The Deep South

So I made my way down to New Orleans. I gave my job in NH some bs story to get a month off just in case I really hated New Orleans I would be able to have an "evacuation plan." I kind of broke it off with the girl I was seeing and made arrangements with my parents to either take care of my stuff or to get rid of it. I packed my car to the brim with as much junk as I had that I wanted to take with me (or in other words, things I thought I couldn't live without). My parents would continue to watch my dogs as my future in New Orleans wasn't totally certain yet. I was going to be leaving my cherished Kawasaki 440 LTD behind as well and was going to be (at that time) coming back to get it or making arrangements to have it shipped down to me. I hadn't had a ton of time with it just being mine since it was originally my father's. He had it for as long as I can remember. He used to drop me off at little league practice on it and he taught me to ride on it as well. Even though it is a little, whiny runt, I have very fond memories with the bike and would be having a hard time seeing it go (or not coming with me at least...)


So, I got to New Orleans and started settling in. I was living with Bill and Allison and trying to save money while looking for a place of my own. I started doubting that I was going to be bringing the 440 down to NOLA because it was just such a small bike and I wasn't getting any smaller living in one of the fattest cities in the country while working a job where I sit down 9 hours a day. I started looking for a new bike. Or at least a bike that would be new to me. I did the whole Craigslist fury searching everyday when I got into work and then got home and looked on cycle trader. I even started looking in the paper at one point. Finally, Bill and Allison left for a weekend to go do something and I saw an ad on Craigslist for 3 1970's era Honda Goldwings for next to nothing. I never really mentioned that part, but I have had an obsession with the Goldwing for a long time. Not the big, fully faired ones with cupholders on the handlebars but the same bike with all that stripped off. I always thought the older ones (the 80s is the furthest I thought they went back at the time) had such nice lines under those big, stupid, heavy windshields. When I found out that these bikes were from the 70s and came complete but were in rough shape, I was intrigued. When I found out that they were only $300 for the entire package, I nearly lost it.

I was convincing myself that what was going to happen is I would buy all three, fix one of them up myself and if there were enough parts left to make another one, Bill would be able to have it and we could basically have twin machines that we put together ourselves. I have since lost some of the spark that tells me when I see something gross and old that all it needs is some elbow grease and a little time and I can make it new again. I know what my limitations are now...sort of. I was thinking I was some master mechanic just waiting to emerge from a shroud of boring engineer and tattooed goliath. This is not the case, in fact. I am able, pretty handily, to take things apart and clean them up, but putting them back together right has always been my problem. As you can see from the pictures, the bike started out a total basket case. I originally started working on a different one (on of the 1975's) but when I brought it to have the engine looked at, they broke one of the spark plugs off in the hole. So, I brought the other two thinking that this one was in the worst shape of the three. It apparently had great compression and was solid, it just needed some parts (mainly the front end off of one of the other bikes). So, we set out working on this one.

As you can see, there was a lot to do. We went about turning it into a cafe racer/bobber/custom chopper. The above picture shows it when the engine was running and we were in the rebuilding phase.

After months of work, lots of money and some snafus along the way, we finally had a running, driving, decent looking motorcycle...

Over the next many months, Bill and I did a lot of riding and then a lot of thinking...about a big, epic trip for us and our good friends from college who had motorcycles of their own. Not one of those goofy trips where you just go hotel to hotel, but one where we carry all of our stuff and camp in national parks under the stars. There is something very freeing about having your camping gear on your motorcycle. First off, the motorcycle puts you in much better touch with your surroundings. You feel the wind, you smell the grass and the ponds, you hear the birds and the other cars...its the closest you can get to flying without actually doing so...then, you add the fact that you can carry your home (away from home) on the back of that machine and just park anywhere and stay for the night...man...total freedom.

So, we started thinking long camping trip and that seems like a good leave off point for now. Next stop will be the planning phase of the trip through the Southeast of the US, which we completed in April/May of 2011, just after tornadoes ripped through the entire region...

The purpose of its purpose...

I always thought the point of a blog was for nerds and geeks to feel okay with writing a diary of sorts. I mean, who really reads another person's blog anyways? Lately, I have been seeing some use that can be derived from such a seemingly pointless and arbitrary exercise. 

I have been doing a bit of soul searching lately trying to figure out what my life's long term goals should be. Most people have these set and nailed down by the time they get out of college, but not me. I got bogged down in school the first time, took two years off to see if I should even finish, went back to a different school and finally finished...7 years after I started. To my account, I did only go to school for 5 of the 7 years and of those 5, I really only went to like 3 or 4 classes. Don't get me wrong...it's not like I didn't try. I just learn differently than others. That's not to say that if I hadn't gone to more classes my grades wouldn't have been better, but let's get past that. It's certainly not what I intended to talk about.

After finishing up school in the winter of 2008/2009, I continued working for a local grocery store that I had been working at since returning home from Thailand in 2006 (after leaving school I went straight to Thailand for a few months). I was tattooing and doing artwork as well to pay my bills, but not really saving any money. Still living like I did in college...paycheck to paycheck. I was having some issues with the girl I was seeing at the time and like I have done many times before, I got up one day and said, "I'm going....blank...." Usually that blank was filled with a location, but sometimes it was just, "insane" or "crazy." This time, in particular though, I woke up and wanted to go to Atlanta to see my college buddies and get away from things for a bit. So, I packed up my car, asked for a week off and headed down South. This is something I had done many times in the past, by myself, and was totally accustomed to the 2 day marathon of driving and napping (and peeing in soda bottles ((and cans when there were no bottles, but that was never fun)) to keep from having to stop).

I got down to Atlanta and spent a few days hanging with good friends, drinking good beers and enjoying good times. Out of nowhere, I thought it might be fun to drop in on my friend (and former lover...not really...) Bill, whom I had lived with for multiple years in multiple locations, and his wife, Allison in New Orleans. It was a 7 hour drive, but I talked to Bill's sister and found a way to get to NOLA and make sure Bill would be home without knowing I was coming. I pulled the longest "pop-in" of my entire life (New Hampshire to New Orleans) in one of the coolest ways possible, but that is a totally different story. In the day and a half I was down there, though, Bill and Allison had convinced me to look for a job with the company that Allison (a certified hair dresser) had just gotten a job working for (a medium sized construction management firm). If anyone who is left had been paying any attention, you will remember that I got my degree in structural engineering, something this company was looking to hire more of. 

So, I applied and went through a 4 month process of eating the bull fed to me (by my current as of right now) boss about this and that and the other. He really did run me through the ringer before I actually got a job. But, when it was finally offered to me, I had a major decision to make...4 months before, it was easy. I had broken up with my girl, had a not so awesome job making not so awesome money and was looking for a change of scenery. NOW, I had a new girl (and a cute, super young one...YAYEH (like Lil' Jon)), was making better money getting more work on the art side as well as the tattooing and things were going well with my family (my parents have my dogs that I rescued in Atlanta, too...). I wasn't happy with the situation that I was being presented from this company, but I thought I should go with it. I needed to make a major, significant lifestyle change that would result in my growing up. I was still stuck in the college mentalities and had almost zero responsibilities at the age of 25. That sounds all well and fun but when you look and see that I had no real job, no real money, no real future and no real present, I wasn't doing all that well in the bigger picture.

So, I was to move to New Orleans. That's a pretty good place to stop for now but if you want the title to lead to something with some substance, the reason I am starting this blog is to document my history loving, owning, riding and adventuring on motorcycles. This could potentially turn into a year long ride report as my itch for adventure riding has been re-irritated and I am seriously considering in the next 18 months leaving on a year plus long ride around the world on an adventure bike. This blog will hopefully chronicle my motorcycle fixation from childhood through adulthood and serve as a running memory bank of all the coolest stuff I have done on two wheels (with a motor in between).

Next stop, New Orleans and the triplets (who gave birth to Christine)...