To make a long story short, I had wanted a cruiser for many years and one day a “Dad riding a bike” conversation between my wife and daughter (a long time rider) spurred a simple statement from me; “I’m buying a bike.” After saying, “Are you serious?”, my wonderful wife voiced only two concerns: one in regard to my safety and the other that I would use it enough to justify the cost.

Having not ridden a bike in over 30 years, I immediately sign up for the next available session of riding lessons and started looking at the price of used bikes. One of my top priorities was to get a bike I would be riding, rather than one I’d be fixing so I looked at newer models and quickly found only a small price variance between these and new ones. I also did a far bit of research on the ‘net into the specs of various cruiser bikes, trade-in values and rider feedback. In the end I had narrowed my choices down to two new bikes; a Honda cruiser and one from Kawasaki. Finally, when attempting to negotiate a purchase, the shady sales practices of one local dealer verses the honest and forthright approach of another cemented my final decision and in mid-February 2006, I purchased a new 2005 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 Classic.

Using promo dollars from a Kawasaki, I added a Fire & Steel windshield and a Cobra Engine Guard before taking delivery of the bike. These were soon followed by lockable/detachable soft saddle bags, highway pegs, tachometer and a slew of other accessories.

When I’d previously ridden bikes in Alberta, I did not require a motorcycle specific driver’s license so I now owned a motorcycle which I could not ride. It was less than a month until I started my riding lessons however and soon after I was licensed to hit the blacktop (oops, bad choice of words.) I first motored out of my garage in mid-March (2006) and now in September I have more than 17,000 KM on the odometer.

Well, since I’ve not had an accident yet and I’ve got more miles on the bike than many riders put on in two or three years, I guess I’ve satisfied my wife’s concerns. I personally had envisioned a few weekend rides around the country-side and with my daughter but I’ve been hooked now by the bike bug and I’m already planning my next bike purchase and bike vacation, riding 2-up next time.

Some call it a "mid-life Corvette" alternative. I simply call it "freedom from the daily grind".

For those who asked about the Home Page photo:

This photo was take looking west at the Mt. Washington pass, east of Winthrop, WA. I brought it into Photoshop, cleaned up some of the imperfections, such as bugs on the windshield, and then greyscaled everything outside of the windshield. To me it expresses how the motorcycle brought life and color to my journey.