Walt's Corner

OK… So I said I’d let you know what was going on, and here it is. I was waiting to post anything about it here until after my son arrived for the year – I wanted it to be a surprise; and it was.

The big secret is my new 2008 Harley-Davidson Sportster Custom. What a beautiful machine! I take it in for it’s first 1000 mile service tomorrow. You see it chained to my Firebird above. I bought it from Barnett Harley-Davidson.

You know, I live less than two miles from where I work. Driving the Firebird to work, then back home for lunch, then back to work after lunch, and then finally back home just seems like a waste with gas hovering at $4 per gallon. I never thought I’d get another motorcycle, but that kind of got me thinking. I could get a bike and get 50 MPG as opposed to my current 20-25 MPG. I’d fill up every 2 weeks for $10-12 instead of every 2 weeks at $30-40.

So I started checking out the bikes. My last one was a 1985 Kawasaki Vulcan. Nice bike, but it made me think of things I would rather have next time; like a belt drive and choke-less fuel injection. I’m a cruiser guy, I’ve rode crotch rockets and I’d rather sit on a cruiser any day. Once I started adding everything I wanted on my bike (namely the bigger motor, belt drive, and fuel injection) the price came within a few grand of a Harley-Davidson Sportster. So I opted for the Harley.

The local HOG Chapter rides every Sunday to different locations. I’ve ridden on a few road trips with them. One was to Cloudcroft and Ruidoso, New Mexico. It’s been pretty fun, and now you can see what’s been eating up my time.