I win!

In the Ducati forum I'm in, a person started a thread about losing one's mojo for motorcycles and how they got it back.  I responded and, uhm, got carried away.  Here's my story...

My mojo-loss has been with cars. I've done so much and taught myself so much, mostly because I was younger and made less money. I'm still on several forums but there are so many...children...in them that the signal-to-noise ratio is saddeningly low It's frustrating. There are some good guys but not as many as their used to be. I've been working air-cooled dubs since 1985 so maybe I'm just burned out? The thought saddens me something bad. My one best air-cooled buddy, Brian, won't let the fire extinguish, bless him!

What contributed to my fading automotive passion/hobby was my Goldwing. A portly, two-wheeled Japanese woman. Snow, rain, and even sun, she's carried me where ever I wanted. I didn't trust myself with a sport bike: I loved acceleration far too much. I know I would die. I know. But it didn't matter because I was on a motorcycle and I could carry a paper bag of groceries on the back seat as easily as a passenger Finally, after dragging my after-market floorboards on corners far too often I decided I needed something more lithe. Something that looked older but was modern under the skin. The cafe racers caught my eye and it was a Paul Smart, some old looking race bike made by an Italian manufacturer I heard of and roughly equated them with Ferrari, that set my heart spinning. It took a couple of years before I decided life was too short. I went on the prowl for any of the cafe racer bikes but my web browser kept going back to the Ducati motorcycles for sale.

Now that I have my Italian girlfriend I've been spending a lot more time with her. My cars likely feel neglected. They're not but they certainly don't get the mileage put on them like they used to. Yes, I even ride my Goldwing but not nearly as much. I just feel so slow in a car. I'm less maneuverable (which is funny since I set my cars up for corners). I don't get to smell the air or feel the multiple temperature differences. When I ride and I see a nice BMW M3, an air-cooled Porsche 911 (yes, I can hear the difference!), even the occasional tricked out Corvette/Charger/Camero, I just can't help smiling and think to myself, "I win!".

For me, I guess you could say my motorcycle mojo got a shot of Viagra I don't plan on having a stable of bikes -- I still would like to get a vintage Ferrari and maybe a Lamborghini sedan or Maserati or Aston Martin (I've really come to appreciate the classic Italian designs) to go with a Porsche 930 (I've wanted one ever since they were introduced) -- but I could see getting another Ducati, one of their race bikes, just because they're so traffic-stopping gorgeous! But that's money I don't have right now and won't for some time but, ya know, I'm very happy right now and with what I got. I smiled when I saw Tron: Legacy, with the father's Ducati in the beginning and then when they showed it again in the son's "living room". I plan on keeping my Sport Classic for so long that it actually becomes its namesake.

I like this forum because everyone is, well, more mature and helpful. I'm glad our bikes are not as common as the bajillion in-line fours and cruisers I see one a daily basis. Ideas, help, and experiences are all documented here. We've lost some folks and gained others (many, it seems, are now lurkers ); it's nice to have a respectful group of adults, it really does make a difference in this community, believe me! In this forum we all win!

The End