THE RIDE IS ON Circa 2005, I met someone from my past that completely altered the course of my future. JG is that once in a lifetime comet you see streaking across the sky but only if you happen to be lucky enough to be looking through a telescope lens as its passing by. In a nutshell, JG showed me how to do everything I ever wanted but never knew I wanted to do it. He taught me that I didnt need someone elses permission to pursue my adventures and that embarking on adventures alone was not only an acceptable practice, it was encouraged. We enjoyed several adventures together but we also enjoyed sharing stories from our solo missions and this is just as true today. JG owned a BMW motorcycle and I enjoyed plenty of time climbing on for the ride and knew the only way this would be better was doing this on my own. So it wasnt long before I was introduced to Bucky, a kind and gentle man who quickly earned his spot in my circle of trust. Bucky was also a BMW motorcycle owner who just happened to have one for sale. I bought my very first motorcycle. I bought a smurf blue 1984 BMW R65LS. She was cold natured and cantankerous, just like me. She wasnt particularly pretty but the story behind the dents on the top of her gas tank made her even more precious to me and I couldnt bring myself to change a thing about her. So I brought her home and loved her. I could hardly wait to start riding with JG, a fellow BMW motorcycle owner. Wow, that sounded so cool!!! A fellow BMW motorcycle owner I had taken ownership alright, but I was far from being able to take command. The carburetors needed rebuilding before I could actually ride her. I figured if we were going to be partners, we needed to get to know each other intimately so I decided I was going to rebuild the carburetors myself. Armed with a shiny new metric socket set and a rebuild kit from Bing, I was powered up and ready to get dirty. With newspapers carefully laid out around me and a gallon of Chem-Tool by my side, I started to work. Id talk to her as I worked, carefully placing each item I removed upon the newspaper in the order in which I took it off. Id talk to her like a cowboy would talk to his horse. Easy ol girl, I would say, I have big plans for us. You and me, were going on some yummy adventures together. Were going to see Alaska, Canada, North America, Mexico, South America and eventually well find a place to call home. Once my work was complete, it was time see if she was even going to start after those long hours of carefully disassembling, cleaning and/or replacing, and reassembling. Miraculously, she did!!! She didnt exactly purrrrr but Id done all I could do so we went to see Sonny at the OKC BMW Dealership. Sonny knew old motorcycles and he knew exactly how my girl was supposed to sound. I puffed up with pride when Sonny bragged about my rebuilding job. Afterall, I made his job easier because all he had to do was adjust the carburetors a little. He offered me a job right then and there pointing to a shelf lined with rows of carburetors in line for rebuilding. I graciously declined the offer. I dont know if he was serious but it didnt matter. Its enjoyable to be a grease monkey and work on your own things and in your own time. Being a grease monkey on someone elses clock was an entirely different animal and one I didnt care to get to know. While standing in the repair shop talking with Sonny, one of the dealership owners burst through the repair shop door enthusiastically hootin and a hollerin about what I cannot remember. What I do remember is the BMW Motorrad ball cap he handed to me. He was giving one to every customer that just happened to be at the dealership during that eruption of celebration. Those were $25 ball caps! My face lit up like Christmas morning. Just like that, I felt like I had been indoctrinated into the elite and eclectic tribe of BMW motorcycle owners! The inscription along the left side of the bill said it all, The ride is on and was it ever! I was damn proud of that ball cap. I loved sweeping my mane into a ponytail and pulling it through the back of my new hat. I was ready for whatever came next. I was invincible for I was a BMW motorcycle owner. Well, like every new relationship, there were things Smurfette and I had to learn about each other. I knew I loved her but I had no idea how to ride a street bike. My first and only experience of riding a motorcycle was on a little dirt bike in a small pasture. So small, I never got beyond second gear. I knew how to shift gears, ease out on the clutch, and roll the throttle but I didnt know what it was to ride over 15 mph. Its like riding a bicycle. Once you learn how, you always know how, right? Hmmm, yes and no. . The first time I was going to get to actually RIDE Smurfette, I mentally went over the steps. I didnt have an indicator light but I didnt need one. I understood 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, I knew how to find neutral (mostly), I knew how to downshift, and I knew how to brake. The rest I would learn as I went along. Then it dawned on me that there was one question that I had totally forgotten to ask. How do I put it in reverse? The look I was given said all I needed to know. But seriously, Smurfette outweighed me by, I dont know, 500 lbs?!?! I thought it was a fair question to ask. Once I understood how to put it in reverse, I braced myself and let her lean into me as I muscled her into a 3 point, or was it a 5 point, okay maybe a 10 point turn around to face the opposite direction. We were ready to roll and away we went. I was pretty tense and shaky around corners because she was a beast compared to the only other motorcycle I had ever ridden and even that was a lifetime ago but I was determined. Sometimes, determination can be a little misguided. I wasnt ready for the streets and highways but hey, life without a little risk isnt life at all. Ill take the Motorcycle Safety Course later. The ride is on, baby. I am going and I am going right now! Nearing our destination, I panicked at an intersection and I laid her over HARD scraping her head all to hell on one side, she made sure I knew it too with 3 cracked ribs and separated shoulder. This wouldnt be our last encounter with the pavement but it was our most serious. At least now she is symmetrical with scrapes on both heads, at the end of each foot peg, as well as both handlebars. Try as I may to keep my dream alive to ride to all of points of the compass rose with her, it just wasnt meant to be. My spine began to deteriorate more rapidly and I finally had to accept that my dreams were just going to have to be enough. It made me so sad to open the garage and see her there with a bunch of junk around her. She deserved so much better. During the year of remodeling my little castle, I sold her to JG, the fellow BMW motorcycle owner who was living in Houston at the time. With the proceeds from her sale, I purchased the appliances for my little castle and that was not nothing. The one constant during all this time was my BMW Motorrad ball cap. Its now dingy and sweat stained but I still wear it constantly and I wear it proudly. Whether I am gardening or camping or hiking or canoeing or cleaning my castle or whatever, it is my badge of honor and courage for I (if only for a little while) was a BMW motorcycle owner.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 03:02:59 +0000
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