I’ve already written about how difficult of a year 2019 was.
It wasn’t all bad though, my boys and I got to travel to the west coast and see my grandparents, I met a new love and have been working on building a relationship AND I owned quite a few motorcycles.
Gloria
I started out the year still owning Darla who I will get to in a second, but before that …
I bought my first Harley !!!!
I found her on kijiji, located in New Brunswick up near Saint Johns and in February bought my first Harley Davidson motorcycle.
A 2004 Road King she was in pristine condition with only 33,000 kms. My brother and friend Sean helped my change out the stock handlebars with 10 inch mini apes that you’ll find on police issue HD’s
One morning on the way to work, in the middle of rush hour traffic a lady slammed on her brakes (right after accelerating) to avoid hitting a pigeon. I smashed into the back of her and Gloria was written off.
Darla
So, for the first time in my life I owned TWO MOTORCYCLES. It was the best of times.
Darla was a 2000 Vulcan Drifter, styled after the Indian motorcycles of the 40s and 50s.
The problem at the time was, I found myself only riding the Harley. Darla was sitting in the shed not getting used. The battery was continually draining and there seemed to be a on again/off again fuel leak.
With a heavy heart I decided to sell her.
Everyone I had ever met who owned a Drifter said they ended up regretting the decision. Despite that, with the HD running like a dream on May 25th, I sold Darla to a very nice man from Newfoundland. (who was also a Mason as it turns out)
Like everyone who came before me I regretted selling her immediately.
So, in May I sold Darla and then had an accident that saw me write off Gloria, I found myself in the middle of the riding season without a motorcycle. It was the beginning of August and there wasn’t a lot of used motorcycle inventory that was worth buying. So, I decided I would wait it out until a bit later in the fall and hopefully get a great deal as someone was selling up before winter.
Scarlett
Without a motorcycle of my own but a bunch of riding events still left in the season a couple brothers stepped up and loaned me their motorcycles.
One was a 2004 Honda VTX 1300, which I took to our Ride The Boar event.
My brother Widows Son Dwayne kept this bike in pristine condition, she only had 40,000 kms and was loaded.
Worth about half as much as a Harley I decided to buy her and then buy the few couple things I needed to make her the perfect bike for me.
Cherry
So, remember how I said I regretted selling Darla?
Well with a bunch of money in my pocket I stumbled across a hell of a deal on a 99 Drifter.
She was up in Moncton. only had 17,000kms and the price was too good to pass up.
These 800 Drifters ride like a dream and get a ton of attention. Purists think they are crap but then again they’ve probably never ridden one.
She came with a set of 16 inch ape hangers, I’ve bought a 1-up seat and plan to paint her in the new riding season.
She might not be great for long distance but she’ll turn a few heads in parades and at Tim’s.
Once again I owned 2 motorcycles.
Ginger
So, with all of that you would think I was done right?
WRONG!!!!
See, as much as I told people I was fine not owning a Harley I was still secretly coveting my dream ride.
The Road King wasn’t it, but I DID like the difference of riding a bike made for touring.
And on Oct. 24th my dream bike went up for sale.
She is a 2014 Street Glide Special, she only had 16,000 kms and called my name from the ad. I rode to the dealership on my lunch hour and traded the VTX to basically pay for the tax on this beauty.
Is it extravagant? Yes.
Does she cost more than my car? Yes.
Can you wipe the smile off of my face when I ride her? Not a chance.
-- Downs out.
Hi there,
I'm Mike, welcome to my little corner of the web.
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Nice! Love the Drifter. Never heard of them before you told me about yours.
You can never have too many bikes : D
The Drifter’s came in 800 and 1500 versions. For a long time while I had the 800 I longed to have a 1500.
Finally rode one and did not like it at all.
Turns out the 800 versions of these are the real sweet spot.
There is a guy in Sackville NB, Paul from Paul’s Bike Shop
He has a GORGEOUS one that is teal and cream and SOOO much chrome.
I would LOVE to own that badboy some day. 🙂