I was working in my yard the other day when I saw a white Goldwing trike rolling down the road with a matching trailer. (I live near the end of a cul de sac, and it was only going about 5mph). The rig was majestic, with chrome and accessory lights placed in every conceivable spot, and essentially all of the fiberglass panels were covered with hand-painted artwork - I think I was a Civil War motif, and very well done. I can't even imagine how much money the guy had tied up in this thing. I think a bare GW trike is over 30 grand; add $15k at least for accessories.
I flagged the guy down to talk to him. I think he might have driven down my way on purpose since I am often seen riding my white GW around the neighborhood. He was a retired schoolteacher with a son who lives a block or so from my house. He was an avid member of the GoldWing Road Riders Association, which I had never heard of before, but is apparently a relatively huge, nationwide (if not worldwide) group of Goldwing enthusiasts.
We exhanged a bit of personal motorcycle history. This was his fourth GW, and first trike. He said he had accumulated more than half a million miles on his GW's. His first one must have been one of the originals since he got it in 1975. He switched to a trike last year because he got into a "serious" accident in Tennessee last year (6 months in rehab) and didn't feel comfortable anymore on an 800 pound two-wheeler. Although he sounded fine to me, he mentioned a couple times that, "This isn't my real voice."
What is it about motorcycles that drives people to this insane level of involvement? This guy could tour around the country much more comfortably - and probably even more economically - in a C-class Mercedes. He happily and voluntarily takes on the added risks of cycling as well as the exposure to the elements, just so that he can be out in the open and not cooped up in a 4-wheeler. Obviously, being a motorcyclist isn't something he does, it is what he is, at least in his own mind.
And obviously, there are hundreds of thousands of people who feel even more engaged in being a Harley rider and owner.
It's nutty, actually.
I flagged the guy down to talk to him. I think he might have driven down my way on purpose since I am often seen riding my white GW around the neighborhood. He was a retired schoolteacher with a son who lives a block or so from my house. He was an avid member of the GoldWing Road Riders Association, which I had never heard of before, but is apparently a relatively huge, nationwide (if not worldwide) group of Goldwing enthusiasts.
We exhanged a bit of personal motorcycle history. This was his fourth GW, and first trike. He said he had accumulated more than half a million miles on his GW's. His first one must have been one of the originals since he got it in 1975. He switched to a trike last year because he got into a "serious" accident in Tennessee last year (6 months in rehab) and didn't feel comfortable anymore on an 800 pound two-wheeler. Although he sounded fine to me, he mentioned a couple times that, "This isn't my real voice."
What is it about motorcycles that drives people to this insane level of involvement? This guy could tour around the country much more comfortably - and probably even more economically - in a C-class Mercedes. He happily and voluntarily takes on the added risks of cycling as well as the exposure to the elements, just so that he can be out in the open and not cooped up in a 4-wheeler. Obviously, being a motorcyclist isn't something he does, it is what he is, at least in his own mind.
And obviously, there are hundreds of thousands of people who feel even more engaged in being a Harley rider and owner.
It's nutty, actually.
