Thanksgiving Morning 2017, Photo credit: Dan Sweeney

Now that I have been riding for over 5 Years, I have been able to really understand the enjoyment of riding a vintage motorcycle.

Stopping to enjoy a cup of coffee in a park. Taking the back roads and slowing down to see the world around me. I often think about how life is going, what do I really need to be doing, how should one’s life be lived. It always seems to be answered “as simple as possible”… Rounding the corner, hearing the scooters mechanical clickety clak like a sewing machine gone crazy.

I always get the same few questions when we stop into a little town, “What year is that?” or “What kind of bike is that?”

After fixing the 1956 R50 up and really running the scooter, I understand more about it and my real amazement when I think that I am riding on a 62 year old motorcycle.

Taking off the Schorsch Meier Denfeld Bench seat and putting on a Denfeld solo seat made rides a it more stiffer and keeping me a bit more higher above the handle bars, the solo seat didn’t stay on the bike very long.

I have now been drawn to reading books that talk about long distance rides, where the rider talks about what is in his head, planning, discussing the complexities of life and how the ride somehow allows these rider/writers an escape to solve life’s problems.

The first book :

Conversations With A Motorcycle by Jack Riepe

He has now written a sequel I just ordered: Motorcycles Speak Louder Than Words

I just finished recently :

Pilgrimage on a Steel Ride by Gary Paulsen

And this one I have started:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig

So far, all of the books have the main character telling the stories/adventures from their point of view (first person), and they all seem to have some burning desire to fix something in their life.

It don’t get any simpler than this… a summer day, the motor sewing away on a back road with much to do but it is easier to just ride.