My wife has always been a good sport about my interests. "You want to buy a fire engine? Sure. I don't care." Or a Model T Speedster... Reliant Robin... King Midget... Checker Marathon. Sure. I started cheap, and ended at about $10k, adding a bit of money with each sale and subsequent purchase. My current is a 2009 Moto Guzzi California Vintage. Beautiful bike.... but not for two up riding.. which gets me to my next point.
As we face retirement, I want to develop some interests we can do together. Heck, WE want make that happen.
A few days before Father's Day she asks if I'd like to do something that weekend. She throws out a couple of suggestions, and I yawn. So, for the first time in our 29 year marriage I ask her to go to a motorcycle store with me. She remains a good sport, so yeasterday we headed up the highway about an hour north of Seattle to Lifestyle Motorsports. Long story short, the sales guy has me riding a 2015 Can Am RT Limited, with my wife on back. It's a beautiful Spring day as we go winding up the twisties into the lower Cascade Mountains.
What a beautiful machine. I knew I'd be sold, as I'd taken the Trike Course for the Washington State 3 wheel endorsement, and they had a pair of Spyders there. I'd been lusting after a sidecar, and actually planned to add one to the Guzzi. Yeah, I like the odd stuff. I had dreams of long road trips, but of late they'd become nightmares from fear of taking a physical beating, especially in my back. Sidecars are some work! I'd been following the Spyders since they were first released, but they were outside my price range, and perhaps not odd enough!
So, with my advancing age and desire for comfort in mind, I started to dream again of Spyders, of road trips in something far more comfortable than some odd sidecar rig. After the 25 minute test ride I was in love. But what of my wife? As usual, she was supportive, but she was far more than that, as now she had some Spyder dreams, too, as the first words out of her mouth were, "This is more comfortable than our Chevy Malibu or Smart Car. I could see taking this for a week up into the San Juan Islands!"
We head home, leaving the Spyder behind, and for the hour ride home in that little Smart Car we talk of how to "make it so", how to get a Spyder RT-Limited. WIthin another hour I had some odd instruments and such posted on Ebay, and I've arranged with the local Guzzi dealer to sell my bike. I was gathering funds. We are still a few months, even perhaps a year away from purchase, but it's now a shared dream, a vision for building more of a life together... after kids and after retirement.
This is going to be good. Isn't it? I am hoping so!
Bryan
Seattle
A few oddities from the past.
As we face retirement, I want to develop some interests we can do together. Heck, WE want make that happen.
A few days before Father's Day she asks if I'd like to do something that weekend. She throws out a couple of suggestions, and I yawn. So, for the first time in our 29 year marriage I ask her to go to a motorcycle store with me. She remains a good sport, so yeasterday we headed up the highway about an hour north of Seattle to Lifestyle Motorsports. Long story short, the sales guy has me riding a 2015 Can Am RT Limited, with my wife on back. It's a beautiful Spring day as we go winding up the twisties into the lower Cascade Mountains.
What a beautiful machine. I knew I'd be sold, as I'd taken the Trike Course for the Washington State 3 wheel endorsement, and they had a pair of Spyders there. I'd been lusting after a sidecar, and actually planned to add one to the Guzzi. Yeah, I like the odd stuff. I had dreams of long road trips, but of late they'd become nightmares from fear of taking a physical beating, especially in my back. Sidecars are some work! I'd been following the Spyders since they were first released, but they were outside my price range, and perhaps not odd enough!
So, with my advancing age and desire for comfort in mind, I started to dream again of Spyders, of road trips in something far more comfortable than some odd sidecar rig. After the 25 minute test ride I was in love. But what of my wife? As usual, she was supportive, but she was far more than that, as now she had some Spyder dreams, too, as the first words out of her mouth were, "This is more comfortable than our Chevy Malibu or Smart Car. I could see taking this for a week up into the San Juan Islands!"
We head home, leaving the Spyder behind, and for the hour ride home in that little Smart Car we talk of how to "make it so", how to get a Spyder RT-Limited. WIthin another hour I had some odd instruments and such posted on Ebay, and I've arranged with the local Guzzi dealer to sell my bike. I was gathering funds. We are still a few months, even perhaps a year away from purchase, but it's now a shared dream, a vision for building more of a life together... after kids and after retirement.
This is going to be good. Isn't it? I am hoping so!
Bryan
Seattle
A few oddities from the past.
hyea:
Judging by your pictures... the hook has already been set! :shocked:
