we'll leave it at that and I'm
stickin' with the original premise. Send complaints to the Editor.
I've never had one, a motorcycle that is, and in
fact, I've never even ridden on one. But I have, as far back as I
can remember, admired those who have and do. It should follow then
that now that I have a chance to get one, 'cause I came into a few
bucks as a gift from an old friend, that I would go out and do just
that. Especially since he was urging me to do just that.
And that's just what I started out to do, I
embarked on my usual, a guys usual, Journey of Discovery.
This involves researching and organizing the hunt, discovering
all things motorcycle and sorting them into categories. The first
level of this is "studly" bikes vs. "family bikes". This is the
basic Harley vs. Goldwing sorting, the Harley (type) being the
lone-guy-on-a-bike and the Goldwing being the
guy-and-his-wife/girlfriend on a bike.
Next is the reliability thing. Old Harleys are
famous for leaking oil and needing "touch-ups" by the side of the
road. Old Harleys are out for me. Newer Harleys are out because they
cost as much as a good small car. Harley "clones" are the next
obvious way to go. These are the Japanese bikes and, through search
and discovery I narrowed the field to Yamaha and Honda.and a late
comer in the quest, a Yamaha-Harley look alike, the Denon, which, I
am told by the enthusiastic salesman, ".....is a Korean bike made by
the people who set up the Honda engine."
I only know what they tell me in this regard. I
didn't consider BMW. A little too rich for my wallet.
Next, I begin checking with them-that-know. The
old bikers still doing it and those who stopped for one reason or
another. First thing I hear is, "You want a good motorcycle? Get a
Harley." But I take this with a large dose of salt because, and this
is kind of important, I've never been on anything more gutsy than a
two-wheeled, 15 speed, self-propelled bike. I don't think that
prepares one to swing a leg over a 1300 cc heavyweight.
So, I checked out an 850 cc.....which still seemed
a little large for a first timer. But I don't want some dinky thing
either, that would just mean buying and then selling as I became
more competent in order to move up the cc ladder. The Denon was 250
cc's and looks very much like the macho Yamaha V Star, that's the
850 mentioned above.
Elizabeth doesn't mind not going on motorcycle
rides. But that didn't completely rule out the "family" type bike in
my search. I still pictured her riding, comfortably, behind
me as we cruised the back roads of America.
I should add here that one of the reasons I've not
done this before, besides the discretionary money issue, is that I
know how I am, or have been, about the "speed" thing. When I was a
pilot my favorite thing to do was to streak across the desert at
high speeds at about five to ten feet above the sagebrush. I
figured, logically I believe, that I'd be doing the same thing on
any motorcycle I'd get, so, to forestall an early death, I avoided
the temptation.
But I've mellowed and have no great need-for-speed
these days. Now I want to see the territory, be in it AND see it.
So, I've slowed down considerably.
Didn't want any more tickets either.
So, I'm out one day, kicking motorcycle tires here
and there and pricing all the stuff you have to have to be
moderately safe on one, and it occurs to me suddenly, that I really
don't want to do the whole "thing" about motorcycling. You know, the
"leathers", the helmet, the training, the sweating in hot weather,
the bugs in my hair.....it really begins to seem like a major
hassle.
It was then that, tucked away on a very small used
car lot, I came upon The Miata.
It was love at first sight. Or sitting.
As I sat in it, I remembered that my favorite car
of all, of the close to a hundred cars I've owned, was my MG. I had
a '68 Corvette for about three months once, and that was fun, but,
1. It really wasn't a sports car, it was a very powerful Chevy. And
2. I couldn't make the payments.
But the MG, ah, that was fun. It was moderately
quick and handled like nothing I'd ever driven before. And I owned
it. Unfortunately, shortly after I bought it, I had to make a choice
of whether to keep working to support it or finish up my undergrad
degree and go on to graduate school. The MG had to go after just one
month.
Just sitting in the cockpit of the Miata I began
to remember all the fun I had driving that MG. Driving it brought it
all back in real time. And even better, the 1.8 liter engine, forget
"ccs", made that old MG seem like a wind-up toy.
Yep, I think that after thirty-one years of
forgetting that driving used to be fun .I'm ready to remember
again.......and take Elizabeth along....comfortably.
Maybe I'll get a bike next year, after all, there
may be a Steve McQueen crouching inside me awaiting liberation.
Actually, I think it's Paul Newman.
Dick Prosapio ©2004, All Rights
Reserved
