I decided to wait until after dark to take.the old.America.over and put. fuel in it. It's been real hot here on the Mohave Desert, some 80 miles.N.E. of Los Angeles. A blast down to get fuel and a long loop home before settling down in front of the TV sounded fun. Cranked er' up about 8:15 as it was starting to get dusk. I wanted a chance to ride it at night to make sure all the lights were working normal and such. Filled up and headed back the 1 1/2 miles home, it was pitch dark now. The one traffic light I have to negotiate is a four lane with a left turn arrow. As I approach all lights are green and wide open. Knowing the left turn (the short but fun way home will be red by the time I get to it, I opt for the straight thru and crank it in 3rd gear. The light suddenly goes yellow///red. With a car on my right I decide to shut it down. Old fingers automatically go into modulation mode, pumping the front brake handle keeping her from locking up. Foot down on the rear brake at the same time lifts and locks it up again and the rear dances a bit. Pavement it still hot and oily where the cars sit at the light. I come to rest right at the crosswalk, the driver of the car stopping a half second or so later staring at me. As I sit at the light waiting for it to go green again, I cannot help but pat myself on the back. You still got it, even after 73 years of life. ...J.D.
Experience pays off again. I'm glad that went well, even though you probably stayed up a little later than you expected, once you got back home!
Been riding since the days of cable/drum brakes. I don't ride far anymore but use the bikes for my local.errands. I occasionally go for.a.romp up in the local mountains with a couple of old guys I know. I have 3 Hinckley s . Do most of my own work on them. I added heat in my garage this year so I can work on them through the winter here. Only.thing that keeps an old "gearhead" like me alive. Hell ! I'm too old to work ! Thank God for two good pensions and Social Security ! ...J.D.
You still have a good few years left yet, my father is 78 and still rides a Yamaha FZ6 regularly, its good to ride as much as you can just to keep up confidence, it only takes some idiot in a car to scare the living daylights out of you and it can all be gone just like that. I hope i am still riding into my seventies.
Thanks for.the positive thoughts Spacefrog. I don't ride as much as I should anymore. Sometimes I think."I should not.be out here anymore". Then I pull off a really great move in a.jamb like I did the other night. A full on panic stop on hot oily pavement builds the confidence. ...JD.
If you stop riding, or dare i say it, sell your bike, you will always be wishing you didn't , there will always be a time when its better to go on the bike rather than your car because of traffic, or parking etc.
Hey, I'm 71. I thought I should start winding down the riding a bit. Then thought, " the hell with that". So end of August stsrting a 5,000 mile bucket list trip. I'll ride until I decide to come home, well the wife may have something to say about that one.
You have a point. I rode a lot of that stuff over the years. These days I opt for machinery that I can rely on to get a good ride in and still not be so modern that it is boring. I have 3 early Hinckley carburetted bikes. A nice mix of old and new. I'm not in to the bikes with computer aided everything. What challenge is that ? ...J.D.
I live in Santa Cruz California so I'm heading to Minnesota to pick up a buddy then we're going on to Michigan where I have family. I plan on taking mostly secondary roads and enjoy the ride. On the way back I'm heading south through New Mexico and Arizona. However, this is the PLAN. I'll let you know of the actual implementation towards the end of Sept. If you would like to do something like this, do it, life is short, especially when you get older.
