Idling...

As you've probably guessed I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to motorcycles lately, and I'm about to have even less for the foreseeable future. Add to that the start of the crappy season just around the corner and I might as well put up a sign that says "see you in the spring!".

The problem with not having time to wrench or ride is that you start thinking. And ideas are very dangerous things!

Apply this to the Sportster: obviously I was really bummed when my bike was stolen, but other than feeling numb right after it happened, I stopped thinking about it pretty quickly and, I must confess, I really haven't missed it all that much, which surprised me more than anyone, considering how many miles I'd done with that thing and how much I liked it.

Now that I don't have time to wrench or ride any of my bikes, something strange happens as my focus begins to shift.

I started reading about Ducati's new Scrambler and thinking "ooh, I fancy me a bit o'that!"

then I read some more and found out that only the official dealerships/workshops can reset error messages and warning lights that come up on the digital display, and that made me very sad for the state of current motorcycles.

All this excessive and slavish deference to electronics is ruining motorcycles! Motorcycles are supposed to be simple, essential - nay - elemental machines. To corrupt them with sensors, switches and wires that the owner can't get into is not only madness, it is offensive and it is turning motorcyclists into a bunch of sissies too afraid to get their hands dirty and too scared to ride something that doesn't have ABS, traction control, assisted this-and-that. Pah!

So, naturally I retreated into familiar territory and started looking at old photos of my Sportster and think "man, what a cool bike that was..." As always, older is better.

So, what is the point of any of this? Probably nothing, probably just idle ramblings.

Probably...