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Ah Motorcycles....


I've always had an attraction to motorcycles but been terribly frightened of them. Why? no good reason. Just the normal sense of imbalance, too much power between your legs and not enough brains in your noggin.
But they are beautiful, make wonderful noises and are a tribute to innovative design.
In Summer 2008 I decided that I would attempt to overcome my fears and find out what it was like to ride. From web forums I had gathered that the Riders Edge Course from Harley Davidson was a perfect introduction to riding with great instruction and fully integrated testing. For 3 days and a couple hundred bucks, I could walk away either hating cycles or come out a fully licensed rider.
And that's just what I did... The initial sensation was a revelation. It was the wheeled nirvana I had been searching for for YEARS. Take all the best things you can gather from 1. Flying. 2. Eating Chocolate 3. Having Sex
and stir in a bucket. That's what motorcycling is to me.
Autocross? fuckit
Convertible Porsche? fuckit
300HP WRX? fuckit.
I am all about "The Machine and The Journey" I decided that an awesome thing to do would to get my dad back into motorcycling and him and I could tour the country exploring different things that we possibly hadn't seen. I don't see my father much and it would be something for us to do a bit off the beaten path.
I mentioned this to him and he was all in.
I took my class and test, bought my Buell Blaster and let him have a ride. He hadn't ridden in 25+ years and at that point that rode off down my neighborhood, the deal was sealed.


"We're going!"

About 15 minutes later my father bought a vintage Yamaha from Steele's cycle for me to fix up. Good thing the cars all work, because I have a lot of work to do on that bike.I worked it quite well and it did a few trips with us. Sadly, the 1982 Yamaha Vision was not a machine to be ridden and parked for a year only to go again. My dad traded it for a 2003 BMW R1150S. He also got his vintage /2 running and we bought a '75 R75 to restore. .. I see something about BMW's here... We would like to ride all over the country.. It's a bit hard to do with family and jobs though.

 

My First bike was a 2001 Buell Blast
I had always admired the Blast and after taking my class on it I decided that buying one was the way to go. It's a 500CC thumper designed to be ridden by novices in the city. As my plans were to eventually tour I knew this would only be a temporary bike but I really enjoyed riding it.
You could actually ride the crap out that bike on a city street without breaking many laws and still keeping your hide intact.
In October 2008 I bought mine in a sad state of repair. Didn't run right, high miles, dropped a few times.. etc. Within a few days and from the assistance of www.Badweatherbikers.com I had a bike that ran like a top.
That was the only bike in the garage for a few months until I accidentally stumbled on the XB9r at Steele's Cycle. Since that was the bike I was leaning to for my upgrade and the price was RIGHT.. I had to jump early.
I sold the Buell Blast in April, 2009.

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2003 Buell XB9r Firebolt
I picked this machine up in Feb 2009 on a visit to Steele's Cycle for some tire work on my Dad's bike. Seeing the bike there was unplanned, and buying it was impulsive. It had just come in from a bank repo and the price was right, it was off season and the bike was a little less than pretty.
And now she was mine.
What's not to write about about the Buell XB that hasn't been said a million times before?
well.... to me-

"But I tell ya, when you're done riding the XB, you want to lay on the concrete and smoke a cigarette staring up at the clouds..."
"I don't get that with the other machines"

Well.. now that it's 2011 and Buell is no more I have a stronger affinity towards the Brand. They really are wonderful bikes and I wish I could have more. I wish I could have a nice UlyssesXT for Touring, an 1125R for going FAST. a Tuber for just fixing. I wish Chris would ride and learn on nice BLAST like I did, then upgrade to a Zombie-Stomping XB9s. I have 22,000 miles on the bike now. It runs better than ever, and on my last trip got gas mileage up over 60mpg. (hear it goes up as they get older) It always starts and never fails to put a grin on my face. I've taken it through New Mexico, Kansas, Misouri, Utah and of course, LOT of Colorado.

"A Very Good Dog"