When I met my current wife, I let her know about this certain.......obsession I guess you could call it. She said "Well, it could be porno.....or drugs.....or teenage girls or boys.....or any number of really harmful/illegal/immoral stuff. It couldn't be that big of a deal." This was about 12 years ago. In that time, I've bought probably 8 different motorcycles, and I keep getting the questions, "How many do you need? Why don't you just keep the one that you have? Is something wrong with that one you have now? Why do you want another one?" Let's see. Dirt bike? Check. Supersport? Check. Standard? Check. Dual Sport/Enduro? Check. Supermoto? Check. Hot Rod Ducati Monster S4 watercooled 4 Valver? Check. Sportster? Check. I think she is used to it. But when we go to Santa Barbara Ducati, or Santa Barbara Motorsports, or the KTM guys in Paso, she always asks me why we are stopping there, and when I'm looking at new bikes there, she steps in front of me, "Why are you looking at that?" Well, because, that's what I do.
She was enthusiastic about riding. She used to ride a moped years ago to work. So I started her out at Pismo on the beach with a YZ250. Actually, first it was a KTM500MXC, 60hp 2 stroke beast, didn't stall too easily, although she couldn't start it. She did alright. Then the YZ250. Then I bought a YZ450F, she couldn't start that one either, but it was just up and down the beach. I had a GS500E for a while (piece of shit, really), she rode that a few times. Then my CBR900RR. She saw a Suzuki GZ250 and thought it was cute. We bought it, she rode it to Santa Barbara once. It sat for a year, then I sold it for what I paid for it. She decided she wanted a Sportster. No you don't. Yes I do. No you don't. Yes, I do. So, I found a completely stock, low miles Sportster. Traded an XR650L Supermoto for it. With 3 sets of wheels. 675cc big bore, high compression, very big dollars bike (XR's Only dyno mule). She rode that Sportster one time, I think. "It's too heavy. The steering is horrible. The brakes aren't very good." Yeah, I know, I fucking told you that. I bought my KTM950 Supermoto. Hey, do you want to ride the Ducati? Yeah. So we get on the highway, and head to San Luis Obispo. She is doing fine, we are cruising at 75 or so, she looks comfortable and confident. We get to the Broad Street exit, and she is kind of leading and points at the exit sign, and starts to go down the offramp. She is still doing about 70, and the turn is marked 15. I'm dropping way back, but she doesn't ever look in the mirrors, so she doesn't slow down, until the very, very last minute, and grabs a big handful of front brake (Brembo Gold Line, they worked very well on that bike). I see the wheel lock, just stop turning, but she lets off, and grabs another handful, and makes the turn. She pulls over, and she is shaking. I comment that she is not paying enough attention to what is going on. And in my mind, all I can think of is seeing her bouncing down the road. We ride back, and that was the last time she rode a street bike. Probably 4 years ago. I'd rather she didn't ride a street bike any more.
Weasal made a comment that made me think. He said, "The next time I crash." I don't look at it that way. My outlook is, "I'm not going to crash." I know, I know, it can always happen, and I'm not impervious to it, in any way. But, like when people say, "It isn't if, it is when you are going to crash...", to me, that fatalistic attitude isn't how I think. "I'm not going to crash." At least, until I do.
