Something to Put Your Ego Into Proper Perspective...

 You know, many years ago I knew a welder. I swear, that guy could take a piece of hanger wire and weld up some artistic welds on thin aluminum, while having a conversation with you... and rebuilding a lawnmower engine with his free hand...

He was just one of those guys that made your best effort look weak in comparison... Know what I mean?

I've made a couple of videos over the last few months trying to learn the craft... and improve my ability to build good content for the site...

The other day, as I was surfing around, looking at what other folks have done with videos... to get ideas... I stumbled across this video of a "Biker"... making a run on the "Dragon's Tail" at Deals Gap...

While the video itself might not be superior quality... it's the content of this particular Motorcycle Video that caught my attention...

I think... that I'll keep it around... and any time I get to thinkin' that I'm some bad ass biker... I'll watch this video... to put my ego back in its proper place! :o)



Makin' a Goldwing run like that? Whooooooowheee! THAT my friends... is a genuine, unadulterated, double rectified, Biker! with certified, oversized, solid brass Cajones! ;o)

... and then... stop and consider something... there's TWO of 'EM! the guy filming is riding a Winger Too!

pssssssssssss.... that's the sound of my ego, slowly lettin' out a lil' air! :o)

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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A Northern Bikers Heaven... Winter on the Desert

This will be the first winter we'll spend down on the Desert... in something like 25 years...

I grew up down on the Arizona desert... and though it's not the same place I left a long time ago... it'll do!

Not having to bury myself under four or five layers... and deal with the punishment of riding a motorcycle through another Colorado Winter... is something I think I'll have lil' difficulty gettin' adjusted to!

What with Arizona bein' something like a third larger than Colorado... there's no shortage of good roads. If the weather up north is bad?... ride down through the Sonoran Desert in the south. When the weather is good above? Take a run up to Sedona... or east a ways over to Payson below the Mogollon Rim.

*Cruiser Motorcycles in the Arizona Desert in the Winter*

 Sunday, we took a ride up NE of Phoenix, to Bartlett Reservoir... and it was easy to tell that the Winter, is Riding Season in Arizona.

I didn't keep a count... but I'm pretty sure there were as many, if not more bikes makin' that Sunday ride, as cars. Harleys, BMW, 'wings... you name it... quite a few duals... though I was surprised to see so few straight up sport bikes...

* Riding a Motorcycle in December... in shirt sleeves... in Arizona! HooYa!*

I'm guessing they must have a road, somewhere, with tighter twists in the asphalt.

But... bottom line? If you're weary, already of snow, ice and cold in that part of the country north of 75 degrees... move your butt... and your bike south! :o)

I do believe I've figured out the trick to "Winter Motorcycle Riding"...

Do your riding ... in Arizona! :o)

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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The Melancholy of Selling a Motorcycle

It's just a machine. It has no heart, no soul, so why does selling a motorcycle feel somehow like you're selling a friend?

No soul, no heart... just a machine? Can that be? Or, IS there something more?

How can something that lives, so deeply embedded in the soul of a man, Ever Be, merely a machine?

Today I sold the V Star. She'd ridden on this trip, back there on the tail of the fiver, and never hit the ground till we got to Phoenix. Along the way, the wife made the decision that she prefers back seat on the Raider, to riding her own... so... it made no sense to keep on hauling that bike around on the fiver... if she was never gonna get rode.

I figured it would sell fairly easy... I never thought... this easy.

I hung the ad on Craigslist about 2:30 in the afternoon. first call came about 20 minutes later. By a quarter after 5 the cash was in my pocket, the title was signed off, the bike was loaded... and by 5:30, she was trailerin' down the road.

... and there I was... left with this odd sensation... and wondering...

That V Star and I had a lot of good miles together... Lots of good rides. There were a few times I wasn't sure that I had ridden that bike out of what I had got it in to... that maybe there was something else working to keep it up... when it should have low sided... when it should have gone down... and didn't...

Can a motorcycle, truly have no soul?

... I'm not sure I can answer that one the way most folks expect a guy to!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Freedom... Have You Ever Really Thought About It?

What does "The Freedom of the Open Road" mean to you?

It's more than just rolling two wheels down the asphalt... it's more than just Splitting the wind... but what? Can you really put words to it? Or is that other Old Cliche really the truth?; "If I have to explain it, you won't understand."

What is your idea of pure Freedom... or ... what would be the "environment" in which that Pure Freedom, or as pure as you could get, could exist?

What would you need to eliminate... what would you need to keep? What is necessary for living... what is just excess baggage, weighing you down?

There's a fella, up in British Columbia... that seems to have his soul wrapped around the meaning pretty fine. He's at least one guy... that you've not got to try and explain it to...

I may be taking liberties here... I'm hoping he'll forgive, as I'm sending anyone who reads it here, to his blog, to capture more of his wisdoms...

Back in October he wrote a short piece... that for me... sums it up... You'll either "Get it" or you won't... If you don't... sorry... you're just one of the poor "many"... who won't understand...

I reprint his post here:

"Freedom

Imagine if you will, shedding every item you own, every problem you have, every burden you carry, every issue that haunts you, and becoming a free thinking, free riding, free man.

Imagine if you unpacked the bike you packed and retained only the things you really needed to survive on the bike. All you really need to survive is air to breath, water to drink and something to eat, the rest is just clutter.

Add in some clothes to wear, cooking utensils, camping gear and some cash to buy gas and you will be completely outfitted to take the motorcycle ride of a lifetime.

Riding a motorcycle unencumbered by clutter, devoid of a befuddled mind and a yearning to learn is as close to being free as you can get."
                                                            - Silverwinger
   
There it is... nothing can be added to that... As clear as it can be said. Makes a man ache to see the road, stretching out in front of him... Don't it?

Awesome...

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

Return to the Home page of Motorcycle Touring on Freedom Road
Visit our sister site goin' RV Boondocking

Share your stories and opinions;
*Tell us Which you think is the... The Best Touring Motorcycle
*Share...  Your Personal Motorcycle Philosophy with us!
*Tell us about your...  Great Motorcycle Roads