Well, I did it. After some opposition and concern from family and friends, I went ahead and bought myself a motorcycle.
I had a bike many years ago before my kids were born. It’s sitting in the garage where it has been parked since 2001. I’ve been meaning to get it back on the road, but don’t really have time to get it running right now. One day I will. It’s so old it now qualifies for a collector license plate.
In the meantime, I bought another one. Actually, I bought it last August, so it’s been sitting beside my other bike, waiting for nice weather. No wonder I can’t get anything into my garage.
I used to put plates on the bike around mid-March. With six months insurance, that took me to mid-October, just when it’s starting to get too cold (at least for me) to ride. But this year, it sat longer, waiting for the weather to turn. Thankfully, a couple weeks ago, in mid-May for goodness sake, we started getting some warmer weather.
Things have sure changed since I used to ride. There is a lot more traffic, but people still do the same crazy stuff as before. I took a motorcycle training course even before I bought my first street bike just to be safe. I’m thankful I did.
One thing they teach is to keep your head on a swivel, always looking at what’s around you and anticipating what could happen ahead. I keep it even simpler than that. I just assume that everyone and everything on the road is out to kill me.
There’s nothing like the feeling of riding a motorcycle. Sure, there’s lots of traffic and you have to be careful, but inside that helmet you are in a world of your own. Being in the open with nothing around you, travelling down a long and winding road, there’s a certain freedom that you don’t get driving a car. It’s just you, the road, two wheels and an engine.
Now that the weather is getting better, motorcycle season is in full swing. Please keep an eye out for us. We’ll be watching for you as well.
Brad Sherwin, MBA is a long-time resident of South Delta, and has more than 30 years’ experience in marketing, public relations and business strategy. He teaches post-secondary marketing, coaches hockey goalies and is past-president of Deltassist
