January 26, 2016

My Prized Possession

I suppose I haven't officially posted on this space of my prized possession:


I purchased this stock 1974 Honda CB360 on the evening of Wednesday, July 22, 2015. It was by far the most proudest moment of my life. I've wanted a motorcycle for as long as I can remember. I used to go to the York Bike Week Nights with my dad to watch the parade, and I remember probably nine years ago saying to him, "well if I get my bike next year let's ride in the parade." I got my license the summer after when I was seventeen and went off to college with a tiny savings account and every distraction from buying a bike.  Nine years... that's a long time to want a bike.  I since graduated college, moved away from my hometown and my college town to a foreign town for a brand new job that I now call home.  Three plus years into it, I feel like I finally have a grasp on what I'm doing around ehre.  I have to be honest, I was not planning on purchasing a bike this past summer.  Financially, it wasn't in my plan, and I'm quite a strategist.  However, in July I found myself at a point where I needed a spontaneous event to occur, and this bike landed in my lap with the help of my friend Pete.  He was looking for a bike to replace his Ascot he bought and flipped and stumbled upon this beauty on Craigslist.  Before I knew it we borrowed his grandpa's truck, tossed in the bike straps and headed west to Palmyra, PA.  I could go into every detail of that night, but I'll spare you and get to the good part.  Essentially, I made Pete do all the talking, negotiating, test riding, etc.  I just showed up with my envelope of cash and said "okay, you got a sale."  After a title transfer, we took what was left of my envelop of cash and went to the local Texas Roadhouse where we shoved our faces with food and I called my parents to inform them I had a bike in the back of Pete's truck.  ...Surprise!  I couldn't stop smiling, the whole 100 or so miles.  It was the greatest day ever, and I will never forget that pure happiness.

About 3 months later I smacked the stock beauty into a stopped car as I turned right in an intersection going on a ride with my friend & his Harley after work.  Great ending to the story, I know.  I landed on the hood of the car, which honestly worked out nicely for me and ended with no road rash.  It did result in a fancy ambulance ride with a dislocated left shoulder and a souvenir of twenty stitches in my right thigh.  Calling my mother from the ER was one of the saddest things I had to do, but I was calm which somehow made her not freak out entirely.  The front end was trashed, but luckily the forks took the biggest hit.  Whatever, we became blood brothers that evening.  Since then my CB beauty turned into a pile of metal as the Throttle Down Speed Co. crew tore it down to just the frame and motor.  The plan always had been to cafe it out, I just wasn't quite expecting to do it in September already.  Either way, it remains as my favorite, even if it is just a pile of metal.

Today I finally hit a highlight.  Last week I stumbled upon a rolling cb360t frame with the parts I need plus a little more to polish and resell.  It's been quite the learning experience dealing with craigslist flakes, I've had plenty of disappointment which everyone in this culture can relate to.  Today I can say that this rolling CB is in the works of becoming mine, and I couldn't be more thrilled.  I have a few key people to thank for making this purchase possible to get my original beauty running again; however, I will save those thanks for a future date when it is more of a settled deal.  Either way I am very hopeful and look forward to putting my pile of metal back together.  It'll be a proud day hearing her purr again.  It might even be as good as the day I purchased her.  I'll keep ya posted.

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