The Right Passenger

I’ve ridden my share of bikes in this life. I can’t think of a brand I haven’t piloted at one point or another. Even odd stuff like Ural, KTM, Garelli, Moto Guzzi, and Matchless, despite my Harley proclivities. I’ve been lucky to throw a leg over enough bikes to fill a parking deck. With bike varieties, been there, done that. With women passengers, well,  — not so much. I’ve just never had much opportunity to ride consistently with a female passenger. I’ve enjoyed my life of solo riding. Especially as some of my trips have taken me to exotic rides in South and Central America, Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany, and all over North America including all 50 states. Some of these great places to ride are not generally adventures geared towards two-up riding. I’ve simply had a lot of impediments in my life to female motorcycle passengers. While married, I didn’t have a two-up wife, so I didn’t have a two up life. I guess you could say I had a one up life. My X busied herself with kids and home and preferred 4 wheels over two. Getting on the back of my bike went from occasional to infrequent to never. Post Divorce, I’ve realized the value of a rear passenger pressed up against your back, chin peeking over your shoulder, enjoying the sights and sounds of the roadway as it unfolds before you on a bike trip. It’s a bit of an odd social phenomenon. But it is something you don’t give much thought to if you don’t have it. With my divorce over for a couple of years, there is a myriad of adjustments I’ve made, including the way to ride, to where and with who. I sat in my garage recently pondering this. Needless to say, when I refer to “garage”, I mean my “new garage”, as opposed to my “old-garage”, which I left to my X-wife, and incidentally, that garage was connected to my “old-house” too!! The new garage, while sufficient in size, was plain Jane and is currently being painstakingly personalized. To fit me and not the old retired hot rod guy I bought it from. A man cave makeover over the past year has kept me busy weekends and nights. An interior facelift, a pool table, a gun cleaning station, a humidor, a big TV to order the fights, a LOUD stereo (for classic rock), a bike lift, and of course GIANT toolboxes to service the bevy of bikes parked about. After all, I gave up the house, but kept the bikes and the life!