My Love Affair with Motorcycles

ABOVE you see the model and year my first motorcycle. I was 19 years old at the time of purchase.

Actually, I co-owned this baby with my little brothers, ages 9 and 11.

We earned the $$$ for this set of wheels by selling candy out of our garage.

THE STORY OF OUR ENTREPRENEURIAL ENTERPRISE: The local public school bus stopped right in front of our driveway which gave me a brilliant idea, born out of the fact I was absolutely aching for a motorcycle. My plan involved becoming a RETAILER. I would purchase 'the goods' (CANDY) from a wholesale vending machine outfit at bargain basement prices and we (my brothers + I) would sell 'the goods' at PREMIUM prices due to our prime real estate location. The boys came on board 200%.

So, I set up the store before the school bus arrived. Then, I flipped up the garage door just as I heard the bus coming 'round the bend. LOTS of ravenous kids poured out of the bus, including my brothers . . . my business partners. They set to work, helping me with sales.

Well, we made quite a fortune from this convenient retail location. Indeed, profits were sufficient to buy our motorcycle, just in the nick of time. We were forced to shut down the operation due to the howls of parental protest throughout our neighborhood. (BTW, I know that it was morally wrong to give children cavities and tummy aches. I have a more enlightened perspective which comes with age.)

To this day, my grown-up brothers have old motorcycles sitting in their garages and it all started in a GARAGE back in 1972.

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During my first year of marriage, 1975 - 1976, my husband and I lived in Spain and snagged . . .

a very classy MOTORCYCLE.

A BMW street bike from the World War II era.

It took us on some AMAAAAZING trips during our year abroad.

Yes. That's actually me behind that helmet.

This bike served as the back wall of our lean-to tent, created from plastic sheeting.
We were young and managed fine with bare-bones lodgings during our travels.

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When we returned to Utah, there was the Honda CL 175 Twin Scrambler:


My husband and brother Scott tore apart the engine and rebuilt the transmission.
It became my primary vehicle in the warmer months.

Once a cop took me for an under-aged boy and pulled me over, sirens blaring.
He showed signs of deep embarrassment when he found out there was a woman behind that helmet . . .

and she was definitely of age.

Back in those days, we women cyclists were FEW on the road. (Especially in Utah.)

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It wasn't long before I was pushing strollers rather than riding motorcycles.

As a single mom, WRECK-LESS BEHAVIOR definitely out of bounds.

However, when my son was 13-ish, his best friend's father came over on a KAWASAKI 450:

He was selling it. I asked if I could take it for a spin. Oh how GLORIOUS!

Impulsively, I wrote out a $300 check for the bike and acquired it the same day.

My mother said she was waiting for that to happen.

My kids were completely genuinely appalled.
They had no idea that their dear mother was actually a Motorcycle Mama.

I rode that sweet bike for over a decade.

It helped me decompress after long days of running a child care center.

I loved to vroooooom over the scenic windy mountain passes, here in the Rockies.

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In 2008, my spine was rebuilt to look like THIS:


After becoming a bionic woman, I really REALLY considered my motorcycle days to be over.

Made me awfully sad to sell that Kawasaki 450.

HOWEVER,
when I went Island Hopping with Leah in February of this year,

I threw caution to the tropical winds
and rented a fine little chariot on the island of Bonaire.

Bonaire has roads like THIS:

Look at this photo.
Who in their right minds would NOT want to go motorcycling there?

My joyride took me over every mile of asphalt on that island.

It felt sooooooo good. Oh my goodness! I had almost forgotten that inexplicable BLISS.

Of course I had to take extra pain meds that night.
My new spine didn't exactly LIKE the ride.

However, it was completely WORTH IT.

My only regret - no photos.



Wait a minute! I FOUND ONE: