“Shame and Excitement?”
Sound lurid doesn’t it? Albeit a catchy little title.
So is this blog entry about the seamy side of Cuenca? The dark side. A guide to the Cuenca that your mom fears you will find? Or is it possibly a memoir. The s*xual coming of age story of an adolescent Catholic lad in the early 60’s?
Nope.
It is motos (motorcycles to my americano amigos). But really ...... “shame?”, “excitement?” Yup...”shame and excitement” is dead on.
THE SHAME:
I am a Harley boy. There are a lot of really fine motos out there, but all I ever wanted was a Harley. I’ve had two of them. The second was one that I bought used and had 10 years ....’94 Heritage Softail Classic. I had a lot of engine work done on it to make it very responsive .....blah blah blah. It was my intention to have that bike the rest of my life. I loved it beyond logic and reason. Plus I am a full figured boy and I love a bike to match. (I had a Yamaha ages ago , but at least it was a 650cc.)
Motos here in Cuenca are different. The vast % are 200 cc or less. Of those, most are 100 - 125 cc. The huge majority of them are Chinese. (50 million motos are built each year and more than half are Chinese.) Back to the shame. Harleys (and other big twin massive cruisers) are:
1. the wrong bike for here
2. unbelievably expensive
But I want a moto now. So .... and here is the ‘shame’ part........ I am getting a Yamaha DT175. 2 stroke, 175 cc, dual purpose (on and off road). Randy Kimbler (my new little buddy) tells me it will be perfect. I have no idea as I have no experience with small bikes. We will see. FYI....‘test ride”? No such thing here.....can that be true?
THE EXCITEMENT:
I am so excited! And of course very ashamed to be so excited about getting a tiny little bike.
------------------------
HOURS LATER:
Randy and I picked up the bikes this evening. I rode home under cover of darkness.
The sound of roaring thunder has been replaced with the thrill of "nyiiiing, nyiiiing, nyiiiing".
For those that need a pic.......uh, maybe tomorrow.
Clarke
Hooray for you guys and your new bikes! Please post pictures soon or come and take us for a ride ;o) (well, maybe not me...) The motorcycle mechanic I was telling you about is Cristobal Morejon of Morejon Motos on Remigio Crespo. His cell number is 098484656. He was trained in both Argentina and Canada and worked for KTM for years. He now works on all types of bikes and runs his own shop. Have fun and ride as safe as you can and still have fun! We'll see you next Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteSo you went and did it? Congrats! Hope to meet you and Brennie when we are there in December.
ReplyDeleteShelly & Guy (BIG Honda owners in Oklahoma, for now anyway!!!)
O.F. does that stand for Old Farts?
ReplyDeleteO.F. could be old fools... but in Clarkes case its old Farts, just pull his finger...
ReplyDeleteso, where's the pic? was that alex on it during his visit?! :)
ReplyDeleteClarke, you are a riot!!! What a funny post. We met you guys at dinner with Randy and Karen last week and I don't recall any knowledge of you being a "converted” HD rider. I had to give my Heritage up when we moved here. I have ridden for thirty years. You got more guts than I do. I doubt I will ride in Cuenca but you never know.
ReplyDeleteBob & Di Spencer