Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Anniversary of Doom, Redux



Yesterday marked the four-year anniversary of my motorcycle crash. The accident changed my life in some very fundamental ways, such as how well I can walk, but the incident also pushed me to examine my attitude regarding motorcycling and the type of riding in which I truly wanted to engage. Read the full tale here. When my Harley was destroyed, it opened the door to new dimensions of motorcycling I'd previously not considered. Those interests evolved into sport-touring and renewed participation in motorcycle camping.

Over the past few days, however, I found myself reflecting back on my old American V-twin. I realized that I miss that troublesome machine, which has probably attributed to my browsing the local HD dealership and gazing longingly at the curves of all those chromed horses. Sometimes I close my eyes and still hear the lope of that 1200 engine, a stumbling gait at low idle, a steady roar at 2500 rpm through 3/4 inch drag pipes. The affinity between rider and motorcycle approaches the spiritual. Ride any machine long enough and it makes a mark upon the rider that passes through the flesh, tattooing the soul. Long after that machine passes out of the rider's life, the memory of it calls back to him across time, like a name shouted in the wind.





2 comments:

Unknown said...

There is a bike for the phases of our MC life. I however like the thought of having a couple bikes to meet the various types of riding. Hey, if you can afford it, buy that hog!

Derek said...

In the past, I've usually kept a daily rider and one or more "project bikes", usually Japanese machines. The economy being what it is these days, I'm unfortunately down to one machine.

That being said, I've had my eyes on the HD 883 Iron as a possible pre-owned purchase sometime in the future.