Went riding this weekend and I went with some friends from work. I was the only sport bike there (Man were they slow:(). Well, if you know me, you know that I don't care what you ride, what year, manufacturer, color or size bike you ride. It's about the ride! So anyways, everyone else there was there on a Harley and there was one Honda VTX1800. Anyway, a Harley guy started giving me shit about having a rice burner/sportbike and said I needed a real bike (I don't work with this a$$hole). I asked him, how much did you pay for that? He said $24,000.00. I said, do you owe on it still? He said yes. I said, mine is paid for, mine will run high 10's in the quarter mile, mine will start everytime I want to ride, I don't have to take hours to clean and polish, I wash and dry and go. So we ride for a while and he keeps pulling up alongside of me revving the engine to the moon (I think the moon is about 7,000RPM for his ride) and I just ignore him. We stop and eat, I'm talking with my co-workers and he comes over and starts the rice burner stuff again and says how fast his bike is (It's a street rod) and how he has the "Big Bore Kit" in it with the 6 speed tranny, and the renegade exhaust and he doesn't think mine will run with his. I'm nice about it and said, wow, with all of that stuff done to your Harley, you are probably right (I think he had been drinking too, not to mention I think he had only been riding maybe a total of 3 years). So the day goes on and he continues his shit with me. My boys from work finally told him to back off before he got smoked and thats when he went nuts. Riding down 71 south he came up along side me and kept looking at me while revving the motor to the rev limit and I kicked her into third and started to walk away. I backed off and here he came. We are going about 65 to 70MPH and he is still at it and saying is that all you have? So I was nice, I kicked it into 3rd one last time pulled her right up into a sit down wheelie, gave him the bird (still on one wheel) and rode it out. Here he comes, (still got her up) I looked over at him, shifted to 4th, stood up and I didn't see him till the next stop. He didn't say a damn thing. At the end of the day, he apologized for being an A$$ and I went on my way. My co-workers said he told them, I think I messed with the wrong rider today, that guy can ride. But the moral of the story is this. I make damn good money, I can have just about any bike I want (Harley, Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki etc..) but my family will always come first, so I budget in order to keep my wife at home with the kids. I choose my ride based on what I want, not the status quo, not what everyone else has, but what I want out of my bike, and what I want my bike to do for me. Like I stated earlier, I don't care what you ride, it's about the ride, it's about what you like, not what everyone else has or what everyone else thinks you should have. You have to be happy, you have to take care of you, nobody else is going to. I just hate the "Harley-Davidson Mentallity" that some of these A$$HOLES have. Not everyone, just some of them. But I have to say, I might buy that new Yamaha Raider in 2009, man that bike is sweet (For a Cruiser), that way I have the best of both worlds (No! The Gixxer will not be sold!). Later guys/gals
