Erik's Baby

Erik's "moe-moe-bike", as Sawyer affectionately calls it.
Erik's baby, as I much less affectionately call it.
Erik's pride and joy, as he would probably call it.

His Honda Shadow.
His motorcycle.  

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. It is obviously so much fun to ride on, but there a couple things I am not too pumped about.

First of all, it is so unsafe! I trust Erik implicitly, but it's the other yahoos on the road that I'm not so sure of. And not just the yahoos, but unexpected road conditions (gravel, an unseen bump, etc etc). You have a lot less time to recover a mistake on a bike than you do in a car. And the implications of an accident are much more serious if said accident happens on a bike rather than in a car. Yes, you can ride as safe as can be and can take every precaution to remain that way, but there are so many elements out of your control and so much less grace when on a motorcycle.

Secondly, let's be honest for a moment, the motorcycle is a toy. A very expensive and, as previously mentioned, very dangerous toy. But we already talked a bit about the danger so let's move on to the expense. Wowza is that thing expensive. I knew it would be, but Erik had some blinders on when he made the decision to purchase the bike. There is insurance, gear, maintenance, licensing, etc. And all for a toy.

I have made some rules in light of the dangers associated with motorcycles. Erik can only ride it if he is wearing no less than jeans, his riding jacket, close-toed shoes, and his helmet (obviously). This has come down from his riding pants, riding jacket, riding boots, and a full-face helmet. I do not ride it unless I have close-toed shoes, jeans, a leather jacket, and the full-face helmet. When it is 40+ degrees out this can get quite hot. My stomach turns when I see people riding motorcycles in shorts and tank tops though! It is so irresponsible. 

All of that being said, I love riding with Erik. I'm never scared, but I'm always aware of what could happen.

We took the bike to my family reunion in August. I wouldn't recommend six hours on a seat that is 8 inches by 12 inches and hard as wood, but it was fun none-the-less. Erik has gone on a couple trips to Washington with it as well, but we have mainly stuck close to home. We have had a few couple-hour cruises around the Okanagan. The insurance has expired so the bike will be wintering at my parent's house, but we did go on one last cruise with Kevin and Mandi on Saturday. I think it would be fun to go on an actual road trip with them next summer. Mandi has her own bike so I will have the freedom to jump from Erik's bike to Kevin's more comfortable cruiser throughout the trip to give my derriere a bit of a break.

I am surprised I didn't tell you about the bike sooner. It is Erik's pride and joy. He's quite disappointed that he won't get to ride it for another 9 months, but I think he will be a little bit preoccupied for most of that time. Traveling the world has that affect on you.