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raven says...

My father (the old soldier- what is it with vets and motorcycles?), who has ridden motorcycles for over 40 years and currently owns a Harley has always had the following things to say about owning one (as I have asked and so has my brother):

1. Don't get a Harley for your very first motorcyle. Get a smaller, lighter, not so high powered, and less expensive bike. Yeah, it might not be as macho, but you need to get used to operating one and controlling it (yes, this does take some training- and its apparently best to work yourself up to a bigger, higher powered bike like a Harley Sportster. He, for instance, rode Kawasakis and Hondas all during his military service- only got the Harley in the 80s). Also, gods forbid you crash the damn thing, you won't be destroying something beautiful (his words, he loves Harleys), or costing yourself a fortune getting it fixed or replaced (he did this once, nearly totaled his Hog when I was a little kid, had it rebuilt completely which I am sure cost $$$)

2. Never have your motorcyle be your primary mode of transportation, it is far to limiting in what you can do with it (ie. haul stuff unexpectedly, or give people rides), and it also exposes you to all sorts of other misfortunes on a daily basis, ie: inclement weather (he actually knew a guy who died of pneumonia from getting caught on his bike), or motorcycle theft (bikes are way easier to steal than cars apparently), and there is often the problem of finding a secure place to park one for several hours at a time.

3. Please, for the love of your wife and kid, take a motorcycle training and safety course and learn the proper ways to handle a bike and the laws of ownership and operation. These should be offered through your state highway patrol and I am not sure about Texas, but likely you have to take one of these courses to become a certified operator of a motorcycle.

Also, whatever bike you buy, wear a helmet... although my father is a member of ABATE and has worked to change legislation to allow riders to choose whether or not to wear a helmet, he would tell you flat out that despite his arguments for personal choice and freedoms, only an idiot would not wear appropriate head protection, and probably rattle off to you how statistically better off you are wearing the proper protection.

That's all I can think of at the moment... if anything, I would be less concerned about the service regimen than the other things, one can learn the rudiments of motorcycle maintenance fairly easily, but riding skills take time to develop, and you are far more likely to kill yourself from inexperience than a past due oil change.

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raven says...

You has broken links?? Oh noes!!

Anyway, I double checked my code, it seems solid, and I can see the images... hmmm....

@Capt Willard: raven was never gone, she is just hella busy with classes and work where changes have occurred and she now has 2x the responsibility

@gunrock, don't love me, I only found the damn thing, love the maroons who spent god knows how many hours LOLizing the ENTIRE episode! They deserve all yer love/maybe pity

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