"I am just making up for being far too sensible when I was young."

― Robert Black


I think I am gathering more rose buds, but my friends think I am going through a second childhood. Why? Well, after my heart surgery I bought two motorcycles.

Let me explain....

My heart surgery confronted me emotionally with my mortality and my limited time left. So I did some sensible things like review distribution of my finances when I die. But I also took some actions you may not find sensible, even though for me I am just gathering more rose buds.

In 1982 I sold my last motorcycle (until the two I just bought). I was sensible. I knew I could kill myself and lose the rest of my life, most of which was still ahead of me. But thirty-six years later most of my life is now behind me. What was not sensible for me at age 35 is not the same at age 70.

In the hospital post-surgery I thought about the BMW R75/5 that I sold in 1982. I loved that bike. It was a classic. I rode that bike through the mountains of Pennsylvania and Virginia. And that bike today is still as pristine as when I sold it, which I know from an email and photo I received recently from the owner, the same person I sold my bike to in 1982.

So when I had recovered enough I went in search of my beloved BMW. I found her. She is an updated, thirty-two year old version of my R75/5, an R80, and she is pristine. Look at the two top photos above on the left. The two bikes look so close that I need to tell you which is my old bike and which is my new bike - the R80 is on the left.

After buying the R80 I decided I needed another bike set up for touring, which would be even better than my old bike for touring the roads of eastern Oregon. So I bought an R100RT from 1995, the last year that BMW made these old style motorbikes. The R100RT has a built-in fairing (wind protector), a back locker, and two panniers (saddlebags) that are like little suitcases that clip to the sides. You can see my R100RT above and to the right.

The lower photo above shows me (with red helmet), my R100RT (on right) in St. Helens, Oregon. We were touring along the Columbia River and on Sauvie Island on a beautiful October day. I am with my friend Jim (75 years old and going strong bicycling and riding his old BMW motorcycle). My girlfriend Lisa took the photo, and she was brave enough (crazy enough?) to ride two-up with me on the R100RT.

So if I convinced you, then you know that I am gathering more rose buds. But maybe you too think that I am having a second childhood.