Hard Headed Me Does Something New

I've always been pretty hard headed and motorcycling has not been any different. I've always ridden standard bikes, upright seating, lots of plastic and very little chrome. The seating position kept my feet under me and my arms close to my sides. Sitting on a cruiser always with my feet out in front of me and my arms spread apart always made me feel out of control.

Standard motorcycles can be great around town and for short trips. Unfortunately, unless you go up to a large sport touring bike, they aren't very comfortable on long trips. Knowing I didn't want a large top heavy touring bike, I started looking at ways to make my Bonneville more comfortable for the touring we are planning in the next year or so. For years, my friends and partner had been saying "you need to try a cruiser". But noooooooo..........

After our return from Durango a couple weeks ago, Deb again suggested a cruiser as being more comfortable. This time, I must have been more more receptive to the idea because I started looking at them and sitting on them and ..... hey, this wasn't so bad after all. It's different but just a matter of getting use to it.... maybe. In my head I could feel the shift as I started to consider this as a real possibility.

We were planning to visit a local dealership where I could ride a couple of bikes I had seen online. But before we took the bikes anywhere they really needed to be washed since they still bore the road grime from our trip to Keystone. I was home early so I decided to go out and get things started. In order to do that I had to move Debbie's Mean Streak first. In the past I had been intimidated by the bike and had never moved it. There's a first time for everything, so I threw my leg over the seat, stood her up and cautiously started to back her out of the garage. Whoa.....this is much easier than I thought.....easier than the Bonnie even. I think it was in that moment that I knew the wind of change was truly blowing.

Saturday we head over to the dealership where I had identified a couple of 1100 cruisers to try out. They were having an grand opening celebration and when we got there the bikes I had in mind were all gone. The sales guy shows me a VTX 750, really sweet already decked out with bags, shield and stuff but I didn't want to go down in size. The other option was a 2007 VTX 1300, a real beauty, bigger than I wanted but I decided to give it a try. I was a little anxious about the size but I knew that if it felt too wrong, I would know immediately and I would just make a quick turn around and bring it back. I wasn't quite ready for the "yeah....yeah" feeling of knowing it was right. I took the bike down the street a few miles, pulled into a parking lot to turn around and headed back to the dealership.

Debbie did exactly what she was supposed to do, by making sure that I wasn't acting in haste and that the I really felt comfortable and good about the bike. That's one of the reasons I love her, she always looks out for me. When it was all said and done, we said farewell to the Bonnie and hello VTX.

I can't wait to start putting miles on her. The different riding position is going to take some getting used to so, I'll be taking it easy for a while. We will be getting to know each other, learning each other, becoming a team.