I had fun today.

I finished painting Big Red as you can see below. Man, am I ever pleased with the way she turned out.

I ran out of paint towards the end and jumped on The Mothership (Voyager XII) to acquire some more. Along the way I see and Hardley Sportster 883 waiting at an intersection. I pass by and see him pull out and gun it in my mirrors. No biggie; it's fun to ride in groups. Dude pulls alongside for awhile then guns it again. Now, I don't tolerate this sort of behavior well, but I was on 900lb saddlebagged interstate whale - the motorcycle equivalent of an 18 wheeler - so I just rode in back for awhile. The thing about these damn Hardleys is they sound like shit and the pussies who ride 'em want everybody to hear it. The one in front of me was no exception, sounded like a Briggs and Stratton with no muffler. So I dropped two gears and twisted the 'GO' handle. I saw him check six and then he twisted the 'All Sound and Fury but NoPower' handle. I ran him down surprisingly easily and proceeded to run off.

We came to a stoplight and chatted awhile, he thought it was a fluke. From the stoplight I let him get steady and situated onto the highway and began settling into a staggered formation behind him when I see his front wheel tryin' to come up as he goes for second gear. O.K. Twist, rundown, pass, run off. I gave him a headstart this time. WhooHoo! Go Voyager!

The above scenario repeated itself two more times. Dude looked upset the last time and sped off doin' a steady 90mph in a 55mph zone. I let him go. No reckless drivig tickets for me. Not on the Mothership!

The thing is BigRed, a ten year old bike, would do that to him so fast and hard he would feel the compression wave with out any real fuss or effort. Dude should peel the SPORTster sticker off that thing.

A wise man once told me he felt sorry for Hardley riders. He figured they didn't know any better since most of 'em had never ridden anything else...

I saw so many potbellies out on those things today I thought I was gonna be sick. Cattle. Each one has a 'custom' bike - just like everyone else's. Pitiful.