AN IDLE BRAIN IS THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP
I’m a pretty simple man when it comes to things that make me feel good; one of those things would have to be knowing my car survived AutoFest with no major issues. I must say that having it sitting in the garage clean, with nothing broken and nothing major that needs to be fixed before I take it out again, makes me feel pretty happy.
During the build process of the engine bay, I would often tell myself that I wouldn’t give it too much grief as I didn’t want anything to break.
I even told the mate who was riding shotgun with me at AutoFest that I would take it easy. I should have known I was completely lying to myself. I hit the Manfeild racetrack at AutoFest, got onto the front straight, dropped a gear, and power skidded the poor old thing up the straight. There I was, totally disregarding any pep talks to myself. To make things worse, I beat the hell out of it on the AutoFest light em up lane. Anyhow, it’s nice to know it’s in good shape and not broken.
With the time that has passed since AutoFest, something that has been on my mind is: ‘What now?’ Without meaning to sound too cocky, I have a nice — unbroken for now — car that I can take out any time I want, I have a house, my kids are old enough to fend for themselves, work’s going well, and life is pretty good in general. Then the idea of owning a Harley-Davidson popped into my head! I’ve always had a love for Harleys, with a dream of, “One day I would like to own that.” That’s about where the idea stayed for a number of years. I’ve had a couple of turns on mates’ dirt bikes over the years, but even that didn’t really make me lust to own a bike. To be honest, I don’t have a bike licence or enough riding experience to own any bike let alone a Harley.
However, what’s been consuming me lately is the idea of getting one. Making that dream become true will not be an overnight thing. I’ll have to start from the bottom, which will involve things like a basic handling course, a learner licence, and, more than likely, all 120kg and 6 foot 1 inch of me looking absolutely stupid and out of proportion on a Honda Grom, a Suzuki GN250, or some other learners bike until I can afford a Harley. I’m not too sure why I’m fixated on this idea at the moment; maybe it’s that I feel settled with all my projects in life and need a new toy to tinker with, maybe it’s that I need to live a dream before it fades away, or maybe I’m having a goddam mid-life crisis. Who knows? Whatever it may be, here I am sinking a good few hours a day on YouTube learning about all things Harley-Davidson and being a bike rider.
Cars are in my blood, and that will never change, but I think I’m going to ride this dream out and give the heart what the heart wants. The fascination of ‘riding into the sunset’, or however bike guys say it, is an intriguing idea that I want to make a reality. I’ll keep you posted on how this all unfolds. Should be a wild ride — ride, get it? Yup, all things bikes in my head at the moment!