The sun rises a little earlier and sets a little later each day. There is a certain smell in the morning air – maybe just a hint of fresh vegetation instead of the old dead rotting leaf smell. All signs that spring is almost here, and what better way to get ready for spring than to get the motorcycle ready?
Not the old mid-life crisis Ninja I have had for the few years and sold last fall, but my new Harley Davidson XL1200 Sportster Custom. This bike will be my 4th Harley and my 3rd Sportster. Why a Harley? They are visceral. They are noisy. They require constant attention and care, and the smell from a Harley exhaust takes me back to my Dad’s shop and the smell of oil, grease, and arcing welding rods. Unlike the Ninja, the engine is exposed for all to see its nakedness. No cheap plastic here. Kind of the meat and potatoes of motorcycles that harkens back to a better simpler time.
Many years ago I used to make fun of people who rode Harleys. That was in my Honda days. There was a Yamaha in there too. All very nice bikes. Very predictable, reliable, and also very boring. Nothing ever went wrong and no tweaking or adjusting was ever needed. For a guy who likes to turn a wrench this is simply unacceptable. The Harleys are pretty reliable too, but every now and then you need to get your torque wrench out and re-torque all the things that get shook loose. I didn’t understand the value of a bike that required this kind of TLC 30 years ago. I certainly do now.
With literally a gazillion aftermarket parts, you can make your bike very much your own – the tinkering is endless.
I think that this is why when you look at many used HD bikes you find that they have very few miles on them. People see them more as a work of art in progress than something you actually ride. Happily, I like to ride them too.
When I sold my Fatboy and purchased the Ninja I realized too late that it had to be the dumbest thing I have ever done (or at least way up there on a very long list of dumb things I have done). The Ninja was just too fast. Ridiculously fast – explains why the insurance was also ridiculous.
The Harley, while no slouch, is basically a tractor motor. You can do all kinds of things to the engine, but its still a tractor motor – in a strange way the sound it makes sounds like an old Allison Chalmers tractor put putting in a field somewhere. Again, a simpler time.
And of course, put putting around the lake on a beautiful spring day is a great way to experience God’s creation up close. Yes, spring is almost here.
