NINJA ZX-14 MotoVlog

You're Never Too Old To Have Fun!

Not sure how I missed this image when I edited photos from my camera memory card of last year Deals Gap, Tail of the Dragon trip.

Found it last night while looking for another photo. Of all the pictures I took from the Cheoah Dam in North Carolina, this image is now my favorite. To see a bigger version of this picture click HERE. 

I like having some of my favorite pictures to decorate my office; they include some of my motorcycle images. A group of people came to my office after I finished running the support group today and noticed the motorcycle pictures decorating my office walls.

They were surprised I ride and wear leather racing gear. At the clinic they've only known me always wearing a business suit and ties. They told me that never in a million years they would've imagined me riding a sport bike at my age. I laughed when I heard them say that, I am only 63 years old.

Have you ever been told you are too old to ride a motorcycle?

Since I purchased my 1972 Kawasaki 750 two-stroke triple in the early 70's, always owned sportbikes. From their aesthetics to the combination of speed and raw power there's plenty to love about fast motorcycles. Riding a sportbike is an exhilarating experience. Not to mention the mental health benefits I gain by riding my bike; I always tell people that riding helps me to de-stress.

The day I purchased my current motorcycle I took it to the garage and a neighborhood kid no older than 6 years old approached me to admire it. He asked the usual inquisitive question, "how fast does it go?". After I told him, he gave me a bewildered look and keeping a straight face said "you're too old for your bike".

Kids say the darndest things.

Tales From The Garage

 

Spring is just around the corner. Went to the garage where my bike is stored, to change oil, filter, check brake and clutch fluid levels and install the battery. During winter season my bike's battery sits in my apartment kitchen connected to a battery tender.

My bike has been hibernating, sitting in the garage since last October. Haven't even started the bike all winter, I haven't checked it in several months. It's still cold outside, here in Philly the cold weather is still lingering. I hate cold weather with a passion. We are in mid-March and now there's talk of more snow sometime next week.

I received a rent increase notice from the garage landlord yesterday. Personally, I feel the rent increase is unreasonable since he hasn't made any property improvements to the unit in seven years. Besides, he shutoff power to all the garage units in 2013 after half of the storage facility caught fire.

I was fortunate that the section where my bike is stored was not affected. He is lucky there is no other motorcycle storage facility in the city, totally monopolizes the storage units market in Philadelphia.  

 

Depending on the weather, tomorrow I will be changing the rear brakes. Ordered the rear pads last year before the Dragon trip just in case I needed them. I don't want to have any issues when I visit Toronto, Canada this summer. 

 

Planning ahead and proper maintenance to my bike before I leave on a trip is a must. I would rather be safe than sorry. 

 

How Many Motorcycles Are Too Many?

When I was a young grease monkey mechanic with a serious addiction to motorcycles, due to my finances I was never able to afford more than one bike at a time. That did not prevented me from driving past motorcycle shops, stopping and drooling over the bikes.

According to Scott Bruce Duncan, MBS (multiple bike syndrome), also known as cycleholism, "is a progressive disease that scientists have yet to discover the cause of. Cycleholics exhibit an illogical, uncontrollable desire to own multiple motorcycles".

Methinks that to overcome my addiction, somebody should have done an intervention. Like a crack user get addicted to crack after the first use, I was dead hooked after my first solo ride on a motorcycle.

In the early 70's I rebuilt the engine of my 1972 Kawasaki 750 triple in my bedroom, read every motorcycle magazine I could get, and dreamed of the day when I'd have my own dragbike. Now that I am older and financially stable, one of the disadvantages of living in the city is not having enough room in the garage to park or store more than one motorcycle.

To me it is an exercise of frustration to browse through Craigslist, Ebay and Facebook Marketplace ads every week. There are so many older bikes I wouldn't mind having, bikes that can be roadworthy with simple engine repairs. Besides, motorcycle restoration is a form of therapy; well that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

In a perfect world I wouldn’t mind suffering from MBS (multiple bike syndrome), and owning multiple bikes to satisfy every riding whim I might have. The cycleholism gets worse for me when I hang out with friends who also suffer from MBS. We always attend the same vintage motorcycle events, so it is frustrating for me to hear them talk how many bikes they have and what stage of the restoring/repairing process they are in. Since I don't have the space to store multiple bikes, all I can do is imagine having my own private stable of vintage bikes, and daydream about tinkering with tools. 

How many bikes are too many? I guess the best answer is, as many as you want, as many as you can afford, and as many as you have room for.