my anniversary

that's right it is my anniversary, back in '97 I sold my Suzuki katana 1100 so I could finally get a Goldwing. at the time I was at henry's 12+ hours a day which left little time for bike shopping, summer came and went I never did get a gold wing. spring of '98 I was determined to find me a Goldwing but which one a 1200 or a 1500, I knew little about either I just know I wanted one. well that didn't work out either. around mid-july of '98 while at henry's I screwed up my neck which ended my riding career along with my sport car fun, at the time I had two mustangs. 20 minutes in either car and I had tears in my eyes and they weren't tears of joy. I found and bought a '93 t-bird because it had a better ride only to find out that I could drive it for 40 minutes before getting teary eyed. I ended up buying a '93 ford club wagon about three months later so I could get around with a bit of comfort. things were tough and not looking very good, I learned I couldn't run, jump, or dance anymore and other things it was obvious I couldn't do anymore. I hired in and was trucking for henry when my accident happened and even that was coming to an end, I was being threatened by the doctor at medical, she was going to disqualify me from driving at henry's. I had to talk her into letting me stay in transportation until an opening came up in the VSC garage

once there were openings in the VSC garage I put in for it and informed the doctor that wanted to disqualify me, she was ok with that and I was not, I wanted to retire from trucking at henry's when I got my 30yrs. in '06 gas prices were in the $4.00 range and didn't seem like they would ever go down, I remember telling my mom that I was going to buy a small motorcycle to ride back and forth to work, she mentioned my neck and I promised her that if I had a problem riding this small motorcycle to work I would get rid of it. on either august 23rd or 24th lisa went with me up to Columbiaville, mi. to pick up the new to me small motorcycle, it was an '85 Honda cb 450sc nighthawk, it wasn't the prettiest but it rand good but needed a little tlc. after paying for it and with the title in my pocket I headed home with lisa right behind me in the cage. we took m-24 south out of Columbiaville and I stopped at the first gas station I saw and filled the tank. so far the ride was going well and the only issue was the loud pipes seeing that the PO had removed the baffles from the mufflers. once back on the road I found issue number two when I went to pass a slow moving cage. he was doing about 35mph and the speed limit was 55mph where we were, I look to my left to see what was in the mirror butt here was no mirror there! it took quite awhile to pass this slow moving cage with the rest of the traffic on m-24 going 65+ mph. as we entered oxford, mi. my neck started giving me problems, I told myself to relax so by the time I exited oxford I was ok and was enjoying my first ride in ten years, boy was I excited!! it took about two hours to get home because I didn't want to be on the expressway with the loud pipes. here is a pic of the nighthawk when I first got it

seeing that I didn't know much about my nighthawk I joined a nighthawk forum but found out I knew more that I thought after all I still had my '75 cb 750k and the super-K. while on the nighthawk forum I befriended this guy name fossil, I thought he had one of the better looking nighthawk 700's on the forum. with my 450 nighthawk home I went on ebay and bout some mufflers to quiet my bike down and rode it around town with my two longest rides after getting it home being to warren, mi and to redford, mi. to show two of my closest friends that I was riding again. mid-September I made a ride out to Belleville, mi and surprised my friend don, he wasn't expecting me to show up on a motorcycle. I left his house while the sun was still high in the sky because the 450 doesn't have the biggest or the brightest headlight. I went to bed that night proud of myself because I was back on a bike. that night I had a dream, I was talking to my sister and she told me it would be ok to ride a motorcycle so to go get a motorcycle that I really wanted to ride. hearing this and being a slow time at the VSC garage gave me plenty of time to look for a bike that I really wanted to buy and a few months later lisa took me out to Ypsilanti, mi to pick up my first Goldwing, and '84 aspencade. the ride home was uneventful but we had to stay off the expressway and probably should have trailered it home because the tires were soo bald that regardless to how slow I went I was power sliding it out of truns

once the 1200 wing was home it was time to think about tires and reflect on the little riding I had done and how happy it had made me. I've had very few problems with my neck while riding and have never been stranded anywhere because of it though I have gotten home a few times and thought better of riding for a day or three. ten years later and I have added the '79 cb 750f, the 1500 wing ( purchased both in '08 ) and the mighty ST 1300 along with the ST 1100 ( had no plan to keep the ST 1100 ). I've done several trips to Frackville, ohio has become my play ground, and I've completed four iron butt saddle sore 1000's. seems my sister was right, it has been ok for me to ride a motorcycle, thank you sis for looking out for me

Very nice story William. Sometimes being a motorcyclist exceeds common sense, but sometimes it defines perseverance.

Happy Anny William!! Way to hang in there and get something(s) that makes you happy. :clapping:

Happy Anniversary!!
Nice to find something that makes one happy.
Hope you have many more....

Great story! Thanks William! :clapping:

Way to hang in there through adversity.

Nice read, thanks for sharing.

~O~

Nothing better than being able to do what you love!!
:moped: :good:

Great story dr

You do well at this writing stuff

[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=195172#p195172:2pcsy8pt said:

julimike54 » Sun Aug 27, 2017 5:05 pm[/url]":2pcsy8pt]
Great story dr

You do well at this writing stuff

Click to expand...

thank you, I've improved with time and by reading others ride reports

Happy anniversary...may there be more bikes and rides to come.