Well here is a different take on things. The HD is a bike with a culture. If you ride a HD you can find a million people who are like minded and are fun to ride with. I'm not a big time socializer type, I love the feeling of being basically alone in the helmet taking in the miles. I like to take off when I get to the good part of the road and ride like a 20 year old where it's is safe from traffic or the cops. Maybe an occasional comment over the radio or the necessary safty chatter. It sort of like the scene in Crimson Tide where Gene Hackman and Danzel Washington are riding in the conning tower of the sub and Gene says Danzel's stock went up because he knew to keep his mouth shut and enjoy the view. That's my kind of riding, and I plan to do it as long as I am physically capable - whatever that age is. But it's very hard to find that perfectly compatible riding buddy as you get older riding a Busa. Most people my age are grandfathers, and the last thing on earth they would be doing with their time is flying down some backroad through a corn field at 130 mph. When I ride with kids it's ridiculious. Scream over the road, no discipline, near death experiences at every turn, then stop at the next gas station and talk trash for 30 minutes on the 10 minute ride you just had. I once saw a guy try to pull a wheelie between two cars and nearly crash. When I asked him what he thought he was doing he said he had never ridden a wheelie and thought it would be cool to ride one between the two cars, really? Just not for me. So as you get older the busa life can get lonely, but still I love the hours I spend with the bike. It becomes a way of life like any addiction. People are scared of addictions. But the way I see it we are all addicted to whatever reaches the deepest into our souls. That might be kids, baseball, or even always being as safe as possible. For me its when my senses are on high, a steady stream of adrenaline is pumping, and a part of the world nobody ever takes the time to look at is passing by my windsheild.
