Difficult Choices

I can scarcely believe how many times the phrase has been uttered by my lips for the past 5 years.  “What a great time to be a motorcyclist!”  I’m probably sounding like a broken record by now.  Due to my age, they probably assume that I’m either scratched or irrelevant.  The sad truth is, they’re probably right on both counts.

I urge you to peruse your local dealership.  (It doesn’t even have to carry “your” brand–the one you buy your chain lube and oil filters from.)  Scan the showroom.  Look closely.  Think about the specs these bikes offer. Torque.  Dry weight.  Fuel capacity.  Think back to the last time you last considered purchasing a bike.  I’m willing to bet that the specs on the new, “boring” models outshine the last hot-ticket item that you lusted after, but couldn’t afford.  Welcome to two-thousand…..what are we now?  The millennium pre-teens?  Either way–welcome to the reality that is today.  Chances are that the 1,000cc beast of a bike that you checked out in your teenage years is right there in front of you.  The horsepower numbers are all there.  The featherweight figures you dreamt about for the last ten years are just within your grasp.  Trouble is, the hot liter-bike you’re thinking of is not the bike that delivers the goods today.  It may not even be a full liter capacity.  Instead, it’s the Japanese Standard that offers everything you could possibly want.  The dull, boring, UJM.  And it is glorious.
Read more