Normally I fill my time by tinkering with computers, both at home and at work. But recently, after having my yearly review and finding out I’m employable for the next 12 months or so, my mind wandered back to some of the other things I used to do for fun. My mind has wandered back before… but this time the musings coincided with some use-it-or-lose-it vacation days. Days to actually go out an do something about it.
In University I had a toy: a toy originally bought from a close friend in Kenora and brought to me at Western in the back of my grandparents minivan (a long 2-days drive). My first bike: a Honda CB450S:
One day I wasn’t paying attention and a crashed it. Totally my fault, not in traffic, involving me, the bike, and a disagreement with about 20 feet of asphalt + concrete berm. The bike suffered a lot of cosmetic damage, and the forks were twisted in such a way the front wheel could barely move. I had on jeans, leather jacket and gloves and a helmet, and walked (stumbled?) away with nothing more than a healthy respect for motorcycles… …and a cast on my leg.
[Aside: people who drive motorcycles in shorts, T-shirt, flip-flops and an open-face helmet are insane, because a couple hundred in safety gear will let them walk away from (or at least survive) most common accidents. Maybe they think they’re saving money because it’s only about $20 for some Polysporin and bandaids and OHIP will cover the skin grafts and pain meds…]
Anyways, I sold that broken bike for my first CD burner and some cash. But every spring since then I’ve thought about getting another one. Actually, that’s not entirely true: the first couple years after the crash I thought the motorcycle industry was nothing more than a way to find organ-donors for people who obviously had a stronger will to live…. but my thinking changed with time đŸ™‚
So, buy an Auto-Trader, scope out some deals, have my sister drive me to the outer reaches of the GTA to look at some prospects, and next thing you know:
It will take another week to take my M2 course and get ownership and insurance sorted, but then I’m on the road again.
And this time I intend to keep the shiny side up.