“If you’re going to repair a motorcycle, an adequate supply of gumption is the first and most important tool. If you haven’t got that you might as well gather up all the other tools and put them away, because they won’t do you any good.”

Zen an the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I have no gumption. No interest. No desire to any longer turn a wrench on my scooter or motorcycle. I haven’t had gumption for a long, long time. And that deficiency has haunted me because somewhere the idea what planted in my brain that a real rider can perform any and all repairs and maintenance roadside in a storm. With nothing more than a pocketknife, baling wire, and some pocket lint.

I’m here to report that I have begun the unburdening from the enslavement of tools, devices, mechanical expectations, and the guilt associated with the failure to live up to those expectations.

I will seldom turn a wrench again save for a dire emergency that my new toolkit composed of cash and a cellphone can’t fix.

It’s been a long and painful road to get to this place. 

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