 My
bike, a battle-scarred, but still trusty, FJ1100, was previously owned by
a bloke who had a mid-life crisis. I know this is true, because the
dealer told me so. The dealer also told me that the bike had done
3000km in its last five years, or perhaps it was 5000km in three years.
Either way, bugger all kays for a machine designed to go long and hard.The first thing I did to it, no, actually, the second thing. The first thing was to take it for a high-rev blat along a deserted stretch of road, and clear out all the carbon and crap build-up. The second thing was to take off its fairing, and clean out all the DUST that had accumulated. My point is: what a waste of a machine. A bike is a lot of things - a lifestyle, a toy, transport, a work environment. Sitting in a shed gathering dust, it's a waste of money and engineering. As far as assuaging a mid-life crisis goes, I think this bloke's purchase of a big bike was a somewhat wasted exercise. Buying the machine is one thing, riding it is entirely another. Being of
Gen. X and therefore looking down the barrel of mid-life myself, this
whole mid-life thing becomes more relevant with each birthday.
Surely there's more to it than a forlorn desire to maintain firm thighs
and all-night drinking and dancing sessions? Isn't there more to
life than all the stuff you've been doing for years? Face it, people, and you know who you are, if you're going to embrace the motorcycling lifestyle, do it properly. Get all the leathers, do advanced riding courses, or at least practice your riding so you don't look nervous, and ride your bike like it's designed to be ridden. Embrace the whole lifestyle, ride your bike to work, treat it with respect, not fear, and you might get away without fingers being pointed and younger people laughing. And for Christ's sake, don't, DON'T wear your freshly ironed jeans tucked into your squeaky new Rebs, you look like wankers! MCNEWS.COM.AU |