19 August 2013

The Swiss Army Kni... er... Motorcycle

 
Yeah, I've gone insane.
But I'm havin' a ball, so I don't intend to change.
And money? That's just a tool anway, right?

So actually I AM gonna make a change.
But it entails buying another motorcycle.

Three years ago I made the first motorcycle purchase I had made in over twenty years.
But there was a problem. Pizza Bike had no backrest, and Sara Jean refused to ride pillion on it.
So I bought another bike.
And then another.
My garage is full.
Sold a few, then bought a few more; there have been as many as four bikes under that roof. Our car resides in our drive because there's no room in the garage for it.
Tags and insurance are another factor...
It's about $200 per bike per year to keep them legal.
I dream of being Jay Leno, but I ain't quite there yet.
The only really sane thing to do is to try to consolidate... turn two bikes into one.
And that means compromises.

The bike pictured is a mess of compromises.
The "Yamaha Super Tenere" (pronounced like canary) is what is referred to in the motorcycle industry as a "Dual-Purpose" motorcycle.
That means, if you are a competent rider, you can take it out on the Interstate, or you can take it down a fire trail. It will do neither perfectly.
But it will trail ride better than any Dresser Harley, and cover 400 miles cross-country better than any dirt bike, (and carry Sara Jean as pillion.)
I want one.

(UPDATE)
All the above was written two days ago.
This morning I bought yet another bike, so we're back to four!
I don't need it, but there are extenuating circumstances for the purchase.
It's a 650cc Cruiser.

Purchase of the Yamaha Super Tenere will be put off until later.
I'll update ya then.

3 comments:

Old NFO said...

LOL, you've got about as much restraint about bikes as I have about Colt pistols... :-)

OlePrairiedog said...

You are now officially in the most honored and prestigious RETIRED MODE of doing what you want and when you want to do it. Congratulations Brother, Congratulations.

The Old Man said...

Forget congrats (they're a given!)- give us the specs. Still run my 800 cc Classic and I wanna know if this new purchase is indeed the FOMB* like mine.
Glad you and SJ got grouped WRT riding. Bosslady hasn't put her butt in the second seat since 1976 (flat, bad experience for her). I wish she enjoyed it like we do.


* - FOMB - Fat Old Man's Bike