My motorcycle

So I think I have reached the end of an era. I am thinking about selling my motorcycle to reduce debt and to upgrade. I told myself when I bought my bike that I am a big boy, and I don't need some petty fast bike to race around on like a little kid. I think I must have lied to myself because I am pretty sure that I do need at least a faster bike.

It is a bit disconcerting that I cannot outrun any car on the road if the driver doesn't want me to. I am not talking about racing or escaping after cutting them off and ticking them off. I just mean that when a situation gets sketchy, I like to have the ability to speed, slow, or turn my way out of it. I like having my options open. My bike's brakes are workable, but they are not meant to stop the bike with someone nearly the same weight as the bike riding it if there is any sort of speed or urgency involved repeatedly.

It has been fun with my brand new bike, but I also see a fallacy in my initial logic. I bought a brand new Japanese motorcycle and got an extended warranty. The bike hasn't had the remotest hiccup. It could be 20 years old and the warranty would still be pointless. It is no good to me - at no fault of its own. I just took about a week and a half before it occurred to me that I was ready for more engine.

The bike I hope to get if all goes well will be a project bike. It is about 15-16 years old, and was quite the sporty piece in its day. Today it is considered slow. I have ridden bikes that make it look like an old, ugly scooter. P.S. It is ugly. Nee - it is hideous by my reckoning. But I have big plans...

I want to turn it into something known as a streetfighter. Streetfighters are essentially sportbikes that are stripped of their bodywork and given some minor exterior tweaks for form and/or function. I plan, if it works out, to work on it for the whole time I would own it to make it look awesome.

I think I have said on here before that motorcycles do weird things to me. I never really have the desire to gussy-up the looks of a car. I really want a Miata, but I want it to stay ugly and girly - if only for the shock value. With bikes, some at least, I actually want to do some things that are strictly for the aesthetic value - and that is counter to my previous MO.

I am thinking I may want to put on a single high-mount bar versus the clip-ons. That serves a purpose as I would get to sit upright and be more comfortable and make it easier to ride on the street. I have some cool plans for the headlights, and the current ones need to go. Beyond that, I want to work on small half cosmetic, half functional pieces like a mini fairing for the radiator and a belly pan to protect the exhaust pipes. As for the exhaust, I am not sure how to change - I only know that I must eventually. No one did exhausts right in the 80-90's.

I would paint the frame some solid color to either match or contrast what little bodywork I leave. I want to chop the tail or retrofit a tail from some other sportbike that doesn't look so repulsive. I would paint or powdercoat the wheels to stand out and look awesome. If I did chop the tail, I would remove the passenger seat (known for some reason as a pillion).

I would definitely find some ways to make the bike really practical - like maybe have a foldout rack behind the single seat with bungee net hooks. Perhaps I" would mount little hooks around the tank for a bungee net up on top of that, too. I would carry tools to help people stranded on the road, and it would be cool to carry trash bags and trash-grabber things.

That reminds me of the club I want to start: Motorcyclists Who Do Good Things. We would do things like trash clean up partly because it is nice to help, and partly because it would be nice to depropagandize the general populace about motorcycles and the people who ride them. I talked about it today with a couple of friends who ride motorcycles today, and they said they would be in. We could do a little service project to cap off a ride. I think it would be kinda fun!

Anyway, congratualtions if you made it this far.