Motorcycles and Spring 2

This afternoon when we got home from running around, there was a message on the machine from the nephew in law saying he and his wife, the neice would like to have us meet them and the nephew with the neice in law to go for a scoot with us.

We were beat but it was nice to hear the boys and girls so eager to go riding with the elderly aunt and uncle, so we pulled on our boots and leathers and took off to meet them.

The NIL is riding a Silverwing he bought from me two years ago. I like to think I understand what kids are going to try with a new bike. The day he came to look at it, I took him out for a demo ride.

I strolled it out the drive, up the gravel road for a block and the took it out on the pavement. I walked slowly through the gears and drove it 55. All the while I was explaining where the buttons were and showing him all the signals, lights and horn worked. Then I hollered "Hold on!" and stood on the brakes to show him how well it would stop. He didn't smack his helmet into my back so he must have held on pretty well.

The devil bit me and I pulled zero to sixty in about 13 seconds (or thereabouts :)) and kept going to 85 mph to show him how to wind it up through the gears. We slowed, stopped at an intersection, pulled a u turn and went back the way we came at speed. The controlled braking was demonstrated again as we came back into the village.

I figured he would ride it faster than the speed I showed him out there but it was the most I felt comfortable with, with him riding on the back. I also thought he might be able to skip making "hole shots" and jamming on the brakes to see how the bike did. I think I did ok and so did he.

He hadn't had the thing a month when he was passing someone and went into a high speed wobble that threw him and the bike in the ditch. Busted the fairing, blew a tire, etc. I was really sad for the bike and the NIL.

He has been repairing the bike ever since. It's just now running right and fresh painted. He and his girl looked just right on it and it was a joy to see it scooting down the road again.

Now, the Nephew has lusted after his mother's 750 Custom since he was old enough to say "motorcycle". She always swore she would never get off it and she would not let him ride it.

Several years back someone he was working for gave him an old 350 Honda. His dad and the uncle helped him get it running. I took him out on the long, L shaped driveway and showed him the controls, explained shifting at certain RPM's, and downshifting.

I also told him that, no matter what was going wrong, ALWAYS pull in the clutch if he panicked or didn't know what to do. Then decide what to do, brake, speed up and swerve or dive off. That would at least slow him down before he landed and keep the bike from stalling, jerking in gear or bucking him off un-prepared.

He was down the drive, u turned and back to the house in second gear on his first trip. He rode around the gravel roads out there a lot and got practice in every chance he had. An electrical problem kept him from getting the bike legal so he didn't get to do much road work with it, but he was riding.

Then it was work and girl friend for a couple years. Shortly after he married his mom got weak in the head and sold him her bike on the condition that she have a key to grab it for a scoot whenever she got the urge. He was thrilled! The bike has had more miles put on it in the last two years than it did in the first 20.

That's who called us to go for a ride tonight. I love these kids! We are so used to everyone we ride with being late that it was a rush to have them so eager to go that they were early! We were still there first but only beat them by about two miles.

We yacked in the parking lot for a few minutes and looked at the bikes. There is still some rust on the Silverwing but I know it will get fixed and the Custom needs a matching sidecover, it's wearing an unmatched one to replace one that blew away in the wind. The kids all have different styles and colors of helmets, old, new, working and non working jackets of different colors, gloves, no gloves, all different shades for their eyes and are just a motley crew to looked at.

Everyone of them was smiling and joyful to be out on the bikes and was glad to have us with them. I treasure this ride because we came by my brother's and what I think of as my dad's graves tonight. I said, "Look Dad, Aboy! They're riding!"

My grampa had a bike, my dad rode, I rode, my sisters and brother rode and now our kids are riding. Tomorrow we have the mass birthday party for their children who are all one year old sometime in the next six weeks.

If I can make it another 20 years, I might get a ride with them. If I don't I hope they ride by my grave and say hello on the first ride of spring.