Wilsons Sandbox

LIving in a climate I spend most of the winter months reading magazines, spending most of my time "wanting". Wanting to ride, wanting to buy, wanting to shine, wanting to wrench. I spend countless hours figuring how much cash I'll need to satisfy my lust. I've got 4 bikes but still, I'm not satisfied. Then spring comes and my whole perspective changes. I thought about it and here's what I came up with; There are bikes to own, bikes to want and bikes to ride. The exotics are the bikes to lust for. Ducati, Aprilia, MV Augusta, maybe even BMW or Harley. They are all about show and exhileration. They really dont' make economic sense. Never mind that they spend so much time in the shop, or they are so fast and noisy, not so comfortable or the parts are made of "unobtainium". They are also typically high owner maintenance bikes. Then there are the bikes to own. These would be the classic Triumphs, airhead BMW's, maybe an old Harley, you know, bikes that are just cool to talk about. The ones everybody knows something about. "I've got a BMW, yeh, an airhead, an R90. R90what? Oh, just a /6". Which is usually followed by "I used to have one of those and maybe some day--- " yadayada. Then there are the bikes to ride. This is the domain of the Japanese motorcycle. Typically reliable, inexpensive and pretty comfortable. Usually minimum maintainance, reasonably good handling and so on. Most of us land here. This is the land of the compromise motorcycle. Good at many things, best at none. This is also where the KLR rules. Its the best at nothing, good at everything and are readily available. The new Versys even picked its name after mediocrity, " versatile-system". Oh, you thought it stood for veritable sysboombah? NO, I'm afraid it was contrived as a compromise. Corny, but true. Now I look at my garage, at my R90,(its a /6) my Connie, my RM125 at the KLR and think, maybe one bike really is enough. Time to go ride. Ride often, ride safe.

My (bike) lust is totally satisfied. I have an 05 KLR and an 08 Versys, they are both perfect for what they do. I've had all sorts, the only other bike I've enjoyed as much was my 97 Valkyrie that I had for 10 years. Machog --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ah yes, it may be satisfied, for now.

I know I'll miss her, but my wife wants to do some touring this summer and there is a lightly used DL1000 for sale locally that is calling my name. Bike is in excellent condition, 32K miles, oil changed every 1500 miles, valve adjustments every 6K, swing arm, brakes, coolant serviced every year. Accessories: Moose Skid Plate (original included) KTM front fender (original included) Radiator guard Master cylinder guard Heated grips JC Whitney rear trunk Answer bark buster hand guards (with original guards for wind protection) 55/100 Silverstar headlight Sagebrush Doo ~1000 miles on Avon Gripster tires ~3000 miles on chain and sprockets Also will include service manual and a binder full of maintenance procedures. KBB lists it at $2950 retail with out accessories - asking $2900 for everything. Bike is located outside of Rochester, NY. Jon Hunter