Was something wrong when you posted? You seemed to be in danger of putting your foot in your mouth twice—once with the marrying an ugly woman comment and again with the Vespa.

You’ll get in trouble like that you know! *grin*

Your metaphor of the beauty queen, while funny, is pretty much right on target. The throttle is seductive and it is really easy to keep twisting it for the payoff it brings regardless of the danger. It takes some real maturity to not jump into the abyss. It is probably the basis of licensing arguments against teenagers having powerful machines. Or drinking.

I’m going to have to think about the motorcycle on the Maine coast. Don’t get me wrong, I would live to ride on the Maine coast, but I do believe there is magic close to home that we miss because we believe it only exists somewhere else.

So, maybe, maybe a second machine is in order. For now I am just going to be a tourist riding what I can and reserve a choice until some future date. I haven’t checked the lottery number today to see if I won the 245 million. If I do I’ll pick up something up today.

But I know what you mean about the differences. Having a second machine would be nice for options. I don’t always want to struggle!

so, were all the participants happy?

My comment about an ugly woman is in no way, shape, or form, to be taken as referring to the Vespa. That is a beautiful machine!

It just goes to illustrate what I was telling Katie the other night. Of course, I was talking about women, but it also applies to bikes.

You don’t have to test ride every bike in the dealership to know which one is right for you.

Of course, reading Jack’s comments always makes one tend to think less than pure thoughts. Wasn’t there a song that says,

“If you marry an ugly woman you’ll be happy for life!”?

Quick to add a disclaimer, I am not married to an ugly woman and am quite happy!

Returning to the Vespa can easily be accepted as a metaphor for returning to a kind of reality. Sometimes we see a big part of ourselves in the machines we ride. I see you gradually acknowledging that the simple scooter is a part of your life that doesn’t clutter your thoughts with temptation. Or visions of a longer, more powerful reach that could eventually foster dissatisfaction in other areas. The scooter does not attempt to muddle your interpretation of life around you. It brings you to the source of pictures and asks, “How about this one?

The motorcycle is different. It is tanned, 22-year-old beauty queen, wrapped in a towel, whispering that you can do anything you like, just by twisting that right handgrip. And with each click of the gearshift, the towel drops a little lower, until you can only stare at the road, or risk certain death.

While you are happy to frame your scooter in the fog down the road, the motorcycle won’t look half as good unless the fog is on the coast of Maine. And if you think hard enough about the knobby tires, you will no longer feel like a man until you ride to Maine along powerline right of ways.

This is not my idea. Blame it on Darwin. His book, “Two-Wheeled Evolution” was widely banned by the Catholic Church.

But there is nothing to prevent you from getting a motorcycle i addition to the scooter. And you could name them “Id” and “Ego.” Or “Repression” and “Release.”

By the way, I think you should have photo shopped the picture of your scooter against the fog, until the white signpost disappeared, and the blue sign looked to be suspended on hope.

Fondest regards,
Jack • reep • Toad
Twisted Roads

I agree that scooters and bikes are machines for different purposes. they each have their place. I have more or less always had a m/c. The scooter is my commuting vehicle, the other for the highway.

bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin

Besides, I think this says it all, Steve:

http://tinyurl.com/qek3nd

Doug