I’m getting older and my health isn’t that great. I can still ride the busa on 12-16 hour days, but I feel it long after the anesthesia of burning hydrocarbons wears off. I’m also getting more responsibility. The parents are getting older and need more attention than a quick phone call too. Projects at work have gone from little $5,000,000 buildings to $200,000,000 complexes with investors exposed to huge risks. Often now the playtime on the open road is tempered with a bit of guilt. What if I crash with so many people depending on me being there when they call, or when there’s a meeting in some boardroom Monday?
I love my family and would gladly do whatever is necessary to make their lives as enjoyable as possible. And I have worked 12-14 hour days for 35 years to get to where I am professionally. This makes things much harder. My family and my work aren’t burdens, they are two of the things I love so much that they define who I am.
The Hayabusa is the third thing that defines me. Never have I loved something material so much. I spend hours working on it, much more than riding it, I even talk to it. I want it perfect, better than the day I bought it 5 years ago. Nothing I have experienced has been as consistently awesome as my Busa. It is like a prized horse, there is a deep feeling of synergy when we are cutting through the corn fields of south and central Virginia at crazy speeds that is like no friendship I have ever known. Now I know there are probably 10 bikes out there that I could like too. Busa the busa fits me and like the marines say: “This is my motorcycles, there are many motorcycles but this one is mine…â€
So my work nourishes my mind, my family nourishes my heart, and the Busa nourishes my soul. When you get down to it, it’s really that simple. Things get complicated when you try to balance mind, heart, and soul. Which gets us to the point of all this:
I went to the AMA races at VIR some time ago and I got to talk to some of the Yoshimura/Suzuki team mechanics. I told them I had a new Hayabusa and was interested in what they thought I should modify to make the bike reach its true potential. They said first was new tires, then a 4-1 Yoshimura exhaust and dyno tune, stainless steel brake lines, radial master cylinder, Brembo calipers, upgrade the suspension, go to lighter wheels, and finally lose as much weight as possible. And that’s what I have been doing to the bike for the last 4 years.
All I have left to do are the Brembo calipers and disks, and the wheels. But now things are changing and I am wondering if maybe it’s time to move into the more “respectable†(and safer) world of motorcycle riding with something like a BMW 1600? It’s getting harder and harder to find people to ride with. Either they are too old and slow or I’m just too mature to follow some of these sportbike kids to jail. Every time I talk to someone at a stop it’s “nice bike†and then “you look more like a Harley guyâ€. Maybe it’s time to compromise, get a BMW and slow down, feed the soul a little less raw meat.
If we have a good year this year at work, I’ll be getting the Brembo calipers, then the wheels next year. I still need to get the Busa on the track again and there is this road called the “Back of the Dragon†I want to ride at speed …….:smileok:
I love my family and would gladly do whatever is necessary to make their lives as enjoyable as possible. And I have worked 12-14 hour days for 35 years to get to where I am professionally. This makes things much harder. My family and my work aren’t burdens, they are two of the things I love so much that they define who I am.
The Hayabusa is the third thing that defines me. Never have I loved something material so much. I spend hours working on it, much more than riding it, I even talk to it. I want it perfect, better than the day I bought it 5 years ago. Nothing I have experienced has been as consistently awesome as my Busa. It is like a prized horse, there is a deep feeling of synergy when we are cutting through the corn fields of south and central Virginia at crazy speeds that is like no friendship I have ever known. Now I know there are probably 10 bikes out there that I could like too. Busa the busa fits me and like the marines say: “This is my motorcycles, there are many motorcycles but this one is mine…â€
So my work nourishes my mind, my family nourishes my heart, and the Busa nourishes my soul. When you get down to it, it’s really that simple. Things get complicated when you try to balance mind, heart, and soul. Which gets us to the point of all this:
I went to the AMA races at VIR some time ago and I got to talk to some of the Yoshimura/Suzuki team mechanics. I told them I had a new Hayabusa and was interested in what they thought I should modify to make the bike reach its true potential. They said first was new tires, then a 4-1 Yoshimura exhaust and dyno tune, stainless steel brake lines, radial master cylinder, Brembo calipers, upgrade the suspension, go to lighter wheels, and finally lose as much weight as possible. And that’s what I have been doing to the bike for the last 4 years.
All I have left to do are the Brembo calipers and disks, and the wheels. But now things are changing and I am wondering if maybe it’s time to move into the more “respectable†(and safer) world of motorcycle riding with something like a BMW 1600? It’s getting harder and harder to find people to ride with. Either they are too old and slow or I’m just too mature to follow some of these sportbike kids to jail. Every time I talk to someone at a stop it’s “nice bike†and then “you look more like a Harley guyâ€. Maybe it’s time to compromise, get a BMW and slow down, feed the soul a little less raw meat.
If we have a good year this year at work, I’ll be getting the Brembo calipers, then the wheels next year. I still need to get the Busa on the track again and there is this road called the “Back of the Dragon†I want to ride at speed …….:smileok:
