OK, it had been a while since I owned a bike. We moved to Atlanta 12 years ago and I kept the "M" on my drivers licence thinking that, "hey, it's warm all the time here, I ought to get a bike again".
Then I noticed the traffic. I don't mean the quantity of cars and trucks on the roads here (which is huge) but the QUALITY of the drivers. Being out on the road with Atlanta drivers is the scariest thing I've ever done! These are the worst drivers in the world. I'm from New York originally. New York drivers are aggressive but GOOD. Here in Atlanta, drivers are very aggressive and VERY BAD DRIVERS. Not a good combination, not a good combination if you're driving a tank - much worse on a bike. In New York, you would be getting a single finger salute quite often out on the roads and folks would just miss hitting you all the time. Here in Atlanta, they don't miss, they just hit you! I can't believe that I'm reminising about just getting the finger, not run over.
So, I set the bike idea aside for a while.
Long story about getting a new boat too big to tow without a pickup truck and getting seriously poor gas mileage with said truck around town and needing a way to reduce my carbon footprint, use less gas, etc. Almost got a Prius but my previous car was a Corvette and the change in drivability from the Vette to the Prius was a little too much to handle. Then it occured to me that a Harley-Davidson gets about the same fuel economy as a Prius. Let's see - Harley - Prius. Harley - Prius...hmmmmm that ws the easiest decision I ever made.
Bought a new 1200 Custom Sportster in August just to see if I remembered how to ride. It was a nice bike...
And, yes, I remembered how to ride - it comes back fast - as I was pulling out of the dealer's lot. And my last bike was a BSA Lightning!
The sales guy told me they had a promotion going that if I decided to trade the Sporty in within a year, they would give me full MSRP for the trade. "No way" I told him, this is enough bike for me. Any guess as to how long that atitude lasted............about a month. Laurie and I were riding up in the North Georgia Mountains a few times and the Sporty just wasn't the right bike for two of us in hill country.
About then I got a look at the Screaming Eagle bikes, the CVO group. The Street Glide was too much bike, the Fat Bob is beautiful but too close to the Sportster, but the Softail was just right. I like the "convertible" aspect of it, a cruser for weekend trips but take off the faring, the bags and the sissy bar and passenger seat and you have a sporty bike to run around town on. Good looking bike as well, here's mine...
That's the rear axe! Nice work H-D!
Still in the break in period. My only concern is with the miserly lean angles.
My pleasure to be in the company of so many experienced riders.
Ron
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Topic: Good to be Back in the Saddle Again! (Read 3230 times)