Friday, August 3, 2007

We're gonna have a Blast tomorrow


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There'll likely be no blogging from me tomorrow. Mrs. G bought a brand new motorbike, exactly like the one in the picture, last Sunday (probably not coincidentally also the date of the full Moon), and we have to go to Harley-Davidson/Buell of Fresno tomorrow to collect it. Fresno's about 300 miles from here, so it's gonna be an all-day deal.

We haven't bought a bike since 1983, and Mrs. G hasn't had a new one since her '73 Hodaka Wombat. Now's the time. She works hard and saves her money and she certainly deserves a new toy.

She's had a cool cammed-up hotrod 500 Triumph for 30 years, but lately the seat height and kickstart-only feature haven't been as easy for her to handle as they used to be and it takes away from the fun for her. Please God don't let her see this, but as she's gotten longer in the tooth, she's become somewhat more inseam-challenged. Above all else, motorcycling is fun, so change was in the air.

The bike is a leftover 2006 Buell Blast (Specs here). It's an American-made 500cc single-cylinder job. Mrs. G (and myself) like thumpers for the type of power they make, and besides being way cool lookin', these are light and easy to ride. They have self-starters as well, but what shoved her off the edge for one of these is the seat height of 27.5", with an available seat to lower it to 25.5" (ouch!). After mucho webgazing she found the '06 in a color she liked and from that point on it was Katy bar the door! She asked me if she could get it, to which my carefully thought out measured response was "Hell, yes!", and the deed was done.

My week has been spent sorting out all the details vís-a-vís the dealer, insurance, and making enough room for another sled in a garage full of 'em. All that remains is to remove the tonneau cap off the pickup, since it's considered rude to lay a brand new bike on its side and let it rattle around in a truck bed. Besides which, she'd kill me if I did that, and no jury in the land would convict her. I said I'd take the battery out of it, but to no avail.

We don't do stuff like this every day, and we're both very excited about it.

Might see y'all later, might not, but see ya soon.

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